#25 What is lactose intolerence?

I think we should start with defining some things first. Lactose is a type if sugar found in dairy products. Lactose intolerance is a word that is often misapplied to a wide variety of conditions from dairy allergies, milk fat intolerance and the actual intolerance of the lactose sugar. Commonly people will apply the term lactose intolerance to anyone who has difficulty with milk products.  All of these conditions have varied intensity depending on the body.

Does dairy cause lactose intolerance?

No. Dairy does not cause lactose intolerence.  Any of the above definitions of lactose intolerence have a biological and often genetic deficiency in the body that interacts with the presence of milk. The condition itself is not caused by milk.

What is lactose intolerance?

Someone who has lactose intolerance either doesn't produce enough lactase or produces no lactase at all. Lactase is an enzyme that breaks down lactose. Someone who doesn't produce enough may just feel a little nausea when dairy is consumed. Someone who produces no lactase may have severe symptoms such as vomiting,  fever and diarrhea.  Several over-the-counter medications exist to help individuals consume dairy without issues.

More info on Lactose Intolerance as a Digestive Disease 

What is an intolerance to milk fat?

There isn't much research on milk fat intolerance but the research available suggests that approximately 5-9% of those who believe they have lactose intolerance may have both lactose and milk fat intolerance or just a milk fat intolerance. Since research is very limited it is hard to say much more about this condition.

What is milk allergy?

An allergy means your immune system has labeled an otherwise harmless substance as something that is dangerous to the body. In the case of dairy allergies it is usually one of the proteins that trigger the allergy. When a non - allergic person consumes dairy the body simply digests it.  When an allergic person eats dairy they digest it but one or more compounds in the dairy triggers an immune response. This immune response can be mild, sometimes termed milk or dairy sensitivity.  In some the immune response can be so intense that it can cause severe illness or even death.

Milk allergies are also most common in children. Most often the milk allergy develops before one year of age and most children grow out of the allergy by 4 or 5. Findings have shown that some infants produce large quantities of antibodies that are related to one or more types of milk...cow and breast milk allergies are the most common.

Sometimes the allergy persists into adulthood and allergy tests are required to determine which components of the dairy (sugars, proteins or fats) are causing the reactions do that diet can be more appropriately managed.

Common allergic symptoms include swelling of the lips, tongue or face or rashes, hives or skin irritation when one comes in contact with the allergen. In some cases anaphylaxis occurs or other life threatening symptoms such as airway constriction from the swelling.

Casein reactions and intolerance.
Casein is a large group of phospoprotein found in all mammalian milk. These proteins make up about 80% of cows milk and 45% of breast milk. Casein is present in many foods including dairy,  breads, pancakes, margarine,  non - dairy creamers and many other foods. Casein is present in higher quantities in dairy which means there will be a greater reaction to dairy products. This can often lead individuals to believe they have lactose intolerance. Casein allergy and intolerance is very uncommon some studies suggest 1% or less of the individuals who have reactions to dairy are reacting to casein.

Milk and other conditions
As a sugar lactose can interact with diseases where sugar is concerned such as diabetes. Other conditions such as Cerebral Folate Deficiency which interacts with the antibodies present in various types of milk, including breast milk. In addition some medication interact with or are less effective when taken with milk or with milk in the stomach. If you are ever concerned about any of these interactions you should be sure to talk to your doctor and pharmacist.

 More information:

Research on milk fat interactions with Lactose Intolerance

Information on Milk Allergy

Milk Allergy site geared toward helping children understand their allergy

Kid's Site about Lactose Intolerance

How to manage diet with a milk fat/Dairy/Dairy Protein Allergy

Huge list of sites, books, cookbooks, blogs and forums for lactose intolerance, milk allergies and casein allergies

#24 What is Evolution Part 3 of ? What is meant by natural selection?

Evolution is change over time in its most basic description. The first question seems to be how does that change occur. This is where Darwin's Big Idea comes in... Natural Selection.

