About Me

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A 40-ish publisher (editor, project manager, etc.), husband, and father of an even number of offspring, I grew up, or failed to, reading fantasy and sci-fi. I still enjoy reading, and now am trying to write. My favorite books include YA fantasy, manga, biography, and advice to authors. I'm also a former history major/grad student/high school teacher and assessment writer. Now I work for a school supplement publisher, specializing in high-low chapter books. I spend a lot of my time controlling reading levels. At night, I cut loose and use long words. W00t!

Monday, July 11, 2011

coolest thing I read today: telomeres!

But you can't read it, unless you get the Chronicle on your iPad or on shredded trees. Or wait till Wednesday at 3pm for this link to work.

I wasn't a science guy in college, but I'm not sure why not. (Hint: math.)

This is pretty cool, though. The ends of chromosomes fray with cell reproduction and stress, and when they're gone, you die. (Yikes!)

It's as if the non-coding ends of chromosomes were the fraying fringes of carpets. They absorb the damage and stress of pounding feet, and yet the carpets remain whole, until the fringes are breached.

See why I wasn't a science guy? Still, cool stuff.

More about telomeres here:
Wikipedia
Kimball's Biology Pages
Science Daily

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