Reading New Yorker magazine

I happened to pick up May 11, 2009 copy of the New Yorker. I keep finding articles that are really good. I may have to start reading it regularly!

In any event, two interesting article quotes:

From The Art Doctor: How do you restore works mad ewith latex, caviar, or elephant dung? (quote p. 60-61)
Scheidemann remembers receiving a call from a collector who had bought a Rachel Harrison sculpture made of gray packing blankets wrapped around a central core. The collector's assistants, apparently thinking that the packing blankets were actually packing blankets, had dismembered the piece. With the help of Harrison, Scheidemann reconstructed the work, and sent it off to a company to ship back to the owner. He subsequently received a phone call: someone had undone the sculpture a second time. Scheidemann and Harrison recomposed it once more, and this time, using thread and glue, fixed the blankets in place for good.

From Brain Games: The Marco Polo of neuroscience. (quote p. 82)
In his office in Mandler Hall, Ramachandran positioned a twenty-inch-by-twenty-inch drugstore mirror upright, and perpendicular to the man's body, and told him to place his intact right arm on one side of the mirror and his stump on the other. he told the man to arrange the mirror so that the reflection created the illusion that his intact arm was the continuation of the amputated one. Then Ramachandran asked the man to move his right and left arms simultaneously, in synchronous motions--like a conductor--while keeping his eyes on the reflection of his intact arm. "Oh, my God!" the man began to should. "Oh, my God, Doctor, this is unbelievable." For the first time in ten years, the patient could feel his phantom limb "moving" and the cramping pain was instantly relieved. ["the first example of a successful 'amputation' of a phantom limb"]

The first quote to me exemplifies the somewhat ridiculousness of modern art. I like modern art, don't get me wrong. But it's a crazy world.

The second quote is just part of a tremendously fascinating article about the nature of the brain and its abilities. Though, also, kinda scary as much of what we consider ourselves to be as 'higher beings' is potentially explained 'simply' by how the physical brain is wired. Even consciousness/self awareness. I could type out a whole big long quote again, but maybe you should just find the article.

Boring Thursday

Hi, it's Thursday, and I'll be your boring hostess today. I realized my state taxes have to be done today - ack! I'm back to drinking my tension tamer tea - I took a brave bold desperate step yesterday and had some green tea (caffeine) because I could NOT for the life of me concentrate. So far no ill after-affects. But see, it lets me do stuff like have 3 pieces of bread and an avocado for dinner, which really is not enough food for me. So, I will eat well today to ensure I don't get a migraine.

Here's a link to the astronomy picture of the day for your viewing pleasure. Sliver of a moon.

Why Hair Goes Gray

Why Hair Goes Grey

Study Blames a Chain Reaction That Makes Hair Bleach Itself From the Inside Out
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Feb. 25, 2009 -- Scientists may have figured out why hair turns gray, and their finding may open the door to new anti-graying strategies.

New research shows that hair turns gray as a result of a chemical chain reaction that causes hair to bleach itself from the inside out.

The process starts when there is a dip in levels of an enzyme called catalase. That catalase shortfall means that the hydrogen peroxide that naturally occurs in hair can't be broken down. So hydrogen peroxide builds up in the hair, and because other enzymes that would repair hydrogen peroxide's damage are also in short supply, the hair goes gray.

Putting the brakes on that chemical chain reaction "could have great implications in the hair graying scenario in humans," write the researchers, who included Karin Schallreuter, a professor clinical and experimental dermatology at England's University of Bradford.

The study appears online in The FASEB Journal; the FASEB is the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

Starlight Reserve

A Starlight Reserve is a site where a commitment to defend the night sky quality and the access to starlight has been established. Its main function will be to preserve the quality of the night sky and its associated values, being them cultural, scientific, astronomical, natural, or landscape-related.

I read about this in relation to Tekapo, New Zealand. They are trying to get designated as a starlight reserve. Can you imagine being able to see such a vision as the one below? Amazing. I might need to plan a trip there. Here's the article that came out.



Photo

Cuttlefish

So, there was nothing on regular tv last night so I had to switch it to public tv. And again found a NOVA show, this time about cuttlefish. They are the coolest creatures. I've seen one scuba diving and it's just fascinating to watch. What I didn't know is that if you let them get used to you, which doesn't take long, you can follow them around. They can change to any color or pattern imaginable. And apparently they are smart. The show talked about some experiments they have done to test their intelligence, and while I had to go to bed early to try and sleep, I saw they made it to the second stage of problem solving - meaning linking two issues. So for instance to get out of a maze they had to learn two things, and they did. They and octopi have the largest brains of invertebrates.

Oh, and even more interesting is the mating game. Females are very picky. While some/many male cuttlefish are huge (3 feet long) and will fight over a female, there are smaller males that make themselves look like females so they can get through the fighting bullies and be successful in mating. Way cool.

So, there's your science for the day.

Mark your calendar - Total lunar eclipse

For all of you sky watchers, like me, look up February 20th and you will see a total lunar eclipse. Go here to see what time what part of the eclipse will be happening. Everyone in North America at least should be able to see it. Also I think South America. Go to the site and take a look...

Zinc Finger

Since I'm all about music, I thought I'd follow Heather's lead and get my band name, album cover art, and album title. So...

Zinc Finger presents:

Confused Power with Greatness

I love all of it. And, on a side note, learned something new about zinc fingers, proteins that can bind with DNA.

To Do it Yourself:
use the first link. no matter what the title of the article is, it is now your band's name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random

now on to the second link. the last four words of the quote is your album title.
http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3

now for the cover art. go to this link and the third pic is your album cover art.
http://flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/

Look! Up in the sky!

Skywatchers throughout the Northern Hemisphere report the newly visible
Comet Holmes a remarkable sight even under city lights. The comet,
described in glowing terms by many observers, should continue to be visible
to the naked eye for at least the next few weeks.

Only a couple comets each decade are this easy to see......

Work Hermit Crab

Everyone has left. Everyone being the two immediate people I work with. And I kinda like it like this sometimes. I get it for 15 minutes today, and all day Thursday. I am left with my music, and my computer, and what more could you want? Most times I do need and want human interaction, but sometimes it's really nice to be a hermit at work.

And, while looking for a photo of a female hermit via google (the immediate ones that come up are males - what, don't females become hermits?), I found an interesting science factoid. Did you know that most crab-care books state that it is impossible to tell the sex between male and female land hermit crabs? But apparently it is not that difficult provided your hermit crab is willing to come rather far out of its shell for you. Then you look for the gonopores. It's not so difficult to tell the sex of a work hermit though.

I am not a rat

I did a search recently on tickling, because I'm one of very few people I know that really doesn't like to be tickled. I've gotten into BIG trouble twice for how hard I smacked someone when they tried to tickle me.

In any event, I came across this interesting article about rats and tickling. They enjoy it!

See for yourself.

But I *am* a squirrel. I either read or heard sometime that if you're driving down the road and a squirrel runs into the road, don't stop because he's timed it to make it across. And though I haven't googled it, I tend to believe it. Yesterday on the way home, went through a reddish-yellow light (cough), and trying to beat the cars that were starting to turn, and make it through the pedestrians that were trying to cross, and one damn woman stops dead in her tracks in the middle of the intersection when I had figured out where to go by the speed she was walking. I almost slammed right into her! I screamed and made it around, but DAMN, it was close - there was no braking to be had.

Speaking of squirrels, there's no squirrels in Australia, so the couple I met in Mexico stopped to feed them/take pictures. Ugh. Squirrels are just rats with furry tails - yucky.

But wait, but how can I be a squirrel then and not a rat??
[smoke is now coming out of ears] does not compute...