Me in 3D

I have about 7 of these lined up in my mind, just waiting to be written. I could make an analogy to a clogged drain, so many ideas and bits and bobs are floating around in the mess of the container that is me that nothing gets out “on paper” unless it's forced to move because too many other things are trying to take up space, as well. But I won't make that analogy because clogged drains are gross and I have two of them right now, this very minute, in my bathroom, that have plagued me since I moved in!

Switching topics, and speaking of moving in, I’m on the search for housing, someplace I can live once the school kicks me off campus. To be fair to them, though, I won't be a student at this school any more so technically they are allowed to do that. My two options, so far, are a 5 bedroom house share OR a two bedroom/studio flat share. The search is on! In fact, I should be able to give a final report on where I'll be living in the very near future because a decision needs to be made before everything is unavailable due to the expected influx of people this summer for the Olympics. All the prices will be jacked sky high and space available will be limited to abandoned parking garages.

And although my time this term, as I've said, has been spent working diligently on school-related things, including a dissertation that began to unravel at the seams this week when we lost access to our sample population of runners, I've been out and about in the evenings and on weekends, occasionally. Being locked away in my room is endlessly boring so whenever I have the chance to escape and take in bits of London, I do.

Interestingly enough, my most recent dive into the city was based on something, an ad I suppose, that I read asking for participants for a different study. Always one to appreciate science and help out a fellow researcher in need of subjects, I thought, 'why not?'. Besides, the study (as all studies are required to be) was highly original: the team from Great Ormond Street Hospital (yes, that children's hospital from Peter Pan IS real) were doing 3D imaging of human heads with the aim of creating the largest database of face shapes in the world. The information will be used by medical teams and researchers to treat patients who have to have facial surgery.

Science Museum

The study, called Me in 3D, was done in conjunction with the Science Museum so visitors can volunteer to have their photograph taken with a 3D camera and explore what their faces look like in another dimension. I was all for that! So I went with a friend and made this recording of what you get to play around with on the computer after your picture is taken:

Dr Chris Abela, Senior Craniofacial Fellow, Great Ormond Street Hospital said: “We know a lot about the bones in our faces but little is known about what makes our face the shape it is and about the skin and muscles that make up our face. By collecting as many 3D face photographs as we can we will have a greater understanding of our complex faces, and have greater knowledge to plan and perform the best facial surgery in the future.  This is a really exciting event and we want as many children, young people and adults to come and see themselves in 3D.”

the 3D camera

Priya Umachandran, Contemporary Science Developer at the Science Museum said: “The Science Museum thrives on engaging visitors in the latest contemporary science issues and our Live Science programme lets visitors meet the experts and involves the public directly in cutting-edge research which has an impact upon all of us.”

Afterward, we explored the Science Museum exhibits, themselves because, oddly enough, I hadn't been to this free museum yet. We remained, mostly, on the same floor as the 3D imaging exhibit because it was the floor that delved into our favorite subject: ourselves! According to the site: “Who am I? invites you to explore the science of who you are through intriguing objects, provocative artworks and hands-on exhibits. Discover what your voice sounds like as a member of the opposite sex, morph your face to see what you’ll look like as you age, or collect DNA to catch a criminal in our brand-new interactive exhibits. Investigate some of the characteristics that make humans such a successful species, such as personality, intelligence and language.”

Stephen Wiltshire at work on a panorama

An analysis of people with autism, asperger's, and savantism was, predictably, my favorite display. I think I've always had a special affinity for that “group” of people since I've been exposed to them since I was young. As many of you know, my mom is a special education teacher for kids with “disabilities” like these....though in some cases what is commonly considered a “disability” to me seems a gift! The kids I've known through my mom's job are exceptional in so many ways, and frankly I always prefer to be around people who aren't like everyone else, anyway. Take Stephen Wiltshire, for example. Not a student of my mom's, mind you, yet similar to her insofar as he is an artist who draws and paints, but he specializes in detailed cityscapes. His particular talent is for drawing lifelike, accurate representations of cities from memory, sometimes after seeing them only briefly.

Rome

Rome, detail

It goes without saying that there's more in the museum than I can describe, but I'll tell you about two last bits that really caught my attention, that were quite memorable, if not merely small stations within one room of one floor in the whole building. On the 3^rd floor in the back is the Launchpad, “packed with over 50 interactive exhibits, plus electrifying shows and lively demos, all from the wonderful world of physics. Launchpad is all about asking questions and making sense of the way things work.” The first bit I liked was the Thermal Imaging Camera which picks up heat instead of light so you can see what parts of your body are hottest, your head, most often (though my shins seemed to be in competition) and coldest....which is why this was so memorable because according to this image there is no heat in my hands!!! SEE, PEOPLE!? I’m not lying when I say my hands freeze from September to May, why I can't survive in the cold! There is no blood circulating in my body except when I’m running, it seems. If it wasn't because I am just plain addicted to it, I'd say this is the reason I run twice a day, to get the blood pumping and to heat my body back up to a homeostatic 98.6.

Last one. This part was so surprising I couldn't believe it at first. It was like a magic trick! I couldn't find a photo so I'll do my best to describe this: there is a small metal bar sticking out horizontally to one side, out of a box. This bar is basically free standing. You slip a plastic drinking straw (new ones are provided for everyone) over one end of this little bar so it rests in the middle. Then you bite down on it. You're thinking, 'What? That's disgusting!', until I tell you that you literally start to hear music playing in your ears. No, literally in your ears. The harder you bite, the louder it gets! Want to know why? It's because metal and bone matter are excellent sound conductors, more so than the surrounding air and tissues in the head, so if music is being transmitted through the bar and you bite that bar the sound is carried around through your skull and your eardrums pick up on it. It literally sounds like you're wearing headphones. 

Launchpad room