Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Bizarre Examples of Genetic Engineering - 2
Super carbon-capturing plants
Humans add about nine gigatons of carbon to the atmosphere annually, and plants and trees absorb about five of those gigatons. The remaining carbon contributes to the greenhouse effect and global warming, but scientists are working to create genetically engineered plants and trees that are optimized for capturing this excess carbon.
Carbon can spend decades housed in the leaves, branches, seeds and flowers of plants; however, carbon allocated to a plant’s roots can spend centuries there. Therefore, researchers hope to create bioenergy crops with large root systems that can capture and store carbon underground. Scientists are currently working to genetically modify perennials like switchgrass and Miscanthus because of their extensive root systems.
Enviropig
The Enviropig, or “Frankenswine,” as critics call it, is a pig that’s been genetically altered to better digest and process phosphorus. Pig manure is high in phytate, a form of phosphorus, so when farmers use the manure as fertilizer, the chemical enters the watershed and causes algae blooms that deplete oxygen in the water and kill marine life.
So scientists added an E. Coli bacteria and mouse DNA to a pig embryo. This modification decreases a pig’s phosphorous output by as much as 70 percent — making the pig more environmentally friendly.
Pollution-fighting plants
Scientists at the University of Washington are engineering poplar trees that can clean up contamination sites by absorbing groundwater pollutants through their roots. The plants then break the pollutants down into harmless byproducts that are incorporated into their roots, stems and leaves or released into the air.
In laboratory tests, the transgenic plants are able to remove as much as 91 percent of trichloroethylene — the most common groundwater contaminant at U.S. Superfund sites — out of a liquid solution. Regular poplar plants removed just 3 percent of the contaminant.
Fast-growing salmon
AquaBounty’s genetically modified salmon grows twice as fast as the conventional variety — the photo shows two same-age salmon with the genetically altered one in the rear. The company says the fish has the same flavor, texture, color and odor as a regular salmon; however, the debate continues over whether the fish is safe to eat.
Genetically engineered Atlantic salmon has an added growth hormone from a Chinook salmon that allows the fish to produce growth hormone year-round. Scientists were able to keep the hormone active by using a gene from an eel-like fish called an ocean pout, which acts as an “on switch” for the hormone.
If the FDA approves the sale of the salmon, it will be the first time the government has allowed modified animals to be marketed for human consumption. According to federal guidelines, the fish would not have to be labeled as genetically modified.
Flavr Savr tomato
The Flavr Savr tomato was the first commercially grown genetically engineered food to be granted a license for human consumption. By adding an antisense gene, the California-based company Calgene hoped to slow the ripening process of the tomato to prevent softening and rotting, while allowing the tomato to retain its natural flavor and color.
The FDA approved the Flavr Savr in 1994; however, the tomatoes were so delicate that they were difficult to transport, and they were off the market by 1997. On top of production and shipping problems, the tomatoes were also reported to have a very bland taste: “The Flavr Savr tomatoes didn’t taste that good because of the variety from which they were developed. There was very little flavor to save,” said Christ Watkins, a horticulture professor at Cornell University..
Genetically modified trees
Trees are being genetically altered to grow faster, yield better wood and even detect biological attacks. Proponents of genetically engineered trees say biotechnology can help reverse deforestation while satisfying demand for wood and paper products. For example, Australian eucalyptus trees have been altered to withstand freezing temperatures, and loblolly pines have been created with less lignin, the substance that gives trees their rigidity. In 2003, the Pentagon even awarded Colorado State researchers $500,000 to develop pine trees that change color when exposed to biological or chemical attack.
However, critics argue that not enough is known about designer trees’ effect on their natural surroundings — they could spread their genes to natural trees or increase wildfire risk, among other drawbacks. Still, the USDA in June gave approval for ArborGen, a biotechnology company, to begin field trials for 250,000 trees in seven southern states.
Humans add about nine gigatons of carbon to the atmosphere annually, and plants and trees absorb about five of those gigatons. The remaining carbon contributes to the greenhouse effect and global warming, but scientists are working to create genetically engineered plants and trees that are optimized for capturing this excess carbon.
Carbon can spend decades housed in the leaves, branches, seeds and flowers of plants; however, carbon allocated to a plant’s roots can spend centuries there. Therefore, researchers hope to create bioenergy crops with large root systems that can capture and store carbon underground. Scientists are currently working to genetically modify perennials like switchgrass and Miscanthus because of their extensive root systems.
Enviropig
The Enviropig, or “Frankenswine,” as critics call it, is a pig that’s been genetically altered to better digest and process phosphorus. Pig manure is high in phytate, a form of phosphorus, so when farmers use the manure as fertilizer, the chemical enters the watershed and causes algae blooms that deplete oxygen in the water and kill marine life.
So scientists added an E. Coli bacteria and mouse DNA to a pig embryo. This modification decreases a pig’s phosphorous output by as much as 70 percent — making the pig more environmentally friendly.
Pollution-fighting plants
Scientists at the University of Washington are engineering poplar trees that can clean up contamination sites by absorbing groundwater pollutants through their roots. The plants then break the pollutants down into harmless byproducts that are incorporated into their roots, stems and leaves or released into the air.
In laboratory tests, the transgenic plants are able to remove as much as 91 percent of trichloroethylene — the most common groundwater contaminant at U.S. Superfund sites — out of a liquid solution. Regular poplar plants removed just 3 percent of the contaminant.
Fast-growing salmon
AquaBounty’s genetically modified salmon grows twice as fast as the conventional variety — the photo shows two same-age salmon with the genetically altered one in the rear. The company says the fish has the same flavor, texture, color and odor as a regular salmon; however, the debate continues over whether the fish is safe to eat.
Genetically engineered Atlantic salmon has an added growth hormone from a Chinook salmon that allows the fish to produce growth hormone year-round. Scientists were able to keep the hormone active by using a gene from an eel-like fish called an ocean pout, which acts as an “on switch” for the hormone.
If the FDA approves the sale of the salmon, it will be the first time the government has allowed modified animals to be marketed for human consumption. According to federal guidelines, the fish would not have to be labeled as genetically modified.
Flavr Savr tomato
The Flavr Savr tomato was the first commercially grown genetically engineered food to be granted a license for human consumption. By adding an antisense gene, the California-based company Calgene hoped to slow the ripening process of the tomato to prevent softening and rotting, while allowing the tomato to retain its natural flavor and color.
