The news these days is grim for the science-minded. The governor of Texas, who'd also like to be your president, says that Texas schools teach creationism. (They don't, although Perry--who appointed a creationist to chair the State Board of Education--may wish otherwise.) Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson spoke passionately on HBO about the country's retreat from dreams. So I found some small comfort in an email I got from Patrick House, a Stanford graduate student, about my recent post on the cunning ways of the parasite Toxoplasma--Toxo to its friends and admirers.
I'm the first author on the new Toxo paper. I wanted to send you an email that hopefully cheers your day -- I'm getting a Ph.D. now in Neuroscience at Stanford, working exclusively on Toxo -- and I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you.
I did my undergrad work in Philosophy (with some neuroscience thrown in) and ...