Those of us raised in modern cities tend to notice horizontal and vertical lines more quickly than lines at other orientations. In contrast, people raised in nomadic tribes do a better job noticing lines skewed at intermediate angles, since Mother Nature tends to work with a wider array of lines than most architects. Sam Kean Read Quote
Whereas recessive traits require two bad copies of a gene to become noticeable, a dominant trait expresses itself no matter what the other copy does. A benign example of dominance: If you inherit one gene for sticky wet earwax and one gene for dry earwax, the sticky earwax gene wins out every time. Sam Kean Read Quote
The amygdala is indeed crucial for monitoring our environment and deciding what’s worth getting worked up over. Once the amygdala determines this, however, it merely trips another circuit to actually produce the panic. Sam Kean Read Quote
People adored Element 13’s color and luster, which reminded them of the sparkle of gold and silver – a brand-new precious metal. In fact, aluminum became more precious than gold and silver in the 19th century because it was harder to obtain. Sam Kean Read Quote
In ‘The Violinist’s Thumb,’ I talk about the poignancy of cells leaking across the placenta into both the mother and the child. Sam Kean Read Quote
Aluminum is the most common metal in the earth’s crust, almost twice as abundant as iron. And one common class of aluminum minerals, collectively called alum, has been in use since at least Greek and Roman times. Sam Kean Read Quote
The noble gases, which reside on the East Coast of the periodic table, are its aristocrats – detached and aloof, never bothering to interact with the rabble of common elements that make up the vast majority of the world. Sam Kean Read Quote
