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11.21.2009

Cure for Cancer?


If you've been reading this blog for an significant length of time, then you know of my near reverence for the naked mole-rat. For one, they're hairless rodents -- instant launch to the top of any ugly animal list. But beyond that, they've got some amazing characteristics.

They are the only mammals that are cold-blooded (they maintain their body heat by cuddling and staying underground), are hive-minded (like ants), and are able to enlarge their spine (the queen does, when she ascends the throne). Additionally, their teeth grow outside their lips, so they can keep their mouths closed when they burrow with their teeth. They're known to be incredibly gregarious and curious.

Photo source: Popular Science
















But there's something else about them that has scientists reeling: they're immune to cancer. Us vertebrates have a gene called p27 which serves as our main defense against cancer. But cancers have found ways to circumvent p27, thereby allowing the cancerous cells to proliferate themselves. But naked mole-rats are unique in that they have an additional gene called p16, which stops cancers cold, by preventing the affected cells from replicating themselves.

Is it possible that future humans will be sporting the naked mole-rate p16 in their own DNA? Perhaps the world will become a better place, with us becoming more gregarious. But then we might also become cold-blooded troglodytes that are prone to burrowing and shunning that bright orb hanging in the sky...







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11.14.2009

Your Ghetto Is Nothing…



Your Ghetto Is Nothing…

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pieter hugo











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11.12.2009

Top 33 World’s Strangest Buildings



1. Mind House (Barcelona, Spain)


(Bamboo leaf for angelocesare via www.boredpanda.com)

2. The Crooked House (Sopot, Poland)


(Bamboo leaf for brocha via www.boredpanda.com)

3. Stone House (Guimarães, Portugal)


(Bamboo leaf for Jsome1 via www.boredpanda.com)

4. Lotus Temple (Delhi, India)


(Bamboo leaf for MACSURAK via www.boredpanda.com)

5. Cathedral of Brasilia (Brazil)


(Bamboo leaf for = xAv = via www.boredpanda.com)

6. La Pedrera (Barcelona, Spain)


(Bamboo leaf for joe_aesmorga via www.boredpanda.com)

7. Atomium (Brussels, Belgium)


(Bamboo leaf for /*dave*/ via www.boredpanda.com)

8. Museum of Contemporary Art (Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)


(Bamboo leaves for 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 via www.boredpanda.com)

9. Kansas City Library (Missouri, USA)


(Bamboo leaf forjonathan_moreau via www.boredpanda.com)

10. Low impact woodland house (Wales, UK)


(Bamboo leaf for Simon via www.boredpanda.com)

11. Guggenheim Museum (Bilbao, Spain)


(Bamboo leaf for disgustipado via www.boredpanda.com)

12. Rotating Tower, Dubai, UAE






(Bamboo leaf for Dynamic Architecture ™ all rights reserved to Dr. David Fisher)
Have you ever seen a building in motion that actually changes its shape? Sounds unbelievable but not to Dr. David Fisher. This building will never appear exactly the same twice.
It is amazing but you will have the choice of waking up to sunrise in your bedroom and enjoying sunsets over the ocean at dinner.
In addition to being such an incredible engineering miracle it will produce energy for itself and even for other buildings because it will have wind turbines fitted between each rotating floor (picture 2). So an 80-story building will have up to 79 wind turbines, making it a true green power plant.

13. Habitat 67 (Montreal, Canada)


(Bamboo leaf for ken ratcliff via www.boredpanda.com)

14. Casa da musica (Porto, Portugal)


(Bamboo leaf for Osvaldo Gagofotografar.net)

15. Olympic Stadium (Montreal, Canada)


(Bamboo leaf for Wikipedia via www.boredpanda.com)

16. Nautilus House (Mexico City, Mexico)


(via www.boredpanda.com)

17. The National Library (Minsk, Belarus)


(Bamboo leaf for ledsmagazine.com via www.boredpanda.com)

(Bamboo leaf for .magullo. via www.boredpanda.com)

18. National Theatre (Beijing, China)

(Bamboo leaf for Azure Lan via www.boredpanda.com)

19. Conch Shell House, Isla Mujeres, Mexico


(Bamboo leaf for Mark Stadnik via www.boredpanda.com)

20. House Attack (Viena, Austria)


(Bamboo leaf for Dom Dada via www.boredpanda.com)

21. Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Egypt)


(Bamboo leaf for Bibliotheca Alexandrina)

22. Cubic Houses (Kubus woningen) (Rotterdam, Netherlands)



(Bamboo leaves for sarmax via www.boredpanda.com)

23. Ideal Palace (France)


(Bamboo leaf for Mélisande* via www.boredpanda.com)

24. The Church of Hallgrimur, Reykjavik, Iceland


(Bamboo leaf for Stuck in Customs via www.boredpanda.com)

25. Eden project (United Kingdom)


(Bamboo leaf for wikipedia via www.boredpanda.com)

26. The Museum of Play (Rochester , USA)


(Bamboo leaf for Mike.Hanlon via www.boredpanda.com)

27. Atlantis (Dubai, UAE)


(Bamboo leaf for Tom Olliver via www.boredpanda.com)

28. Montreal Biosphere (Canada)


(Bamboo leaf for: wikipedia via via www.boredpanda.com)

29. Wonderworks (Pigeon Forge, TN, USA)


(Bamboo leaf for Rusl?k via www.boredpanda.com)

30. The Basket Building (Ohio, USA)


(Bamboo leaf for addicted Eyes via www.boredpanda.com)

31. Kunsthaus (Graz, Austria)


(Bamboo leaf for watz via www.boredpanda.com)

32. Forest Spiral (Darmstadt, Germany)


(Bamboo leaf for Kikos Dad via www.boredpanda.com)

33. Wooden Gagster House (Archangelsk, Russia)











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