Architectural smörgåsbord

Saturday Morning Science

In 2003, on board the International Space Station, Science Officer Don Pettit conducted several experiments regarding simple tasks in a microgravity environment. Here is a compilation of his demonstrations.

AIDS non-progressors

A new breakthrough in understanding the ability of HIV infected persons to control the disease is reported in the new issue of Immunity.

The natural course of Human Immunodeficiency Virus is such that it attacks essential cells in the human immune system such as T cells (CD4+ T helper lymphocytes) and the T cell generators of the thymus (thymocytes). The viral load eventually overruns the immune system leaving it susceptible to infection as AIDS. Current treatments with antiretroviral medication decrease the rate of mortality drastically, however, eluding scientific explanation, some immune systems have been found to naturally control HIV infection, duly dubbed "non-progressors."

It has previously been recorded that non-progressors have a higher count of CD8+ T cells, yet researchers did not understand the function of these cells until recently. CD8+ T cells were observed attacking HIV infected cells. A protein called perforin enable the CD8+ T cells to puncture the membrane of infected cells while molecules of the cytotoxic granzyme B rushed in to destroy the cells conjunctively like a poisoned dagger. These new findings provide hope in developing a vaccine and effective treatment for staying the disease.

Null-e

In this TED talk from A. Garrett Lisi, he describes a unique new unified field theory. He barely scratches the surface and appeals to no formulae whatever, nonetheless, a great deal of his talk is completely incomprehensible to the layperson of no familiarity with quantum physics. In spite of this, it is clear that his theory is one of profound eloquence in that it is grounded in pure geometry. The graphic representation of his model suffices to explain how Lisi intends to unify quantum field theory and general relativity through differential geometry. The points and charges of all elementary particles fully realized as well as those posited by his theory work within the framework of E8 symmetries (figure shown below). All of the interactions between known particles and their charges have fit into Lisi's model of a single field through the four dimensions of spacetime. The use of E8 symmetry leads him to posit 22 new bosonic particles.

In the 1960s, Murray Gell-Mann's model for the quark was based in mathematical symmetries of group theory and may be a precedent giving credence to this contemporary venture. The Large Hadron Collider is to resume operations in the Spring, (after a hiatus to fix a Helium II leak) upon which hopefully some of this will come to light, beginning with the Higgs boson.

The Great Stalacpipe Organ

Over the course of three years, Leland Sprinkle, a mathematician at the Pentagon, spent seeking out, shaving down, and shaping stalactites in the 64 acre Luray Caverns of Virginia. The stalactites were known to have a particular musical quality and Sprinkle was creating the worlds largest lithophone (spreading throughout three and a half acres of the caverns). With a constructed organ console, Sprinkle wired solenoid actuators which would cause rubber mallets to strike stalactites he had specifically chosen for their pitch.



Check out the previous post about unique homemade instruments here.

Through the looking "glass"

I posted about an interactive mirror a few weeks ago. A WebUrbanist article features some particularly cool novelty mirrors. Be sure to check out the quicktime movie of Daniel Rozin's wooden mirror (seen below).

It's a nice time to become a mortician

An unwavering truism about our present world demographic: there are more people now than ever before. Human life has come to dominate the biosphere not only in the exponential population explosion we've witnessed in the past century, but further to include the primacy of domesticated plants and animals to sustain us. These factors have set the stage for the dilemmas of our time.

In Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, author Jared Diamond takes a tour of societal failures - those realized, those avoided, and the potential for those to come. While societal collapses are replete with particularities to the given circumstances, Diamond finds commonalities which thread them all together. Extensive historical comparative analysis as well as modern examples of collapse are examined under the five-point framework Diamond ultimately sees as determining the success or failure of a society:

1. environmental impact
2. climate change
3. hostile neighbors (war)
4. friendly neighbors (trade)
5. response to problems

Diamond's proposition stands in stark contrast to previous works of the sort which argue for societal collapse as an inevitable stage inherent in the cyclical nature evident in the evolution of a culture. This archaic view seems to disregard the cognizance of a culture and its ability to respond to the social pathology of which it ails. Diamond explains that a society may fail anywhere along three steps: the society must first perceive their situation, choose to take action and a course of action to solve the problem, and lastly to succeed in that course. Aside from when the problem is not perceived, often dilemmas arise where short term and long term consequences are not adequately evaluated to inform the process or long-held values distort the decision.