The FDA approved the Flavr Savr in 1994; however, the tomatoes were so delicate that they were difficult to transport, and they were off the market by 1997. On top of production and shipping problems, the tomatoes were also reported to have a very bland taste: “The Flavr Savr tomatoes didn’t taste that good because of the variety from which they were developed. There was very little flavor to save,” said Christ Watkins, a horticulture professor at Cornell University..
Genetically modified trees
Trees are being genetically altered to grow faster, yield better wood and even detect biological attacks. Proponents of genetically engineered trees say biotechnology can help reverse deforestation while satisfying demand for wood and paper products. For example, Australian eucalyptus trees have been altered to withstand freezing temperatures, and loblolly pines have been created with less lignin, the substance that gives trees their rigidity. In 2003, the Pentagon even awarded Colorado State researchers $500,000 to develop pine trees that change color when exposed to biological or chemical attack.
However, critics argue that not enough is known about designer trees’ effect on their natural surroundings — they could spread their genes to natural trees or increase wildfire risk, among other drawbacks. Still, the USDA in June gave approval for ArborGen, a biotechnology company, to begin field trials for 250,000 trees in seven southern states.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Bizarre Examples of Genetic Engineering - 1
Banana vaccines
People may soon be getting vaccinated for diseases like hepatitis B and cholera by simply taking a bite of banana. Researchers have successfully engineered bananas, potatoes, lettuce, carrots and tobacco to produce vaccines, but they say bananas are the ideal production and delivery vehicle.
When an altered form of a virus is injected into a banana sapling, the virus’ genetic material quickly becomes a permanent part of the plant’s cells. As the plant grows, its cells produce the virus proteins — but not the infectious part of the virus. When people eat a bite of a genetically engineered banana, which is full of virus proteins, their immune systems build up antibodies to fight the disease — just like a traditional vaccine.
Venomous cabbage
Scientists have recently taken the gene that programs poison in scorpion tails and combined it with cabbage. Why would they want to create venomous cabbage? To limit pesticide use while still preventing caterpillars from damaging cabbage crops. These genetically modified cabbages produce scorpion poison that kills caterpillars when they bite leaves — but the toxin is modified so it isn’t harmful to humans.
Glow-in-the-dark cats
In 2007, South Korean scientists altered a cat’s DNA to make it glow in the dark and then took that DNA and cloned other cats from it — creating a set of fluffy, fluorescent felines. Here’s how they did it: The researchers took skin cells from Turkish Angora female cats and used a virus to insert genetic instructions for making red fluorescent protein. Then they put the gene-altered nuclei into the eggs for cloning, and the cloned embryos were implanted back into the donor cats — making the cats the surrogate mothers for their own clones.
What’s the point of creating a pet that doubles as a nightlight? Scientists say the ability to engineer animals with fluorescent proteins will enable them to artificially create animals with human genetic diseases.
Less-flatulent cows
Cows produce significant amounts of methane as a result of their digestion process — it’s produced by a bacterium that’s a byproduct of cows’ high-cellulosic diets that include grass and hay. Methane is a major contributor — second only to carbon dioxide — to the greenhouse effect, so scientists have been working to genetically engineer a cow that produces less methane.
Agriculture research scientists at the University of Alberta have identified the bacterium responsible for producing methane and designed a line of cattle that creates 25 percent less methane than the average cow.
Medicinal eggs
British scientists have created a breed of genetically modified hens that produce cancer-fighting medicines in their eggs. The animals have had human genes added to their DNA so that human proteins are secreted into the whites of their eggs, along with complex medicinal proteins similar to drugs used to treat skin cancer and other diseases.
What exactly do these disease-fighting eggs contain? The hens lay eggs that have miR24, an antibody with potential for treating malignant melanoma and arthritis, and human interferon b-1a, an antiviral drug that resembles modern treatments for multiple sclerosis.
Web-spinning goats
Strong, flexible spider silk is one of the most valuable materials in nature, and it could be used to make an array of products — from artificial ligaments to parachute cords — if we could just produce it on a commercial scale. In 2000, Nexia Biotechnologies announced it had the answer: a goat that produced spiders’ web protein in its milk.
Researchers inserted a spiders’ dragline silk gene into the goats’ DNA in such a way that the goats would make the silk protein only in their milk. This “silk milk” could then be used to manufacture a web-like material called Biosteel.
People may soon be getting vaccinated for diseases like hepatitis B and cholera by simply taking a bite of banana. Researchers have successfully engineered bananas, potatoes, lettuce, carrots and tobacco to produce vaccines, but they say bananas are the ideal production and delivery vehicle.
When an altered form of a virus is injected into a banana sapling, the virus’ genetic material quickly becomes a permanent part of the plant’s cells. As the plant grows, its cells produce the virus proteins — but not the infectious part of the virus. When people eat a bite of a genetically engineered banana, which is full of virus proteins, their immune systems build up antibodies to fight the disease — just like a traditional vaccine.
Venomous cabbage
Scientists have recently taken the gene that programs poison in scorpion tails and combined it with cabbage. Why would they want to create venomous cabbage? To limit pesticide use while still preventing caterpillars from damaging cabbage crops. These genetically modified cabbages produce scorpion poison that kills caterpillars when they bite leaves — but the toxin is modified so it isn’t harmful to humans.
Glow-in-the-dark cats
In 2007, South Korean scientists altered a cat’s DNA to make it glow in the dark and then took that DNA and cloned other cats from it — creating a set of fluffy, fluorescent felines. Here’s how they did it: The researchers took skin cells from Turkish Angora female cats and used a virus to insert genetic instructions for making red fluorescent protein. Then they put the gene-altered nuclei into the eggs for cloning, and the cloned embryos were implanted back into the donor cats — making the cats the surrogate mothers for their own clones.
What’s the point of creating a pet that doubles as a nightlight? Scientists say the ability to engineer animals with fluorescent proteins will enable them to artificially create animals with human genetic diseases.
Less-flatulent cows
Cows produce significant amounts of methane as a result of their digestion process — it’s produced by a bacterium that’s a byproduct of cows’ high-cellulosic diets that include grass and hay. Methane is a major contributor — second only to carbon dioxide — to the greenhouse effect, so scientists have been working to genetically engineer a cow that produces less methane.
Agriculture research scientists at the University of Alberta have identified the bacterium responsible for producing methane and designed a line of cattle that creates 25 percent less methane than the average cow.
Medicinal eggs
British scientists have created a breed of genetically modified hens that produce cancer-fighting medicines in their eggs. The animals have had human genes added to their DNA so that human proteins are secreted into the whites of their eggs, along with complex medicinal proteins similar to drugs used to treat skin cancer and other diseases.
What exactly do these disease-fighting eggs contain? The hens lay eggs that have miR24, an antibody with potential for treating malignant melanoma and arthritis, and human interferon b-1a, an antiviral drug that resembles modern treatments for multiple sclerosis.
Web-spinning goats
Strong, flexible spider silk is one of the most valuable materials in nature, and it could be used to make an array of products — from artificial ligaments to parachute cords — if we could just produce it on a commercial scale. In 2000, Nexia Biotechnologies announced it had the answer: a goat that produced spiders’ web protein in its milk.
Researchers inserted a spiders’ dragline silk gene into the goats’ DNA in such a way that the goats would make the silk protein only in their milk. This “silk milk” could then be used to manufacture a web-like material called Biosteel.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Extraordinary human abilities
Supertasters
People who experience taste with greater intensity than the rest of the population are called supertasters. Having extra fungiform papillae (the mushroom shaped bumps on the tongue that are covered in taste buds) is thought to be the reason why these people have a stronger response to the sensation of taste. Of the five types of taste, sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami, a supertaster generally finds bitterness to be the most perceptible.
Scientists first noticed the differing abilities of people to taste a known compound when a DuPont chemist called Arthur Fox asked people to taste Phenylthiocarbamide (PTC). Some people could taste its bitterness; some couldn’t – whether people could depended on their genetic make-up (a variant of this test is now one of the most common genetic tests on humans). While about 70% of people can taste PTC, two thirds of them are rated as medium and only one third (approximately 25% of the wider population) are supertasters.
Supertasters will often dislike certain foods, particularly bitter ones, such as brussel sprouts, cabbage, coffee, and grapefruit juice. Women, Asians, and Africans are most likely to have the increased number of fungiform papillae that make them supertasters.
Absolute pitch
People with absolute pitch are capable of identifying and reproducing a tone without needing a known reference. It is not simply a better ability to hear but the ability to mentally class sounds into remembered categories. Examples of this include identifying the pitch of everyday noises (e.g. horns, sirens, and engines), being able to sing a named note without hearing a reference, naming the tones of a chord, or naming the key signature of a song. Doing any of these is a cognitive act – it requires one to remember the frequency of each tone, be able to label it (e.g. ‘A’, ‘C#’, or ‘F-flat’), and sufficient exposure to the range of sound within each label. Opinions vary as to whether absolute pitch is genetic or a learned ability that is strongly influenced to one’s exposure to music at crucial developmental stages – much like how a child’s ability to identify colors by their frequency depends on the type and level of their exposure to it.
Estimates of the portion of the population having absolute pitch range from 3% of the general population in the US and Europe to 8% of those (from the same areas) who are semi-professional or professional musicians. In music conservatories in Japan however, about 70% of musicians have absolute pitch. Part of the reason for this significantly larger percentage may be because absolute pitch is more common among people who grew up in a tonal (Mandarin, Cantonese, and Vietnamese) or pitch accent (Japanese) language environment. Absolute pitch is also more common in those who are blind from birth, have William’s Syndrome, or have an autism spectrum disorder.
Tetrachromacy
Tetrachromacy is the ability to see light from four distinct sources. An example of this in the animal kingdom is the zebrafish (Danio rerio), which can see light from the red, green, blue, and ultraviolet sections of the light spectrum. True tetrachromacy in humans is much rarer however – according to Wikipedia only two possible tetrachromats have been identified.
Humans are normally trichromats, having three types of cone cells that receive light from either the red, green, or blue part of the light spectrum. Each cone can pick up about 100 graduations of color and the brain combines colors and graduations so that there are about 1 million distinguishable hues coloring your world. A true tetrachromat with an extra type of cone between red and green (in the orange range) would, theoretically, be able to perceive 100 million colors.
Like supertasting, tetrachromacy is thought to be much more common in women than men – estimates range from 2 – 3% to 50% of women. Interestingly, colour-blindness in men (much more common than in women) may be inherited from women with tetrachromacy.
Echolocation
Echolocation is how bats fly around in dark forests – they emit a sound, wait for the echo to return, and use that sound of the echo in each ear plus the return time to work out where an object is and how far away. Surprisingly (well, maybe not on this list!), humans are also capable of using echolocation. Use of echolocation is probably restricted to blind people because it takes a long time to master and heightened sensitivity to reflected sound.
To navigate via echolocation a person actively creates a noise (e.g. tapping a cane or clicking the tongue) and determines from the echoes where objects are located around them. People skilled at this can often tell where an object is, what size it is, and its density. Because humans cannot make or hear the higher pitched frequencies that bats and dolphins use they can only picture objects that are comparatively larger than those ‘seen’ by echolocating animals.
People with the ability to echolocate include James Holman, Daniel Kish, and Ben Underwood. Perhaps the most remarkable and well-documented of cases is the story of Ben Underwood, who lost both his eyes to retinal cancer at the age of three. He is shown in the video above (warning: the scene where he puts in his prosthetic eyeballs may be a bit disturbing for some).
Genetic Chimerism
In the Iliad Homer described a creature having body parts from different animals, a chimera, from this mythological monster comes the name of the genetic equivalent – chimerism. Genetic chimerism, or tetragametism, in humans and other animals happens when two fertilized eggs or embryos fuse together early in pregnancy. Each zygote carries a copy of its parents DNA and thus a distinct genetic profile. When these merge, each population of cells retains its genetic character and the resulting embryo becomes a mixture of both. Essentially, a human chimera is their own twin.
Chimerism in humans is very rare; Wikipedia states that there are only about 40 reported cases. DNA testing is often used to establish whether a person is biologically related to their parents or children and can uncover cases of chimerism when DNA results show that children are not biologically related to their mothers – because the child inherited a different DNA profile to the one shown by a blood test. This is what happened in the case of Lydia Fairchild: DNA tests of herself and her children led the state to think that she was not actually their mother.
People born with chimerism typically have immune systems that make them tolerant to both genetically distinct populations of cells in their body. This means that a chimera has a much wider array of people to choose from should they need an organ transplant.
Synesthesia
Imagine consistently associating numbers or letters with certain colours, or hearing a specific word which triggers a particular sensation of taste on your tongue. These are two forms of a neurological condition called synesthesia. Synesthesia is when stimulation of a particular sensory or cognitive pathway leads to an involuntary (i.e. synesthesia is not learnt) response in other sensory or cognitive pathways.
Synesthesia is most often genetic and the grapheme (letters, numbers, or other symbols) to colour form of synesthesia is the commonest. Other synesthetes can experience special-sequence synesthesia (e.g. where dates have a precise location in space), ordinal linguistic personification (when numbers have personalities), or sound to colour synesthesia (where tones are perceived as colours).
Although synesthesia is a neurological condition it shouldn’t be thought of as a disorder, because generally it does not interfere with a person’s ability to function. Most people are not even aware that their experiences of life elicit more sensory responses than other peoples might and the ones that are rarely consider synesthesia to have a negative impact on their lives.
Predictions of the percentage of people with synesthesia vary widely, from 1 in 20 to 1 in 20,000. Studies from 2005 and 2006, using a random population sample, suggested 1 in about 23 people have synesthesia. Examples of people with synesthesia include the author Vladimir Nabokov, composer Olivier Messiaen, and scientist Richard Feynman. Daniel Tammet, who is mentioned in the next section of this list, is a synesthete (in addition to being a mental calculator) who sees numbers with shapes and texture.
Mental calculators
The most extraordinary group of people adept at performing complex mental calculations is those who are also autistic savants. While there are many trained people who can work out multiplications of large numbers (among other calculations) in their head extremely fast – mostly mathematicians, writers, and linguists – the untrained ability of autistic savants is the most interesting. The majority of these people are born with savant syndrome (only an estimated 50% of people with savantism are also autistic), which is still poorly understood, few develop it later in life, usually due to a head injury.
There are less than 100 recognised prodigious savants in the world and of the savants with autism who are capable of using mental calculation techniques there are even less. Recent research has suggested that a blood flow to the part of the brain responsible for mathematical calculations of six to seven times the normal rate is one of the factors that enables mental calculators to work out math much faster than the average person.
Examples of people with extraordinary calculation skills include Daniel McCartney, Salo Finkelstein, and Alexander Aitken. Daniel Tammet is one of few who are also autistic savants.
Eidetic memory
When a person has photographic memory or total recall this is called eidetic memory. It is the ability to recall sounds, images, or objects from one’s memory with extreme accuracy. Examples of eidetic memory include the effort of Akira Haraguchi who recited from memory the first 100,000 decimal places of pi and the drawings of Stephen Wiltshire (who is also an autistic savant) – his recreation of Rome is shown in the video above. Kim Peek, the inspiration for the autistic (Peek is not actually autistic though) character of Raymond Babbit in the movie Rainman, also possesses eidetic memory – among other things he can recall some 12,000 books from memory.
Whether true photographic memory exists in adults is still a controversial issue, but it is accepted that eidetic abilities are distributed evenly between men and women. One also cannot become an eidetiker through practice.
Immortal cells
There is only one known case of a person having immortal cells (cells that can divide indefinitely outside of the human body, defying the Hayflick Limit) and that is of a woman named Henrietta Lacks. In 1951, 31 year old Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer, which she died from within the year. Unknown to her and her family (i.e. without informed consent) a surgeon took a tissue sample from her tumor that was passed on to a Dr. George Gey. A scientist for the John Hopkins University Tissue Culture Laboratory, Gey propagated Lacks’ tissue sample into an immortal cell line – the HeLa cell line (pictured above). The cells from Lacks’ tumour have an active version of the telomerase enzyme (telomerase is the mechanism by which cells age or are aged) and proliferate abnormally fast. On the day of Henrietta Lacks’ death, Dr. Gey announced to the world that a new age in medical research had begun – one that might provide a cure for cancer.
HeLa cells were utilised in 1954 by Jonas Salk to develop the cure for polio. Since then they’ve been used in researching cancer, AIDS, the effects of radiation and toxic substances, and for mapping genes, among other things.
Today, the HeLa cells are so common in laboratories that they contaminate many other cell cultures and have rendered some biological studies invalid through their presence. There are also more HeLa cells alive today than when Henrietta Lacks was alive – they outweigh her physical mass by many times. Tragically, Lacks was never told of the immensely valuable contribution her cells made to science and her family was not informed until many years later that her cells were being used for research purposes (a 1990 court ruling later verified Lacks’ hospital as the owner of her discarded tissue and cells).
People who experience taste with greater intensity than the rest of the population are called supertasters. Having extra fungiform papillae (the mushroom shaped bumps on the tongue that are covered in taste buds) is thought to be the reason why these people have a stronger response to the sensation of taste. Of the five types of taste, sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami, a supertaster generally finds bitterness to be the most perceptible.
Scientists first noticed the differing abilities of people to taste a known compound when a DuPont chemist called Arthur Fox asked people to taste Phenylthiocarbamide (PTC). Some people could taste its bitterness; some couldn’t – whether people could depended on their genetic make-up (a variant of this test is now one of the most common genetic tests on humans). While about 70% of people can taste PTC, two thirds of them are rated as medium and only one third (approximately 25% of the wider population) are supertasters.
Supertasters will often dislike certain foods, particularly bitter ones, such as brussel sprouts, cabbage, coffee, and grapefruit juice. Women, Asians, and Africans are most likely to have the increased number of fungiform papillae that make them supertasters.
Absolute pitch
People with absolute pitch are capable of identifying and reproducing a tone without needing a known reference. It is not simply a better ability to hear but the ability to mentally class sounds into remembered categories. Examples of this include identifying the pitch of everyday noises (e.g. horns, sirens, and engines), being able to sing a named note without hearing a reference, naming the tones of a chord, or naming the key signature of a song. Doing any of these is a cognitive act – it requires one to remember the frequency of each tone, be able to label it (e.g. ‘A’, ‘C#’, or ‘F-flat’), and sufficient exposure to the range of sound within each label. Opinions vary as to whether absolute pitch is genetic or a learned ability that is strongly influenced to one’s exposure to music at crucial developmental stages – much like how a child’s ability to identify colors by their frequency depends on the type and level of their exposure to it.
