Second performance of “Spin 1/2″ science theatre

On February 17th, 2010, Spin1/2 performed an interactive astronomy/physics-themed show for young kids at the MetroWest Jewish Community Center in New Jersey.  Our audience was 30-or-so children, ages 6-10, and their mommies and daddies.  Tons of fun and encouraging feedback from kids and parents!

Our astronomy/physics show is “Physics Live, or Am I For Real Or Is It Just Me?”  It’s a 40-minute sketch show that presents the (hypothetical) childhoods of scientists who are now household names.  The show asks its audience to imagine what these people may have been like as children, and how their unusual ideas may have evolved.

April 20, 2010   Posted in: 1. Science&Health Theatre  2 Comments

Sam Is a Eunuch

We had our seven-month-old kitten Sam neutered a couple Saturdays ago.  I woke at 5:40am intending to leave the house by 6:15 to get to the ASPCA van by 7.  I scarfed a bowl of instant oatmeal, checked email, and dressed.  At 6:10 I dragged the pet carrier out of the hall closet to gently tuck Sam into it. 

But Sam knew.

At 6:20, with scratch marks snaking up my forearms, I was now officially regarded as Enemy Number One, and I conceded that all subsequent attempts to cage Sam would be futile.  I guiltily woke Wayne and asked him to give it a try.  Bleary-eyed, Wayne grabbed the pet carrier.  I helped him to quarter Sam in the bedroom, and then, noting Sam’s insistence on maintaining a ten-foot distance from me, discretely backed out into the hall and closed the door.  Guilt flooded my conscience as I left Wayne to face the beast alone – the beast who had emerged so spontaneously from under the fuzzy orange exterior of our sweet little bundle of adorableness.

At 6:30 Wayne emerged from the bedroom to wash blood oozing from a fresh gash on the side of his wrist.  Sam was somewhere under the bed.

At 6:32 Wayne returned to the bedroom and the Uncertainty Principle of Quantum Mechanics kicked into effect.  Namely, if a cat moves quickly enough, it is physically possible for him to inhabit more than one location at the same time, or none whatsoever.

At 6:36 Wayne opened the bedroom door and placed a zipped pet carrier on the hall floor.  An unhappy kitten brooded silently inside, his dagger-eyed stare saying, “Just wait ‘til next time.”

At 6:40 Wayne snatched a roll of paper towels and some Ajax to mop blood off the hardwood floor, and I lurched out the front door with my bounty.

Outside, it was chilly.  But not too bad, I thought. 

Despite our delayed departure, we arrived at the ASPCA van five minutes early, to join a line of 80-something people.  We stood sandwiched between two happy loud puppies and two other happy loud puppies.  The puppies seemed terribly, or rather, unduly excited to be there.  Two at the front of the line were vying with each other to be first into the van.  I thought, If only they knew.  The cats were mostly in carriers, but a few owners held them in blankets.  The cats sat quietly, docile, resigned.  A much more sensible attitude.  

Forty-five minutes later it was my turn to receive paperwork to fill out.  A guy asked me what kind of animal I had, and informed me that the Male Cat Van hadn’t arrived yet but would arrive any minute.

Thirty-five minutes later my van arrived.  Thirty minutes after that, my turn came to bring Sam inside.  By now we’d been out there in sub-zero temperature for nearly two hours.  Standing stock still most of the time, broken twice by excursions into the neighboring community center to warm up, I no longer felt that the weather was “not too bad.”  I could no longer feel sensation below my ankles.  As I shifted weight from foot to foot, I could sense pressure from the sidewalk but not the actual sidewalk itself.  Pretty disconcerting.   And I thought, Poor Li’l Sam!  I was miserable, but he was naked!

While we waited, I glanced at the other animals.  One mangy pit bull smelled like a fish.  He seemed friendly enough, but I wouldn’t have touched him if I were sporting inch-thick gloves.  I thought, what a dangerous job vets have!  Doctors who treat humans have to guard against contracting diseases, but at least they rarely need worry that their patients will sink claws into their necks!

I brought Sam into the van.  The vets were friendly.  They weighed him and stuck him in a cage to wait his turn.  I looked at Sam sitting there, gazing back at me steadily, unmoving.  I thought, he has no idea what’s going on and that I’m about to leave him.  Once I leave him, he’ll have no idea whether I’ll ever come back.

Fretting sadly, I opened the van to leave.  The cold accosted my already-chilled bones, and in my light-speed hurry to find the nearest subway, I forgot Sam instantly. 

Five hours later, Wayne went to pick him up at the designated time.  An hour after that, the vets handed Sam over, mentioning how badly behaved a cat he was, and how we should warn people of his evil tendencies.  I thought, How would THEY treat people who chopped their balls off?

