Thanks... Shelley, Frankenstein and Barnard
Our fascination with the human form and its possibilities has been with us for all time, but more especially so since Charles Darwin challenged mankind's religious origins, in his 'Origin of Species,' in 1859.
With much more innocence, we innocently wondered as children, about 'Captain Hook's' hook felt, in 'Peter Pan?' Or what about one-eyed, wooden-legged, 'Long John Silver,' from 'Treasure Island?' Later, 'Star Trek's' Jean-Luc Picard had a new heart, 'Star War's' hero Luke Skywalker and villain Darth Vader both had prosthetic appendages. What about Steve Austin, the 'Six Million Dollar Man,' of whom they said, "Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. Better... stronger... faster." Or Tony Stark, the Iron Man; Captain America's 'Bucky' Barnes; GOT's Jamie Lannister; Even 'Mad Eye' Moody, from 'Harry Potter,' were they all just complete and utter fantasy? Who among us was not simultaneously haunted and fascinated by Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein,' when a young scientist creates a grotesque living 'thing' from human body parts sourced from dissection laboratories and mortuaries. Going on to create murder and mayhem, Victor Frankenstein's monstrous creation has been brought to the cinema screen several times since Boris Karloff brought it to life so dramatically in 1931. The very idea that you could fit 'spare parts' into the human body though, remained little more than tales... stories of what could have been.
Until, on December 3, 1967, South African surgeon Christian Barnard successfully transplanted the heart of a human donor into Louis Washkansky, at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. Although, he passed away 18 days later, Barnard's work had inspired hundreds of others and during the following year over 100 successful heart transplants would prove even more successful, and today, they are commonplace.
By the 1970s heart transplants were virtually commonplace, and the medical fraternity sought wider applications for transplants and enhancements, many of which may not have been essential to longevity but inspired by the 'quality of life' needs of a burgeoning consumerist society. Among these, total (tkr) and partial (pkr), knee and hip replacements are today commonly sought by those with leg joint ailments, most frequently through osteoarthritis, a degenerative disease of the joints that causes swelling, stiffness and significant pain.
Late last year, I sought medical help for this very condition, and met with a nearby consultant Christian Nita, and after an initial consultation he agreed a way forward and following X-Rays and MRI scans it was agreed that my left knee was an appropriate candidate for surgery, with all my options laid out and a total knee replacement chosen. This requires the bottom of the upper leg and the top of the lower leg to be removed and new titanium femur (upper), and tibia (lower) leg components and a plastic patellar spacer between the two, to replace the ailing joint.
Surgery day, a couple of months later, was a final flurry of documentation, vital signs measurements, questions and final discussions with the surgeon and anaesthetist, then I was wheeled down to the operating theatre. A shunt was inserted in the back of my left hand, a prickle in the back of my right and then I was sat up to have the local (spinal) injection. 'This will numb you from the chest down so you will just feel a cold spray (which I did) and we'll give you a sedative to keep you relaxed for the next couple of hours,' said the anaesthetist, and a screen was hung up so I couldn't see what was happening and the work started... I can't say it was blissful, but there's something Shelly'ish, about knowing I was being cut, sawn, pushed, pulled, hammered and well, whatever else, just a couple of feet away, and I just... didn't... care... Yes, it did play with my head a wee bit later, but that has still been the most amazing element of this entire process... It just shows how far medicine has come. My quality of life will be improved and I must thank a quality surgical team, and among a host of others, Frankenstein... I guess?
