Category Archives: Science

Wellcome Medical Image Library

Posted on July 9, 2007 by cicada

The Wellcome collection of medical images has been made available for non-profit use under a Creative Commons license. This is a really fabulous resource. Just for fun I searched “trepanation” and got nine images like these: Thanks to Stranger Fruit … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Education, Photography, Retrotechnology, Science | 5 Comments

Memento mori: cadavers in the classroom

Posted on July 8, 2007 by cicada

The LA Times recently reviewed Body of Work: Meditations on Mortality from the Human Anatomy Lab, a memoir by medical resident Christine Montross. I’ve been trying to decide if I want to read it, and I’m still uncertain. Although a … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Books, Education, Science | 6 Comments

Science in the dark

Posted on July 6, 2007 by cicada

An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump (1768) Joseph Wright of Derby An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump – detail (view zoomed image at the National Gallery of London) Wouldn’t it be excellent if science … Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Art, Museum Lust, Science | 2 Comments

DWM overload

Posted on July 6, 2007 by cicada

portrait of James Ferguson, astronomer Oh, look! Legions of Dead White Males with (natural laws, anatomical parts, minerals, equations, geological features, organisms, diseases, scientific societies) named after them! And some little prankster drew spectacles on Ferguson. Scientific Identity: Portraits from … Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Art, Museum Lust, Science | Comments Off

Absolutely hilarious

Posted on July 4, 2007 by cicada

From the Guardian: scientists and non-scientists attempt to answer basic science questions. Example: Q: Roughly how old is the earth? A: Oh blimey. Well, I know that human beings have been going for about a million and a half years, … Continue reading →

Posted in Frivolity, Science, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Rethinking fat

Posted on June 25, 2007 by cicada

Normalcy One Size Does Not Fit All, 2002 Beverly Naidus A while ago, I promised to share my impressions of Gina Kolata’s Rethinking Thin. I finished the book last month, but I wanted to let my response percolate before posting. … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Books, Department of the Drama, Science | 3 Comments

And who exactly would Mother Goose’s “peers” be? Peter Rabbit and Squirrel Nutkin?

Posted on June 23, 2007 by cicada

My PhD is four years old, and has long lost what transient lustre it held for me. Yet I’m somehow still involved in never-ending rounds of revision on a paper based on graduate work to which I will never return. … Continue reading →

Posted in Frivolity, Science | Comments Off

What’s up with the bees?

Posted on June 20, 2007 by cicada

Bee and Echinacea watercolor, 8.5″ square 2007 A few weeks ago, I asked a beekeeper at the Portland (Oregon) farmer’s market whether his bees were ok. “Yeah, they are,” he said, “but I get that question a lot.” On Saturday … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, My Artwork, Science | 7 Comments

Why are peacocks blue?

Posted on June 18, 2007 by cicada

The white color of this albino peacock is due to the missing black melanine pigment. The usual rich colors of the peacock are seen because black pigment which absorbs most of the incident light, allowing us to see only the … Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Art, Biology, Education, Science | 1 Comment

A&P quiz: This is a. . .

Posted on June 17, 2007 by cicada

Jim Stanis This lovely pink bauble is better known as a: A) gremlin B) globulin C) glomerulus D) gomphosis E) gomphus (answer below the fold. . .)

Posted in Artists & Art, Biology, Education, Science | 3 Comments