Natural selection has four main concepts that define how selection happens. Selection is just a fancy word for the species or varieties or populations that survive and continue on. Natural Selection means that those creatures that are best suited based on these four principles will be "selected" to survive and continue on.

Natural selection works on populations and species as well. It can be affected by interactions of members within the same species (say a cheetah who is faster than its neighboring cheetahs may catch more food and therefore more of its offspring survive) or between different species (say competition between two bird species for insects or the faster zebras leaving more offspring because they are better suited to outrunning predators).

1. Struggle for existence.

- More individuals are produced than can survive. All members of a population or species must compete for food, water, space, mates, etc.

This seems logical when you think about it since the same species is looking for the same food, same nest sites or same territories, etc. So which members survive? The members that are best suited for finding food, evading predators, raising young, catching prey, attracting mates or whatever it may be will leave the most offspring. If you leave more offspring more of your genes and genetic material make it to the next generation.

2. Variation

- Variation exists between individuals in a species or population and this variation plays an important role in the struggle for existence.

There are quite a few examples of how variation is helpful. The classic example is the Peppered Moth. Originally, this moth lived on tree that were mottled and greyish white. The white moths blended perfectly into the bark. However, sometimes black individuals were born. These black individuals were very visible on the white tree trunks and therefore eaten by birds. In this situation the white moths are better suited for the environment than the black... the white are better at winning the struggle for existence.

Enter man and the industrial revolution. With the introduction of coal burning soot began to cover and darken surfaces, including the tree bark. Now the black moths were better suited for hiding and the white moths were easy to find. Birds ate the white moths that they could see on the tree bark. The black moths, due to environmental change, had become better at the struggle for existence.

Currently, with clean air technology and laws the surfaces are once again lighter colored. Guess which moth color is better at surviving now? That's right, the white ones.

Prior to the industrial revolution.

During the Industrial Revolution

#3 Adaptation.

- This is a heritable trait, i.e. something in the genetic code, that increases an organisms ability to survive and reproduce.

Lets play a game... which snake pictured below is the venomous coral snake and which is the harmless milksnake?

Would you want to take the time to try and guess if you knew there was a red, black and white/yellow snake around that could kill you? This is a case of mimicry. The non-venomous snake which had a pattern similar to the venomous snake was avoided. That avoidance means it survived longer and its similarly patterned offspring could survive longer and produce more offspring. This adaptation of looking like a venomous or poisonous counterpart is very common in the animal kingdom. There are many kinds of adaptations mimicry is just one of them.

Oh and if you are curious the second one is the non-venomous milksnake. Would your guess have killed you?

#4 Survival of the Fittest

Before we get into survival of the fittest lets define some words:
Fitness is how well an organism survives and reproduces.
Survival is the ability to pass heritable traits to offspring.

So one way to think about Survival of the Fittest is... Individuals with the best adaptations and variations will be the most successful at the Struggle for Existence. The success will give those individuals the highest fitness and the best survival.

Does this mean that an animal is perfectly suited to its environment or perfect for its environment?  

NO. What it means is that of all the possible variations a species could possess the ones we see most commonly are the best for surviving in the current environment. If that environment changes the types of variations and adaptations needed to survive may change. Some people describe it as "just good enough to flourish". Which means the traits an individual, population or species has is just good enough for that species to flourish, continue surviving, in the current environment. The individual has just enough of an edge on the environment to survive.

So what is Natural Selection really?

Natural Selection occurs when there are heritable traits (variations and adaptations) that cause variations in a population that has more individuals born than are expected to survive. (And this survive here usually means surviving to reproductive maturity.)

This is one of the mechanisms for evolution.

What to try your luck at survival of the fittest? Go here and click on Play the Survival Game.

#23: What is Evolution? Part 2 of ? Who was Darwin?

Before we can talk about the theory of evolution I think it is important to address who the man was.

Charles Darwin was a naturalist who loved bird watching. This is one of the reasons that he often studied pigeons during his research. Most of his observations as a naturalist took place while traveling on ships as the ship's naturalist. Traveling as part of a ships crew was a very common way for scientists to get out and see the rest of the world. Darwin's most renowned voyage was from 1831-1836, at the age of 22, on the HMS Beagle.

