Patti Smith Plays For the Dead
With a few friends at Carnegie Hall. And I get to put up one of my favorite Annie Liebovitz portrait photos of all time.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Limb Regeneration…In Humans?
From Nature:
Tadpoles can achieve something that humans may only dream of: pull off a tadpole's thick tail or a tiny developing leg, and it'll grow right back — spinal cord, muscles, blood vessels and all. Now researchers have discovered the key regulator of the electrical signal that convinces Xenopus pollywogs to regenerate amputated tails. The results, reported this week in Development, give some researchers hope for new approaches to stimulating tissue regeneration in humans.
Researchers have known for decades that an electrical current is created at the site of regenerating limbs. Furthermore, applying an external current speeds up the regeneration process, and drugs that block the current prevent regeneration. The electrical signals help to tell cells what type to grow into, how fast to grow, and where to position themselves in the new limb.
...
But the complex networks needed to construct a complicated organ or appendage are already genetically encoded in all of our cells — we needed them to develop those organs in the first place. "The question is: how do you turn them back on?" Levin says. "When you know the language that these cells use to tell each other what to do, you're a short step away from getting them to do that after an injury."
Should be popular among Aussie surfers...
Because It's Been a While: Boxing Kangaroos
The was the very first post on this blog. The photo was taken by yours truly in Canberra, New South Wlaes, Australia (of course) in October, 2006.
Cool Link
Ask a Biologist, a UK site for schoolchildren. I asked "Where do marsupials come from?" (Ans: They come from what is now North America, say the 'perts.) I'll update when I get their answer.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Gifts from Montana
Montana the Wild Cat of the house, that is. Montana catches mouses, and then hires a surgeon to remove, carefully and with great precision, their entrails. And then leaves them on the carpet somewhere where we're sure to step on them.
Exhibit A:
Unbelievable. And what the heck IS that?
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Friday, January 12, 2007
Croc
Still hard to believe little ol' me took this shot.
And there wasn't a lot of magnification either, though I did crop it some.
Taken on the South Alligator River, Kakadoo National Park in the Northern Territory, Australia, October, 2006.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Wallabeans
Yes, it's Wallaby scat. Very possibly from a Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby (they even have a photo of some scat). I was in Kuringai Chase National Park north of Sydney at the time. And I tell you what, I was very excited to see this scat.
Ladybird
I grew up calling them "Ladybugs," but Christine says the Aussies call them "Ladybirds." I like the name better.
They've lived in this old house for years, sometimes showing up by the hundreds. This one was on a teapot.
Here's some info on Ladybirds.
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Unknown Bug From Sydney
Hans just emailed a photo he took of a bug he found in his home in Dee Why. Anbody got any guesses what it is? Christine says it could be an immature cicada, come out of the ground earlier than it should have.
Whatever it is, she's a beaut, I reckon. Here's a closer look.
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