Humans could regrow body parts like some amphibians
“Researchers have found that the gene p21 appears to block the healing power still enjoyed by some creatures including amphibians but lost through evolution to all other animals. By turning off p21, the process can be miraculously switched back on.
Academics from The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia found that mice lacking the p21 gene gain the ability to regenerate lost or damaged tissue. Unlike typical mammals, which heal wounds by forming a scar, these mice begin by forming a blastema, a structure associated with rapid cell growth. According to the Wistar researchers, the loss of p21 causes the cells of these mice to behave more like regenerating embryonic stem cells rather than adult mammalian cells. This means they act as if they creating rather thane mending the body.
Their findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provide solid evidence to link tissue regeneration to the control of cell division. They turned off the gene in mice which had damaged ears and they regrew them. While they say it is early days, there is nothing theoretically different about applying the same process to humans. Professor Ellen Heber-Katz, the lead scientist, said: “Much like a newt that has lost a limb, these mice will replace missing or damaged tissue with healthy tissue that lacks any sign of scarring.”
Read more at The Telegraph
Stuff to watch
In a perfect world Professor Brian Cox would be the worlds highest paid pin up and the Prime Minister would be Charlie Brooker. Both have incredible TV programs out right now in the form of Wonders of the Solar System from the poster boy of science Cox and series 2 of Newswipe from possibly the greatest living human on earth, Mr Charlie Brooker.
It’s not just that Wonders of the Solar System will reduce you to teary eyed pillow biting with its violins and gloriously happy rhetoric – it’s the fact there is such an obvious beauty to our local group that we cannot ignore. Prof Brian Cox is clearly overjoyed at what is out there and presents a beautifully made show with all the enthusiasm of a six year old on three bags of cola bottles.
His celebrity science status makes him perfect for the role and for all the criticisms that the intellectual elite might have of this form of “dumbed down science” documentary – it’s perfect sunday night viewing when you’ve drunk a little too much, especially when the only other choice is “Snog Marry Avoid” or ritual suicide. You can follow Cox on Twitter here – I just wish he was as fabulous on Twitter as he is on camera, but follow him all the same as he is a beautiful human being who I personally would forgive almost any crime.
Despite his immense knowledge and intellect Cox did not however write the series – that goes to a guy called Gideon Bradshaw who also directed the series and wrote the wonderful Are We Alone in the Universe. For true genius and brilliance we will all be forced to live in the eternal shadow of Charlie Brooker and his glorious masterpieces like the fabulous offering he has out now.
Episode 2 of Newswipe (series 2) is so good it I would poke my own mother in the eye to defend it. It should be put on the national curriculum and anyone in your family who hasn’t seen it deserve nothing more than a good hard whipping. Episode 2 is gloriously funny from the first second and if for some strange reason Brooker himself doesn’t whet your appetite then Adam Curtis joins in with a stroke of perfectly crafted documentary brilliance along with Doug Stanhope, who completes to an orgy of aggressively expert, left wing, dot-2-dot intellectual analysis that even the most rampant Daily Mail reader has to smirk at.
If there was Nobel Prize in common sense Brooker would have won it 12 times.
If you don’t enjoy this show you need to try again. Newswipe is being shown for the second time on iPlayer now. If you miss this then you may as well emigrate to Greenland or just shoot yourself. Much like how I felt when the series ended.
Playing-Card Model Of The Venetian Macau
“The American card-stacking master has just beaten his own previous world record, by completing a model of the Venetian Macau hotel and casino, made completely out of playing cards.
Brian Berg, the man behind the famous key-card hotel, spent 44 days working on the amazing model, using a total of 218,792 playing cards. The fragile piece of architecture, which is now on display in the heart of Macau’s Cotai Strip, was Berg’s most challenging project yet.
The playing card model of the Venetian Macau weighs an impressive 272 Kg, is 35 feet long and 10 feet tall. The most impressive thing about Brian Berg’s masterpiece is it contains no glue of tape.”
