Flight of the Honey 

A. Honeybees are distinguished by their ability to make liquid sugar (honey) and their propensity to build wax nests in colonies, both of which require a high level of social interaction among members. {[As a result, they maintain strict gender-based divisions of labour, with all males working as drones to fertilize and care for the eggs, and all females, except for the one fertile queen, tasked with gathering nectar for the colony's offspring. In addition, honeybees have developed a complex system of communication to send vital information from one individual to another. ][25]}

B. Perhaps the most remarkable characteristic of honeybee communication is a set of flight motions only performed by a female worker bee that has returned to the nest with nectar and needs to alert the rest of her colony that she has discovered food supplies and where they can be found. Karl von Frisch, a German zoologist, first interpreted this so-called honeybee dance in the early 1970s. For the purpose of observation, von Frisch and his students built several glass-walled hives and marked a collection of worker bees, or foragers, with paint. When the bees returned, he meticulously recorded their movements, the angle and direction of their flight, and any other visual cues offered by the colony. Von Frisch discovered that each element of the dance revealed specific information about the location of the nectar reserves and enticed others to revisit the site.

C. The distance from the field to the hive is the first piece of information transmitted by dancing bees, which they do in one of three ways. If it is fewer than 50 meters from the colony's nest, {[the bee will fly in tight circles before abruptly changing direction. She will repeat this routine, which von Frisch's team referred to as the round dance until she has recruited multiple employees to return to the field with her.. When the distance exceeds 50 meters but is less than 150 meters, she will do a sickle dance, a flight pattern like a crescent. If the field is more than 150 meters away, the forager will perform a waggle dance consisting of a brief run straight ahead followed by a return to her original position. She will then retrace her steps and return from the opposite side. The length of the forward run corresponds to the distance of the food source; for instance, a 2.5-second forward run implies that the nectar was located approximately 2500 meters away. 

D. Recruits must also know the direction in which they must fly to reach the suitable foraging spot; this information is sent to the hive via the bee's orientation. It is not, however, a direct correlation with the position of the hive's food supply, but rather its positioning relative to the sun. Therefore, if the food is located directly opposite the sun, the bee will fly straight down; if it is in the same direction as the sun, it will fly straight up from the colony nest. A position of 60 degrees to the right of the sun will cause the bee to descend at an angle of 60 degrees to the right of the nest. In addition, because the sun is in constant motion throughout the day, the bee's orientation will change depending on when the dance is done. However, sceptics of von Frisch's results argue that visual signals are insufficient to indicate the exact location of a food source. Several scientists, including Adrian Wenner, believe that odour is one of the factors along with dance for honeybee communication. Wenner was unable to attract fresh workers to the foraging activities using robotic bees performing the same dances; but, when he gave nectar to the robot, workers readily followed. Additionally, he determined that the odours must be indicative of the actual flowers that hold the food source; otherwise, the bees will arrive at the place without knowing which blooms will be beneficial.

Keep Taking the Tablets 

A. Aspirin, which was first called "one of the most astonishing medical breakthroughs" by Diarmuid Jeffreys, "is incredibly versatile, curing some of the most dangerous human maladies, reducing headaches, and repairing limbs." It can ease your pain. 

B. There is widespread agreement on its worth due to its long history of recognition. Willow tree extract was a common pain reliever in ancient Egypt. Centuries later, the Greek physician Hippocrates advocated willow bark as a treatment for labour pains and as an antipyretic. However, from the 17th century until the 19th century, salicylates, chemicals found in willow trees, were not the subject of much scientific research. There was a passion for discovering and synthesizing active chemicals. Aspirin, or acetylsalicylic acid, was first discovered and improved in the late 19th century by Friedrich Bayer, a German pharmaceutical business.

C. There were many reasons why the scientific community of the late nineteenth century was open to experimenting. First, they were eager to find answers to some of the biggest questions in their field. Today, even the most fundamental scientific endeavours, like sequencing the human genome, require a team of experts, a network of computers, and many millions of dollars whereas once a lone researcher with a few chemicals and a test tube can discover new knowledge. 

D. However, a knowledge of science and academic inquiry alone is insufficient to account for social innovation. The 19th century saw an intensification of both scientific progress and the rise of industry. People back then had resources, energy, and the determination to follow through on their adventures. The discovery of aspirin was a long process with many small milestones leading up to the big announcement. The great scientific, medical, and economic breakthroughs of this century are responsible for all of this.

E. There is an astonishing correlation between enormous wealth and advances in the pharmaceutical industry. Huge sums of money were spent on advertising to ensure its continued viability as a popular pain reliever during its first 70 years of existence. In the 1970s, pharmaceutical companies devoted resources to promoting new pain relievers such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen. As these findings unfold, new information becomes available about aspirin's ability to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and other problems may have been lost forever.

F. Against this background, the relationship between huge amounts of money and drugs is puzzling. Continuous access to our products for innovation and scientific research is built on commercial success. In contrast, the commercial market can eliminate products as much as more desirable ones emerge. Aspirin is an example of a potential 'miracle drug' that has existed for over 70 years without any clear knowledge of its mechanism of action, yet is highly profitable. If ibuprofen and paracetamol were on the market ten years before him, aspirin might not exist today. The drug had been lying around for some time, so no one had looked into it.][31]}

G. The relatively recently discovered benefits of aspirin have been identified by public sector scientists, not by multinational pharmaceutical companies. That's why. The pharmaceutical industry, which "only invests in profitable research," has decided that aspirin is no longer profitable. With low production costs, low-profit margins, and no patent protection, anyone can make one. This could lead to a drop in sales of more expensive products and bankruptcy, so pharmaceutical companies have put a strong brake on promoting the drug. 

H. So how can we get more drug companies interested in the medical use of aspirin? Jeffreys argues that more federal funding should be spent on clinical research. If I was in healthcare, I would make a different decision. That said, "This drug is really affordable. It could potentially be used in a variety of other situations." You'd have to spend a lot more money to find out.

I. In addition to describing the creation of the "wonder medication," Jeffries's book investigates the necessity of such study by analysing the nature of the innovation and the roles played by major corporations, public funding, and regulation.