My father in his last years was tentatively diagnosed as having Alzheimer’s. I never believed it. Now, new research on the human genome and, among other things, how canaries learn new songs brings us a little closer to understanding how memory works, and why it doesn’t.

Envy dropped by this morning. I hadn’t seen him for a long time, and he was feeling neglected. “No way to treat a friend,” he said, all pouty.