Our favorite coffee shop in Hartsville is The Midnight Rooster. It is home to “the crocodile table”, lattes made with a Southern sense of urgency, and delicious chocolate chip cookies. Today, my daughter, The Frogger, and I were passing some time between one errand and the next. The Midnight Rooster also has lots of art books from exhibitions. So, I got to read artist statements. Just back from ScienceOnline, my scientist soul is feeling properly chastised about the use of jargon.
Talk about jargon. We science nerds have nothing on these artists. Continue reading “Words someone who does art wrote about why they make art”
Looking into those several week old containers of leftovers in the fridge? Analyzing data for an experiment you’ve now done a third time looking for a tie-breaker? Walking into that small conference room with your thesis committee hoping to graduate? Each of these things can cause the body to enact the fear response.
A great deal of evidence has implicated the portion of the brain called the amygdala in fear and recall of fear and behaviors associated with it. It is incredibly rare for a human to have damage to their entire amygdala but these cases do exist. One example is Patient SM who has a rare condition called Urbach-Wiethe disease. This disease causes a build-up of calcium in blood vessels which can damage particular parts of the brain, in the case of Patient SM, both portions of her amygdala have been destroyed by these calcifications. This woman exhibits no fear response to normally frightening stimuli like snakes, spiders, haunted houses, or scary movies. She cannot recognize fear in the faces of others. She and a few other patients have been critical to studies of how the amygdala modulates fear in humans. Are these people truly fearless? Continue reading “What are you afraid of?”
The Texas Blind Salamander (Eurycea rathbuni) is a cave salamander that has adapted to life living in the dark. With extremely underdeveloped eyes, unpigmented skin, and the retention of its juvenile aquatic form, this salamander is perfectly suited to live in the underground cave streams. Found only in caves around San Marcos, Texas these salamanders are actually considered endangered on the State level. Because they live only in specific areas and rely on the Edwards aquifer, the Texas blind salamander is extremely susceptible to changes in water quality. Their size reaches between 3 and 5 inches and they eat a diet of most aquatic invertebrates. Continue reading “Meet the Texas Blind Salamander”
There’s too much great science-art happening right now to pick just one thing. If you’re anywhere near Montreal, Dublin, or DC in the next few weeks, don’t miss the chance to go see some amazing work. Continue reading “The Art of Science: Three to See”
The Finch and Pea 