Estimates of the portion of the population having absolute pitch range from 3% of the general population in the US and Europe to 8% of those (from the same areas) who are semi-professional or professional musicians. In music conservatories in Japan however, about 70% of musicians have absolute pitch. Part of the reason for this significantly larger percentage may be because absolute pitch is more common among people who grew up in a tonal (Mandarin, Cantonese, and Vietnamese) or pitch accent (Japanese) language environment. Absolute pitch is also more common in those who are blind from birth, have William’s Syndrome, or have an autism spectrum disorder.
Tetrachromacy
Tetrachromacy is the ability to see light from four distinct sources. An example of this in the animal kingdom is the zebrafish (Danio rerio), which can see light from the red, green, blue, and ultraviolet sections of the light spectrum. True tetrachromacy in humans is much rarer however – according to Wikipedia only two possible tetrachromats have been identified.
Humans are normally trichromats, having three types of cone cells that receive light from either the red, green, or blue part of the light spectrum. Each cone can pick up about 100 graduations of color and the brain combines colors and graduations so that there are about 1 million distinguishable hues coloring your world. A true tetrachromat with an extra type of cone between red and green (in the orange range) would, theoretically, be able to perceive 100 million colors.
Like supertasting, tetrachromacy is thought to be much more common in women than men – estimates range from 2 – 3% to 50% of women. Interestingly, colour-blindness in men (much more common than in women) may be inherited from women with tetrachromacy.
Echolocation
Echolocation is how bats fly around in dark forests – they emit a sound, wait for the echo to return, and use that sound of the echo in each ear plus the return time to work out where an object is and how far away. Surprisingly (well, maybe not on this list!), humans are also capable of using echolocation. Use of echolocation is probably restricted to blind people because it takes a long time to master and heightened sensitivity to reflected sound.
To navigate via echolocation a person actively creates a noise (e.g. tapping a cane or clicking the tongue) and determines from the echoes where objects are located around them. People skilled at this can often tell where an object is, what size it is, and its density. Because humans cannot make or hear the higher pitched frequencies that bats and dolphins use they can only picture objects that are comparatively larger than those ‘seen’ by echolocating animals.
People with the ability to echolocate include James Holman, Daniel Kish, and Ben Underwood. Perhaps the most remarkable and well-documented of cases is the story of Ben Underwood, who lost both his eyes to retinal cancer at the age of three. He is shown in the video above (warning: the scene where he puts in his prosthetic eyeballs may be a bit disturbing for some).
Genetic Chimerism
In the Iliad Homer described a creature having body parts from different animals, a chimera, from this mythological monster comes the name of the genetic equivalent – chimerism. Genetic chimerism, or tetragametism, in humans and other animals happens when two fertilized eggs or embryos fuse together early in pregnancy. Each zygote carries a copy of its parents DNA and thus a distinct genetic profile. When these merge, each population of cells retains its genetic character and the resulting embryo becomes a mixture of both. Essentially, a human chimera is their own twin.
Chimerism in humans is very rare; Wikipedia states that there are only about 40 reported cases. DNA testing is often used to establish whether a person is biologically related to their parents or children and can uncover cases of chimerism when DNA results show that children are not biologically related to their mothers – because the child inherited a different DNA profile to the one shown by a blood test. This is what happened in the case of Lydia Fairchild: DNA tests of herself and her children led the state to think that she was not actually their mother.
People born with chimerism typically have immune systems that make them tolerant to both genetically distinct populations of cells in their body. This means that a chimera has a much wider array of people to choose from should they need an organ transplant.
Synesthesia
Imagine consistently associating numbers or letters with certain colours, or hearing a specific word which triggers a particular sensation of taste on your tongue. These are two forms of a neurological condition called synesthesia. Synesthesia is when stimulation of a particular sensory or cognitive pathway leads to an involuntary (i.e. synesthesia is not learnt) response in other sensory or cognitive pathways.
Synesthesia is most often genetic and the grapheme (letters, numbers, or other symbols) to colour form of synesthesia is the commonest. Other synesthetes can experience special-sequence synesthesia (e.g. where dates have a precise location in space), ordinal linguistic personification (when numbers have personalities), or sound to colour synesthesia (where tones are perceived as colours).
Although synesthesia is a neurological condition it shouldn’t be thought of as a disorder, because generally it does not interfere with a person’s ability to function. Most people are not even aware that their experiences of life elicit more sensory responses than other peoples might and the ones that are rarely consider synesthesia to have a negative impact on their lives.
Predictions of the percentage of people with synesthesia vary widely, from 1 in 20 to 1 in 20,000. Studies from 2005 and 2006, using a random population sample, suggested 1 in about 23 people have synesthesia. Examples of people with synesthesia include the author Vladimir Nabokov, composer Olivier Messiaen, and scientist Richard Feynman. Daniel Tammet, who is mentioned in the next section of this list, is a synesthete (in addition to being a mental calculator) who sees numbers with shapes and texture.
Mental calculators
The most extraordinary group of people adept at performing complex mental calculations is those who are also autistic savants. While there are many trained people who can work out multiplications of large numbers (among other calculations) in their head extremely fast – mostly mathematicians, writers, and linguists – the untrained ability of autistic savants is the most interesting. The majority of these people are born with savant syndrome (only an estimated 50% of people with savantism are also autistic), which is still poorly understood, few develop it later in life, usually due to a head injury.
There are less than 100 recognised prodigious savants in the world and of the savants with autism who are capable of using mental calculation techniques there are even less. Recent research has suggested that a blood flow to the part of the brain responsible for mathematical calculations of six to seven times the normal rate is one of the factors that enables mental calculators to work out math much faster than the average person.
Examples of people with extraordinary calculation skills include Daniel McCartney, Salo Finkelstein, and Alexander Aitken. Daniel Tammet is one of few who are also autistic savants.
Eidetic memory
When a person has photographic memory or total recall this is called eidetic memory. It is the ability to recall sounds, images, or objects from one’s memory with extreme accuracy. Examples of eidetic memory include the effort of Akira Haraguchi who recited from memory the first 100,000 decimal places of pi and the drawings of Stephen Wiltshire (who is also an autistic savant) – his recreation of Rome is shown in the video above. Kim Peek, the inspiration for the autistic (Peek is not actually autistic though) character of Raymond Babbit in the movie Rainman, also possesses eidetic memory – among other things he can recall some 12,000 books from memory.
Whether true photographic memory exists in adults is still a controversial issue, but it is accepted that eidetic abilities are distributed evenly between men and women. One also cannot become an eidetiker through practice.
