Fructose Alters Hundreds Of Brain Genes, Which Can Lead To A Wide Range Of Diseases

David Bowie (1947-2016) at Kyoto - Japan - 1980

Photos by Sukita Masayoshi 鋤田 正義

Laplace transform table. Source. (I’m obsessed. <3 And figured y’all would like this one, too!)

Top image via The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre

Happy Roald Dahl Day, everyone!  

Here’s a selection of some of our favorite stories about the man behind Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG and all the other books that traumatized us so delightfully as kids (Vermicious Knids, eeeeeggghhh).

Roald Dahl Wanted His Magical ‘Matilda’ To Keep Books Alive

Roald Dahl, A Bottle Of Dreams And A 'Letter Of Note’

'Where Am I Now?’ Mara Wilson Explains What Happened When Matilda Grew Up

Roald Dahl: The Story Of The 'Storyteller’

And lest we forget – Dahl’s memoirs and fiction for adults are great too. Just don’t  give Someone Like You to a kid.

Wicked And Delicious: Devouring Roald Dahl

– Petra

The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the struggle for life Charles Darwin

London John Murray Sixth Edition with additions and corrections (Forty Third Thousand) The sixth edition [shown here] (first printed in 1872) - is the edition in which the word “evolution” was used for the first time (although Darwin used this term in the Descent of Man, published a year before; in 1871). This edition was also the last that Charles Darwin revised during his lifetime, including the addition of an entirely new chapter.  In 1876 Darwin added a few small corrections, and all subsequent printing were copies of that printing.

a clean tight fresh presentable copy - which remains largely unread - even after 124 years -  a large portion of the book remains unopened [the leaves of the book remain joined at the folds; not slit apart]

Family names for Family trees in Japanese

(source: http://www.e-keizu.com/info/family.html )

The numbers below match the blue number above in the image.

[M]祖父（そふ sofu）, [F]祖母（そぼ sobo）

[M]曾祖父（そうそふ sousofu）, [F]曾祖母（そうそぼ sousobo）

[M]高祖父（こうそふ kousofu）, [F]高祖母（こうそぼ kousobo）

For big brother/sister of 1, [M]大伯父（おおおじ oooji）,[F]大伯母（おおおば oooba） For little brother/sister of 1, [M]大叔父（おおおじ oooji）,[F] 大叔母（おおおば oooba）

For big brother/sister of 2, [M]曾祖伯父（そうそはくふ sousohakufu）,[F] 曾祖伯母（そうそはくぼ sousohakubo） For little brother/sister of 2, [M]曾祖叔父（そうそしゅくふ sousosyukufu）,[F] 曾祖叔母（そうそしゅくぼ sousosyukubo）

For big brother/sister of 3, [M]高祖伯父（こうそはくふ kousohakufu）,[F] 高祖伯母（こうそはくぼ kousohakubo） For little brother/sister of 3, [M]高祖叔父（こうそしゅくふ kousosyukufu）,[F] 高祖叔母（こうそしゅくぼ kousosyukubo）

For big brother/sister of your father/mother, [M]伯父（おじ oji）,[F]伯母（おば oba） For little brother/sister of your father/mother, [M]叔父（おじ oji）,[F]叔母（おば oba）

For elder than you, [M]いとこ( itoko )・従兄（じゅうけい juukei）,[F]いとこ( itoko )・従姉（じゅうし juushi） For younger than you, [M]いとこ( itoko )・従弟（じゅうてい juutei）,[F] いとこ( itoko )・従妹（じゅうまい juumai）

[M]いとこ違い( itokochigai )・従甥（じゅうせい juusei）,[F]いとこ違い( itokochigai )・従姪（じゅうてつ juutetsu）

従姪孫（じゅうてっそん juutesson）

For elder than your father/mother, [M]いとこ違い( itokochigai )・従伯父（じゅうはくふ juuhakufu）,[F]いとこ違い( itokochigai )・従伯母（じゅうはくぼ juuhakubo ） For younger than your father/mother, [M]いとこ違い( itokochigai )・従叔父（じゅうしゅくふ juushukufu）,[F]いとこ違い( itokochigai )・従叔母（じゅうしゅくぼ juushukubo）

For elder than you, [M]またいとこ( mataitoko )・はとこ( hatoko )・再従兄（さいじゅうけい saijuukei）,[F]またいとこ( mataitoko )・はとこ( hatoko )・再従姉（さいじゅうし saijuushi） For younger than you, [M]またいとこ( mataitoko )・はとこ( hatoko )・再従弟（さいじゅうてい saijuutei）,[F]またいとこ( mataitoko )・はとこ( hatoko )・再従妹（さいじゅうまい saijuumai ）

