Sam Kean Quotes

Sam Kean
Sam Kean
American Writer
About Elements Every People Work You
Related authors: Dale Carnegie Denis Waitley Dr. Seuss H. L. Mencken Napoleon Hill Ray Bradbury W. E. B. Du Bois William Arthur Ward
Genes are like the story, and DNA is the language that the story is written in. Sam Kean
Language Written Genes Like Story
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
Class Earth Minerals Has-Been Collectively Almost Abundant Since Crust Most Metal Least Been Times Greek Iron Roman Common Use Twice
The more that I looked at DNA, the more I realized it was nature and nurture. It's how genes and your environment work together to produce the person you are. Sam Kean
Work Nature You Together Nurture More Environment Genes Looked How Person Work Together Produce Realized Your
The most profound change that genetics brings about might not be scientific at all. It might be mental and even spiritual enrichment: a more expansive sense of who we humans are, existentially, and where we came from, and how we fit with other life on earth. Sam Kean
Life Spiritual Change Sense Other Enrichment Earth About Mental More Genetics Most Scientific How Came Fit Expansive Where Might Who Even Profound Humans Brings
Despite its obscurity, probably no element on the periodic table has as colorful a history as antimony. Money, madness, poison, linguistics, charlatanism, sex - pretty much every theme that runs through the periodic table can be found in Element 51. Sam Kean
History Money Madness Sex Poison Every Despite Runs Table Pretty Through Colorful Obscurity Periodic Linguistics Theme Much Element Found
Medieval alchemists, despite their lust for gold, considered mercury the most potent and poetic substance in the universe. As a child, I would have agreed with them. Sam Kean
Universe Lust Despite Considered Would Potent Poetic Mercury Most Child Substance Gold Them Agreed Medieval
Mutations can arise anywhere in the genome, in gene DNA and noncoding DNA alike. But mutations to genes have bigger consequences: They can disable proteins and kill a creature. Sam Kean
Consequences Alike Mutations Gene Arise Genes Genome Proteins Bigger Anywhere Creature
As a child in the early 1980s, I tended to talk with things in my mouth - food, dentist's tubes, balloons that would fly away, whatever - and if no one else was around, I'd talk anyway. Sam Kean
Food Fly Whatever Mouth Else Would No-One Talk Around Balloons Dentist Child Tubes Anyway Away Things Early
I didn't mind staying home from school and medicating myself with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. Being sick always gave me another chance to break an old-fashioned mercury thermometer, too. Sam Kean
Myself Home Me School Mind Sick Too Gave Vanilla Staying Mercury Another Always Being Break Ice Ice Cream Chocolate Cream Old-Fashioned Thermometer Sauce Chance
I think it's a natural human tendency, when you read something, you tend to read a lot of your prejudices into it. And neuroscience is like a lot of disciplines - it has fashions; things change. Sam Kean
You Change Natural Think Something Tend Neuroscience Tendency Like Read Disciplines Lot Human Prejudices Your Fashions Things
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
Time You Matter Example Become Every Other Every Time Benign Out Bad Gene Wins Dry Sticky Does Dominance Dominant Itself Wet Trait Traits Whereas Require Noticeable Inherit Expresses Copies Copy Two
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
People Silver More Adored Fact Color Reminded Obtain Became Because Metal Than Precious Gold In Fact Which Them Century Sparkle Element Harder Luster
Some scientists claim - although these claims are contentious - that they can form deadly isomers with simple X-rays and that hafnium can multiply the power of these X-rays to an astounding degree, converting them into gamma rays up to 250 times more potent than the X-rays. Sam Kean
Simple Degree Power Astounding Claim Claims Some More Potent Rays Deadly Although Scientists Up Times Than Form Converting Them Gamma Multiply
If you had to sum up chemistry in one sentence, it might be this: Atoms need to have full shells of electrons to feel satisfied, and different elements steal, shed, or borrow different numbers of electrons to achieve a full shell. Sam Kean
You Achieve Atoms Chemistry Satisfied Sum Borrow Steal Had Feel Shed Shell Shells Up Different Different Elements Sentence Might Full Electron Elements Need Numbers
Scientists didn't discover the noble gas helium - the second most common element in the universe - on Earth until 1895. And they thought it existed in minute quantities only, until miners found a huge underground cache in Kansas in 1903. Sam Kean
Thought Universe Earth Miners Minute Only Noble Most Until Underground Quantities Scientists Discover Existed Huge Common Kansas Helium Element Found Gas Second
I'm kind of a sucker for the retro-diagnoses. Sam Kean
Kind Sucker
When first presented with the jumble of the periodic table, I scanned for mercury and couldn't find it. It is there - between gold, which is also dense and soft, and thallium, which is also poisonous. But the symbol for mercury, Hg, consists of two letters that don't even appear in its name. Sam Kean
First Consists Find Table Poisonous Mercury Between Name Also Periodic Dense Jumble Gold Which Appear Even Letters Symbol Presented Two Soft
Although it's the hub of the nervous system and the ultimate terminus of every nerve, the brain itself lacks enervation and therefore cannot feel pain. Sam Kean
Nervous Pain Every System Nerve Nervous System Feel Although Ultimate Hub Brain Itself Lacks Cannot Therefore
Brains, you see, vary a lot from person to person - they vary as much as faces do. Sam Kean
You See Faces Vary Lot Brains Person Much
Brain surgery couldn't happen without the patient's own active voice to guide the work. The patient is part of the surgical team here, perhaps the most important part, and above all, that's what makes neurosurgery different. Sam Kean
Work Important Own Patient Active Guide Above Voice Part Perhaps Most Important Part Without Makes Surgery Surgical Brain Brain Surgery The Most Important Different Happen Team Here
No one knows quite the reason, but surgically severing the corpus callosum can reduce the rate and intensity of seizures. So in the early 1960s, a few patients with severe epilepsy had their corpus callosums cut, turning them into split-brain people. Sam Kean
People Few Severe Rate Had No-One Knows Reduce Intensity Quite Patients Them Cut Turning Reason Early
The brain, which is plastic when young, must be exposed to certain sights early in life, or it will remain blind to those sights forever. Sam Kean
Life Will Young Those Sights Must Remain Blind Brain Forever Which Certain Plastic Exposed Early
Animal vision - including human vision - is so biased toward movement that we don't technically see stationary objects at all. Sam Kean
Animal Vision Technically Stationary See Objects Toward Biased Human Movement Including
The amygdala plays a crucial role in processing fear, and minus her two amygdalae, S.M. became unflappable. Studies of her are actually a hoot to read, since they basically consist of scientists concocting ever-more-elaborate ways of trying to scare her. Sam Kean
Fear Consist Ways Hoot Scare Minus Crucial Studies Since Read Became Scientists Role Trying Processing Her Actually Basically Two Plays
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
Mother About Both Poignancy Thumb Leaking Talk Child Cells Across Violinist
Microchimeric sharing means that, even if the mother loses a child, she'll have a small memento of him or her secreted away inside her. Similarly, a bit of our mothers live on in all of us no matter how long ago Mom died. Sam Kean
Mom Mother Matter Long Live Our Bit Memento Inside Similarly Small Sharing She Him How Mothers Loses Child Died Us Means Even Away Her
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