Many of our familiar crops have had beneficial traits bred into them from radiation-induced mutated strains. Among these are the Ruby Red grapefruit and the round Asian Pear.
About a decade ago, a virus was killing millions of cocoa trees in Ghana. Gamma-irradiated mutants were created, and a resistant variant was found that is now being used to replace the susceptible crop.
Interesting about the night-vision shadow issue. If he were using infrared, instead of a photomultiplier (or whatever it's called), then an infrared light would let things cast a shadow, but still would be invisible to human sight.
A study was done in which women were asked to smell T-shirts from men, and rate the possible attractiveness of the men. Women generally found greater attraction for those men whose major histocompatibility complex (MHC), a molecule used by the immune system to help identity 'self' against 'foreign' cells, was most different from their own. Women who were taking the birth control pill, however, had the opposite reaction.
The researchers speculate that a highly different MHC helped indicate a high degree of un-relatedness, which would be advantageous for mating; bringing greater hybrid vigor. The birth control pill exception might be due to an effect found in pregnant mammals, who prefer to congregate with family members, possibly for protection during pregnancy.
The researchers further speculated that the pill may then lead to people becoming attracted and marrying under the mis-guidance of artificial hormonal cues. Cessation of using the pill may then lead to a loss of attraction during marriage.
About a decade ago, a virus was killing millions of cocoa trees in Ghana. Gamma-irradiated mutants were created, and a resistant variant was found that is now being used to replace the susceptible crop.
The researchers speculate that a highly different MHC helped indicate a high degree of un-relatedness, which would be advantageous for mating; bringing greater hybrid vigor. The birth control pill exception might be due to an effect found in pregnant mammals, who prefer to congregate with family members, possibly for protection during pregnancy.
The researchers further speculated that the pill may then lead to people becoming attracted and marrying under the mis-guidance of artificial hormonal cues. Cessation of using the pill may then lead to a loss of attraction during marriage.