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Observer
19-05-2025
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Chicago museum's fossil yields insights on famed early bird Archaeopteryx
A new analysis of a pigeon-sized Archaeopteryx fossil in the collection of the Field Museum in Chicago is revealing an array of previously unknown features of the earliest-known bird, providing insight into its feathers, hands, feet and head. The specimen, unearthed in southern Germany, is one of the most complete and best preserved of the 14 known fossils of Archaeopteryx identified since 1861. The discovery of the first Archaeopteryx fossil, with its blend of reptile-like and bird-like features, caused a sensation, lending support to British naturalist Charles Darwin's ideas about evolution and showing that birds had descended from dinosaurs. The new study, examining the Chicago fossil using UV light to make out soft tissues and CT scans to discern minute details still embedded in the rock, shows that 164 years later there is more to learn about this celebrated creature that took flight 150 million years ago during the Jurassic Period. The researchers identified anatomical traits indicating that while Archaeopteryx was capable of flight, it probably spent a lot of time on the ground and may have been able to climb trees. The scientists identified for the first time in an Archaeopteryx fossil the presence of specialized feathers called tertials on both wings. These innermost flight feathers of the wing are attached to the elongated humerus bone in the upper arm. Birds evolved from small feathered dinosaurs, which lacked tertials. The discovery of them in Archaeopteryx, according to the researchers, suggests that tertials, present in many birds today, evolved specifically for flight. Feathered dinosaurs lacking tertials would have had a gap between the feathered surface of their upper arms and the body. "To generate lift, the aerodynamic surface must be continuous with the body. So in order for flight using feathered wings to evolve, dinosaurs had to fill this gap - as we see in Archaeopteryx," said Field Museum paleontologist Jingmai O'Connor, lead author of the study published on Wednesday in the journal Nature. "Although we have studied Archaeopteryx for over 160 years, so much basic information is still controversial. Is it a bird? Could it fly? The presence of tertials supports the interpretation that the answer to both these questions is 'yes,'" O'Connor added. The delicate specimen, preserved in three dimensions rather than squashed flat like many fossils, was painstakingly prepared to protect soft tissue remains, which glowed under ultraviolet light. Birds are the only members of the dinosaur lineage to have survived a mass extinction 66 million years ago, caused by an asteroid striking Earth. Archaeopteryx boasted reptilian traits like teeth, a long and bony tail, and claws on its hands, alongside bird-like traits like wings formed by large, asymmetrical feathers. The soft tissue of its toe pads appears to have been adapted for spending a lot of its life on the ground, consistent with the limited flight capabilities that Archaeopteryx is believed to have possessed. "That's not to say it couldn't perch. It could do so still pretty well. But the point being that near the beginning of powered flight, Archaeopteryx was still spending most of its time on the ground," said study co-author Alex Clark, a doctoral student in evolutionary biology at the University of Chicago and the Field Museum. The soft tissue on the hand suggests that the first and third fingers were mobile and could be used for climbing. An examination of Archaeopteryx's palate - roof of the mouth - confirmed that its skull was immobile, unlike many living birds. But there was skeletal evidence of the first stages in the evolution of a trait that lets the beak move independently from the braincase, as seen in modern birds. The fossil possesses the only complete Archaeopteryx vertebral column, including two tiny vertebrae at the tip of the tail showing it had 24 vertebrae, one more than previously thought. The museum last year announced the acquisition of the fossil, which it said had been in the hands of a series of private collectors since being unearthed sometime before 1990. "This specimen is arguably the best Archaeopteryx ever found and we're learning a ton of new things from it," O'Connor said. "I consider Archaeopteryx to be the most important fossil species of all time. It is, after all, the icon of evolution, and evolution is the unifying concept of the biological sciences. Not only is Archaeopteryx the oldest-known fossil bird, with birds today being the most successful lineage of land vertebrates, it is the species that demonstrates that birds are living dinosaurs," O'Connor said. —Reuters
Observer
15-03-2025
- Observer
Thanks... Shelley, Frankenstein and Barnard
Our fascination with the human form and its possibilities has been with us for all time, but more especially so since Charles Darwin challenged mankind's religious origins, in his 'Origin of Species,' in 1859. With much more innocence, we innocently wondered as children, about 'Captain Hook's' hook felt, in 'Peter Pan?' Or what about one-eyed, wooden-legged, 'Long John Silver,' from 'Treasure Island?' Later, 'Star Trek's' Jean-Luc Picard had a new heart, 'Star War's' hero Luke Skywalker and villain Darth Vader both had prosthetic appendages. What about Steve Austin, the 'Six Million Dollar Man,' of whom they said, "Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. Better... stronger... faster." Or Tony Stark, the Iron Man; Captain America's 'Bucky' Barnes; GOT's Jamie Lannister; Even 'Mad Eye' Moody, from 'Harry Potter,' were they all just complete and utter fantasy? Who among us