The takeaway Jared Diamond provides is that although past societies have failed to transform a large percent of the time, some have managed to succeed such as the deforestation of Tokugawa Japan and the agricultural issues of New Guinea. In light of what we face in our present day, the stakes are higher. The global economy intertwines all societies such that the failure of one could create a domino effect for the rest. Further, there are so many issues that we face, it would be devastating to prioritize a single threat to our livelihood; there are at least a dozen of serious threats which need to be dealt with on the same scale and with the same degree of subtlety.

To mention a few of the issues Diamond highlights: deforestation, arable land and soil fertility, competition between introduced and native species, poaching, water management, environmental toxins, energy shortages, and of course climate change. Since Diamond among others have graciously identified the issues, it is up to us to decide our course of action. Geneticists have already arrived at successes in developing modified plants that are: aluminum tolerant, saline tolerant, drought tolerant, and flood tolerant. Mycologists have discovered fungi that can break down environmental contaminants, and others which are able to produce hydrocarbon chains not unlike that of diesel fuel. We need to take the steps to ensure these fields of scientific research have permanence. In the end, we will reap just what we sow.

Zen for Youtube

Human fuel efficiency

Considerable breakthroughs have been on-going in research attempts to understand the aging process. First, it is necessary to place some emphasis on the aging process and how we might define it. Largely, aging has a great amount to do with hereditary factors tied to an individual's genetic material in each cell nuclei. However, the effects of aging are manifest in another part of the cell, mitochondria. Mitochondria are the gas-tanks, so to speak, of our cells and convert glucose into ATP (adenosine-5'-triphosphate) to power cellular functions. ATP is a form of intracellular chemical energy as various enzymes "feed" off of it in a number of processes. Most of these processes include aspects of the cell cycle including its growth, differentiation, and death. As mitochondria perform these tasks, a by-product of the chemical reactions are molecules with unpaired electrons called free-radicals. Free-radical Theory suggests that these molecules when oxidized can cause damage to the cell and lead to their atrophic demise (antioxidants are molecules which prevent the free-radicals from oxidizing). Aside from genetics, this cellular death can be understood on a more readily observable level as tissue degeneration.

So, the question is, how are we to stop or at least delay cellular death? Leading the research on this question, or at least at the forefront of the media seems to be research from Sirtris Pharmaceuticals. Published last year in NATURE, studies dating back some years found that the natural compound resveratrol caused life-prolonging and disease resistant effects in animal test subjects. More recently, tests in caloric restriction on lab animals has shown a similar reaction at the cellular level. Cells go into a defensive state and become more efficient with the fuel they have when less is coming in. Caloric restriction places less biological stress on cells by reducing the reactions to produce ATP. A reduction in these reactions therefore limits the amount of free-radicals and their oxidized cell-killers. As far as similarities go, both resveratrol and caloric restriction activate the same enzyme, namely SIRT-1. SIRT-1 is a sirtuin, a family of enzymes which regulate cellular function. The SIRT-1 enzyme is believed to rejuvenate damaged mitochondria and unraveling DNA where other cell-repair proteins fail.

Other cellular regulators such as the gene IGF-1 have been tested for their ability to increase lifespans with limited success. While simpler organisms like yeast lived an amazing 10 times longer, complex organisms could have serious growth defects such as the presence of Laron Syndrome in an Ecuadorean population with a naturally occurring mutation to the gene.

From the published successes of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, nearly all large pharmaceutical companies are now working to develop mitochondria directed treatments. This could reach milestones in the prevention and treating of age-related illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and others. It is only a matter of time and money before a substantiated breakthrough ends up on the market. In the meantime, for any human guinea pigs, while I'm no dietitian as opposed to the self-imposed starvation of calorie restricted diets, I'd recommend a diet with plenty of antioxidants and more grape leaves, a known plentiful source of resveratrol.

Derrida

Jacques Derrida is deconstructing you and this film from his grave.

Pleistocene Park

Not Jurassic Park, Pleistocene. For some time now, there has been considerable attention placed on the possibility of resurrecting Ice Age animals, particularly the woolly mammoth via the Mammoth Creation Project. Comprised of a group of Japanese researchers, the project would like to fulfill the dream of a Siberian reserve for cloned extinct Ice Age species. The group has made considerable headway from its initial goal of impregnating an elephant with the frozen sperm of a mammoth (nh). There are believed to be anywhere from tens of thousands to millions of mammoths encased and preserved in ice across the globe.

