Well, popular science can be a great communicator, but, in this case, the writer was talking utter bollocks. The person quoted in the piece must be squirming. And, Snailie, do try to not be overly-clever: if you're really going to use fancy words such as "erstwhile", then you really should know what they mean first. Or, be like me: let your speech be yea yea, nay nay...

And dearest Wacko, yet another post from you that meaneth nothing at all. Are you overdosing on tramadol, by any chance?