HAPPY FRIDAY: Getting naked in the name of Art

THE human body contains every shape found in nature. Some of these shapes may be our internal squishy bits, but the human form has always been of fascination to the art world. Think of all those naked Greek sculptures depicting the human form in all its biological glory. It's also a great excuse to get people naked in the name of art.

The following naked pictures are credited to the IRP Group and illustrate how many shapes can be achieved using cloned, nude humans. More of their work can be found at Visual Art by the Human Body.

Naked Art

Naked Human Sunflower

Naked Human Flowers

Naked Human Peacock

Naked Human Blooming

Naked Human Dandelion

Naked Human Autumn Leaf

Naked Human Bossoms.. Blossoms!

Germination

Naked Human Peppers

Naked Human Frond

Naked Human Flower

Naked Human Rose

Related Art: Human Shapes Video

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Interesting factoids about salt and water

Simple table salt has a great number of uses other than simply seasoning your food. The following list will give you 50 uses of salt, many of which you probably didn't realise. I can't verify that all of these are 100% true so best to take them with a pinch of salt.

1. Add salt to green salads to prevent wilting
2. Sprinkle salt on your shelves to keep ants away
3. Soak stained hankies in salt water before washing
4. Put a few grains of rice in your salt shaker for easier pouring
5. A tiny pinch of salt with egg whites makes them beat up fluffier
6. Rub salt on your pancake griddle and your flapjacks won't stick
7. Soak fish in salt water before descaling; the scales will come off easier
8. Soak wrinkled apples in a mildly salted water solution to perk them up
9. Test the freshness of eggs in a cup of salt water; fresh eggs sink; bad ones float.
10. Add a little salt to your boiling water when cooking eggs; a cracked egg will stay in its shell this way.

Soak your nuts in salt brine overnight and they will crack out of their shells whole. Just tap the end of the shell with a hammer to break it open easily

11. Use salt to clean your discoloured coffee pot
12. Use a mixture of salt and lemon juice to clean piano keys
13. Mix salt with turpentine to whiten your bathtub and toilet bowl
14. Soak toothbrushes in salt water before first use; they will last longer
15. Boil clothespins in salt water before using them. They will last longer
16. Clean your iron by rubbing some salt on the damp cloth on the ironing surface.
17. Pour a mound of salt on an ink spot on your carpet; let the salt soak up the stain.
18. Add a little salt to the water in which your cut flowers will stand and they will last longer.
19. Clean brass, copper and pewter with paste made of salt and vinegar, thickened with flour.
20. Adding a little salt to water when cooking foods in a double boiler will make the food cook faster.

To fill plaster holes in your walls, use equal parts of salt and starch, with just enough water to make a stiff putty

21. Use salt for killing weeds in your lawn
22. Rinse a sore eye with a little salt water
23. A dash of salt enhances the taste of tea
24. Salt improves the taste of cooking apples
25. Eliminate excess suds with a sprinkle of salt
26. A dash of salt in warm milk makes a more relaxing beverage
27. Before using new glasses, soak them in warm salty water for awhile
28. Dry salt sprinkled on your toothbrush makes a good tooth polisher
29. Mildly salted water makes an effective mouthwash. Use it hot for a sore throat gargle.

Soak your clothes line in salt water to prevent your clothes from freezing to the line; likewise, use salt in your final rinse to prevent the clothes from freezing

30. Clean greasy pans with a paper towel and salt
31. Freshen sponges by soaking them in salt water
32. Milk stays fresh longer when a little salt is added
33. Sprinkle salt in your oven before scrubbing clean
34. Gelatin sets more quickly when a dash of salt is added
35. Add raw potatoes to stews and soups that are too salty
36. Fruits put in mildly salted water after peeling will not discolour
37. Rub wicker furniture with salt water to prevent it from yellowing
38. Soaked discolored glass in a salt and vinegar solution to remove stains
39. Soak enamel pans in salt water overnight and boil salt water in them next day to remove burned-on stains.

