Flying the Flag - a visual pun! Photo copyright Mary B. Thorman, 2007
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
The Search For Meaning
Convicted forger A. Schiller was serving his time in Sing
Sing prison in the late 1800s when guards found him dead in
his cell. On his body they found seven regular straight pins
whose heads measured the typical 47/1000ths of an inch or
1.17 millimeters in diameter. Under 500 magnification it was
found that the tiny etchings seen on the heads of the pins
were the words to The Lord's Prayer, which is 65 words and
254 letters long. Of the seven pins, six were silver and one
was gold - the gold pin's prayer was flawless and a true
masterpiece. Schiller had spent the last 25 years of his life
creating the pins, using a tool too small to be seen by the
naked eye. It is estimated that it took 1,863 sepatate carving
strokes to make it. Schiller went blind because of his
artwork.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Extending human rights to whales?
"Whales may share our kind of intelligence, researchers say after discovering brain cells previously found only in humans and other primates." Whales have bigger brains and more of those special brain cells we have before considered unique to primates.
According to this article in New Scientist, the kind of nerve cells in the human brain associated with complex social behavior and previously thought to define humans and great apes as different from other mammals has now been found in whales. More importantly, the number of these specialized cells is greater in whales even given that the whale brain is larger than the human brain.
"The cells occur in parts of the human brain that are thought to be responsible for our social organisation, empathy, speech, intuition about the feelings of others, and rapid “gut” reactions (see The cell that makes us human)." says New Scientist.
The article quotes Patric Hof of Mount Sinai Medical School in New York as saying, “They communicate through huge song repertoires, recognise their own songs and make up new ones. They also form coalitions to plan hunting strategies, teach these to younger individuals, and have evolved social networks similar to those of apes and humans.”
It is thought that whales developed these brain cells long before humans and other primates evolved theirs.
Like the development of the vertebrate eye in octopuses which are related to shell fish, this brain cell development in both whales and humans appears to be a case of "convergent evolution" and not the result of evolution from a common ancestor.
This finding is certain to raise many questions about what makes humans human as well as whether killing whales falls into a category more like murder than hunting. My grandmother used to say, "If it looks like a noodle, tastes like a noodle, cooks like a noodle, and feels like a noodle it is probably a noodle." So if it thinks like a human, acts like a human, feels like a human - is it a human?
According to this article in New Scientist, the kind of nerve cells in the human brain associated with complex social behavior and previously thought to define humans and great apes as different from other mammals has now been found in whales. More importantly, the number of these specialized cells is greater in whales even given that the whale brain is larger than the human brain.
"The cells occur in parts of the human brain that are thought to be responsible for our social organisation, empathy, speech, intuition about the feelings of others, and rapid “gut” reactions (see The cell that makes us human)." says New Scientist.
The article quotes Patric Hof of Mount Sinai Medical School in New York as saying, “They communicate through huge song repertoires, recognise their own songs and make up new ones. They also form coalitions to plan hunting strategies, teach these to younger individuals, and have evolved social networks similar to those of apes and humans.”
It is thought that whales developed these brain cells long before humans and other primates evolved theirs.
Like the development of the vertebrate eye in octopuses which are related to shell fish, this brain cell development in both whales and humans appears to be a case of "convergent evolution" and not the result of evolution from a common ancestor.
This finding is certain to raise many questions about what makes humans human as well as whether killing whales falls into a category more like murder than hunting. My grandmother used to say, "If it looks like a noodle, tastes like a noodle, cooks like a noodle, and feels like a noodle it is probably a noodle." So if it thinks like a human, acts like a human, feels like a human - is it a human?
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Attention Birders
| Birds are ready and waiting to be counted for Christmas census | |
| Special to A.M. Costa Rica A Costa Rican bird count next month looks to add to a list of 493 species already discovered. Christmas bird counts are a traditional year-end activity begun by the National Audubon Society in the United States more than 100 years ago. The Audubon's mission is to conserve biodiversity and restore natural ecosystems, focusing of course on birds, but also other wildlife and habitats. The bird count is a competition between teams. A circle 15 miles in diameter is marked and the area divided among teams of birders. All individual birds seen and heard are counted over the course of a 24-hour day In Costa Rica, the longest running bird count is centered around Finca La Selva, the Organization for Tropical Studies' field station reserve near Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí. | This will be its 22nd year. Last year alone 325 species and 6,372 individual birds were counted by 67 persons in 17 separate parties. The richest region for bird diversity has been around the reserve itself and also on the slopes of Volcan Barva. Event organizers welcome both experienced and unexperienced birders to participate. The locations, dates and organizers for the bird counts are: -Aerial Tram: Dec. 14. Daniel Torres, 711-0018, danieltorrescr@ -Cartago: Dec. 17. Julio Sánchez juliosanchez@ya -Grecia: To be announced. Rafa Campos ticornis@yahoo. -Monteverde: To be announced. -La Selva: Dec. 30. Rodolfo Alvarado ralva@sloth.ots -Fila Costera (Pérez Zeledón): Jan. 3. Noel Ureña filacostera@cos |
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About Me
- Chi
- I live on the Pacific slopes of the Talamanca mountain range in southern Costa Rica. My adult children live in the United States. I have a Masters Degree in Gerontology but have worked as a migrant laborer, chicken egg collector, radio broadcaster, secretary, social worker, research director, bureaucrat, writer, editor, political organizer, publicist, telephone operator, and more. My hobby of photography has garnered some awards.
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