. Santiago Ramon Y Cajal was the pioneer of neuroanatomy. The importance of his early contributions to the evolving field of neurophysiology cannot be overstated. Looking at brain slices stained with silver nitrate (following Golgi’s protocol) and using the light microscope, he was the first to map the different types of neurons, their interconnections and … Continue reading
. In following the long-established tradition of this site, I’m marking historical events of great importance by an entry into my blog. In terms of historical importance, I feel being thrown back to the day of January 6th, when I sat in the basement of my house in Massachusetts working on a manuscript, and saw … Continue reading
. Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard. A sunny day. Trying to find meaning on the beach. It is there in plain sight. The shapes invite us to come up with multi-syllable names. Like o-mi-kron: Phi-mo-re Es-tru-ma O-ring-que Ling-gum-ten Tran-dong-pim Ir-lo-zen . .
. Accidental intelligence (AI) is encountered more frequently than you think. This morning, as I was having breakfast, I put my glasses down, and I became aware of something staring at me. Does it have consciousness? I doubt it, yet the encounter left me unsettled: what if it has? How will my life go on … Continue reading
. My novel Ierapetra, or His Sister’s Keeper is finally set to be published. After numerous attempts to get a publisher or an agent interested, I finally decided to publish it myself. I joined the Alliance of Independent Authors, and through them I found Dartfrog and its Canoe Tree program, which specializes in supporting self-publishing: … Continue reading
. Neil Armstrong, as he stepped on the moon, purportedly said, “That’s one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind.” Now a careful analysis of the original noisy recording has revealed that he actually said, “That’s one small step for a man. One giant leap for mankind.” https://getpocket.com/explore/item/did-we-mishear-neil-armstrong-s-famous-first-words-on-the-moon?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us “Man” — without the article–already … Continue reading
“Purchase of Manhattan Island 1626 — colored engraving, 19th Century” . Costello plan of New Amsterdam in 1626 — officially entitled “Afbeeldinge van de Stadt Amsterdam in Nieuw Neederlandt” (The key to the Castello plan lists every single house and the 1500 inhabitants that formed the first community in the Dutch colony). “New York before … Continue reading
. So I went to the International Antiquarian Book Fair in New York, a huge affair occupying the entire 38,575 sqft exhibition space of the Park Avenue Armory on a single-day ticket for $32. I spent 2½ hours there until my eyes glazed over. I was carrying three catalogs in my hand for lack of … Continue reading
Odysseus | Myth, Significance, Trojan War, & Odyssey | Britannica “NASA science is set to land on the Moon aboard Odysseus, Intuitive Machines’ uncrewed autonomous lander. Touchdown is now targeted for 6:24 p.m. EST (2324 UTC) Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. The NASA payloads aboard the lander aim to help us learn more about terrain … Continue reading
A republic that allows the basis of its own existence to be eliminated has clearly the wrong laws. Seriously! If someone like Trump — suspect from the outset of attempting to eliminate the rules of democracy and the very Constitution he is sworn to uphold, and having been caught in one attempt … Continue reading
. In the unfinished attic of my parents’ house — unfinished because the most important thing after the incendiary bomb had struck 80 years ago, on February 4, 1944, was to put a roof back on — I found boxes with unpacked things, an old stroller, Mickey Mouse cartoons, illustrated children’s books and magazines from the … Continue reading
from THE FREE PRESS, Dec 4, 2023 . It’s been all over the local news: Fergie Chambers, self-styled left-wing revolutionary and heir of a billionaire, is using his $250M family payout to establish a commune in Alford, in the town of Great Barrington. He has bought land some place on East Road, and set up … Continue reading
. The other day, in Manhattan, I noticed a remarkable proliferation of a statement welded onto gigantic steel plates used to cover holes on the street, the ones that go perplank! when a car runs over it. Here are only a few examples of it. The statement is a simple word, TRIUMPH. Nowadays, our tired … Continue reading
. I didn’t want to make a lot of fuss about it, but earlier this year I found two iron butterflies. The first one in particular is recognizable by its shape, and by the rebar that is popping out of the concrete, reminiscent of the strange dragon-like patterns on the original album of our friends … Continue reading
. Walking up and down on Rowe Road the other day, on a cold day — but Rowe Road is always sheltered from wind — I saw patterns everywhere, and this is the photo journal from that day. . . .
“North America prior to illegal immigration” – a map I found on Mastodon “Australia prior to illegal immigration” – Connection And Wellbeing Australia (CAWA PTY LTD) 2016 Three recent news items attracted my attention: The first one was a map of North America with its native peoples in 1491, “prior to illegal immigration” — … Continue reading
. I joined Bluesky on invitation of Karolin Luger. Found many people interested in cryo-EM in the first two days.
https://www.vangeline.com/research . Human experience and inventiveness have no limits. I recently discovered this preprint (title, authors and abstract pasted below) as I was browsing biorxix, the archive of biology-related preprints, and with it I learned about the existence of Butoh dance in Japan and elsewhere, including the New York Butoh Institute in Manhattan. So, it … Continue reading
. I wrote a poem entitled “How Do I Feel?” during the first US war against Iraq, under George W. Bush. I still remember the feeling of outrage and hopelessness at peace gatherings with friends in an Albany church that had hosted many such gatherings before. I also remember feeling something seemingly impossible: a real … Continue reading