If a pie bubbles over in your oven, put a handful of salt on top of the spilled juice. The mess won't smell and will bake into a dry, light crust which will wipe off easily when the oven has cooled

40. Salty water boils faster
41. A dash of salt improves the taste of coffee
42. A pinch of salt improves the flavor of cocoa
43. Sprinkle salt in milk-scorched pans to remove odor
44. Salt and soda will sweeten the odor of your refrigerator
45. Cover wine-stained fabric with salt; rinse in cool water later
46. Sprinkle salt between bricks where you don't want grass to grow
47. Add a pinch of salt to whipping cream to make it whip more quickly
48. Mix 1 part salt to 4 parts alcohol to remove grease stains in clothing
49. Remove odors from sink drainpipes with a strong, hot solution of salt water.

Now you know everything there is to know about salt. They even made a movie about it ;)

Related Post: Cooking tips and household tricks

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PLANTS: The apple and potato of desire

THE banana plant can 'walk' up to 40 centimeters in its lifetime. Many herbal plants can warn each other chemically when predatory herbivores are nearby. The sunflower is able to extract radioactivity from water.

Plants really aren’t appreciated enough in our hi-tech, modernised world. Many humans like to believe that we somehow exist outside the web of nature rather than living within it. From an evolutionary point of view, plants are just as advanced as humans. Time and time again nature proves that it is stronger than any of our designs as we constantly try to control it.

A friend of mine who has just come back from the United States told me about a fantastic book by bestselling author, Michael Pollan, called The Botany­ of Desire. The book tells the story­ of human desire and is about the domestication of four specific plants from the plants’ perspectives (metaphorically speaking). The apple, tulip, cannabis and the potato have all been integral to the human tale and have influenced history, economics, politics, religion and technology and raised debate over genetically modified food.

The Apple of Desire

Apples have evolved to gratify our desire for sweetness — an innate, hardwired desire that is simply a part of our biology. From an early age we learn that bitter plants are often poisonous while sweet ones are calorie-rich and therefore good for us.

The apple first sprouted into existence in Kazakhstan. To migrate to all four corners of the globe and spread its genes, it had to appeal to mammals as a sweet food source. This brought the apple to the New World.

However, what was unknown to the early pioneers is that every apple seed within an apple contains different genetic material and will produce a completely different variety of apple if planted from seed. These tend to be very bitter and New World apples were primarily used to make hard cider, which put rural America into a great binge.

Today there are thousands of apple­ varieties and it is still arguably the universal fruit. It even influenced artists of the Renaissance to imagine the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden as being an apple.

The Potato of Desire

The potato represents our desire to control nature and cultivate a staple food source. It led to the rise of the Incan Empire and helped fuel the Industrial Revolution. It changed the course of European­ history and led to a huge population­ boom. For civilisations in and around Europe potato crops freed more people from tilling the fields and allowed them to focus their attention on other pursuits.

The potato was also a godsend for the Irish who were unable to grow much of anything. This was until a fungus caused the great potato famine in the 19th century — killing over a million people.

The potato has taught us a valuable lesson in biodiversity and illustrates the risk of monocultures. Growing just one species of an edible plant makes entire crops vulnerable to disease and infection. However, the demand today for a certain kind of McDonald's potato chip has resulted in farmers once again growing mostly just one kind of elongated potato.

Attempts to prevent another potato famine has led several farmers to genetically modify their potatoes. Splicing a gene from a bacterium that lives in the soil with the potato leaf kills insects, but has also led to huge consumer uprisings against genetically modified foods.

• Read The Botany of Desire Part 2 here

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BOTANY: The tulip, marijuana and human desire

** Read the first part of this article here **

Cannabis

MARIJUANA gratifies the human desire to experience an altered state of consciousness. We are all born with an innate drive to experience other mind states periodically, whether this manifests into singing, dancing, experimenting with substances or jumping out of an aeroplane.

The genius of marijuana is to appeal to this human desire and it has mastered the art of biochemistry. Through it we have discovered a wealth of information regarding how memory, emotion and consciousness all work.

Marijuana’s world domination strategy involved producing more of the chemical (THC) that appeals to the human creature in order to be spread its genes and be given more habitat in which to thrive. Anthropologists posit that the only human culture never to have been influenced by this plant were the Inuit.

