Video: The Crown of Liberty

Then First Lady Nancy Reagan reopens Statue of Liberty on 100th birthday Image via Wikipedia

From Denny: This is a really good video on the updates to and the history of visiting the Statue of Liberty AND you get an inside view from the top looking out over the harbor - best video I've seen on the recent renovation project. It's nice to see we have an administration who promotes freedom instead of fear by reopening the Statue of Liberty and other federal buildings like the White House to the viewing from the public!


Watch CBS Videos Online

CBS Statue of Liberty freedom America United States travel renovation video Obama tourism New York Manhattan Society and culture

Brain: Why Do You Get Jet Lag? Because Your Brain Cells Are Out of Sync!

According to a new study from "Current Biology" and written up in Discover Magazine, there are two groups of brain cells that get desynchronized causing jet lag. OK, so the study was done on rats. Men are often compared to rats but then that's probably another feminist study. Seriously though, this study sounded intriguing.

Apparently, the rats were exposed to different amounts of light which simulated the effects of flying from Paris to New York City. With one group of neurons telling your body it's Paris time and another group of neurons telling your body it's New York time you get, well, desynchronized!

Circadian Rhythm Importance

You have heard of our circadian rhythm? It helps us to keep up with our body's functions of like when it's time to eat, wake up or sleep. The researchers studied the small part of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus that controls these circadian rhythms.

What they found is that one group of neurons adjusts just fine to the time change. However, another group of neurons that's in charge of those lovely dreams in our REM sleep can take up to a week to catch up to the first group. As a result we are out of sync.

Two Kinds of Brain Cells Groups: Ventral and Dorsel Neurons

A bit of detail about those neurons who can't get their act together at the same time...

There is a group of brain cells known as ventral (bottom) neurons that are synchronized with the deep sleep of physical fatigue. Deep sleep is tied to light-dark cycles. These ventral neurons get their information directly from the eyes and are in charge of getting the rhythm right from the light-dark cycles.

The second group of brain cells known as dorsel (top) neurons are not so sensitive to changes in light. The dorsel neurons are tied to the dream state of Rapid Eye Movement called REM sleep.

The Study's Conclusions

What did the study find out? Basically, the deep sleep ventral neurons adjusted just fine to the change while the dorsel REM neurons took from six to eights days to make their adjustment.

So, how does this new study help us? Well, for one thing, you now know it really is located in your head, your brain to be exact.

What do researchers find valuable in this new information? Of various treatments for jet lag considered to be effective, medical folks can go back and take a look at where they are acting in the circuitry of these neuron centers. This new knowledge can go a long way to helping refine those treatments to become far more effective.

Written by Denny Lyon

Neuron photo by KiyoshiTakahaseSegundo @ istockphoto.com

Technology: Robolegs Help People Walk

From WiredScience.com comes this really cool article:

"Honda's walking assist devices, which make people move a bit like the ASIMO robot, made their American debut Tuesday in New York City.

The devices combine sensor-driven motors and weight-bearing chassis to guide strides and support body weight. Though derived from technologies pioneered during the ASIMO's quarter-century of development, their use could be deeply human, boosting manual laborers or assisting people unable to walk without help.

"Japan is a country with an aging society. We want to do something for them," said Ken Yasuhara, assistant chief engineer of Honda's Research Division 2.

The systems were announced by Honda last year, and enter an increasingly crowded field of prototype assisted locomotion devices.

But unlike Cyberdyne's HAL and Amit Goffer's ReWalk, Honda's systems are light and mobile enough to envision in everyday life. Unlike the Sister Kenny Foundation's Lokomat, they're not tethered to a treadmill.

The devices are still in the research stage, and Honda has not yet formalized plans to go commercial. If they do, the market could be large, and not only in Japan. The number of Americans aged 65 and older is expected to double by 2030. More than 17 million report difficulty climbing stairs or walking a quarter-mile."

Here are two demo videos below. For more of the article, click on the title link.

Brain: Natasha Richardson's Injury: Could a Helmet Have Helped?

"There is, for the moment, much more speculation than information surrounding actress Natasha Richardson's severe, and perhaps fatal, ski injury. Part of the confusion is the very nature of her accident — an improbable injury, little more than a head bump on a bunny slope, that has left an otherwise healthy 45-year-old woman fighting for her life. It has also left onlookers wondering not just what happened to Richardson, but whether a helmet could have prevented it.

The details of Richardson's accident are sketchy, but what is known sounds benign — at first. She was taking a lesson on a beginner slope at the Mont Tremblant ski resort north of Montreal, with an instructor but without a helmet. She fell at the end of the lesson and struck her head, but was alert and conversational afterward and did not complain of any ill effects. An hour later, in her hotel room, she developed a severe headache. Within hours, she was flown to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City in critical condition.

Richardson's family and doctors have released no information regarding her condition. But whatever her prognosis, it appears that Richardson was the victim of an unfortunate collision of biology and physics — a collision that is becoming scarily common in the worlds of athletics and organized sports.

The human body is a sturdy one, but only up to a point, able to withstand collisions of about 15 m.p.h., which is about as fast as an average person can run. The skull is designed to be especially rugged — the permanent home and helmet for the brain — but even it can't take a much more serious hit. The problem is that over the centuries, we've developed all manner of ways to exceed a mere 15 m.p.h. creep."

By Jeffrey Kluger @ Time.com

From Denny: A 15 mph collision is all our skulls can withstand??? No wonder car accidents are so debilitating!

Sadly, Natasha passed away yesterday. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, especially her young children, and friends who will miss her.

To read the rest of the article (that was written a couple of days ago) click on the title link.