was not simultaneously haunted and fascinated by Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein,' when a young scientist creates a grotesque living 'thing' from human body parts sourced from dissection laboratories and mortuaries. Going on to create murder and mayhem, Victor Frankenstein's monstrous creation has been brought to the cinema screen several times since Boris Karloff brought it to life so dramatically in 1931. The very idea that you could fit 'spare parts' into the human body though, remained little more than tales... stories of what could have been. Until, on December 3, 1967, South African surgeon Christian Barnard successfully transplanted the heart of a human donor into Louis Washkansky, at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. Although, he passed away 18 days later, Barnard's work had inspired hundreds of others and during the following year over 100 successful heart transplants would prove even more successful, and today, they are commonplace. By the 1970s heart transplants were virtually commonplace, and the medical fraternity sought wider applications for transplants and enhancements, many of which may not have been essential to longevity but inspired by the 'quality of life' needs of a burgeoning consumerist society. Among these, total (tkr) and partial (pkr), knee and hip replacements are today commonly sought by those with leg joint ailments, most frequently through osteoarthritis, a degenerative disease of the joints that causes swelling, stiffness and significant pain. Late last year, I sought medical help for this very condition, and met with a nearby consultant Christian Nita, and after an initial consultation he agreed a way forward and following X-Rays and MRI scans it was agreed that my left knee was an appropriate candidate for surgery, with all my options laid out and a total knee replacement chosen. This requires the bottom of the upper leg and the top of the lower leg to be removed and new titanium femur (upper), and tibia (lower) leg components and a plastic patellar spacer between the two, to replace the ailing joint. Surgery day, a couple of months later, was a final flurry of documentation, vital signs measurements, questions and final discussions with the surgeon and anaesthetist, then I was wheeled down to the operating theatre. A shunt was inserted in the back of my left hand, a prickle in the back of my right and then I was sat up to have the local (spinal) injection. 'This will numb you from the chest down so you will just feel a cold spray (which I did) and we'll give you a sedative to keep you relaxed for the next couple of hours,' said the anaesthetist, and a screen was hung up so I couldn't see what was happening and the work started... I can't say it was blissful, but there's something Shelly'ish, about knowing I was being cut, sawn, pushed, pulled, hammered and well, whatever else, just a couple of feet away, and I just... didn't... care... Yes, it did play with my head a wee bit later, but that has still been the most amazing element of this entire process... It just shows how far medicine has come. My quality of life will be improved and I must thank a quality surgical team, and among a host of others, Frankenstein... I guess?
Observer
15-11-2024
- Observer
Scientists say world's largest coral found near Solomon Islands
Sydney: Scientists say they have found the world's largest coral near the Pacific's Solomon Islands, announcing on Thursday a major discovery "pulsing with life and colour". The coral is so immense that researchers sailing the crystal waters of the Solomon archipelago initially thought they had stumbled across a hulking shipwreck. "Just when we think there is nothing left to discover on planet earth, we find a massive coral made of nearly one billion little polyps, pulsing with life and colour," marine ecologist Enric Sala said. The standalone structure had been growing for some 300 years, the researchers said, formed from a "complex network" of tiny coral polyps. It was distinct from a coral reef, which is made from many distinct coral colonies, they explained. Measuring 34 metres wide (111 feet) and 32 metres long (104 feet), the team said the "mega coral" was three times bigger than the previous record holder -- a coral dubbed "Big Momma" in American Samoa. "While Big Momma looked like a huge scoop of ice cream plopped down on the reef, this newly discovered coral is as if the ice cream started to melt, spreading forever along the seafloor," said lead scientist Molly Timmers. It was longer than a blue whale and was thought to be "so colossal" that it could "be seen from space". The coral was discovered at the southeastern tip of the Solomon Islands in an area known as the Three Sisters. It was spotted by a National Geographic team embarking on a scientific expedition in the region. Hotter and more acidic oceans have drained the life from corals in many of the region's tropical waters, including Australia's famed Great Barrier Reef. But this latest discovery offered a small glimmer of hope, the research team said. "While the nearby shallow reefs were degraded due to warmer seas, witnessing this large healthy coral oasis in slightly deeper waters is a beacon of hope," said coral scientist Eric Brown. The lush rainforests and pristine waters of Solomon Islands have long been celebrated for their ecological diversity. Wildlife observations made in Solomon Islands in the 1920s helped prove a key part of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. "There is so much to learn about the richness of marine life and the ocean ecosystem, but this finding opens doors of knowledge," said top Solomon Islands official Collin Beck. "More scientific research is needed to better understand our rich biodiversity and our planet." — AFP
