Not only is this very cool, it helps me know if my arachnophobic mother is actually reading the blog. Cue horrified email in three…two…one…
The Art of Science: Nature and Nurture Reversed
When cultivating a garden or taking photographs of plants, most people carefully tend to the top parts – the leaves and flowers – while letting nature handle the bottom – the roots and soil. Artist Diana Scherer, in her Nurture Studies, turns that focus on its head. She takes seeds from her garden and grows plants in vases, carefully nurturing them for months, before breaking the vases and photographing the results.
It’s not a surprise that the roots of flowers and weeds are beautiful in themselves. What startles is the focus on what’s usually unseen. Scherer, a German born artist living in the Netherlands, explains: “Above ground, I let nature run its course. However, below the surface, by using a vase as a mold, I control the growth of the roots and the shape.”
Her photographs are simple, elegant and formal – the soil-coated roots of a dandelion are presented as if they were the blooms of an orchid. Says Scherer:
“I’m interested in the age-old human practice of manipulating nature. There is a certain ambiguity that I find intriguing; the idea of loving care and, at the same time, ruthless manipulation. For example, the gardener who loves nature and nurtures the plants he desires also ruthlessly cuts, snips and manipulates them.”
–from “Review of Nurture Studies” in Hotshoe Magazine by Miranda Gavin
Scherer says that, once she is done photographing a plant, she replants it in her garden and once again allows nature to take over. The roots, having had their moment in the sun, so to speak, can return to their sometimes overlooked but crucial role beneath the surface.
You can see more of Diana Scherer’s work here. A book of Nurture Studies is available here.
Time to step up your baby talk game
The literature investigating developmental differences between children from affluence and from poverty is both large and controversial. Many studies present evidence that children from impoverished homes have weaker language skills and delays in reading that cause them to lag behind their peers in school. This topic has always been fraught with controversy because it lies at the intersection of child development, racial politics, and demographic discrimination.
A recently published study examined language skills in VERY young children, 18-24 months old, from different socio-economic backgrounds. The differences they found were surprising and raise questions about how we raise our children. Continue reading “Time to step up your baby talk game”
Fukushima Revisited – Science for The People
In the most recent episode of Science for The People*, host Rachelle Saunders discusses the Fukushima nuclear accident with nuclear energy expert Charles Ferguson and Rob Tarzwell, a medical doctor with focuses on nuclear medicine and psychiatry. The interview provides a nuanced view of the disaster – helping the rest of us to understand what happened, why it happened, and how things stand for the future.
The guest discuss the idea that we do not really know what constitutes a “safe” level of radiation exposure and how what impacts our decisions – mass evacuations around Fukushima may have killed more people than exposure would have. They also talk about what this disaster will mean for nuclear power use and how that will impact efforts to increase use of clean energy sources.
If you want a clear understanding of the events at Fukushima and their ongoing context, make some time to listen to Rachelle Saunders, Charles Ferguson, and Rob Tarzwell on Science for the People (Episode #236).
*Disclosure: I provide research assistance to Science for The People. So, while my opinion is inarguably correct, it is biased.
Hey, I know that guy!
In graduate school, while you are building your super-specialized knowledge base there are often particular labs whose work you are on the look-out for while searching for new papers to read. Sometimes it’s a competitor that you’re keeping tabs on, other times it’s your science crush, and more often it’s just scientists whose work is consistently thorough and enlightening. For me, studying synaptic development, one of those labs was the Sudhof lab at Stanford. When I heard he had won the Nobel prize a few weeks ago I was pretty excited to actually know what work contributed to that prize without reading the press release. Cell press has made the journal article detailing his seminal discoveries available to everyone. The award was made to those contributing to discovery of the machinery regulating vesicle traffic, the major transport mechanism within a cell. Dr. Sudhof’s contributions were specific to vesicle trafficking within nerve cells.
Sudhof’s seminal work focused on multiple forms of a protein called synaptotagmin. This protein is attached to synaptic vesicles which are packages of neurotransmitters that are released from a cell when that cell is activated. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that then travel to the next cell and carry the signal of activation. Sudhof showed that different types of synaptotagmin are expressed all throughout the brain. He also showed that they are at areas called the synapse, the connection between two cells. One of the components of his work most critical to the future of neuroscience was his discovery that 3 of the 4 types of synaptotagmin bind to calcium. Continue reading “Hey, I know that guy!”
The Finch and Pea 