I am Spirogyra, and this is a screen cap of my latest humiliation. When I last posted, it was in response to a tabloid running a compromising photo of me. Now, as I try to remember the days before my conjugation tubes were a matter of public record, I’m left to wonder how my sex tape was entered in an imaging competition. But not only that, it didn’t even win first prize. FML.
Results of the Olympus BioScapes competition were announced yesterday, and this image of the tail of a transgenic zebrafish, its sensory neurons labelled with brainbow, was in the top ten.
billy: “How’s your dog doing?”
coworker: “My what?”
billy: “Your dog. You have have little dog, don’t you?”
coworker: “Oh. My dog died…It was the day after my birthday.”
![My company takes emergency preparedness seriously, which has naturally resulted in some discussion around the office of how many unarmed humans it would take to overpower a single polar bear. This is evidently an old pastime, as Time mentions boxer Gene Tunney’s assertion that Gargantua would be no match for a heavyweight boxer in fighting shape:
“It is my firm conviction that any fairly good heavyweight boxer could put the great Gargantua [460-lb. Congo-born gorilla now on tour with the Ringling circus] to sleep or to rout within two minutes. .. .Gargantua is a big boy but a Dempsey left hook landing on his stomach might figuratively tear the poor animal in two… . He didn’t spend years doing bending and mat exercises. A man has 24 ribs. Your encyclopedia will tell you that a gorilla has but 13. Between the ribs, below the breastbone, there are nerve centres. If they are shocked the shock travels to the spine, temporarily causing paralysis. The ribs, and well developed muscles between the ribs, protect these nerve centres. Twenty-four ribs are much more protection than 13.”
The article notes that gorillas have 13 pairs of ribs.
Image source.](http://14.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kt6bkxuLiX1qz6ihqo1_400.jpg)
My company takes emergency preparedness seriously, which has naturally resulted in some discussion around the office of how many unarmed humans it would take to overpower a single polar bear. This is evidently an old pastime, as Time mentions boxer Gene Tunney’s assertion that Gargantua would be no match for a heavyweight boxer in fighting shape:
“It is my firm conviction that any fairly good heavyweight boxer could put the great Gargantua [460-lb. Congo-born gorilla now on tour with the Ringling circus] to sleep or to rout within two minutes.
.. .
Gargantua is a big boy but a Dempsey left hook landing on his stomach might figuratively tear the poor animal in two… . He didn’t spend years doing bending and mat exercises. A man has 24 ribs. Your encyclopedia will tell you that a gorilla has but 13. Between the ribs, below the breastbone, there are nerve centres. If they are shocked the shock travels to the spine, temporarily causing paralysis. The ribs, and well developed muscles between the ribs, protect these nerve centres. Twenty-four ribs are much more protection than 13.”
The article notes that gorillas have 13 pairs of ribs.
Image source.
Although I don’t wish to tempt fate, I consider it unlikely this evening will involve me being forced to bathe while my clothing is incinerated.
An article from The Times-Picayune, found here.
Gargantua was an attraction of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus from 1937 until his death in 1949. GARGANTUA is an unnecessary and incomplete mnemonic for songs performed by Celine Dion (Go Where Love Goes; A Song For You; Right In Front Of You; Goodbye’s (the Saddest Word); All By Myself; New Dawn; Think Twice; Up Where We Belong; All Because Of You).
Image source.
A nice assortment of algae from here.
These are the oxygen saturation curves for adult and fetal hemoglobin. Interestingly, the placenta, even before being used to make pizza, has several important functions, including the exchange of gases between maternal and fetal blood. In part, the exchange of oxygen through the placental barrier is facilitated by the production of different variants of hemoglobin in mother and fetus. The above comparison of adult and fetal hemoglobin reveals the latter has a greater affinity for oxygen.
Image source.
This is an electron micrograph of Corethron criophilum, a species I’ve mentioned previously. At the moment, I don’t have anything nice to say about this alga.
Image source.