Map of the Beagle voyage

 While on this voyage Darwin started to ponder many of the thoughts that would later be worked into the theory of evolution. I am not going to go into great detail on Darwin's notes, he was a copious note taker, however, you can read them Here.


For Darwin, seeing the world and all its inhabitants was life changing.  His big revelation was that biology and evolution can explain how modern organisms evolved over long periods of time from a common ancestor. What we call the Theory of Evolution is all the varied pieces of explanation that Darwin deduced as he tried to figure out how the organisms had changed over time.

Darwin's Theory of Evolution is not one theory but a series of theories and laws that support and give proof for the concept that we call evolution. The theory of evolution includes concepts that we are familiar with, or if you are not we will be addressing in upcoming posts, such as Natural Selection, Mutations, Speciation, and many others. We will get into each of these in the next few posts.



More of Darwin's works:
His Manuscripts
His publications
Creation. This movie is a very good piece of historical fiction about Darwin's work on the Theory of Evolution  
The Movie Creation is currently up on Vimeo to watch in full
Stuff on PBS about Darwin

#22: What is Evolution? Part 1 of ? The Scientists

This isn't an easy question to answer especially if you want to address it in full. Instead of jumping into evolution right away I thought it would be good to start with the scientists and science discoveries that lead up to Darwin's theory and/or whose discoveries were integral to the development of the theory of evolution.

James Hutton (1785)
James Hutton was a geologist who studied Earth processes. He discovered that the Earth's surface was capable of twisting and wearing away. In addition, Hutton proposed that this change was slow and over long periods of time due to activity like volcanic eruptions and rain weathering. He was also the first to think of Deep Time or the concept that the Earth is so old that it is hard (impossible?) for a human to imagine. More on James Hutton, considered the Father of Modern Geology.

Thomas Malthus (1798)
Malthus was an economist that reasoned, if human population grew unchecked that there eventually wouldn't be enough resources to survive. Darwin used this concept heavily in his process of defining how populations might exist over time. More about Thomas Malthus.

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1809)
Lamarck was a naturalist who believed that organisms could change during a lifetime by using or not using body parts. His paper on how individuals pass on traits to offspring and facilitating change over time was published the year Darwin was born. Lamarck also thought that organisms had an inborn drive to become more complex. More about Lamarck   and About the difference between Darwin and Lamarck's views on evolution.

Charles Lyell (1830-1833)
Lyell developed the concept of Uniformitarianism. This concept is that the laws of nature are constant over time. What this means is that those events we see now; volcanoes, rivers cutting valleys, erosion, etc must have been occurring in the past. Fun fact: Darwin read Lyell's "Principles of Geology" while on the HMS Beagle. About Charles Lyell and how he came to Uniformitarianism

#21 What is your opinion of cultivating hemp for products?

I am going to address this strictly as hemp used for making things like paper and building supplies and not addressing the medical uses of hemp.

First, we must discuss how hemp is identified. Most of these call for "industrialized hemp" production. So, we need to get to the bottom of what industrialized crops are.

Industrial farming also called intensive farming is a very damaging process. As defined, industrial crops mean the following:

*Monocropping - growing only one crop without rotation on large farms
*Intensive application of fertilizer - due to the overuse of the soil by the same plant type (even more of a concern since fast growing plants, like hemp, diminish soil nutrients faster than other plants)
*Use of pesticides (we'll discuss this in the text below)
*Reliance on Genetically Engineered Seeds
*Intensive irrigation
* Mechanized farming practices.
*** I suggest reading more here about how the above are defined and their impacts: About Industrialized crops


Lets tackle Genetic engineering first:
Hemp that is proposed to be grown for materials and foods, such as hemp seeds and oil, has been genetically modified to reduce the THC content to near zero and to provide better resistance to disease. In its natural state, the THC and other canaboids are what make the hemp plant resilient but this is not as true for the modified plant. There are also concerns about the pollen spreading and so many countries which grow hemp have distance requirements between farms Can Read more here about pollen spreading. Here you can read about the genetic modification of the Finola cultivar Fin-314 which is the most commonly grown variety.

Fertilizer requirements for hemp:
Because hemp is a fast growing plant it requires liberal use of fertilizers to reach maximum production. These fertilizers consist of mostly phosphates and potassium at rates similar to those required by industrialized wheat. The big concern is runoff and Eutrophication. This occurs regardless of how the fertilizer is sourced or produced. Eutrophication is an increase in dissolved nutrients in the water. This leads to algae blooms and eventual deoxygenation of the water system.

Water Requirements of Hemp:
Oregon University reported that hemp is very susceptible to drought or drought-like conditions and required irrigation.

Pesticide and Herbicide requirements:
While there are claims that hemp is resistant to disease and pests this is not true. It is tolerant which means the plant will not die but the damage can cause the product to be unuseable for production. Hemp seems to be particularly susceptible to fungus infections which occur even more often in damp or wet conditions. With the high requirement for water these fungus have been problematic in the EU and other areas where industrial hemp is grown for products. "estimates that 13 percent of fiber crops are lost to insects, 11 percent are lost to diseases, and 7 percent are lost to weeds and other organisms." (From the Oregon Research) Hemp production will require fungicides and insecticides to be grown as a large scale product.

Hemp is a carbon sink.
What does it mean to be a carbon sink?
This means that something is taking carbon out of the soil or atmosphere and storing, sequestering it. This is currently important because of climate change and Carbon emissions concerns. Carbon sinks can be short term or long term. For example, growing annual plants is a short term use of carbon. The plant grows removing carbon from the air. That plant is storing the carbon in its tissues but once the plant dies and decays that stored carbon is returned to the environment. Long term sinks include things like trees and other animal activities that hold the carbon for significant amounts of time. The ocean is also a carbon sink though too much carbon can change the water pH.

So is hemp a carbon sink? 
Only in the short term. If it is used as a biofuel it is only stored until that fuel is burned. If it is a food, it is only stored until you use the restroom and return that carbon to a state it will decay. The same is true for any other material. The hemp is only storing the carbon as long as the product is in use and not decaying.

Additional considerations....
We must have a place to grow this hemp which will mean clearing more land to be farmed.
Is this model better than the sustainable forest and logging practices already used?
Read the basics of sustainable foresting and logging here and Here
What is required to process hemp plants into useable products? Some processes include large amounts of water for soaking, bleaching and other preproduction processes. It is important to check out the full life cycle analysis for inputs and outputs through the process of producing hemp products. Some examples of these analyses are here and Here. There are many more of these assessments to be found.


So what do I think?
In theory, I have no issue with hemp as a plant to be grown however, the growing methods and the impacts those methods have on the environment are not acceptable in my personal opinion. Until better practices are put into place I cannot support the practice of growing hemp.


Read more here:
More about industrialized farming impacts
Comparative information about farming practices
Study on requirements for hemp production
Oregon State Report on requirements for Hemp Production
Reasearch into Phosphate Fertilizer application
Information on Eutrophication and other fertilizer impacts
Abough Sclerotinia Infection (a fungus that affects hemp and other plants)
List of pests and diseases that effects hemp.
Ontario Life Cycle Analysis and information

#20. Book Review: Vegetables: A Biography

I have had an influx of good ideas lately from those out there reading. Thank you. One of the ideas was book reviews. I am a voracious reader because of interest, class and work so I might as well share what I am reading.

Vegetables: A Biography

By Evelyne Bloch-Dano

Translated by Teresa Lavender Fagan

Narrated by Elizabeth Hanley

This book was originally written in French. I can't read French so I have read the English translation. There are some differences between the French and the English but not much.

What is this book about?
This book covers the history, linguistics, literature and cuisine around some of our common and forgotten vegetables.  The book contains a lot of history about how varied vegetables ended up in European, American and other cuisines. It is punctuated with pieces of literature, poetry, recipes and linguistic history... including the slang that derives from vegetables like "cabbage head". 

