Photo: Jessica Dimmock

I am always interested in different perspectives on what it means to be human, especially when they come from sources that are vastly different than your average Joe Sixpack. So, when I cam across a video of an autistic that makes an amazingly successful attempt at explaining what it is like to have autism, and how she views her life submerged in a sea of “normal” people, I was absolutely astounded. Here is an angle that I have never heard before, so I thought I would share this experience with all of you.

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External Sphincter of Man,
That’s What!

I guess there may be the slightest interest in what I, [Cerebrl], am up to. You know, the guy that runs this little blog. Well, I have been busy with school. Yes, school. Well, that and being politically active, developing a website (paid project that is, yea!), working for an after (urban) school program and trying to get back into working out. At the moment, I am taking microbiology, and human physiology in a short summer semester. If you are interested, here is what I had to write about this week for physiology:

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Snipped from PhysOrg.com.

Short answer: maybe. It seems that physicians are not taking placebos as lightly as we once thought. The placebo effect, “a therapeutical effect based solely on the power of suggestion” that has showed up in all clinical trials and is commonly used scientifically in pharmaceutical research, is said to be used by 45% of Chicago internists when prescribing to patients.

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Snipped from NewScientist.com.

I have to admit something. I am obsessed with spicy food. Some may say addicted. I don’t know why, but I always have been. Thai food, Mexican food, Indian food … it doesn’t matter. The hotter the better. Oh, and one more thing. I am never sick … ever. Well, except that silly little meningitis episode I got a long time ago, but that is another story. So, one could ask, “Does all the spicy food lend some assistance to my healthy state of existence?” Umm, good question.

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Snipped from Scotsman.com.

I have had a strong curiosity about dolphins for a very long time. It started after I watched a special on them when I was a kid about how they could tell colors, shapes, sizes and solve problems. They could do all kinds of amazing things that no other comparable animal could do. Then, my curiosity peaked a decade later when I read an article about how the dolphin “language” was more complex than any of the human languages. I started thinking to myself, “what if dolphins were as smart or smarter than us, but they just lack an opposable thumb to show off their ‘intelligence’.”

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Snipped from SciAm.com.

Finally, an interesting article that addresses our larger brain, and its ties with our diet. In many other articles, I have attempted to link our diet with our evolution. Whether it was our ancestor’s desire for high calorie, carbohydrate dense foods, or how our they perfected cooking starches which allowed for more dietary versatility and therefor a better chance at survival, I have linked our diet to our evolutionary success. Here Richard Wrangham, a chimp researcher, has come up with a theory that helps indirectly argue the points I have been making about our ancestral diets.

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Snipped from New Scientist.

Some of the more recent articles on Blog4Brains have been about ancient remedies or alternative medicine, so I thought this fascinating article about how the Egyptians may have beaten the Greeks to discovering the first “medicine”, would help further the discussion.

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Snipped from SciAm.com.

Wow, has honey got some press to be proud of?! It seems that there really is some truth to the old wives tales that honey really is a cure all. In November, honey seemed to get some very late, but not forgotten, recognition that it can be successfully used as an antibiotic ointment for small cuts, abrasions and sores. The in December, it got the recognition for being a better nighttime cough medicine for children (older than 1 year old of course).

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Snipped from SciAm.com.

Here is some snack food for the brain. SciAm went out and got some hard evidence for the everyday wonders — ever wonder about cell phone use and brain tumors, if certain creams can make your thighs thinner, or if you are smarter than a chimp? Well, then you will love this little bite-size review of this week’s science news.

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Snipped from AP.com.

Remember a couple of weeks ago when there was a big uproar about reprogramming skin cells into stem cells. Well, here is something quite interesting that they have done with such reprogrammed cells. In this article the scientists discuss how they have “cured” mice with sickle cell anemia — a deadly genetic disease that distorts the shape of the red blood cells, limiting the amount of oxygen that they can “carry”.

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