Author Archives: Roger Gosden

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About Roger Gosden

A British/ Canadian/ American scientist specializing in reproduction & embryology whose career spanned from Cambridge to Cornell's Weill Medical College in NYC. Married to Lucinda Veeck, the embryologist for the first successful IVF team in America. They retired to Virginia, where he became a master naturalist and writer affiliated with William & Mary. He also writes on Substack at What’s Hot in Fertility? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Gosden

The Strange Tale of a Chimera

Posted on December 12, 2015 by Roger Gosden

The Chimera had a serpent’s tail with the head of a lion and a goat on its monstrous body. That was a Greek myth, but real-life chimeras exist. They originate from the blending of cells from two fertilized eggs into a … Continue reading →

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Chimps Head for Retirement

Posted on December 1, 2015 by Roger Gosden

In 1871, the now-extinct Hornet magazine published a cartoon of Charles Darwin looking like a human-ape chimera. It was not meant kindly. We might suppose that progressive Victorian thinkers would have embraced chimps, gorillas, orangs, etc. as newly-found cousins. Perhaps … Continue reading →

Posted in Animalia, Environment | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Glycerinate Fall Leaves

Posted on November 25, 2015 by Roger Gosden

Here’s a cheapskate suggestion for decorating the table at Thanksgiving or giving at Christmas to people who have everything. Fall leaves! While other families in the neighborhood are filling bags with leaves from their yard for collectors to cart away … Continue reading →

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Inferno in Indonesia

Posted on November 16, 2015 by Roger Gosden

Indonesian forests are burning. It happens annually, but this time the inferno is far worse. On some days, the fires evolve more carbon into the atmosphere than the whole of America (whose economy is 20 times larger), and the smog … Continue reading →

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Trust your Microbiome (Gut)

Posted on November 7, 2015 by Roger Gosden

The gut feelings of psychic “scatomancers” who studiously examined the color, shape, and buoyancy of poo to forecast well-being and life prospects were more reliable than palm-reading, tarot cards, and astrology. They had “data,” and now we have the microbiome. … Continue reading →

Posted in Biomedical, Health | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment