Michelangelo: Secret Scientist

Michelangelo Buonarroti, know only by his first name to his mates, began dissecting corpses from a church graveyard in his teens, then, from 1508 (probably why he’s a bit famous) he began painting the roof of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Michelangelo was famously an artisitic genius, sculptor, architect and, the hidden gem in his professional repertoire; an anatomist! Although this is something that no doubt aided in his drawing of extremely accurate human depictions, Michelangelo concealed this side of himself by destroying almost all of his anatomical sketches and notes. However, artists (and nerds too) have been scrutinising his work for decades looking for hints at his secret double life and boy did they find a corker!

Back in 1990, Frank Meshburger proposed that in the famous central panel, God creating Adam was a depiction of the human brain in cross section.  See for yourself.

Meshberger 'speculates that Michelangelo surrounded God with a shroud representing the human brain to suggest that God was endowing Adam not only with life, but also with supreme human intelligence.'  However, some interpret these findings as a confirmation of many atheist's beliefs, that God originates in the brain of man, that he is a creation of the mind.

A new study by Johns Hopkins Researchers published in the May 2010 issue of the Scientific Journal of Neurosurgery claims to have found further evidence of hidden anatomical diagrams of the brain amongst the paintings in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. They believe that God’s neck is a concealed diagram of the brainstem and other neighbouring regions of the brain. Check out these pictures

In this panel, The Separation of Light from Darkness, Ian Suk and Rafael Tamargo have found a ‘precise’ depiction of the human spinal cord and brain stem leading up the centre of God’s chest and forming his throat.

R Douglas Fields tells us that “Art critics and historians have long puzzled over the odd anatomical irregularities in Michelangelo’s depiction of God’s neck in this panel, and by the discordant lighting in the region”. I am not sure this is the answer they were after.

from Pixwit.com

Now some interpretations seem a little far fetched, after all, this is only speculation and Michelangelo’s true ‘meaning’ for painting the neck the way he did; or the brain-shaped shroud just so; died along with him. Some believe that Michelangelo was playing a cruel joke on his paymasters by putting God inside the human brain – the implication being that that is where God resides, as a thought of man only. Is the Sistine Chapel a vast biological puzzle, painted under the nose of Pope Julius II? A jigsaw only just beginning to be pieced together? Or, are we reading too much into this? I mean, I can certainly see the ‘brain’ in the image but at the same time, our clever little brains do 'like’ to make associations between recognisable images and the abstract, but saying that, I have seen quite a few brains in my time and that shape is pretty ‘brainy’.  Sacrilidge or homage? You decide.

For details of all references and image sources please email me.

Green Tea and the Fashionable bacteria

Okay, so this story has been making the rounds on the blogosphere for some time now but for those of you who have not yet cyber-stumbled upon this little fashion revolution, you’re in for a treat!

Suzanne Lee’s BioCouture exhibition at the Science Museum last month brought together years of hard work...fermenting green tea in order to make jackets.  Yes you read that correctly.  Lee, a senior research fellow at Central Saint Martin’s School of Fashion and Textiles, has created garments of eco-friendly, throwaway fashion from the cellulose produced by bacteria.  The process (put somewhat crudely) involves throwing the bacteria in a bath and mixing it up with some sweetened tea and yeast.

Ecouterre explains that, from this, "fibres begin to sprout and propagate, eventually resulting in thin, wet sheet of bacterial cellulose which can be molded” over a manikin into the desired shape.  You can then overlap these sheets which fuse together as the moisture evaporates.  When dried, the fibers develop a “papyrus-like surface” that can easily be stained with vegetable dies to create colours ranging from deep purple (beetroot) to bright yellow (turmeric).

Now, if you’re already searching for your nearest stockist, just hold tight for the next paragraph as I explain to you what one of these sexy little numbers will do in the rain! 

These garments are the firm textile they are because of the evaporated moisture.  Add that moisture back (cue English weather) and you are basically swimming in that same microbial soup it started out in.  The garment will swell considerably before turning into a gooey, cellulose-y mess.

Now, whilst clothing made from the same microbes used to ferment green tea may not be your idea of a staple piece in your capsule wardrobe this season, Lee's work does provoke larger questions about where fashion comes from and, particularly when developed from its nascent stages,  proposes the idea of truly sustainable clothing; fashion that, when worn out, can be tossed in the compost bin with your eggshells and teabags.

Left or Right? It's a no-brainer!

Todays lesson post is Brain Function 101.  ‘Where’s the art in that?’ I hear you cry, well, friends of The Art in Science, the art is in the right side.  Okay, so that’s perhaps a little elementary, however, the brain is split into two halves, or hemispheres, and their functions really do differ...like, a lot!

Everybody has a ‘dominant side’ of the brain so before you get stuck into this post (as if you aren't already), know that, by the end, you will know which camp you can set up in; you’re a right- ,or a left-brainer and there’s no avoiding it.  

Okay, so maybe it’s not just so cut and dry.  The learning and thinking process is enhanced when both hemispheres work in a balanced way; kind of like getting two children to paint one picture, if one kid is too dominating, the other is bound to go off in a strop and will sit redundant, whimpering in the corner.  If, however, both participate equally, not only will the painting get finished, but it might even be worthy of sticking to the fridge with an RSPB fridge magnet.

Okay, child-friendly analogies aside, let’s clear up the characteristics of each side and try and work out which is you dominant side.  

Left Hemisphere	Right Hemisphere
Rational Side	Intuitive side
Logical	Analogic (sees correspondences and resemblances)
Problem solver (looks sequentially at the parts of things, not just the whole)	Problem solver (looks for patterns and configuration – uses hunches)
Draws on previous accumulated, organised information (present and past)	Draws on unbounded cluster of images and patterns (present and future)
Prefers talking and writing	Prefers drawing and tactile action
Prefers multiple choice	Prefers open-ended questions
Controls feelings	Free with their feelings and emotions
Prefers established hierarchy and authority	Prefers shared power and team responsibility
Responds to verbal instructions	Responds to images, symbols, diagrams or demonstrated instructions
Prefers math and science	Prefers ‘meaning’ (philosophy and religion)
Is practical and forms strategies	Imagination rules, presents possibilities

Whilst it’s not left=scientist, right=artist, it is clear to see that different people's minds work and respond to the world around them in quite different ways.  As far as I can see, I am skilled in all areas of both (I am ridiculously smart, AND I heart images), although if I were pushed to make a decision (stop pushing me), I would say I am probably a right-brainer but have my left brain well trained!

That is the key: whichever side of the brain you have discovered best describes your thinking and problem solving style, concentrate on the traits of the other.  Therefore, the more adept you will become at each of the 'non-dominant' traits and the better your brain will work as a unified whole (remember the kids painting?).  So my advice to you is to not invest in brain training software named after a fictional Japanese neurologist, but instead, focus on exactly what your brain needs and use its plasticity to your advantage.  You can teach an old dog new tricks (although the brain does get less neuroplastic (fact-spongey (I coined that phrase, remember the name (too many brackets? (it’s okay, it’s good practice for your left brain)))) as you age so make haste!)

From Thread Cells to Thread Art: A Quantum Leap in Quilting

My research for this blog often takes me into unfamiliar territory but today’s blog comes to you from a place I have never even considered typing into Google’s handy search bar: The Studio Art Quilt Association  (or SAQA to the cool kids).  A group of people who bloody love making quilts!

Seriously though, these aren’t the £2 , ten tog, vac-pac quilts you pick up from a trough at the back of Asda, oh no, they are actually pretty spectacular!  In particular, I am talking about the quilts on display at the SAQA exhibition at Birmingham’s NEC, titled “Frontiers: Art meets Science”.  

The quilts are inspired by scientific theories, phenomena and photography; ‘from the harmonies of randomness to the dynamics’ of science.  The result is a collection of beautifully crafted and truly inspirational quilts that express the fundamental aspects of science alongside advanced theory in a refreshingly inexact merging of wadding and wool.

'Coleus Leaf', Susan Brubaker Knapp

'Binary Fission', Betty Busby

'Lepidoptera', Susan Brubaker Knapp.  (Based on a microscopic photograph of a Painted Lady butterfly's wing. Lepidoptera is the order of insect that includes butterflies and moths)

'Lepidoptera' detail

The exhibition runs till the end of august so if you’re quick you can have a gander yourself.  Welcome SAQA to the geek-slash-chic way of thinking!

Not for the faint of heart!

