Kangaroo Obstetrics

I just spent the last 1 hour watching videos on Kangaroo Obstetrics, sparked off by coming across these mind blowing three dimensional ultrasound scans of animal fetuses. Producer Peter Chin used a ‘combination of three-dimensional ultrasound scans, computer graphics and tiny cameras to capture the process from conception to birth’ of a number of animals including penguins, elephants, dolphins, dogs, and penguins. Yes, penguins. It was filmed for a National Geographic Documentary called Extraordinary Animals in the Womb. The birth process and development of a little Joey is one of the most amazing thing I've seen in a while. The process of foetal movement from birth canal to pouch is astounding! Complete genius.

Birth of the Red Kangaroo (Part 1 of 3)

Birth of the Red Kangaroo (Part 2 of 3)

Birth of the Red Kangaroo (Part 3 of 3)

Dolphin Foetus

Chi Hua Hua foetus

Elephant Foetus

Imagining the tenth dimension

from mingdao (:

Questions

a friend of mine recently asked me, "hey glori, are you GEP? or supp GEP? or in any way GEP?"

i couldn't tell whether that was an insult or not (:b) so i gave him a straightforward answer and asked him why he asked.

"well, because of the questions you ask. like 'why does a flame snuff out when the wind blows?', 'why do clouds stay in the sky?'"

i've been giving tuition for about 2 months now, and all this while i've been encouraging my girl to keep asking questions. we had a discussion on why it was necessary to learn science, and it dawned upon her that she often took the natural happenings of world for granted. our answers have too often been "just because".

why does newspaper turn yellow when left in the sun for too long? just because.
why do we see things in different textures and colours? just because.

and it boils down to how far we are willing to challenge the things that we live amongst, depend on, believe in. the Whys in the depths of our minds need to be answered and not left to linger on in the space of oblivion.

can Science give us answers? probably. but to say that Science gives us answers to everything would be pushing it. there exists a realm where Science has no place to be. the philosophical issues of life - the very purpose of human existence, the concept of moral judgement and consciousness. regardless, the fundamentals remain and the question still exists - Why? what could fill in the gaps that Science cannot?

where Science fails, do all things fall along together with it? humans were made for more than "just because".

In the archives of the brain, our lives linger or disappear.

this month's issue of National Geographic featured a topic that got me highly intriguied - Memory. the ability of recollection, something still so abstract and undefined in human development. starting from the way in which each moment/experience/encounter of your life is processed, catalogued and stored, followed by the way such information is archived, tagged and jolted back to recollection upon certain stimulation - all of it, suspectedly, never lost one bit, but merely a matter of retrieval.

as scientist pore over the scientific basis of such observations, 2 subjects of their study are described in the article. the first, AJ, who can recall every moment of her life as though flipping through pages of a book (be it two weeks ago or the exact same date 10 years ago) and the second, EP, who lives but only in the present (with memory only lingering for long enough for him to think about it). 2 people living in the same world but in different dimensions.

a fascinating article on the neuronal interactions within that mass of cells sitting atop our spines. but what i really enjoyed about this issue was the Editor's Note at the beginning of the issue. it was particularly poignant, something that pulled a heartstring.

Memory, perishable and enduring, is the brain's archive. It is a marvel of neuronic circuitry, as Joshua Foer explains in this month's cover story. Its loss can be cruel, but remember this: It is through memory that we hold on to those we love.

i've linked the articles here, do take a read. :)

National Geographic, November 2007
Editor's Note
Feature Article: Memory