43 Questions 916 Answers 0 Followers
Questions related from Anthony G Gordon
The obvious explanation is that humans killed them off, just like very many species of large animal which became extinct when exposed to humans. However, elephants have survived, though maybe...
04 April 2019 4,782 4 View
"Sarah Knapton, science editor 2 OCTOBER 2018 • 5:09PM [Daily Telegraph] A 23-year-old man has been warned he will almost certainly develop dementia after inheriting a rare genetic...
10 October 2018 6,788 0 View
"A tiger shark was most likely responsible for Dylan McWilliams' recent bite in Hawaii. But that's not all his bad luck. PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN J. SKERRY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ... Outdoor enthusiast...
09 September 2018 6,978 15 View
It is no secret (eg see first post) that mice carry harmful organisms. But where is the epidemiological evidence that house mice actually cause human disease? Bats, cats and rats infect humans,...
04 April 2018 5,430 35 View
It is often assumed (see first post below) that human evolution relied on new mutations. Whilst not doubting that this process can occur, why is it necessary to assign it any major significance?...
04 April 2018 6,448 4 View
"It is widely accepted that there are no inherent gender differences in mathematical ability or intelligence" Sunday Times Jan 21 2018 p5. "Differences in intelligence have long been a topic...
01 January 2018 3,367 16 View
A few years ago it would have been ridiculous to pose this question, as the answer is obviously No. See this from The Economist Nov 23 2017: "Some people argue for a punitive inheritance tax....
11 November 2017 8,910 7 View
One would have thought the answer to this question was obviously Yes, but apparently it cannot now be raised in the media without risking one's job or reputation. A Harvard Biology Graduate...
08 August 2017 4,062 1 View
Scientific journals will not in general accept anything that has already been published elsewhere, as they are looking for original research. I am unclear as to the status of RG. I would like to...
05 May 2017 9,603 0 View
Not an original question, but are we any the wiser in the 2 millennia since Pilate asked it? But can we not now agree that this is a question Science cannot answer, and should not even be trying...
05 May 2017 4,308 3 View
Governments are always looking around for new ways of raising taxes, so here is a new one, a gene tax. It will be greeted with howls of rage, but then so is every new tax proposal. Those with...
05 May 2017 1,764 9 View
Philip Collins (The Times Feb 17 2017 p25) has a very interesting article on fake news and lies. "If by 'a lie' we mean a statement that someone knows to be untrue but makes anyway with the...
02 February 2017 9,063 8 View
"Bills to exempt individuals with severe mental illness from facing the death penalty are expected in at least seven states in 2017. (Death Penalty Information Center). Europeans are amazed that a...
02 February 2017 4,183 29 View
I cannot find evidence either way for this theory. Autistic children are often hypersensitive to sound, and loud sounds cause seizures in animal models of epilepsy. If seizure were due to brain...
01 January 2017 5,842 11 View
This is not as unlikely as it first seems, since a strong general factor has been found for intelligence (g), personality, adolescent psychopathology, etc, in addition to more specialized...
04 April 2016 6,794 34 View
It is generally accepted by left and right that private education in the UK is superior to state education, hence pupils from Public Schools do far better in life. I doubt this...
10 October 2015 6,494 23 View
The life expectancy of the mentally ill is dramatically low. However, this is not a new phenomenon. "It is impossible to look at these tables, collected at different times and by different...
10 October 2015 9,195 4 View
I can't see any reason to doubt what seem to be significant genetic sex differences (Diseases of the Brain and Insanity Lancet 1845;1:253): Baillarger found that Out of 453 lunatics affected with...
10 October 2015 6,256 6 View
Obviously there are occasions where a person's life was saved by their ability to swim. But I suspect this is outweighed in general by the loss of life in those overconfident in their ability to...
06 June 2015 10,057 33 View
Everyone thinks this is self-evident, which may explain why I am finding it so hard to find actual evidence that this is so. Some facts from Discovering Tuberculosis: a Global History 1900 to...
06 June 2015 4,738 8 View
The following event is being organised by the Royal Society of Arts, a long-established and reputable organisation: "For the second event in our brand-new series, we are adopting the BBC’s...