Most cultures have historically used cannabis to relieve pain. In Western culture marijuana was the driving force behind the jazz era and set alight the social revolution of the sixties.

The banning of marijuana in the United States led people to splice the genes of Mexican­ and Indian marijuana to produce a short, resilient and fast-growing plant that could be produced indoors. This has resulted in an almost entirely new species of plant, which now largely lives a cushy existence removed entirely from nature and the foothills of Mongolia and China where it originated.

The Tulip

The tulip, like many flowers, has evolved to gratify our desire for a certain kind of beauty. Flowers have been flaunting their beauty for more than 100 million years since the rise of the angiosperms. These plants form fruit and seed and have male and female types, which allows for the mixing of genes. This creates greater variety, which means greater adaptability and ability to survive.

When the tulip caught our attention and began to be cultivated, this plant underwent some startling changes. Its new forms bewitched the sultan of the Ottoman Empire and engulfed the Dutch in “tulip mania” during the 17th century. The tulip fast became one of the most valuable commodities in the world and spurred one of the biggest investment bubbles in human history.

The tulip came to denote wealth and status and it became fashionable for the prosperous to grow flower gardens. One tulip variety, the Semper Augustus, fetched as much as R70 000 in today’s money. Soon there was more money outstanding on tulip bulbs than there was in circulation, which caused economic collapse.

It was later discovered that the most sought-after tulip varieties were actually infected by a plant virus. Today, more than 19 million tulips leave Holland for flower shops around the world.

In a nutshell, plants are pretty amazing. The central lesson we can take from these four species is that we need to stop trying to control nature­ and rather learn to work with it.

• Video footage, interviews with Michael Pollan and more about The Botany of Desire can be explored online at www.pbs.org

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HUMAN MORALITY: How much lies in our genes?

I’VE recently been immersed in an era where mechanical augmentations are used to replace body parts; where humankind starts to become more machine than biological squishyness. This is not reality – not yet, at least – but is a video game called Deus Ex: Human Revolution, which depicts a portrayal of what the world might be like in 20 years time.

The biggest appeal of this popular title is that it raises significant questions concerning human morality. What makes us human? What makes people good or evil? These questions have been a part of philosophy and the human imagination for millennia and have now entered the realm of crime and punishment, with a new field of investigation called Neurolaw. In a nutshell, those accused of capital crimes can now appeal to have their mental states assessed by a neurologist during trial.

What we can be sure of is that it is not in our nature to take the life of another. We all share a moral instinct to protect life, specifically the lives of those we care about. However, when this moral instinct is suppressed, and people are forced to kill others, they can lose all respect for life and be filled with hatred, fear and confusion. This accounts for the high number of suicides during and after the war in Vietnam for example.

This is of course, unless one is psychotic. The majority of serial killers throughout history – the Ted Bundys and Jack the Rippers – were found to be psychotic. They lacked the human emotion that the rest of us share – specifically empathy, which made their killing sprees seem as regular as watering the roses.

The Moral Molecule and Warrior Gene

Neuroscientists have determined that psychopathy is mostly genetic, but also depends on brain structure and a chemical called oxytocin, which has become known as the “moral molecule.” Neuroscience has also isolated a gene which has become known as the “warrior gene.” Whether this nasty gene is triggered or not depends on upbringing and environment. An abusive childhood is the most common trigger to unleash the warrior within.

If a psychopath has a pleasant childhood on the other hand, the outcome can be vastly different. It has been discovered that the “successful psychopaths” are largely to be found in big business or powerful positions in society - almost four times as many as in the general population in the U.S. Psychologists suggest that corporate culture is the ideal environment for someone with such a disposition, where the lust for thrill-seeking can be sated.

Characteristics of the Psychopath

The correct brain structure and a lack of the moral chemical, oxytocin, can make for the most charismatic leaders. Although lacking profoundly in empathy and being supremely egotistical and shallow, psychopaths have at their disposal a large repertoire of human behaviors and emotions which can be easily mimicked. Psychopaths can put themselves in the skin of others intellectually, read their body language and use this to charm, intimidate or manipulate others.

