Inner Nature: That sense of smell
By Vidja Rajan, Columnist, The Times
When preparing a body for embalming, the Ancient Egyptians carefully entombed organs considered necessary for the afterlife with the body. The brain was considered dispensable and was pulled out of the skull with a hooked rod inserted through the nose (http://legacy.mos.org/quest/mummy.php). In this, the ancient Egyptians discovered something significant: it’s...
Inner Nature: Good Vibrations – The Science of Hearing
By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times
A disturbance in any medium except vacuum causes vibrations whose energy is transmitted from atom to atom in all directions from the epicenter. These waves encode the amplitude (intensity) and frequency (pitch)(see Figure 1) of the disturbance thus broadcasting information to anyone who can decode the vibrations. Animals, whose very existence depends on whether...
Inner Nature: Metamorphosis – Buggy Development
By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times
The growth of a single cell from a fertilized egg, or zygote, to an adult composed of trillions of cells is amazing and magical. This process which scientists, with their knack for understatement, call “development” happens with most eukaryotic organisms – those that have cells with a nucleus and other membranous compartments. Nucleated eukaryotic cells...
Was your dentist there?
Continuing education allows your dentist and their staff to stay up to date
By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times
Two weeks ago I attended the 30th annual Greater Philadelphia Valley Forge Dental Conference. This annual meeting of the dental community is primarily focused on continuing education. As a member of the organizing committee I had a chance to speak with dentists, vendors...