I came home from errand-running a few minutes behind Wayne and Sam.  Sam was sporting an opaque plastic cone around his head and his dilated eyes appeared larger than the sockets that held them.  In an attempt to greet me, he stumbled and flopped sideways onto the floor.  Wayne watched, giggling in sympathy.  “I feel so bad for him … but he’s so funny!”

It was a funny juxtaposition.  An animal who regularly dazzled me with his millisecond-precision reflexes, agility, and flexibility, suddenly couldn’t walk a straight line.  He flopped around like a fish out of water for hours.  Despite his obvious exhaustion, both drug- and sleep-deprivation-induced, he refused to sit still until he’d satisfied himself of his ability to move. 

Within a few hours he accomplished the feat.  Five hours after that, he attempted a jump.  Just a few inches in height, mind you, which ended in an in-elegant sprawl on his belly.  But I think he took solace in having lost contact with the ground and living to tell the tale.

Around 2am he’d relaxed enough to sleep.

He slept the entire following day.

He slept the entire following day after that.

He slept most of the day after that, when he wasn’t fumbling in his food bowl in an attempt to reach a piece of kibble before accidentally knocking the bowl away with his plastic head cone.

A week later the cone came off.  (Okay, 22 hours later.  Against ASPCA recommendations, but you try condemning your cute little darling to Head Cone Hell for seven consecutive days.)  And Sam soon morphed into his insane old self.  The ASPCA did a fine job.  And for very low cost.  It had been worth one day o’ drama.

February 26, 2010   Posted in: 3. Rambles & Rants (i.e. "writing")  11 Comments

Writing – first post

In this category: science writing, play writing, medical writing, plain ol’ writing, ranting, rambling, and gibberish.

January 31, 2010   Posted in: 3. Rambles & Rants (i.e. "writing")  One Comment

NY Times Article portrays science as a cute little guessing game

Take a look at today’s NY Times Magazine, page 17 of the hard copy: “Internally Fit.” 
Or here’s the related blog post:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/phys-ed-how-exercising-keeps-your-cells-young/?pagemode=print&scp=5&sq=Gretchen%20Reynolds&st=cse

Please read it before you read further. 

 

After years of wincing at the Science Times, I had to say something.  Here’s my letter to the editor:

“Internally Fit”, your description of a study linking exercise and cell aging, is the latest and possibly the most disrespectful affront to the endeavour of science that I have read in your pages.  Namely, it defines correlation and causality as synonyms.  Any first-year science major learns quickly that correlation and causality are not the same thing. 

As your article explains, middle-aged exercisers in a study were shown to have younger-appearing cells than their middle-aged sedentary counterparts.  The study established a correlation between exercise and cell age.  Now, to ask “What does this correlation mean?” is the nature of science.  But to declare that one caused the other – that exercise slows the cell aging process – is presumptuous and, coming from a person who describes himself as a scientist, irresponsible.  Perhaps, for example, the reality works the other way around: maybe those born with hardier, longer-lasting internal parts are naturally inclined to exercise more than others do.  Or perhaps the correlation is entirely independent of cause: those who exercise also tend to drink a lot of, say, prune juice, and it’s prune juice that slows aging.  I’m not proclaiming either of these to be correct; I’m saying that they are possibilities and thus must be addressed along with your published explanation, which apparently is the only one being considered.

The Science Times frequently confuses correlation with causality.  Such an error is a disservice to the readers for which the articles are designed; intelligent, non-science audiences are not necessarily prepared to be discriminating.  Reports like these can bias such a reader, rendering him more ignorant, not less so.  This article was particularly glaring, as not only its journalist but Dr. Christian Werner, the scientist himself, made the mistake: [exercise] “at the molecular level has an anti-aging effect.”  Perhaps he is correct.  But he has not offered evidence to suggest it – as would be required from any credible scientific source.”

January 30, 2010   Posted in: 3. Rambles & Rants (i.e. "writing")  One Comment

First school tour of “Spin 1/2″ Science Sketch Comedy

In December 2009, Spin 1/2 performed for about 40 high-schoolers in the Bronx, NY.  We were nervous (kids are scarier than grown-ups!) but the show went great.  Both the kids and our actors had a fantastic time, and they asked us to come back next year!  (Boy do we need to find some outside funding for this project.)  Next show is in February.

January 17, 2010   Posted in: 1. Science&Health Theatre  2 Comments

Category: Neurology and Health

In this category: neurology, neurosurgery, neuroscience, related research and health care, related health disorders, and related topics that haven’t occurred to me.

September 4, 2009   Posted in: 2. Neurology & Health  One Comment

Category: Science&Health Theatre

How to apply theatre to science and health education?  This is a chief interest of mine, and the one that our theatre company’s educational science show Spin 1/2 is playing with.

August 31, 2009   Posted in: 1. Science&Health Theatre  One Comment