Morality Test

So how can we tell whether or not someone might be a psychopath at an early age? One ‘morality test’ that has been done with babies is to put on a puppet show to do with sharing. A central doll plays with a ball before passing it to another doll to play with, which soon passes it back. The ball is then passed to a third doll which promptly runs off with the ball. The baby subjects are then encouraged to choose between the ‘good’ puppet and the ‘bad’ puppet. Experimenting with hundreds of babies revealed that 70% of them choose the ‘morally good’ doll and indicates that from an early age we are drawn towards kindness. In such experiments it is hoped that the remaining 30% perhaps fell asleep during the show.

So if you have any little ones in your life, go now and shower them with hugs and kisses and tell them how much they are loved, no matter how much they might protest.

• This information on human morality and the moral molecule was largely derived from a BBC Horizon documentary called Are You Good or Evil?

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ALCOHOL: The pharmacology of booze and brains

IF there is one discovery that has arguably been the most influential in human history, it’s alcohol. Alcohol is up there with caffeine as one of the most widely used drugs in the world. It has helped shape human societies for millennia and influences nearly everyone either directly or indirectly. In fact, many anthropologists would argue that you can divide the human race into three distinct tribes – those who drink occasionally, those who actively avoid alcohol and those who seize any opportunity to drink it.

Most people will quietly organise their lives around access to or avoidance of the drug alcohol. Many animals like to drink, including monkeys and elephants, and it has been happening for millions of years. Alcohol has become so ingrained in our culture that traces of alcohol-use can be found in out DNA.

A quirk of evolution

Alcohol is a naturally produced substance which first entered our world millions of years ago via a symbiotic relationship between yeast and the cherry fruit. Yeast lived within the fruit which was at risk of being eaten by various insects. To protect itself and its host, yeast began to convert the sugars in cherry fruit and produce the poisonous bi-product, alcohol, which killed any cherry-hungry insects. When the fermenting fruit was discovered and eaten by man, our long-lasting relationship with alcohol began.

There is no doubt that alcohol is poisonous to humans too. In fact just 29mils of pure alcohol (ethanol) injected into the bloodstream would kill a man. It is also a very unique and hardcore drug. Pharmacology reveals that alcohol affects the same neurotransmitters in the brain that are targeted by drugs such as cocaine, heroin and Prozac.

The pharmacology of alcohol

For most people, alcohol has a powerful calming effect. Two shots of distilled booze is the equivalent of taking a mild tranquilizer. This is why alcohol is offered on planes soon after take-off. The ‘buzzing’ effect is a result of dopamine being triggered by alcohol, which is the same neurotransmitter that cocaine targets. Serotonin makes us feel good and is triggered by both alcohol and anti-depressants. Feeling like you can take on the world after a good few drinks or feeling severely ‘spaced out’ is the same sort of effect you would feel if you were to inject heroin.

Of course, alcohol affects each of us differently and our relationship with the drug changes as we change. Body size, fitness level, metabolism and gender are a few of many factors that determine how alcohol will affect our brain chemistry. However, a recommended weekly allowance has been calculated at 24 units for men and 14 units for women per week. Twenty-four units equals two bottles of wine; 14, a bottle and a half.

Personality type and social context are also huge factors when it comes to accessing one’s drinking habits. Knowing someone’s relationship with alcohol would reveal a lot about that person’s life. But for most of us, alcohol has formed a pivotal part of several social situations. Weddings, parties, graduations, funerals, promotions, birthdays and anniversaries are just a few of these. Drinking has almost become synonymous with celebrating.

The hangover

The unfortunate hangover of all this is that there has been a huge increase in the number of people admitted to hospital for alcohol-related problems. This has caused much concern for those in the medical profession and a move has been made to create a new designer drug to replace alcohol. The idea is to be able to add a pill to a soft drink and enjoy all the benefits and euphoric effects of alcohol without being harmful or addictive. Although any chemical substance that makes us feel good has the potential of becoming addictive. People can even be addicted to running for the endorphin release.

