Science

If your body craves more ‘Gulp,’ an ‘Open Wound’ may satisfy

by Shaun Manning May 10, 2013

Mary Roach, dubbed “America’s funniest science writer” by the Washington Post, has fans hungry for more weird stories of the body’s inner working with her latest book Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal. Roach, who provided a blurb for Jason Karlawish’s Open Wound, also gives a shout to that book in Gulp itself, calling Open Wound ”a fine and sleuthily researched historical novel.” Roach notes that, while Dr. William Beaumont’s thoughts on his experiments upon Alexis St. Martin are well-documented thanks to the doctor’s journals, St. Martin’s initial response to the “unusual proposition” of having his bullet wound used as a window [...]

Rolf Peterson on the Environment Report

by Phillip Witteveen May 3, 2013

Rolf Peterson, author of The Wolves of Isle Royale, was a guest contributor on Michigan Radio earlier this month. The Environment Report turned its attention to Isle Royale National Park, which experienced its first year without any new wolf cubs in the 55 years researchers have been studying this ecosystem. There are, in fact, only 8 wolves left on the island. “If it keeps going,” says Peterson, “that’ll be the end of them. It may just be a temporary thing, but the writing is on the wall in terms of genetic viability.” The halt in reproduction is due to the fact [...]

Glow In the Dark Rabbits

by Phillip Witteveen March 14, 2013

Brazilian artist and author of Telepresence and Bio Art: Networking Humans, Rabbits and Robots Eduardo Kac (pronounced “Katz”) was featured in a recent article in the Smithsonian Magazine, which covered his major contributions to contemporary art and the biodesign movement. The article highlights two of Kac’s most well known works: Alma, the controversial genetically modified rabbit (whose implanted bioluminescent jellyfish genes allows her to glow in the dark) – and Edunia, a petunia with the artist’s own immunoglobulin “the very thing that can distinguish ‘self’ from ‘non-self’ and fights off viruses” spliced into it. Kac has been “pushing the boundaries between art and [...]

Authors discuss ‘The Chief Concern of Medicine’ on the Jefferson Exchange

by Phillip Witteveen January 11, 2013

“Every patient has a story, and every doctor has to know it” said the host of the Jefferson Exchange as he announced his guests, doctors and authors of The Chief Concern of Medicine, Ron Schleifer Ph. D. and Jerry Vanatta, M.D. The book, as they explained, was a product of the collaboration they had been doing teaching a class about the medical humanities. ” I had a remarkable experience in my office”, explained Jerry, “which led me to wonder, if we could put together a course on literature and teach it to medical students.” He went on to tell a story [...]

Ellen Handler Spitz on UMBC In The Loop

by Phillip Witteveen December 11, 2012

Ellen Handler Spitz, author of Illuminating Childhood, was featured on UMBC’s In the Loop video series, which showcases new and interesting ideas in academia. For this episode, Professor Spitz, who teaches Humanities, met with Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Professor Govind Rao, to discuss the relationship between the sciences and the arts, which are, as it turns out, have more in common than is widely thought. “You were describing art ad building new forms” said Professor Rao, “I think that’s very much the soul of engineering also”. Developing technology in Rao’s lab is a highly creative process, and indeed technology itself, [...]

← Previous Entries