Category: Uncategorized

The autumn rains has revived tbe north-facing algae on the plane tree bark, newly shed in strands due to the expansion caused by the cambial growth, adding new rings to the tree. View in LinkedIn

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE. “I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth! How funny it’ll seem if I come out among the people that walk with their heads downwards! The antipathies, I think--“. “In Carroll’s day there was considerable public speculation about what would happen if one fell through a hole that went through the center of the earth.” Footnote 5, page 13, The Annotated Alice: 150th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Annotated Books). https://lnkd.in/dX8iKez9 View in LinkedIn

RECASTING VITALISM. “(Pasteur) argued for a new version of vitalism in the origin of life. “Only the living organism with its asymmetrical tissues, or the asymmetrical products of the living organism, or the living intelligence with its conception of asymmetry, can produce this result. Only asymmetry can beget asymmetry." https://lnkd.in/dqXS2nnQ View in LinkedIn

SEPARATING ANTIMATTER GALAXIES. “Alfven also posited that in between metagalaxies of matter and antimatter will be Leidenfrost layers. A buffer region of ‘ambiplasma’ caused by the Leidenfrost effect would serve to keep the matter and antimatter metagalaxies apart.” https://lnkd.in/dhrW--56 View in LinkedIn

VITALISM. “He became convinced that the ability to effect such a separation was "the prerogative of life." This view led to heated discussions, especially after a famous lecture by Japp in 1898 entitled "Stereochemistry and Vitalism" which was published in Nature and was the presidential address in the chemistry section of the British Association.” https://lnkd.in/dqXS2nnQ View in LinkedIn

Old ice tongs just outside the old main gates of Girona, Spain. View in LinkedIn

EFFECTS OF LIFE. “He then reflected on the fact that no ordinary chemical agents or heat could cause the separation and that the two separation methods known to him were both via living agents: in the one case via the mold, in the other case via Pasteur himself.” https://lnkd.in/dqXS2nnQ View in LinkedIn

SMALL GENETIC TOOLKIT. “Cell signalling pathways are constructed from a limited number of component types that rely upon a small number of discrete mechanisms of action. The discovery of this universal genetic toolkit for an animal’s development has had important impacts.” For example, GPCRs in the sensory system. https://lnkd.in/dZseHNGF View in LinkedIn

VITAL ACTION. “As a matter of fact, about 10 years after his first discovery he found that a certain type of plant mold could also effect the separation of the racemic acid.” https://lnkd.in/dqXS2nnQ View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS this first of two weekends on a charming paper by a Nobel Laureate about symmetry, full of interesting anecdotes outside of science including MC Escher, in the respected tradition of the scholar scientist polymath; several hundred years ago this was less difficult because the sheer amount of material was much less. https://lnkd.in/dqXS2nnQ View in LinkedIn