Laying down the law: every living thing obeys the rules of scaling discovered by Max Kleiber

Article Abstract:

Swiss agricultural chemist Max Kleiber, who lived between 1893 and 1976, published a paper on 'Body size and metabolism' in 1932. In this paper, he included a graph plotting the log of the body weight of mammals against the log of their basal metabolic rate (BMR). He indicated that the BMR of animals is determined by their body weight, w, as a function of 3.52w0.74. In his 1961 book 'The Fire of Life,' he recommended that BMR be expressed as 70w0.75 kilocalories per day, or 3.4m0.75 watts. The many BMRs now available for cold- and warm-blooded species confirm Kleber's 3/4 rule across 18 orders of magnitude.

Research, Influence, Metabolic regulation, Scaling laws (Statistical physics), Scaling laws (Mathematical physics), Kleiber, Max

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How many billions to go? The peaking of the population growth rate deserves wider recognition

Article Abstract:

United Nations demographers have scaled down their forecasts for world population growth twice in recent years. Fertilities have been declining more quickly than expected, and it is now clear that the absolute rise in population peaked at 85 million people a year during the late 1980s. It is now very likely that the current global population total of six billion will not double again. It is clear that calculating the eventual peak in population is beyond the ability of demographers, largely because it is impossible to accurately forecast the course of fertilities.

Analysis, Population forecasting

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Magic beans

Article Abstract:

Issues are presented concerning the importance of soy beans to the US economy. These beans are grown on over 15% of arable land and are the second most valuable crop. They were first imported from Japan in 1853.

United States, Economic aspects, Column, Agricultural policy, Soybean, Soybeans

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