While stumbling upon frozen mammoth sperm seems like a shot in the dark let alone a rather unorthodox way of going about cloning, some recent developments may present new avenues. Stem cell research has faced limitations in the delicacies of the DNA, always requiring the material from live animals. Dead tissue, and particularly frozen tissue, irreparably damaged the genetic material. Or so we thought. In Kobe, Japan at Riken Center for Developmental Biology, successful experiments have cloned mice dead and frozen for 16 years. Researchers were able to create stem cell lines from the cloned embryos made with nucleic transfer, that is, healthy egg cells were injected with nuclei extracted from ruptured brain cells of the dead mice. Further, the cloned mice were successful progenitors.

Of course, while the breakthrough presents better chances of ushering ideas such as the Mammoth Creation Project to fruition, ethical questions will loom over these practices. Is it irresponsible to introduce extinct species to an environment inexorably unnatural to them?

Begotten by E. Elias Merhige (1991)

Goddamn, that's a lotta work

An artist must regulate his life.

Here is a time-table of my daily acts. I rise at 7.18; am inspired from 10.23 to 11.47. I lunch at 12.11 and leave the table at 12.14. A healthy ride on horse-back round my domain follows from 1.19 pm to 2.53 pm. Another bout of inspiration from 3.12 to 4.7 pm. From 5 to 6.47 pm various occupations (fencing, reflection, immobility, visits, contemplation, dexterity, natation, etc.)

Dinner is served at 7.16 and finished at 7.20 pm. From 8.9 to 9.59 pm symphonic readings (out loud). I go to bed regularly at 10.37 pm. Once a week (on Tuesdays) I awake with a start at 3.14 am.

My only nourishment consists of food that is white: eggs, sugar, shredded bones, the fat of dead animals, veal, salt, coco-nuts, chicken cooked in white water, mouldy fruit, rice, turnips, sausages in camphor, pastry, cheese (white varieties), cotton salad, and certain kinds of fish (without their skin). I boil my wine and drink it cold mixed with the juice of the Fuschia. I have a good appetite but never talk when eating for fear of strangling myself.

I breathe carefully (a little at a time) and dance very rarely. When walking I hold my ribs and look steadily behind me.

My expression is very serious; when I laugh it is unintentional, and I always apologise very politely.

I sleep with only one eye closed, very profoundly. My bed is round with a hole in it for my head to go through. Every hour a servant takes my temperature and gives me another.


- Erik Satie "A day in the life of a musician"

It would be a bitch

...trying to clean this mirror.

Kinetic fashion

Today I read a CNN.com article about "futuristic fashion" in which they describe the motion of fashion items to incorporate more practical electronic devices. This has largely been limited to the domain of specialty, athletic apparel. Now, however, it is apparently crossing over into the fashion world with the likes of CuteCircuit's M-dress (a silk dress that can function as a cellular phone - described in the CNN.com article).

What I found most interesting is where the article glossed over "Montreal's XS Labs has used a shape-memory alloy called Nitinol to produce extraordinary dresses that change shape while you wear them." Nitinol is a common name for nickel titanium, which as the article indicates, has shape-memory characteristics. This is a function of the crystalline molecular structure of the alloy which has the ability to change that crystal structure under applied heat or pressure.

How can do they use this to effect fashion apparel? I found that it is done from the use of nickel titanium wire threaded through a garment which must be given an electrical charge to heat the wire. As the wire contorts and contracts, the garment along with it is set into motion. It isn't far fetched to incorporate solar panels or magnets to charge the wires.

I hope they do scarves... for children!

Seriously though, I give them credit for their using this within the realm of fashion, but on the technology front, I am surprised to not hear more about alternative electro-mechanical devices. Why not build motors utilizing thermokinetic materials?

Miracle fruit

If you don't know, now you know.

Palmarès des chansons

La dolce vita

In his book The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz offers a critique on what he describes as a fundamental dogma of the Western industrialized world. He asserts this fundamental dogma as: maximizing the welfare of citizens through maximizing the individual freedoms of those citizens. On the question of facilitating this freedom, it is assumed that freedom is a function of choice. Increased choice means increased freedom, increased freedom means increased welfare. This, Schwartz suggests, arrives at a paradox. To summarize his argument:

1. If we maximize freedom, then we maximize welfare.
2. If we maximize choice, then we maximize freedom.
3. Maximized choice is excessive choice.
4. Excessive choice is overwhelming.
5. It then follows that being overwhelmed is maximized welfare???
6. Conclusion: some choice is better than no choice, but it does not follow that more choice is better than some choice.