If you have ever flicked onto Channel 4 past midnight to discover an eccentric German sawing a frozen cadaver in two, then you are almost certainly familiar with the work of Gunther Von Hagens. If not, then let me introduce you:

Gunther Von Hagens is an anatomist and inventor of Plastination, a process that halts the decomposition of the body after death with the use of reactive polymers.

Through this process of preservation, which differs from conventional preservation in that the respective body parts (be it a vein, organ or entire body) are preserved from the inside out, meaning that bodies can be positioned in all manner of poses.  These exihibits explicitly reveal the biology that we have been taught since pre-school but have never been able to see in all it’s tactile beauty. 

Gunther says “When, as an anatomy assistant, I saw my first specimen embedded in a polymer block, I wondered why the polymer had been poured around the outside of the specimen as having the polymer within the specimen would stabilize it from the inside out. I could not get this question out of my mind”

...and so, like all good Mad Scientists, he experimented, made mistakes, turned the process on it's head then introduced his invention to the scientific community.

Plastination works by removing water and fats from the body and replacing them with reactive polymers*, thus depriving bacteria of what they need to survive and halting any bacterial decomposition.

(*For a full explanation of the process of plastination click here)

Gunther’s exhibitions present preserved cadavers, kicking footballs, riding horses still born babies and, tragically, babies still safely tucked inside their mothers, in galleries around the world. 

His recent work has worked more with the bodies of animals which, for me, is particularly fascinating.  The anatomy of an elephant tends not to be on the curriculum in even the very best of schools. 

I truly believe you have to see these exhibits ‘up close and personal’ (more personal than you could imagine!) to really understand their import and power to move, so if you would like to find out about upcoming exhibitions, more about the process, or even to donate your body to the Institute of Plastination upon your death (chirpy way to end the post!) check out his website.

Biology lessons on the skin

There are those with tattoos and there are those without and there is no intermediary spectrum, visible or otherwise, to bridge that gap.  There  is, however, quite an array of characters within the tattooed among us.  There are the bull dogs, the '50s pin ups, the tribal tats and the foliage clinging like an angry parasite to hairy limbs.  Then, there are those with biologically accurate sneak-peeks into the human anatomy.  Let me show you what I mean.

A person-to-be, cuddled up foetally, resting happily on that sturdy-looking pelvis before having to make the treacherous passage through it and into this light, airy world we live in. I do have one question, what part of the body is this tattoo on?  It doesn't looking like a burgeoning belly, or any stomach for that matter.  Answers on a postcard.

On the topic of the female reproductive system, what says "be mine" to a prospective suitor than finding a diagram of your womb, complete with those little walnut ovaries and dedicated fallopian tubes, greeting him on the first date (or second or third, dependent on your principles).  Has there ever been a stronger aphrodisiac? 

Likewise, opening up your heart to your loved one can become more literal than you had perhaps previously imagined!

Welcome to the gun show!  Here, ladies and gentleman, we have an arm.  Complete with tendons, ligaments and a fair amount of detail in those average-looking biceps. 

[Insert witty dodgy-hand-tattoo comment here]

This is one of my favourites!  Disappointing, however, that with all that effort he only decided to go for 22 ribs, rather than the usual 24.   He seems to have included only the 11th, and not the 12th, floating rib at the back.  Oh well, we can't all be scientists (or look it up in a primary school text book before getting it permanently inked on your skin).  He could perhaps have been making a statement; say for example he was born with the benign abnormality of having 2 less ribs than most (not uncommon) and his tattoo was an attempt to stick his mutation to the world.  Unlikely though.

This is the best picture I could find of this one but it's a nice little preview!

We'll finish with a guy/girl with a sense of humour!  A cute little kidney dangling from a kidney removal scar - way to make the most of a bad situation!!

Axons get a kiss

Axons get a kiss

Wow, just wow.  A quick one today, I wanted to share this photograph of neurones firing into action after treatment with a chemical; this sheds a whole new light on the spectacular action of our nervous system and the firework display that occurs up close,  each and every time one of our nerves fire into action.  This is phenomenal, I think you'll agree!

"Axons get a kiss" Photograph by Dr Christine Jasoni, Department of Anatomy

and Structural Biology, University of Otago.

Basal forebrain axons (red) and GnRH neurons (green) following treatment

with Kisspeptin.