Read more at Oddity Central (thanks, Jason)
Woman Aims To Become World’s Fattest
“An obese mother in the US is trying to put on weight in order to become the world’s fattest woman.
Donna Simpson, from New Jersey, weighs 273kg but told the Daily Mail newspaper she had her heart set on reaching her goal weight of 1000lb (450kg) in two years.
The 42-year-old already holds the title of the world’s fattest mother after giving birth to her daughter in 2007 when she weighed 241kg.
“I’d love to be 1000lb … it might be hard though, running after my daughter keeps my weight down,” Ms Simpson told the Daily Mail.
Ms Simpson, who needs a mobility scooter to go shopping, eats huge amounts of junk food each week and tries to move as little as possible so she doesn’t burn off as many calories.”
Read more at 9 News
World’s First Genderless Person Officially Recognised
“A British expat who claims to have no gender is thought to have become the first person to be officially recognised as neither male or female.
Norrie May-Welby, 48, was born a man but had a sex change operation in 1990, at the age of 28.
After becoming unhappy as a woman, May-Welby decided to become a “neuter”. The 48-year-old is now officially recognised as a person of no specific gender.
May-Welby emigrated to Australia at the age of seven after being born in Paisley, Renfrewshire.
Officials there altered the Briton’s birth certificate to include the new no-gender classification after doctors were apparently unable to determine the sex of the expat’s body.”
Read more at The Telegraph (thanks, Tiram)
Tricks of the trade
We get a lot of emails asking how things are done, what to read, watch, wear and eat – and we’d love to reply to everyone but there simply isn’t the time at the moment.
A note to those who don’t know we have all the recommended stuff here or just click on the recommended links for a more extended list, ideal for the truly hardcore, hopefully the links haven’t died. Anyone who has got through that lot deserves a medal and some new shelves.
We will be updating and adding more stuff when we can – shouldn’t be too long.
Also a reminder that the art store now features ALL of Derren’s prints at every size. More updates coming soon with 2 new releases and it looks like certain sizes will sell out never to be released again.
Skeleton of conjoined twins
I must get one of these for DB for Xmas. Anyone know where I can get one?
End of Hull
(From the Agingbooth iPhone app. How I feel with 4 months left to go…)
We all had a terrific time in Hull – thank you any of you who came to see it and formed a part of a really sensational audience. We had a great crew in the theatre, which always helps, and the changes I’ve been making to one of the routines seemed to settle in okay. Participants were largely bright and bubbly on stage, which makes all the difference. I noticed on a couple of occasions around Hull that when I said ‘Hello’ to a passing child, they cheerily waved and greeted me back: something that would never occur in the places I hark from. That must be a good and happy sign. It’s lovely to see a cheery, friendly city reflected in the mood of an audience. Thank you all hugely.
One thing that Hull did bring was an inordinate amount of generously chosen gifts from people at the stage door. This was a very lovely gesture from all the people concerned: thank you ever so much. I must, however, ask that if you are one of those few who are thinking of bringing a present or bag of goodies to a future show, please save yourself the time and money. I feel bad taking them: the reality is that it’s just not possible to take most of the gifts around with us, and even bags of the most gorgeous-looking sweets and chocolate tend to remain woefully uneaten as touring does not allow for such a diet. I hope you don’t mind me saying that it means more than enough me that you would buy a ticket or even bother to stand around in the cold just say a nice hello after the show. (On this subject, I know Coops and Iain are starting to develop an abreaction to Roast Beef Monster Munch, but I say keep them coming… they made their bed and can now lie in it, crumbs and all).
After another 5 hour journey, during which some great ideas were hatched for a future TV special, we’re now in Southampton, or at least in an hotel nearby. I’m having a coffee in the ‘brasserie’ of this gorgeous old hotel. It’s rather idyllic, and has a tranquility that will not be found as readily around the back of the Mayflower Theatre over the next few days, with its train tracks and Toys ‘R’ Us. This may be the first year we do not hit the toyshop with the enthusiasm of its younger demographic: previous tours have seen us eager to stock up on soft toys to throw, and remote control helicopters with which to amuse ourselves in the auditorium. Preceding years also saw us staying in the unhappy DeVere hotel nearby, which we all remember uncharitably as the ‘Let’s Get Ou-de-vere’. That’s tricky to make work in print, but you can see what we did.