What I loved about this book.....
I normally listen to books as audiobooks. The one I listened to was read by Elizabeth Hanley. Her French accent, at least it sounds French to me, made the book experience better as it reminded me that this book was written from a Non-American perspective. I really like the way it was more world centric than American-centric like many of the food books I have read recently. I loved that all the subjects were blended flawlessly. Too often books break the science, history, literature and personal apart in a book. This book blended everything together into an easy to read and entertaining narrative.

What could have been better?
I wish it was longer. I wish this book went on about every fruit and vegetable in every cuisine. I really loved the author or translator's style.. I assume both working together.

On my own part I wish I knew French. Some of the phrases and poetry was read in French in the translation. I think it would have gotten a little more out of the book had I known French.

#19. This will make your skin crawl....

I am both repelled and fascinated by parasites, particularly those that effect and can be seen on and in the skin. So this post is dedicated to a discussion I had about parasites and sharing some of the ones that really creep me out.


The Bot Fly, or warble or gadfly, are flies that lay their eggs in the skin of the host (or some grow in the stomach). These larvae then eat the flesh and poke out holes to the surface for gas exchange. Eventually, they will climb out. While they are truly skin crawling they do not cause permanent damage or death to the host. One of the most ick inducing infestation, IMHO, is the botfly incubating in the human eyelid.
How botfly maggots are extracted.


Scabies, from the Latin word "to scratch or itch". This is a small mite that infests the skin. Scabies mites burrow into the skin and then live there in burrows. There are several times of scabies, each with their own infestation and spreading rates. Norwegian or Crusted Scabies is the worst causing crusts of skin under which the scabies colony lives. This is also one of the most contagious forms as it causes the most intense scratching. Scabies is not deadly, in most cases, and can be treated with medication. From the CDC.

A delightful illustration of the scabies mite in the skin.

 Screwworm. The larvae of another fly, this of the Screwfly. This fly lays its eggs on open wounds. The maggots then emerge and burrow into the wound to feast on the host's flesh. These do not kill the host as they do not remain in the host for long before dropping off/chewing out to pupate in the ground. 

More on the screw worm 

Video of a Nasal Myiasis (I am not very squeamish and this was quite possibly one of the ickiest things I have ever seen.)

Gnathostomiasis or larva migrans profundus is introduced by eating poorly cooked fish, frogs, crustaceans and other meats. After incubation these larvae begin to eat their way from the digestive tract to the skin. Due to humans not being the usual vector for these parasites they do not complete their life cycle, are hard to detect and can cause many complications. This larvae migrates around beneath the surface of the skin. An in depth discussion here.

Life cycle of larva migrans profundus

Guinea worm is contracted through contaminated drinking water. This is a roundworm that starts in the intestinal tract and the female migrates the body. This female usually leaves the body through the feet and can be as large as a 3 foot long spaghetti noodle. One method of extracting these worms is to roll them around a stick and gently pull them out.
On the NY Times (A short documentary about the eradication efforts.
The Carter Center which is trying to eradicate the Guinea worm
On the CDC

Chigoe flea is a type of flea which burrows into the skin. Once inside it develops causing a painful, reddened swelling. Eventually a black dot appears on the swelling which is the hind legs, breathing organs and reproductive organs poking from the skin. While the flea is not directly harmful, secondary infections and large scale infestations can be very dangerous for the host. These fleas infect most warm-blooded hosts.
Video of the parasite from National Geographic

Question #18: Occupying Facebook with 15 of my favorites.....

So, I was asked to occupy FB with Blob Fish... which brings me to one of my favorite groups of creatures ever, those that live in the deep sea. So here, I will share with you some of my absolute favorite deep sea creatures.

I will attempt to put these is order to go to my most favorite.

To start...

#15 The Blob Fish (Psychrolutes marcidus)
Found off the coast of New Zealand and Australia at depths between 2 and 4 thousand feet where it feeds on crustaceans and invertebrates. This fish has a mostly gelatinous body that is perfect for the high pressure, deep ocean. 

