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Greek magic spells love
Voodoo dolls, gemstones, and curse tablets are just a few of the
ancient Greek magic spells that classics department chair and professor
Christopher A. Faraone refers to in his new book, Ancient Greek
Love Magic (Harvard University Press). Gender plays a key role
in the two distinct spells presented by Faraone: the curse charm,
used by men to torture females with passion until the women surrendered
to them, and the binding charm, used by women to sedate men and
bring out their affections. Through his study of “love magic,”
Faraone offers insight into ancient Greek sexuality and society.
Last sperm to the finish line wins
The early sperm does not get the ovum, say Jerry Coyne, an ecology
& evolution professor, and Catherine Price, PhD’99—at
least when it comes to the mating of fruit flies. Coyne and Price
report in the July 29 Nature that the last male fruit fly
to copulate with a female is most likely to sire the most offspring.
Though the female mates with multiple males, the last male to fertilize
her will physically displace and incapacitate the sperm of her previous
mates and thereby ensure his own paternity.
Trench warfare yields plant survival
The “arms race” theory of plant resistance paints an
inaccurate picture of plant life, says assistant professor of ecology
& evolution Joy Bergelson in the August 12 Nature. This
theory holds that plant genes will fight battles against germs before
the plant mutates to a higher level of resistance. Bergelson and
colleagues contend that a “trench warfare” model is more
appropriate. They say diseases are likely to maintain stable forms
of resistant and non-resistant genes over long periods. Focusing
on the Rpm1 gene of the common mustard plant, the researchers found
that when germs kill all of the non-resistant plants, the germs
fade away because they have no more available hosts. The resistant
plants are left to dominate until non-resistant plants can grow
again in safety.
Market tied to art’s worth and artist’s
age
Art critics and scholars may turn up their noses at the suggestion
that the marketplace can serve as a guide to quality work, but that’s
just what U of C economist David Galenson found in a study for the
National Bureau of Economic Research. Galenson argues that comparisons
between price values and artistic judgments show that market prices
tend to reflect critical reviews. He also notes that the criteria
for sought-after qualities in modern art have changed, so that artists
are judged to be creating their best and most highly valued works
at a young age.
Gene linked to skin’s barrier function
Researchers led by post-doctoral fellow Julie Segre, and working
in Elaine Fuchs’s molecular genetics & cell biology lab,
have discovered the gene responsible for the acquisition of the
barrier function in skin. The barrier function keeps water inside
the skin and microbes outside. According to the researchers’
report in the August Nature Genetics, the fat layer that
forms a sealed barrier on the skin was missing in lab mice without
the Klf4 gene.
Monica-gate in review
Richard A. Posner, senior lecturer at the Law School and Chief
Judge of the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, analyzes the
presidential impeachment process employed during the Clinton-Lewinsky
scandal in his new book, coyly titled An Affair of State (Harvard
University Press). Addressing the overall place of impeachment in
the American constitutional scheme, Posner provides key definitions
of obstruction of justice and perjury, summaries of the independent
counsel’s investigation and related congressional hearings,
and thoughts on questions of public versus private morality.—B.B.
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