Hi, home from physical therapy. My physical therapist and I looked all through the offerings of a world-famous corporation – gee, what could that be? – and picked out a new cart for me. See how this one works.
I came home from Penn State with my rotator cuff tendinitis flaring again. I had hauled my rolling crate around with some of the travel being uphill. Apparently not a plan. Not only do we become pack mules for all of the vision related stuff we get to haul around, we also get to have pack mule injuries!
How do other people handle the problems of – well, freight? Does anyone walk to the grocery? How do you haul everything? Any great ideas on carts?
I looked online for ergonomic carts and dollies and what they are showing is similar to what I just ordered. I will let you know if the new one is any better than the several I have purchased over the last year and a half.
FYI if you know someone who is mechanical and want to make some money, ask him (or her!) to design a rolling crate that can take punishment and not fall apart in three months! Not only would I buy one but I know several teachers and therapists who would also buy one.
That is the practical part of this page. Now for the not so practical but sort of cool part. Anybody ever read H.G. Wells The Island of Dr. Moreau? In that late 1800s science fiction novel Dr. Moreau creates human-animal hybrids using vivisection. Nasty business.
Today scientists are much more efficient than what Wells imagined. Today if scientists want a fish-mouse hybrid, they do it at a genetic level.
Madness, you say! (Cue demonic, mad-scientist laughter). Whoever would want them to produce a fish-mouse hybrid? Well, maybe you would.
Zebrafish are cool. They can regenerate parts. Put zebrafish genes in mice and they can regrow parts, too.
The parts the scientists are growing in mice are glial cells. The scientists have prompted the glial cells to become functional interneurons in mouse retinas.
Interneurons are connecting cells between other nerve cells. Remember I told you they are able to grow photoreceptors in eyes but cannot get them to connect? Interneurons are connectors. They receive and process signals from the rods and cones. With the proper magic potion for the job, scientists got adult mice to grow interneurons in damaged eyes. And the best part of all? They conducted signals!
This research was just published in July, 2017. It’s very early days and they have to work out many bugs, check for safety, etc. but it is the first step. Maybe some day they will inject photoreceptors into your eyes, inject zebrafish genes and magic potion, all over your lunch hour. By the end of the week you will have grown those new photoreceptors AND hooked them up to your optic nerve. Wow. Science fiction becomes science fact.
If you want to read the short version of the research findings, I found them in the ScienceDaily post. The date was July 26, 2017.
written August 1st, 2017
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