Purpose of appendix believed found

CNN/AP The function of the appendix seems related to the massive amount of bacteria populating the human digestive system, according to the study in the Journal of Theoretical Biology. There are more bacteria than human cells in the typical body. Most are good and help digest food. But sometimes the flora of bacteria in the…

Our Far-flung Correspondents: The Dark Side

From the New Yorker: It may seem strange that this last observation could have surprised anyone, but in Galileo’s time people assumed that the Milky Way must be some kind of continuous substance. It truly resembled a streak of spilled liquid–our word “galaxy” comes from the Greek for milk–and it was so bright that it…