Immortal cells
There is only one known case of a person having immortal cells (cells that can divide indefinitely outside of the human body, defying the Hayflick Limit) and that is of a woman named Henrietta Lacks. In 1951, 31 year old Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer, which she died from within the year. Unknown to her and her family (i.e. without informed consent) a surgeon took a tissue sample from her tumor that was passed on to a Dr. George Gey. A scientist for the John Hopkins University Tissue Culture Laboratory, Gey propagated Lacks’ tissue sample into an immortal cell line – the HeLa cell line (pictured above). The cells from Lacks’ tumour have an active version of the telomerase enzyme (telomerase is the mechanism by which cells age or are aged) and proliferate abnormally fast. On the day of Henrietta Lacks’ death, Dr. Gey announced to the world that a new age in medical research had begun – one that might provide a cure for cancer.
HeLa cells were utilised in 1954 by Jonas Salk to develop the cure for polio. Since then they’ve been used in researching cancer, AIDS, the effects of radiation and toxic substances, and for mapping genes, among other things.
Today, the HeLa cells are so common in laboratories that they contaminate many other cell cultures and have rendered some biological studies invalid through their presence. There are also more HeLa cells alive today than when Henrietta Lacks was alive – they outweigh her physical mass by many times. Tragically, Lacks was never told of the immensely valuable contribution her cells made to science and her family was not informed until many years later that her cells were being used for research purposes (a 1990 court ruling later verified Lacks’ hospital as the owner of her discarded tissue and cells).
Friday, May 31, 2013
Brutal Execution Methods - 2
Colombian Necktie
This method of execution is one of the goriest. The victim’s throat is slashed, often with a knife but really any sharp object would do, and then their tongue is pulled out through the open wound. During La Violencia, a Colombian period of history fraught with killing, this was the most common form of execution. It is used mainly to intimidate others who encounter the body after the fact.
Hanged, Drawn, and Quartered
The penalty for high treason in England, to be hanged, drawn and quartered was a common occurrence during medieval times. Although it was abolished in 1814, this form of execution was responsible for hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of deaths. The process was as follows. First, the victim is dragged on a wooden frame, called a hurdle, to the place of the execution. Second, the victim is hanged by the neck for a short period of time until nearly dead (hanged). Third, the disembowelment and castration occur, where afterward, the entrails and genitalia are burned in front of the victim (drawn). Finally, the body is divided into four separate parts and beheaded (quartered).
Cement shoes
Introduced by the American Mafia, this method of execution involves placing the victim’s feet inside of cinder blocks and then filling them with wet cement and then throwing him or her into the water. This form of execution is still practiced today, and even created the term “someone who sleeps with the fishes” as a euphemism for the dead.
Guillotine
The guillotine is one of the most notorious forms of execution. Made up of a razor sharp blade attached to a rope, the victims head was placed in the middle of the frame and then the blade dropped with efficiency, causing the person to be decapitated almost instantly. The guillotine is a seemingly humane method of execution until you consider that people potentially are still alive for a few moments following the act. Crowds have reported that people who had been guillotined would blink their eyes or mouth words shortly after their heads had been cut off. Experts theorized that the swiftness of the blade had little impact on the brain, and didn’t cause loss of consciousness. One doctor even reported witnessing a man’s execution, and when he called the prisoner’s name after his head was detached, the prisoner made eye contact with him, even focusing his pupils. It must be pretty weird to know that your head is no longer attached to your body!
Republican Marriage
The Republican Marriage might not be the most gruesome death on this list, but it is certainly one of the most interesting. Originating in France, this form of execution was common in Revolutionary France. It involved tying together two naked people, a male and female usually of a similar age, and drowning them. In some cases, usually where water wasn’t available, the couple would be run through with a sword.
Crucifixion
This ancient method of execution is one of the most well known methods, obviously mainly due to the execution of Jesus Christ. Crucifixion consists of the victims hands and feet being nailed into a wooden cross and then being hoisted into the air. The victim is then left to hang there until death, which usually took days, and often meant dying of thirst before anything else.
The Brazen Bull
The Brazen Bull, sometimes known as the Sicilian Bull is one of the cruelest methods of torture and execution out there. Designed in ancient Greece, solid brass was cast into the shape of a hollow bull, with a door on the side that opened and latched. To begin the execution, the victim was placed inside of the brass bull and a fire was set underneath. The fire was heated until the metal was literally yellow, causing the victim to “roast to death”. Yum. The bull was designed so that the screams of the victim would come out sounding musical for the enjoyment of the executioner. Naturally enough, the inventor of this form of punishment ended up being executed inside of the Bull, which was all too predictable. You live by the horns, you die by the horns. While this is a tough list to rank, we feel comfortable putting The Brazen Bull in the top spot
This method of execution is one of the goriest. The victim’s throat is slashed, often with a knife but really any sharp object would do, and then their tongue is pulled out through the open wound. During La Violencia, a Colombian period of history fraught with killing, this was the most common form of execution. It is used mainly to intimidate others who encounter the body after the fact.
Hanged, Drawn, and Quartered
The penalty for high treason in England, to be hanged, drawn and quartered was a common occurrence during medieval times. Although it was abolished in 1814, this form of execution was responsible for hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of deaths. The process was as follows. First, the victim is dragged on a wooden frame, called a hurdle, to the place of the execution. Second, the victim is hanged by the neck for a short period of time until nearly dead (hanged). Third, the disembowelment and castration occur, where afterward, the entrails and genitalia are burned in front of the victim (drawn). Finally, the body is divided into four separate parts and beheaded (quartered).
Cement shoes
Introduced by the American Mafia, this method of execution involves placing the victim’s feet inside of cinder blocks and then filling them with wet cement and then throwing him or her into the water. This form of execution is still practiced today, and even created the term “someone who sleeps with the fishes” as a euphemism for the dead.
Guillotine
The guillotine is one of the most notorious forms of execution. Made up of a razor sharp blade attached to a rope, the victims head was placed in the middle of the frame and then the blade dropped with efficiency, causing the person to be decapitated almost instantly. The guillotine is a seemingly humane method of execution until you consider that people potentially are still alive for a few moments following the act. Crowds have reported that people who had been guillotined would blink their eyes or mouth words shortly after their heads had been cut off. Experts theorized that the swiftness of the blade had little impact on the brain, and didn’t cause loss of consciousness. One doctor even reported witnessing a man’s execution, and when he called the prisoner’s name after his head was detached, the prisoner made eye contact with him, even focusing his pupils. It must be pretty weird to know that your head is no longer attached to your body!
