Hi all, If you’re like me, you found yourself this season contemplating or actually purchasing a gemstone of some kind for someone you love. Even if you didn’t, you’ve probably enjoyed the glitter and sparkle of well-cut gems. If so, you are in good company. A recent archaeological find on the edge of the Kalahari in South Africa reveals that we humans have long had a fascination for stones that flash with luster. One hundred…

Chapter 1 Stone and Claw The stone pulsed with life. Cam jerked his hand away and stared at Dara, the village wise woman.        “What was that?” he asked.        They stood in the shadow of one of many enormous boulders that littered the village. A puddle of water that nestled in a cleft in the rock reflected the slanting light of the morning sun. Its glassy surface rippled as a cool breeze sighed down…

I’ll let you decide. In 1997, Ian Wilmut created a media storm when he successfully cloned a sheep he named Dolly. Since then, everything from mice to goats and cats to cattle have been cloned. Today, second, third, and fourth generation clones of cattle feed in the same cattle yards. The economic potential for this technology is obvious. If you have a bull with a particularly desirable characteristic, you don’t have to lose that trait…