 

#14 Anglerfish (order Lophiiformes)

What we commonly call the anglerfish is a large group of fish and the iconic image is the female. Male anglerfish are tiny and rather cute. Anglerfish have all sorts of weird habits including their luminescent lures and their method of reproduction, where the male bites the female's side and slowly merges with her body. Anglerfish is a broad term for many kinds of deep sea fish including anglers, sea toads and coffinfish.

Female Angler

Male Angler, rather cute isn't he.

#13 Long Nosed Chimera (Rhinochimaeridae)

A Pacific species of cartilaginous fish that little is known about. One of the deepest ranging fish being found up to 6000+ ft below the surface. These fish have a myrid of sensory organs on their snout and a venomous dorsal spine.

#12 Viperfish (Chauliodus)
 These vicious predatory fish use photophores to attract unwitting prey at depths of up to 5,000 ft. Their hinged lower jaw and teeth too long to close their mouth without them curving back over their head are used to subdue prey.

#11 Deep Sea Hatchetfish (Sternoptychinae)
Not to be confused with the freshwater hatchetfish some have in their aquariums. This fish wins when it comes to creepy eyes. Hatchetfish are found in most warm water oceans all around the world. Known for their silvery scales and compressed bodies they live up to 5,000 ft below sea level. Like many deep sea fish they are also luminescent.

#10 Gulper Eel (Saccopharyngiformes)
Named for the huge gape of its mouth and its ability to swallow fish much larger than its head the gulper eel is truly bizarre looking. These amazing eels can live up to 10,000 ft below the ocean surface. They are poor swimmers but will swallow any animal daring to get close enough to check out its luminescent tail.

#9 Pacific Black Dragon (Idiacanthus antrostomus)
An almost snake looking deep sea fish with large fang like teeth and spots of luminescence the Black dragon occurs in the Pacific Ocean below 1,300 ft. Like the angler, the females are what we see. Males have no stomachs and only live long enough to breed.

#8 Japanese or Giant Spider Crab (Macrocheira kaempferi )
These crabs with an amazing leg spread of up to 12 ft live at depths of 1,200 ft or shallower. Found mostly off the Southern coast of Japan these crustaceans have been known to injure people and damage property with their strong, sharp claws.

#7 Hagfish (Myxinidae)
The vultures of the sea. These fish are scavengers and feed on all manner of dead animals. Known for producing a large amount of oozy slime as a defensive mechanism these living fossil, jawless fish are found at many depths on the ocean floor. 

#6  Frilled Shark (Chlamydoselachus anguineus)
Considered a living fossil this shark is found at 600-5,000 ft below sea level and named for the ruffled appearance of its gill slits. Found in patchy areas across both the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean there is some consideration that these sharks may have helped the myths of sea serpents sprout up around the world. It has a long snake like body and often coils and lunges with its body to capture prey, much like a snake.

# 5 Giant Isopod (Bathynomus)
These giant relatives of crabs, shrimp and our humble land pillbugs can live at depths up to 7,000+ feet. Primarily scavengers these crustaceans are products of deep sea gigantism and are believed to be found in all the world oceans. 

#4 Vampire Squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis)
Likely has one of the best scientific names which translates into the Infernal Vampire Squid.  Named for the fang like protrusions on its arms, instead of suckers, the vampire squid is one of the smaller squid species, maxing out around 1 ft. This squid species can be found at depths of 3,000 ft or more where it preys on fish and other animals.

#3 Coelacanth (Coelacanthiformes)
Another of the living fossils found primarily in the Indian Ocean around a depth of 1,600 ft. These fish represent a group of lobe-finned fish that gave rise to tetrapods, those animals with four limbs, making this fish one of our oldest living ancestors

# 2 Giant and Colossal Squid (Architeuthis and Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni)
The largest cephalopods in the ocean, that we know of, these are truly the stuff of legend. Colossal Squid can be as long as a school bus, live under the Antarctic Ice at depths of 6,000 ft and sport suckers with razor sharp hooks. Giant squid can measure up to 43+ feet, females are larger than males, and live at depths of 3,000 ft or more where they feed on fish and other organisms. 