Many pharmacologists would argue that if alcohol was ‘discovered’ today it would most certainly be banned or at least more controlled than it currently is. But perhaps we don’t really want to know that much about alcohol as a drug. In the end, many of us might choose to be blissfully boozed and ignorant.

Related Article: How wine changed the course of history

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Read part 1 of Choices and the Uncertainty Principle here

THE reason that the laws of general relativity break down at the Big Bang is that it does not incorporate the most basic tenet of quantum theory - the uncertainty principle - the element that Einstein could never accept.

Quantum theory tells us that the very early Universe must have had a multitude of choices. It could have formed a black hole, there could have been no expansion of the Universe, the strength of gravity could have been stronger or weaker and there could have been no matter in the Universe, only radiation. All of these choices would have resulted in a still-born Universe.

The multitude of choices and resulting uncertainties form the basis of quantum theory. But the Universe, as big as it is today, is still subject to the uncertainties. It is like a gambler throwing the dice - there are a large number of possible rolls of the dice. It is interesting to note that in a large object such as the Universe, the multitude of choices average out to something we can predict. That is why we can apply Einstein’s theory so successfully to the Universe as a whole.

Scientists also refer to the multitude of choices as multiple histories. The well-known American theoretical physicist, Richard Feynman, has developed a mathematical framework to calculate the most probable outcome of multiple histories. The same formulae can be applied to determine the most likely position of an electron. Again, the closer we determine an electron’s position, the larger its velocity will be.

The uncertainties of the quantum world are not imaginary; they are real. Feynman's multiple histories idea of the Universe is now incorporated into general relativity to form a unified theory which could be used to calculate how the Universe will develop if we know how the histories started.

Perceptions of time

What does quantum theory tell us about time in the Universe? Time does not exist in quantum theory! At least it does not exist in the sense that most of us think about it. There is no clock out there ticking no matter what happens in the Universe. Time in quantum theory is simply the measurement of a process, like the decay of radioactive matter.

Clocks developed to measure such processes cannot measure any duration of time smaller than a billionth-billionth of a second. This is more or less the size of an atom or, more precisely, the time it will take a photon to cross the size of an atom. This interpretation of time is in line with Einstein’s general relativity. Measurement of the duration of processes at the quantum level is subject to the uncertainties and fuzziness typical of quantum theory.

We cannot measure the duration of time it takes a particle to acquire a certain amount of energy. The more accurately we measure the energy, the less accurate can we measure the time it took the particle to gain the energy. This is why the formation of particles (matter) in the early Universe is subject to the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics.

Feeling uncertain?

People do not like uncertainties and therefore most do not like quantum mechanics. As a scientist put it: “I do not like quantum mechanics, but I use it because it works”. The velocity of particles in the early Universe must have been incredibly high due to the high energy levels. If you use such a particle to determine time, you would find that a particle traveling at the speed of light gives you the age of the Universe as NIL.

All particles must have been traveling at very close to the speed of light. It becomes clear that every particle had its own time. Whose time is correct? All readings of time are correct depending on your velocity and the gravitational pull. Einstein said: “every observer’s time is correct”. There is no intrinsic unchanging time.

What is reality?

I want to end with a few thoughts about our relationship at the macroscopic level with the microscopic world. In everyday life you never see a single photon and the microscopic world seems so remote and unreal. If you think further, you realize that almost everything in our everyday world is the way it is because of the quantum world. Matter has bulk because atoms have size. The colours, textures, hardness and the transparency of materials all depend on the exclusion principle regulating the behaviour of electrons in atoms. The list could go on, but ultimately the macroscopic world is what it is because of the microscopic world.

The quantum world is not something remote. It forms part of all matter. Take this page; look at it at ever smaller distances and time scales and the apparent mad world I have described above will unfold before your eyes. The problem is, currently we can only access the quantum world theoretically because technology has not developed so far that we can access it in any other way.

Frikkie de Bruyn is the Director of the Cosmology
Section of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa

Related Articles:

• Perceptions of Time
• What happened before the Big Bang?
• The evolution of stars in the Universe

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