Category: Misc.

The Cuttlefish: An Intelligent Cephalopod

Posted on October 9, 2007April 21, 2015 by ellen

Before I visited the Georgia Aquarium, most of what I used to know about cuttlefish included the fact that they can be purchased neatly packaged in dried chewy form in Japanese groceries. So, I was very surprised when I first met one face to face in the Georgia Aquarium and realized they are remarkably intelligent creatures.

Cuttlefish are invariably curious about people, and will come up and try to get a better look if you catch their eye. They are precision swimmers, able to hover motionless near an object of interest by rippling their skirt of fins, only to suddenly jet off in another direction using their funnel siphon when they have seen enough.

Make the pandacam show up permanently on your desktop

Posted on October 8, 2007 by ellen

Thanks to Dave Taylor, I now have the PandaCam widget visible on my desktop all the time. No need to hit F12 to see if the Pandas are doing something cute. Per Dave’s instructions, just

Statuary Photoshop Brushes

Posted on October 6, 2007 by ellen

Several of these brushes have been created in the negative, so that using them with light colors on a dark background will reveal only the light tones on the statue. Nice effect. Download file

Ernst Haeckel Photoshop Brushes Set 3

Posted on October 5, 2007 by ellen

High-resolution Photoshop brushes based on Ernst Haeckel’s engravings of shells and sea jellies. Great used as stamps, or the spiky shells look particularly good when you use scattering and angle and opacity jitter. Download

Photoshop Brushes based on Ernst Haeckel’s engravings: Set II

Posted on October 4, 2007 by ellen

This is my second set of brushes based on Haeckel’s drawings of diatoms, coral and other sea creatures. 11 different brushes are included, many with variations in opacity, spacing, size jitter, etc. Download file

Recent research on Alzheimer’s Disease

Posted on October 2, 2007 by ellen

A quick survey of some of the more interesting research on Alzheimer’s Disease recently:

I. Causes and Disease Mechanisms
Alzheimer’s Disease Could Be A Third Form Of Diabetes

Science Daily Insulin, it turns out, may be as important for the mind as it is for the body. Research in the last few years has raised the possibility that Alzheimer’s memory loss could be due to a novel third form of diabetes.

Now scientists at Northwestern University have discovered why brain insulin signaling — crucial for memory formation — would stop working in Alzheimer’s disease. They have shown that a toxic protein found in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer’s removes insulin receptors from nerve cells, rendering those neurons insulin resistant. ..
Continue reading

Ancient City Remix brushes

Posted on September 23, 2007 by ellen

Download File These brushes were derived from Durer’s engraving St Anthony At The City. Create your own remix of a 16th century town! Let me know if you create something nice with them, I’d like

Some dual brushes

Posted on September 22, 2007 by ellen

Download file I’ve been experimenting a little with dual brushes. The ones here are good for producing multi-hued textures and backgrounds. They will automatically shift color, size, etc. Drop me a line if you use

Growing up Panda

Posted on September 14, 2007 by ellen

Picture 8.jpg
8/5/07

Update, Nov. 26, 2007 The cub has been named Zhen Zhen!

Here’s a photo diary of the as-yet-unnamed female panda cub born August 3 at the San Diego Zoo. The little panda is the fourth cub of Bai Yun, a panda that arrived from China in 1996.

To read the latest news on the Giant Pandas at the zoo, CLICK HERE

Interesting DNA, RNA research you might have missed

Posted on September 13, 2007 by ellen

There is much happening in genetics it’s hard to know where to start listing the highlights. Here are some of the more interesting items I’ve come across recently:

Did DNA replication evolve twice independently?
by Leipe DD, Aravind L, Koonin EV. in
Nucleic Acids Res. 1999 Sep 1;27(17):3389-401.

DNA replication is central to all extant cellular organisms.
principal proteins involved in transcription and translation, which are highly conserved in all divisions of life.
We performed detailed sequence comparisons of the proteins that fulfill indispensable functions in DNA replication and classified them.