Colossal Squid

Giant Squid

Giant Squid

Sucker hooks of the Colossal Squid

#1 And Finally my favorite the Oarfish. (Regalecidae)
The most probable reason for sea serpent myths the Oarfish, these up to 36+ ft long fish can be found in most temperate and tropical waters up to 3,000 feet below the surface. Despite their size oarfish feed mostly on crustaceans, shrimp and small invertebrates. 

Want more deep sea creatures? Check out these links:
Long Nosed Chimera
Giant Squid (Deep Sea Portal is an awesome site)
Frilled Shark
List of Terrifying Deep Sea Creatures
The Oarfish
Sea and Sky Deep Sea Creatures
Video of the Deep Sea Oarfish
Video of Deep Sea animals including the Giant Squid

Where Music and Astronomy Meet...

I decided to take a day off of the questions to discuss something that I experienced last night. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra presented Gustav Holst's The Planets accompanied by NASA space imagery and movies. The experience was breathtaking.

I love music and astronomy so it is no surprise that I was awed by this performance. Part of it is the conductor, Manfred Honeck, who is known for his historical perspective on classical music. One large difference between how we hear classical music and how it was intended to be played is speed. Modern presentations are much slower than intended. Honeck makes a habit of playing them at the faster, traditional speeds. While some people do not like the change, I love it. It makes the music faster, bolder and more intense. I really like classical music that can fill a room and make you feel like you are being blown out of your chair. Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries, Beethoven's 9th (or any other Beethoven for that matter) and the 1812 Overture are some of my favorite pieces of music so hearing the Planets presented with such intensity made my heart sing. If you haven't hear Holst's Planets before I suggest giving it a listen. There is a YouTube video here that gets close to the experience as the whole symphony is accompanied by space stills.

Manfred Honeck

Honeck himself is a bit over the top. Watching him conduct reminds me of all the presentations, media and images of what Beethoven "looked" like conducting. It might be part of the reason why I am so eager to see things he conducts. Mr. Honeck always seems overly animated and intense as he conducts a piece, like a vision is flowing from him and into the orchestra. I really think seeing him conduct Beethoven's 9th symphony, my absolute favorite piece of classical music, is the reason I love Honeck so much. Like so many pieces he brought it to life in ways I had not heard it played before. If you ever have a chance to see Honeck conduct, anything, I would suggest seeing it.

Back to the Planets. The symphony was accompanied by HD imagery from Hubble, the Mars Rover, Cassini, Voyager and some other images that I did not know the which probe or vehicle they were from. What struck me is that this symphony was written in 1914, long before many of these solar system objects could be seen clearly. I felt a sense of awe when the symphony's rhythm matched pace perfectly with the time of Saturn's rings spinning or the transit of Venus across the sun. Not only was the imagery spectacular but there was a sense of oneness that was created. Realizing that a composer could create a piece of music in the tempo of things he had not seen was like having a window into some connection between the human spirit/creativity and the universe. It reminded of research I read not long ago about musical preference being related to the speed and patterns of neurons firing and alpha/beta waves in our brain. It is as if the music we love and our brains are intimately twined together. I felt that way last night... my brain, the music and the solar system were woven into one cohesive pattern. It was close to bringing me to tears, especially seeing the music and the rings of Saturn in time with each other. I left feeling at one with the whole solar system. It was really a phenomenal science/spiritual experience.

From this I was reminded of research about how the universe sounds. Janna Levin and Honor Hargar have done talks on the topic of sounds that the universe makes.

Links to space images used in the presentation.
The Hubble Site
Mars Rover Site
Cassini Saturn Mission
Voyager Mission
Links to all the Successful Solar System missions, for all countries

Music and Brain related articles
FAQ From a Neurologist about Music.
Research in Alpha and Beta waves with tempo
The brain and Music Appreciation
Why our Brains Need Music
The Auditory Cortex and Music Preferences