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Transgender fish!

Freshwater (somewhat ironic considering story) has been found to be widely contaminated with Metformin which appears to cause intersex fish, specifically eggs in male fish.  The fish exposed to concentrations of metformin found in waste water effluent (Ok, not so freshwater) can cause the physical changes in the fish or intersex fish.

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Guns, Germs and Ladders

The acclaimed Pulitzer Prize author Jared Diamond lectured last evening at the Fox Marlin Woldson Theatre. The presentation sponsored by Eastern Washington University along with the Daniel and Margaret Carper Foundation intertwined Professor Diamond’s knowledge of traditional societies which he has studied and drawn inference to our modern society. Reminded that our ancestry is not far removed from the traditional society, what is the take away lesson from the traditional societies who also contend with child rearing, elder care and dispute resolution? Jared Diamond’s discourse is anecdotal, light and entertaining in a way that belies the billing message of urgent and persuasive. Taking questionable liberty with probability mathematics, he pokes fun of his early risk taking specifically, camping under dead trees. Our modern choices bring us higher risks of heart disease, diabetes and obesity not found in the lives of the traditional cultures and yet, according to Diamond, we are troubled by the bigger issues of plane crashes, global warming and nuclear power problems. Is it that we focus on “paranoia s” that are out of’ our individual control and not attentive to the more immediate lethal and correctable threats such as falling? That may be and certainly each person’s own situational awareness can generate many aphorisms. Given this and voting turnout, I for one, have a cautious pessimism of 49% or, as they say in French, “C’est la vie.”