There are psychological repercussions of maximal choice; maximal becomes excessive. A fundamental revolution in view not of potential, but missed opportunities results from this phenomenon. It can be said that from the sheer number of choices available in the industrialized world, the odds of making the most choiceworthy decision are never in our favor. There is no room for surprise; our levels of expectation and standards are impossibly high to the point that it impedes the satisfaction from the choices we make. Fundamental attribution error -- the tendency for an individual to place blame on situational circumstances rather than oneself -- fails to come to aid our self-efficacy. An elementary shift in culpability results from this self-determinism as the decision rest entirely on the decision-maker. The increase in choices for a given decision invariably increases the need to justify the decision. Thus, a culture of consumer escapism undermines itself, resulting in considerably lesser satisfaction with the freedoms it implemented to enjoy.

Tales from the Vienna Woods by the Brothers Quay (1992)

The Perfect Human by Jørgen Leth (1967)

La Jetee by Chris Marker (1962)

Lucifer Rising by Kenneth Anger (1972)

Classical conditioning in terms of Hebb's postulate.

Ever since Ivan Pavlov's research at the turn of the last century demonstrated conditioned reflexes, we have had strong evidence that certain cues can trigger responses via conditioned association. But can these behavioral understandings be reduced to supervene upon neurological notions?

As Ivan Pavlov researched the digestion of dogs from a physiologists point of view, he came to understand psychological notions we take as canonical. He provided dogs with meat powder to initiate salivation. Soon, he realized the lab technician in the dog's presence alone would cause the dogs to salivate. He prompted the dogs with a number of subsequent cues: bells, whistles, metronomes, as well as environmental visual stimuli along with the meat powder, only to recreate the salivation response with the cue sans meat powder. Thus we have derived notions of classical conditioning in which an unconditioned, natural stimulus in simultaneous occurrence with another stimulus can condition the latter stimulus to evoke the same natural response as the former, natural stimulus.

In the late 40s, Donald Hebb provided his theory on neural networks and the biological process of living nervous systems. His theory consisted in positing notions of synaptic plasticity, which describes the change in strength between neural connections. Often, Hebb's postulate is summarized as "cells that fire together, wire together." Or, a presynaptic cell A, which consistently fires with postsynaptic cell B, will consistently increase in strength. This notion has been instrumental in understanding neural networks as memory hypotheses and learning called Hebbian learning. When seen on a general scale, this process seems not unlike the model of classical conditioning described above.

A cinema of patience

Recently, spawned by my increasing disdain for Criterion releases of "important classic and contemporary films on dvd," I find it necessary to propagate information regarding the many film works forgotten or neglected by so many. While Criterion is more than happy to commit the Beastie Boys anthology to their presses, it is unfathomable that they skip over some truly landmark and avant garde filmmaking.

Sergei Eisenstein changed the face of film. His theory of montage and juxtaposition of images laid the groundwork for filmmakers since. His theorizing laid the groundwork to make film-making and directing an artform via manipulation and control over the process. However, aside from this Eisensteinian hegemony, there is a legacy of rebels who have rejected this style and approach.

André Bazin's theory of film stands diametrically opposed to Eisenstein. Stressing the continuity of film, Bazin posited the use of deep focus, wide framing, and long takes caused the director to relinquish his/her prominence to allow the viewer's attention and interpretation to take over. Somewhere between Eisenstein and Bazin, film-makers have found a niche worthy of their exploits.

The most noteworthy proponent of this innovative style is the Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky. Tarkovsky's entire corpus of work is considered notable and in due course, he is by some deemed among the greatest directors in film history. (He, for one, does have Criterion releases, however it is instrumental that I start by referencing his work to make my point.) His films often used extremely long camera takes along with particularly novel uses of color and black and white imagery (-it is a digression, but he viewed color film as a "commercial gimmick" and arbitrary if not a distraction when it wasn't used with particular intent). Film, for Tarkovsky, is an interface with an imaginary world wherein he aimed at taking advantage of the markings of spatio-temporalality. As a medium by which we can manipulate a representation of the world, he utilized long takes to convey time passing and panning (often in 360 degrees) to display spatial relations.