Staying in so many hotels one after another turns one into a terrible, intolerant twot. Anything other than the warmest reception at the front desk immediately makes every aspect of the place feel unwelcoming, and seeing another teak-veneer desk unit or chintzy eiderdown makes the heart sink unnecessarily. One becomes hyper-critical of slow or indifferent service and far more ready to complain about a poor steak, purely because, through no fault of the hotel’s, one has grown sick of it in previous establishments. Hateful. On top of that, though we really could not be any less rock ‘n’ roll as a touring group (our production manager once spilt ketchup on a white carpet: that’s as mad as it’s ever got), we are usually the noisiest table in the restaurant and often bundle into the most beautiful old converted stately homes in the scruffiest, most embarrassing attire, immediately sending out a message that we may not be quite right for the place. To then catch oneself calling front desk with the back-catalogue of frustration that comes from calling ten previous front desks with the same point of frustration, is to realise that one has fallen prey to the curse of the privileged: expecting other people to have nothing better to do that fit in with your own desires and make your life easy.
The wealthier you are (or the more you get used to staying in hotels on tour), the worse this becomes. As Alain de Botton has said, it’s always the arguments at the first-class check-in desk that are the nastiest. Foul.
Having said that, I’m honoured to be with such a delightful and pleasantly-mannered group. And the temptation to take these hotels for granted is a good reminder to me regarding what we unfairly expect from others.
Oh for fuck’s sake my sugar lumps aren’t individually wrapped again.
Professional Couch Potato Wanted: get paid to do nothing and eat more junk food
“Being a professional slob rarely pays – that is until now.
A company is advertising for a couch potato to do nothing and eat more.
It will pay almost £24,000 to a “worker” with a big appetite who is happy to eat 400 extra calories every day in high fat meals such as chips and pizzas, to test the fat binding properties of a weight loss product.
The position is open to men and women and the successful applicant will have their calorific intake and weight closely monitored by medics.
A spokesman for the firm Proactol Ltd said that while their fat binder was already clinically proven, they wanted to test it in the real world.
The job ad, which has already gone up in UK job centres, reads: ‘We know it’s incredible, but it’s true.
We are willing to pay you £23,750 a year to continue doing EXACTLY what you do every single day, and all we ask in return is that you eat 16 per cent more calories a week – or 400 more calories a day – whilst introducing Proactol into your diet.’”
Read more at The Telegraph
Early 20th Century ‘Spirit’ Photographs
“These photographs of ’spirits’ are taken from an album of photographs unearthed in a Lancashire second-hand and antiquarian bookshop by one of the Museum’s curators. They were taken by a controversial medium called William Hope (1863-1933). Born in 1863 in Crewe, Hope started his working life as a carpenter. In about 1905 he became interested in spirit photography after capturing the supposed image of a ghost while photographing a friend. He went on to found the Crewe Circle – a group of six spirit photographers led by Hope. When Archbishop Thomas Colley joined the group they began to publicise their work. Following World War I support for the Crewe Circle grew as the grieving relatives of those lost to the war sought a means of contacting their loved ones. By 1922 Hope had moved to London where he became a professional medium. The work of the Crew Circle was investigated on various occasions. The most famous of these took place in 1922, when the Society for Psychical Research sent Harry Price to investigate the group. Price collected evidence that Hope was substituting glass plates bearing ghostly images in order to produce his spirit photographs. Later the same year Price published his findings, exposing Hope as a fraudster. However, many of Hope’s most ardent supporters spoke out on his behalf, the most famous being Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Hope continued to practice, despite his exposure. He died in London on 7 March 1933.”
Read more at Moolf (thanks, SuZi)
