Word: defective
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Curiously, this does not seem to me a huge defect. For one thing, even when people live under the worst forms of totalitarianism, ordinary life somehow proceeds. They get married, they have babies, they work at their jobs, they grouse about the nutsy behavior of their friends and relatives. But perhaps more important, Caramel (the title derives from the name of the preparation used for leg-waxing in the salon) testifies to the power of American popular culture at least briefly to override the endless traumas of our ever-more-violent political lives. Even Anne Frank filled a scrapbook with...
...cools below 32ºF (oºC), it undergoes what's called a phase transition--the same stuff assumes a whole different structure. An ice cube doesn't solidify all at once; the freezing starts in several spots, which grow until they meet. Unless the crystals are perfectly aligned, you get a defect--one of those white streaks inside most ice cubes...
...film makes no attempt to explain these events, and that is, I think, a defect. It merely summons us to witness, asks us to do what we can to prevent similar atrocities. Chang did a little better in her book, suggesting that ordinary Japanese soldiers were so miserably treated by their officers that when they were given the opportunity, they simply surrendered to animalistic instinct. That seems likely - but it also seems somehow inadequate. It occurs to one that this is a story that requires more thoughtful, even theoretical, probing...
...causes of autism remain largely shrouded in mystery, but there are some types of the disorder that can be traced to specific gene defects. The most common of these - responsible for roughly 5% of autism cases - is a flaw in the X chromosome that causes a condition known as Fragile X Syndrome. Because the defect has been studied on a molecular level, it provides a unique window into understanding autism - and treating it. And that is why a paper published in this week's issue of the journal Neuron is bound to generate excitement, even though the work was done...
Hagerman, one of the nation's leading researchers on Fragile X, hopes that the current explosion of interest in the disorder will lead more people with autism and their relatives to be tested for the Fragile X defect. Just being a carrier of the disorder can have health implications, including an elevated risk of premature menopause for women and tremors and cognitive decline in older men. Theoretically, a drug that treats Fragile X could lower risks for carriers as well. Says Hagerman: "It's a very exciting time...