One of Tarkovsky's contemporary's from Hungary, Miklós Jancsó, also brought a great deal to cinema in his work of the 1970s. I would submit Szerelmem, Elektra ("Electra, my love") as exemplar of this film style. From 1974, it is an impressionistic film about Electra, daughter of Agammemnon, of Greek mythos, the subject of Sophoclean/Euripidean Greek tragedies. Its heavy stylization brings the choreography to such prominence, the film could pass as a bizarre ballet. Not only are the actors choreographed, but elaborate camera movements are as well (tracking and craning galore) in which he used only 12 shots to complete the 70 minute feature.

Alexander Sokurov received a great amount of critical acclaim in 2002 with Russian Ark a 90 minute feature filmed with a single uncut steadicam take. To some this could be an easy feat with one actor and a stationary camera, but it might be noted that the film ventures through 33 rooms of the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg and has a cast of over 2,000.

In addition to Sokurov, the films of the extant Hungarian director Béla Tarr are quintessential works of this variety. His mature style began with the release of Kárhozat ("Damnation") in 1988 and he is continuing the tradition. Inside the Facets Video release of his dvds there is a booklet entitled Bela Tarr: a cinema of patience, so it is clear that his work isn't for everyone. If you have the patience, you'll be rewarded by some amazing feats of film. Some of his shots clock in at over ten minutes and purportedly can take over a month to perfect. Considered to be his masterwork, Sátántangó, runs 450 minutes (7 1/2 hours) and took him 7 years to realize. He's mastered the mood of a harrowing despondence, in spite of which brought him some critical acclaim with Werckmeister harmóniák ("Werckmeister Harmonies") released in 2000. His films aren't the most accessible and I wouldn't recommend him for the feel good flick of the Fall, so take note this is for one who fancies himself/herself a true cinéaste.

Anyhow, Tarr has a new film completed last year and supposedly released worldwide this year, but being the recluse I am, I haven't been able to track down The man from London.

He II at the LHC

I was mulling over aspects of the Large Hadron Collider after having read some time ago that for superconducting conditions, the optimal operating temperature for the magnets is at 1.9 degrees Kelvin. In order to reach this temperature, 96 metric tonnes of liquid helium is used. However, the lambda point for helium lies at 2.17K, meaning that the helium would most likely be cooled into the superfluid helium II. When helium is in the phase of superfluidity, it has a viscosity of 0 and seemingly defies the laws of gravity (due to the Onnes effect). Further, they have interesting thermal conductivity properties wherein boiling is impossible, rather evaporating straight to gas and typical heat diffusion is not present but rather a phenomenon known as second sound. Second sound is named thus due to the conduction of heat displaying a wave form similar to the travel of sound waves. Recently there was a transformer malfunction where the temperature became unstable. Basically, I wonder if and how CERN has to go about handling such a volatile substance without it creeping about and evaporating into thin air. While there are abounding fears of black holes to swallow the Earth on account of the LHC operations, the advent of a helium leak would deplete oxygen and could be harmful or even fatal to the CERN staff.

Superfluid
Uploaded by reelgood0008

EDIT:

Excerpt from Wired Science article on 9/23...

"On Sept. 18, the news from CERN, the organization that runs the LHC, was that an electrical problem involved with a cooling system caused a helium leak that would keep the mammoth particle accelerator out of commission for a day or so. A couple of days later, the estimate had stretched into two months: The machine would need to be warmed back up, which will take three to four weeks, before a full investigation could be done."

Mycological bioremediation

Paul Stamets is perhaps one of the world's foremost mycologists. Here he discusses how various mushrooms and fungi can be employed to break down common ecological contaminants.

Here is the full TED talk:

Or the "blogger's digest" version:

Homemade musical instruments

Mark Deutch's Bazantar

This guy looks like a total pervert that would die to hang out with Steven Seagal for a day, but I must say I'm pretty impressed.



The Kora and Toumani Diabate

The kora may not be such a unique instrument, but the tradition of hand-making them (as shown in the video) I thought warranted its inclusion here. Diabate's virtuosity is a great representation of how much potential the kora has in western art music. While I've heard/seen his "improvisation" a number of times, I find his music very much worth keeping on the radar.



Dennis Havlena's homemade/home-modified instruments


This guy is a legend in creating and modifying instruments. From the propane tank hang drum to his guitar-cum-hurdy gurdy, he has made some really cool stuff.

4'33"

Music video for a rendition of the classic Cage piece.