01 January 2015 6,234 67 View
I have the impression that twins are statistically less frequent in Royal Families. We should certainly have heard about them, since there would have been quarrels about the succession and...
01 January 2015 1,872 2 View
I have recently been handed a leaflet at St John's Wood London Underground Station summarizing an interesting epidemiological investigation apparently made by the staff there of 39 escalator...
12 December 2014 7,882 3 View
It has of course been known for a long time that there is a connection and correlation between brain abscess and otitis media (or sinusitis). But is this a simple causal link? Self-evidently so,...
11 November 2014 1,311 101 View
This is a longstanding and widely accepted ethical and legal principle. However, with the modern emphasis on victims' rights, I suspect many want to abandon this maxim, and to substitute revenge...
10 October 2014 1,118 1 View
We are constantly being assured that Ebola cannot be spread through the air. I have not reviewed this literature, but have looked at how cholera might be spread (see my RG question). It seems...
10 October 2014 2,592 4 View
The article in question is titled "Social determinants of mental health" Jessica Allen , Reuben Balfour , Ruth Bell , Michael Marmot International Review of Psychiatry Aug 2014, Vol. 26, No. 4,...
09 September 2014 3,482 13 View
"Vulvo-vaginal gland.-- M. Huguier has given a description of a gland situated at each side of the junction of the vulva to the vagina. The gland he describes as about the size and form of an...
06 June 2014 9,091 5 View
There has been a lot of talk recently about Freedom of Information, Censorship, Press Freedom etc, but there seems to be no regard as to whether this information is true or false. A good example...
05 May 2014 2,544 1 View
Libraries left right and centre are cancelling print versions of academic journals and discarding their old journal stocks. When challenged, they say don't worry, this information will all be...
01 January 2014 6,643 12 View
Height increased dramatically last century. See one of the Top Ten Science Stories of 2013 from Natural History Museum website: "9. Evolution pushes on as European men grow taller,...
01 January 2014 4,378 15 View
A sudden acquired intolerance to alcohol has been reported in many different situations: post concussion syndrome; after minor head injury; in CFS/ME, neurasthenia; hyperventilation; after fever,...
12 December 2013 6,265 6 View
We all know that feces and urine contain harmful organisms, so that we are always told we must wash our hands after going to the toilet in order to avoid spreading germs and diseases to others....
12 December 2013 2,436 49 View
Are there twin-specific effects? Are sibs with large age differences any less similar than those closer together in age? My general impression of the literature is that there are very few twin...
12 December 2013 3,060 3 View
According to Wikipedia, eating feces occurs in a wide range of circumstances: in invertebrates; in vertebrates including great apes; as ancient and modern medical treatments; as sexual fetish: in...
12 December 2013 6,800 8 View
We all think we know what murder is, and I think this definition is used consistently in TV crime and murder drama, for example. However, I think the word as used in the UK and USA laws and...
08 August 2013 4,093 24 View
By determinism I mean the dogma that some human characteristics and behavior are programmed by our biological/genetic makeup, such there is zero room for chance, free will or any environmental...
08 August 2013 1,161 83 View
As someone once said, the greatness of a scientist can be measured by the extent to which they retard future research. John Snow is thus a great man indeed, and has just had by popular acclaim a...
08 August 2013 3,055 79 View
Killing of badgers has just started in parts of England on the assumption that they are the natural reservoirs of TB and pass this on to cows. Do cows infect badgers? I don't understand exactly...
08 August 2013 420 14 View
If so, he would not be the only unlikely or famous deathbed convert (Carrel, Wilde, Flew, Joad). I ask because I have just come across a new book by L R Croft on Darwin and Lady Hope describing...
07 July 2013 5,831 17 View
Was it : a) infants, interacting with their mothers; b) toddlers; c) children, playing with other children; d) adults; e) a select band of clever adults, sages, shamans, etc?
06 June 2013 1,122 12 View
Millions of infants die each year from diarrhea. It is taken as axiomatic that the bugs enter the mouth from dirty milk, food, water, fingers, utensils,etc, as they can do in children and adults....
06 June 2013 8,753 3 View
It has been known for a long time that infants that are not breastfed are suceptible to some infections and thus much more likely to die, especially in the developing world today and in developed...
05 May 2013 1,210 58 View