Republican Marriage
The Republican Marriage might not be the most gruesome death on this list, but it is certainly one of the most interesting. Originating in France, this form of execution was common in Revolutionary France. It involved tying together two naked people, a male and female usually of a similar age, and drowning them. In some cases, usually where water wasn’t available, the couple would be run through with a sword.
Crucifixion
This ancient method of execution is one of the most well known methods, obviously mainly due to the execution of Jesus Christ. Crucifixion consists of the victims hands and feet being nailed into a wooden cross and then being hoisted into the air. The victim is then left to hang there until death, which usually took days, and often meant dying of thirst before anything else.
The Brazen Bull
The Brazen Bull, sometimes known as the Sicilian Bull is one of the cruelest methods of torture and execution out there. Designed in ancient Greece, solid brass was cast into the shape of a hollow bull, with a door on the side that opened and latched. To begin the execution, the victim was placed inside of the brass bull and a fire was set underneath. The fire was heated until the metal was literally yellow, causing the victim to “roast to death”. Yum. The bull was designed so that the screams of the victim would come out sounding musical for the enjoyment of the executioner. Naturally enough, the inventor of this form of punishment ended up being executed inside of the Bull, which was all too predictable. You live by the horns, you die by the horns. While this is a tough list to rank, we feel comfortable putting The Brazen Bull in the top spot
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Brutal Execution Methods - 1
Buried Alive
Being buried alive starts out our list of executions. Dating back to times B.C., this punishment has been used for individuals as well as groups. The victim is usually tied up and then placed in a hole and buried. One of the most recent and disturbing uses of this form of execution was the Nanjing Massacre during World War II, when Japanese soldiers buried groups of Chinese civilians alive in what was referred to as the “Ten Thousand Corpse Ditch”.
Snake Pit
One of the oldest forms of torture and execution, snake pits were a very common form of capital punishment. Convicts were cast into a deep pit with venomous snakes, dying after the irritated and poorly fed snakes attacked them. Several famous leaders have been said to die this way, including Ragnar Lodbrok, the Viking warlord, and Gunnar the king of Burgundy. Some variation on the traditional snake pit is being thrown into a small pool of water containing water snakes.
The Spanish Tickler
This torture device was commonly used in Europe during the Middle Ages. Used to tear open the victim’s skin, this weapon could rip through anything, including muscle and bone. The victim was tied up naked, sometimes in public, and then the torturers begin mutilating them. Usually starting on the limbs and working inward, the neck and face were always saved for last.
Slow Slicing
Ling Chi, translated as “slow slicing” or “the lingering death” was described as the death by a thousand cuts. Practiced from 900 AD to 1905, this form of torture and execution is similar to The Five Pains, but drawn out over a much longer period of time. The torturer slowly cuts and removes several body parts, extending the victims life and torture as long as possible. According to Confucian principle, a body that is cut into pieces cannot be whole in the spiritual afterlife, making the form of execution one that still tortures the victim in the afterlife.
Burning at the Stake
Death by burning has been used as a form of capital punishment for centuries, often associated with crimes such as treason and witchcraft. Today it is considered cruel and unusual punishment, but before the 18th century, being burned on the stake was common practice. The victim is tied to a large stake, frequently in the center of town or anywhere with onlookers and then lit on fire. It is considered one of the slowest ways to die.
Necklacing
Commonly practiced in South Africa, Necklacing is unfortunately still quite common today. Necklacing consists of a rubber tire, filled with gasoline, being forced around the victim’s chest and arms, and then being set on fire. Necklacing essentially causes the body to be turned into a melted mess, which is why it comes in at number 10 on our list.
Execution by Elephant
In South and Southeast Asia, the elephant has been a method of capital punishment for thousands of years. The animals were trained to execute two ways. Slowly, in a prolonged manner, dismembering and torturing or by crushing, which killed the victim nearly instantly. Usually employed by royalty, these elephant assassins only heightened the fear of royalty to the common people, proving that they even had the ability to control wild animals. The concept was eventually adopted and finessed by the Roman military to deal with deserting soldiers.
The Five Pains
This form of Chinese capital punishment is a relatively easy concept to grasp. It starts with the victims nose being cut off, then one hand and one foot, and finally, the victim is castrated and cut in half across the waist. Inventor of this punishment Li Si, a Chinese Prime Minister, was eventually tortured and then executed this way.
Being buried alive starts out our list of executions. Dating back to times B.C., this punishment has been used for individuals as well as groups. The victim is usually tied up and then placed in a hole and buried. One of the most recent and disturbing uses of this form of execution was the Nanjing Massacre during World War II, when Japanese soldiers buried groups of Chinese civilians alive in what was referred to as the “Ten Thousand Corpse Ditch”.
Snake Pit
One of the oldest forms of torture and execution, snake pits were a very common form of capital punishment. Convicts were cast into a deep pit with venomous snakes, dying after the irritated and poorly fed snakes attacked them. Several famous leaders have been said to die this way, including Ragnar Lodbrok, the Viking warlord, and Gunnar the king of Burgundy. Some variation on the traditional snake pit is being thrown into a small pool of water containing water snakes.
The Spanish Tickler
This torture device was commonly used in Europe during the Middle Ages. Used to tear open the victim’s skin, this weapon could rip through anything, including muscle and bone. The victim was tied up naked, sometimes in public, and then the torturers begin mutilating them. Usually starting on the limbs and working inward, the neck and face were always saved for last.
Slow Slicing
Ling Chi, translated as “slow slicing” or “the lingering death” was described as the death by a thousand cuts. Practiced from 900 AD to 1905, this form of torture and execution is similar to The Five Pains, but drawn out over a much longer period of time. The torturer slowly cuts and removes several body parts, extending the victims life and torture as long as possible. According to Confucian principle, a body that is cut into pieces cannot be whole in the spiritual afterlife, making the form of execution one that still tortures the victim in the afterlife.
Burning at the Stake
Death by burning has been used as a form of capital punishment for centuries, often associated with crimes such as treason and witchcraft. Today it is considered cruel and unusual punishment, but before the 18th century, being burned on the stake was common practice. The victim is tied to a large stake, frequently in the center of town or anywhere with onlookers and then lit on fire. It is considered one of the slowest ways to die.
