Science is Catching

On NPR's Morning Edition this morning there was a segment, Charles Darwin and the Racing Asparagus, discussing some of the experiments that Darwin and his family did at the end of his life investigating how vegetables could have spread around the world given their inherent limited mobility. At the end of the segment, they discussed how Walter Crick corresponded with Charles Darwin concerning a clam attached to a beetle. They were surprised at the "coincidence" that Walter Crick's grandson, Francis Crick was a very noted scientist as one of the discoverers of DNA.

As a Sociologist, I'm not surprised at all by this relationship. When I looked up Francis Crick, I found that the story about Walter Crick and Charles Darwin was in the first chapter of a recent book on him, Francis Crick: Discoverer of the Genetic Code (Eminent Lives Series). Interest in science, especially to the degree that is necessary to make great discoveries, is not an accident. It must be nurtured like any other interest, skill or talent. That Walter Crick, an amateur naturalist and fossil collector, was corresponding with one of the greatest scientist of his day shows that he had a great interest in science and followed it closely. From the Morning Edition story, it sounds like Walter Crick was an extroverted, adventurous man who took delight in the world around him and took the time to explore science. It does not surprise me that his offspring had the intelligence and interest to pursue a career in science. The study of DNA is closely related to the study of Evolution. It would have surprised me if his grandfather's tales of corresponding with the progenitor of the Theory of Evolution and other scientific interests didn't influence Francis Crick in his interests as a child and eventual professional pursuits.

Technorati tags: JanineWhite blogs Science Evolution Charles Darwin Walter Crick Francis Crick NPR Morning Edition Sociology

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7 Degrees of Improvement

Today my physical therapist sprung a check on me. She wanted to check the progress we've been making on the range of movement of my ankle. If it hadn't improved since the last time, then I probably wasn't responding to the "mobs," manipulations that the therapist does do improve mobility in my ankle, and it might be best to have me just do stretching exercises at home. At first I was apprehensive because my right ankle felt particularly stiff when I got up this morning, but I shouldn't have worried. My right ankle, which had the surgery, has improved from 21 degrees about a month ago to 28 degrees this time, a 33% improvement. My left ankle improved by one degree from 25 degrees to 26 degrees. The morale of the story is the physical therapy is helping and I need to start stretching and exercising my left ankle as well as my right so that they both continue to improve. Before I saw such a dramatic improvement I thought that 25 degrees or a little better was all I could hope for, but maybe I can get a lot closer to the average of 40 degrees with continued therapy.

Technorati tags: JanineWhite blogs ankle surgery recovery medical physical therapy

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Medical Photo Updates

Forearms Before & After Levulan IPL Treatment (1 Month)

It's difficult to see the changes in my hands and forearms in these photos, but in person it's dramatic. The dark pigment spots have been significantly reduced and my skin is smoother and softer. Also, they don't flush as much.





Face Before & After Levulan IPL Treatment (1 Month)

The improvement in texture and coloration of my face is visible in these photos. The redness in my cheeks is no longer patchy. I don't flush as much and when I do it is more even.



Ankle Surgery Incision (7 Months)

I'm almost done with physical therapy. I can walk normally, but catch a bit if I try to move quickly. I'm still working on range of motion. My left ankle, which was not operated on, bends to 25 degrees, which is less than the average of 40 degrees. It explains a lot about why it's hard for me to jump, but easy to wear high heels. My right ankle, which is the one which had the surgery, bent to 21 degrees the last time it was measured. We're working on getting it to at least have the flexibility of my left ankle.

I'm very happy with how the incision has healed. In the past, I have had incisions develop keloids. Although my scars are dark, they have not developed keloids and they will probably lighten over time like my other scars, so I'm very happy with the healing.



Technorati tags: JanineWhite blogs medical photography Levulan IPL photofacial ankle surgery scars healing beauty

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May I drink your blood and/or eat your brain?

Please let me drink your blood and join me as a vampire. If you're being particularly generous, you may also let me eat your brain.

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Zune vs iPod?

Yesterday Microsoft announced a new product, Zune, designed to compete with Apple's iPod. I'm not an aficionado of either because of the DRM they each have designed into them. I prefer to use as few devices as possible so I have an Audiovox XV6600 Pocket PC PDA/Phone on which I listen to MP3s and audiobooks with Windows Media Player and the Audible player. It's got a low battery life and storage on SD cards, rather than a hard drive, but it works for me. However, for those who want to keep up with the latest gadgets for music and video, you may want to take a look at Zune. It does have the advantage having wireless built in which will make it easier to share content. Video of the Zune in action and sharing between Zunes is embedded below. It can also be used in both widescreen and portrait mode, which can be an advantage for watching videos. Zune is not yet available for purchase and the pricing structure has not yet been announced. A preview review of Zune is available on CNet. The Zune Insider Blog is a blog by a Microsoft employee working on the product. Coming Zune is the Microsoft teaser site for the product.





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Microsoft Office Live Basics Beta Formatting

I'm trying out Microsoft Office Live Basics and Essentials Betas. Microsoft Office Live Basics offers free hosting and a free domain with limited editing capabilities. I'm working on transferring scaarts.com to scaarts.org in Microsoft Office Live Basics. Considering that it's free and still in Beta, it's hard to complain about the feature set. However, lack of formatting controls can be frustrating.

There is no way to clear, reset or copy formatting within Microsoft Office Live Basics. There is no format paintbrush and no paste special function. Although font sizes and colors can be set, they can't necessarily be set to match the template formatting. If you copy and paste directly from one web page to Microsoft Office Live Basics, the formatting will be maintained.

The only way I have found to transfer text from one site to another without formatting in Microsoft Office Live Basics is:

1. Copy the original text.
2. Paste the text into an internet text box, such as the Google search box.
3. Copy the text from the text box.
4. Paste the text into Microsoft Office Live Basics Text & Images web part.

Microsoft Office Live Essentials has a different work around available. You can edit and publish web pages in Microsoft Office Live Essentials with Microsoft FrontPage.

The Microsoft Office Live blog says that improving formatting options is a high priority, so I'm looking forward to future improvements.

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