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The rattlesnake, the elephant, and the baby. They have a basic problem in common: staying warm. Or at least, warm enough. They have very similar metabolic systems, which provide heat and energy. But they also have differences when it comes to managing to stay warm.

We human animals have both heating and cooling systems. The complex, interconnected, pathways of metabolism generate the heat we need. If the rate of metabolism is too high — maybe we’re running a marathon — cooling mechanisms kick in; the blood is redirected more to circulate near the skin, we sweat, we pour water over our heads.… Read the rest “KEEPING THE BABY WARM”

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A mild tremor went through the blogosphere when Coca Cola announced that it would soon re-introduce Coke containing cane sugar in the USA. The consumer-in-chief D. J. Trump urged this move earlier in the year. As of end October, 2025, Coke has now started to do this ‘in select markets’. In recent times, Coke USA has used sugar derived from corn starch, so-called High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), rather than sugar isolated from sugar cane.… Read the rest “Not-So-High Fructose Corn Syrup”

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As we people of the modern world grow heavier by the year, we have developed a growing interest in our morbid obesity. Or a morbid interest in our growing obesity. Our curiosity is justified: obesity is firmly linked to poor health. As a result, there’s a massive, and growing, industry dedicated to helping us, or at least promising to help us, lose weight. But like most stories about metabolism, it’s complicated. One aspect that is not well understood is the relationship of exercise, physical exertion, to obesity.… Read the rest “Obesity: What’s exercise got to do with it?”

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How long can you expect to live? The answer to that question is all about statistics and probabilities: some of us will die this year, some of us will live to 100. But what, exactly, do the statistics folks mean by ‘life expectancy’? It turns out to be a little complicated.

‘Life expectancy at birth’, a term we often see, doesn’t represent anything real: it’s a statistical creation. But when you understand it, it makes sense.… Read the rest “life expectancy — what does it mean?”