Welcome, readers old and new alike, to my new abode here at ScienceBlogs. My name is Shelley, and I can't tell you how excited I am to be a part of such a distinguished cohort. I'm still tweaking the way this page looks and feels, so don't be surprised if it looks a little different down the road (blogs evolve too!). I'm still getting used to the Moveable Type platform, but ANYTHING is better than Blogger, so no worries there.
Although I hope that you read my "About" page (tab at the top), let me say a few words about myself anyway. I'm a 26 year-old Neuroscience PhD candidate at the University of Michigan, and I study hair cell regeneration in the mammalian cochlea.
The cochlea is a snail-shaped organ in your inner ear which allows people (and whales, mice, etc) to perceive different frequencies of sound in their environment. The cochlea contains thousands of hair cells which project into a fluid-filled space. Sound waves that reach the ear cause vibrations in this fluid and in the membranes of the cochlea; this causes frequency-specific stimulation of hair cells which relay information about the sound to the brain. As we age, or listen to our iPods too loud (heh), we lose hair cells gradually and irreversibly. So, essentially, I'm attempting to coax these cells to regenerate by tricking the cochlea's endogenous progenitors to switch cell fates. This, in my opinion, could be adapted to humans as a therapy for deafness.
Sorry if that was a bit technical, but thought i'd throw it out there. As a taste of whats to come for this blog, I have re-posted what i consider was my best content over at the old Retrospectacle. This will give you an idea of what i talk about, and whether it is worth your time. (Bookmark me!) Also, the old site will still be around a while, as an archive, so feel free to dig in.
I have some non-science interests as well: I love classic (read 1964-1969) Mustangs, pilates, tennis, poetry, and my African Grey Parrot, Pepper. Pepper is quite the chatterbox, and could have easily summarized this post in one phrase (his favorite):
Sup Fools!
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Awesome intro! Welcome and thanks!
Hey, cool digs! We're like horses waiting to be loaded into the starting stalls, chomping at the bit... Can't wait until Friday noon!
If you buy another African Grey, will it be called Irene or Berg?
How about I-Berg? Iceberg? Titanic? Rose?
Seriously, one bird that acts like a 4-year-old is quite enough for me.
My ex-girlfriend had an African Grey Parrot and the bird would mess with her dog's mind. The bird would sit on top of her cage (rarely in the cage) and yell, "Maggie, come here Maggie". And Maggie would come running into the room. Then the bird would say, "Bad dog, go lay down". And Maggie would stare at the bird with a look that said, "Oh....if she didn't love you, you'd be dinner." But she'd still fall for it the next time. The first time I saw this, I laughed until I nearly soiled myself.
Ha! Thats great. Yes Pepper has also learned how to manipulate me well. He mimics my cell phone ring perfectly, so uses this to get me to come into his room (whenever i'm not there). I've missed a lot of calls because I thought it was him, he's THAT spot on. Its especially funny since my ringtone was "Big Pimpin'" by Jay-Z for a looong time.
Is the cochlea a logarithmic spiral [spira mirabilis]?
Doug, great question! The human cochlea is not a complete logarithmic spiral, although other species (like dolphins, are.)In humans, the apical region, but not the basal region conforms to a logarithmic spiral.