Новости за 23.06.2016

BEST OF 2016 Giraffes have been seen to wade into rivers — but none has been seen to swim. Can computer modelling supply the answer which observation cannot, as to whether giraffes can swim? The lungs are huge, but the neck is long. A giraffe could easily float, but with its neck flat on the water, a very awkward posture. It could then kick its way forward, much as a horse does. It would be swimming, but badly. Small wonder if swimming is something that giraffes take great care to avoid

“New York is a particularly ‘birdy’ city (to use the birder’s term). Someone who makes a serious effort to find birds in the city almost every day — there are such people — can find upward of three hundred species in one year without ever leaving the city limits. The cumulative bird list of Central Park alone includes over 280 species. More different kinds of birds nest in New York City now than did fifty years ago, although those that just pass through may not be as numerous”

Giraffes have been seen to wade into rivers — but none has been seen to swim. Can computer modelling supply the answer which observation cannot, as to whether giraffes can swim? The lungs are huge, but the neck is long. A giraffe could easily float, but with its neck flat on the water, a very awkward posture. It could then kick its way forward, much as a horse does. It would be swimming, but badly. Small wonder if swimming is something that giraffes take great care to avoid

Written before Britain’s EU vote; rendered all the more prescient by the outcome. Britain has alway been on the outer edge of the EU, and getting edgier. “Does it matter a whole heap if we move more formally from the inner outer ring to the outer outer ring as some kind of associate member of the EU?” Poorer Brits voted to leave the EU because they rely most on public-sector jobs and welfare benefits, giving them “a greater attachment to the symbols and benefits of national citizenship”.

Tales of prison life from a reporter enrolled as a guard. PG-15 for sex and violence. “The human resources director tells us that if we recruit a friend to work here, we’ll get 500 bucks. She gives us other tips: Don’t eat the food given to inmates; don’t have sex with them or you could get 10 years; if we have friends or relatives incarcerated here, we need to report it. She hands out fridge magnets with the number of a hotline to use if we feel suicidal. We get three counseling sessions for free”

Language is central to medicine. It is very hard to cure a condition that cannot be described. “Even veterinarians, trained to diagnose animals who cannot put their complaints into words, begin by labelling the illness and proceed by specifying the treatment.” Every visit to the doctor is a test of both parties’ language skills: “He seems not to understand the problem because you can’t describe it lucidly enough. You don’t understand the proposed treatment because he can’t explain it”