Necklacing
Commonly practiced in South Africa, Necklacing is unfortunately still quite common today. Necklacing consists of a rubber tire, filled with gasoline, being forced around the victim’s chest and arms, and then being set on fire. Necklacing essentially causes the body to be turned into a melted mess, which is why it comes in at number 10 on our list.
Execution by Elephant
In South and Southeast Asia, the elephant has been a method of capital punishment for thousands of years. The animals were trained to execute two ways. Slowly, in a prolonged manner, dismembering and torturing or by crushing, which killed the victim nearly instantly. Usually employed by royalty, these elephant assassins only heightened the fear of royalty to the common people, proving that they even had the ability to control wild animals. The concept was eventually adopted and finessed by the Roman military to deal with deserting soldiers.
The Five Pains
This form of Chinese capital punishment is a relatively easy concept to grasp. It starts with the victims nose being cut off, then one hand and one foot, and finally, the victim is castrated and cut in half across the waist. Inventor of this punishment Li Si, a Chinese Prime Minister, was eventually tortured and then executed this way.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Renewable Energy In Highways
Solar Arch on Highways
The Solar Arch is a concept formulated by industrial designer Tyson Steele. It will provide covering for rural roads, that in turn can generate renewable solar energy for off-grid highway lighting. The Solar Arch can also supplement electricity demands in neighboring low capacity required areas.
Jet Stream Super-Highway
Conceived by industrial designer David Huang, this unique concept features vehicles extracting energy from the road infrastructure and roads in turn drawing energy from the environment. Based on an open-return wind tunnel design that produces a continuous stream of air flow from the environment, the roadway is shaped like a half-pipe in cross section. It has a series of solar-powered turbines and fans hovering above to push air into the road pathway, in addition to continuously drawing air at a controlled rate by outer drawing vents on the flanks – forming a cycle effect.
Green Roadway Project – Solar and wind generators mounted on Highways
Contrived by inventors Gene Fein and Ed Merritt, this progressive project is based upon the green dictum of endless highways becoming metamorphosed into renewable energy generators, which could one day power our cities with clean energy and can also offer electricity for roadside charging of electric vehicles.
E Turbine on the Highways
Conceptualized by industrial designer Pedro Gomes and aptly named the E Turbine, it is basically a wind generation system that uses the air movement emanated from passing traffic to produce and accumulate energy. Supposedly it can also work with street and road lighting, information panels and emergency phones.
Solar Roadways
The Solar Roadway is a prototype of an ‘intelligent’ road with solar panels imbued onto the road itself. Along with generating clean electricity, these panels can also provide data about damages and other information, by the help of microprocessing boards embedded in them.
The Solar Arch is a concept formulated by industrial designer Tyson Steele. It will provide covering for rural roads, that in turn can generate renewable solar energy for off-grid highway lighting. The Solar Arch can also supplement electricity demands in neighboring low capacity required areas.
Jet Stream Super-Highway
Conceived by industrial designer David Huang, this unique concept features vehicles extracting energy from the road infrastructure and roads in turn drawing energy from the environment. Based on an open-return wind tunnel design that produces a continuous stream of air flow from the environment, the roadway is shaped like a half-pipe in cross section. It has a series of solar-powered turbines and fans hovering above to push air into the road pathway, in addition to continuously drawing air at a controlled rate by outer drawing vents on the flanks – forming a cycle effect.
Green Roadway Project – Solar and wind generators mounted on Highways
Contrived by inventors Gene Fein and Ed Merritt, this progressive project is based upon the green dictum of endless highways becoming metamorphosed into renewable energy generators, which could one day power our cities with clean energy and can also offer electricity for roadside charging of electric vehicles.
E Turbine on the Highways
Conceptualized by industrial designer Pedro Gomes and aptly named the E Turbine, it is basically a wind generation system that uses the air movement emanated from passing traffic to produce and accumulate energy. Supposedly it can also work with street and road lighting, information panels and emergency phones.
Solar Roadways
The Solar Roadway is a prototype of an ‘intelligent’ road with solar panels imbued onto the road itself. Along with generating clean electricity, these panels can also provide data about damages and other information, by the help of microprocessing boards embedded in them.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
World View
See how a question poses problems in different parts of the world!!!
A worldwide survey was conducted by the UN. The only question asked was:
'Would you please give your honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?'
The survey was a huge failure,
In Africa they didn't know what 'food' meant,
In India they didn't know what 'honest' meant,
In Europe they didn't know what 'shortage' meant,
In China they didn't know what 'opinion' meant,
In the Middle East they didn't know what 'solution' meant,
In South America they didn't know what 'please' meant,
And in the USA they didn't know what 'the rest of the world' meant!
A worldwide survey was conducted by the UN. The only question asked was:
'Would you please give your honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?'
The survey was a huge failure,
In Africa they didn't know what 'food' meant,
In India they didn't know what 'honest' meant,
In Europe they didn't know what 'shortage' meant,
In China they didn't know what 'opinion' meant,
In the Middle East they didn't know what 'solution' meant,
In South America they didn't know what 'please' meant,
And in the USA they didn't know what 'the rest of the world' meant!
Monday, May 27, 2013
Talossa
Size: Indeterminate, but includes a good part of Milwaukee, Antarctica, and some French islands
The internet has become a veritable playground for amateur nation builders, as new countries—many of which exist only on paper—can use websites and blogs as a way to build up their populations and drum up support for their cause. There is perhaps no better example of this than Talossa, an upstart country formed in 1979 by then-14-year-old Robert Ben Madison of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It officially seceded from the United States in the same year (though, as its website states, the U.S. didn’t seem to notice) and established itself as a constitutional monarchy with “King Ben” as its head. In the beginning, Talossa was just a joke hobby (the original “Kingdom” consisted of Madison’s bedroom), but in 1995 Talossa became the first micronation to get a website, and from there its legend and its membership grew rapidly. Soon, it had developed a cult following, and conventions called Talossafests were regularly held in and around Milwaukee.
As micronations go, Talossa features one of the most fully realized cultures. Fans have traced its “history” back to the Berbers, written a national anthem (“Stand Tall, Talossans”) and, most impressively, composed a 25,000-word dictionary of their own invented language, the so-called Talossan Tongue. As one of the world’s oldest micronations (Madison claims to have coined the term), Talossa has become famous the world over, but it has not been without controversy: in 2004, a group of citizens rebelled against the crown and formed the Republic of Talossa, and it seems that a rival Kingdom has also recently sprung up—all only online, of course.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Saturday, May 25, 2013
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