[M]甥（おい oi）,[F]姪（めい mei ）

[M]姪孫（てっそん tesson）・又甥（またおい mataoi）,[F]姪孫（てっそん tesson）・又姪（まためい matamei）

[M/F]曾姪孫（そうてっそん soutesson）

[M/F]玄姪孫（げんてっそん gentesson）

[M/F]孫（まご mago）

[M/F]ひ孫( himago )・曾孫（そうそん souson）

[M/F]やしゃご( yashago )・玄孫（げんそん genson）

[M/F]来孫（らいそん raison）

[M/F]昆孫（こんそん konson）

[M/F]仍孫（じょうそん jouson）

[M/F]雲孫（うんそん unson）

For elder than 1, [M]従祖伯父(じゅうそはくふ juusohakufu )・従大伯父（いとこおおおじ itokooooji ）,[F]従祖伯母( じゅうそはくぼ juusohakubo )・従大伯母（いとこおおおば itokooooba） For younger than 1, [M]従祖叔父(じゅうそおじ juusooji)・従大叔父（いとこおおおじ itokooooji）,[F]従祖叔母(じゅうそおば juusooba)・従大叔母（いとこおおおば itokooooba）

[M/F]三いとこ(みいとこ miitoko)・その又いとこ（そのまたいとこ sonomataitoko）

Also

You: 自分(じぶん jibun) Mather:母(はは haha) / Father: 父（ちち tsitsi）

(source: http://www.e-keizu.com/info/family.html )

Although I am a Japanese, I can’t call them all correctly… Does your language have the names?

Earlier this semester, I got this book out for a class on the material culture of Christianity. It’s a beautiful Bible bound in purple velvet, with gold embellishments, edges, and clasps.  It originally came in a leather case lined with silk, which has since fallen to pieces at the joints, but the same silk features on the gilded endpapers.  The clasp is even engraved with the initials of the book’s first owner, Josephine Bonaparte Bolton.

This book is beautiful, but it’s even more interesting after reading the note that came with it from its donor, Josephine’s granddaughter:

When Josephine Bonaparte Bolton was sixteen years old, she taught three negro women to read and write. Her mother, Mrs. Wm. Bolton, was so proud of her daughter’s achievement, that she gave her this little Bible as a memento. The Boltons lived in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Josephine Bolton Kerns (Granddaughter)

June 1, 1977

The clasp is dated 1851, which means that the original Josephine broke Missouri law by giving reading and writing lessons to the three African American women mentioned in the note.  Missouri law in 1847 stated that “No person shall keep or teach any school for the instruction of negroes or mulattos, in reading or writing, in this State.”  Teaching a person of color to read was punishable by a fine of not less than $500 and up to six months in jail. 

I could not find any information about either Josephine, but for the most part, the Bolton families of Cole County and Jefferson City seem to have been Confederate sympathizers.  Dr. William Bolton, who may have been Josephine’s father, was a prominent Jefferson City physician and a known slave owner.  I’d love to know more about Josephine, her mother, and the story behind this beautiful book. Wouldn’t you?

- Kelli

The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments : translated out of the original tongues, and with the former translations diligently compared and revised, by His Majesty’s special command, appointed to be read in churches. London : Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1848.  Rare BS185 1848 .L6

What the heck is ‘Johnston’s Fluid Beef’? According to this Victorian age flyer in the Canada Medical and Surgical Journal of April 1883, it is “the most perfect food for invalids ever introduced, concentrated preparation for nutritious beef tea or soup, specially recommended by the Medical Faculty.” But the directions for use on page 4 may be a recipe for botulism: “Add a small teaspoon to a cup of boiling water and season to taste; or as a sandwich paste it may be used on toast, with or without butter. The can may remain open for weeks without detriment to the contents.”

The story of ‘Johnston’s Fluid Beef’ began in 1870 in the Franco-Prussian War, when Napoleon III ordered a million cans of beef to feed troops. John Lawson Johnston, a Scot living in Montreal, had the task of providing it. Transportation and storage were problematic, so Johnston created a product known as Johnston’s Fluid Beef, later called Bovril, to meet the need. By 1888, Johnston’s Fluid Beef became a British staple sold in 3,000 U.K. public houses, grocers and dispensing chemists, and remains so today. A major downturn in sales occurred in 2004 when the company changed its formula to make Bovril vegetarian. The Guardian reported in 2007: “Rather than any new-found vegetarian gusto, the move [by Bovril] to yeast extract in 2004 was largely triggered by concerns about beef consumption and BSE [bovine spongiform encephalopathy], which affected Bovril’s export market.” But by 2006, the beef was back in Bovril and the company survives. Modern directions for use are recommended.

David in Singapore, Serious Moonlight Tour 1983

Photo © Denis O’Regan

NASA’s new searchable media library is a treasure trove of space pics and video

Do you like space? Do you like looking at it, wishing you were there instead of here, perhaps? Well NASA just did something that will make your day. The U.S...

The U.S. space agency launched a new web-based search engine for much of its catalog of images, video and audio files, which you can browse by keyword and metadata, so that you never have to remember the dismal reality that you’re earthbound ever again.

Singapore Food (in Manga/Anime) Appreciation Post!

(Also: Onion Chopping Ninja Reveals Her Timezone!)

It’s Singapore’s National Day today (9th Aug) and I was going to do a Singaporean-based Recipe, (like Hayama’s Curry Fish Head), but didn’t have time to, so here’s a Singapore Food in Manga/Anime Appreciation Post - from Kuragehime, Shokugeki no Souma, and Addicted to Curry!

The Singaporean food that is usually shown in manga/anime is usually either curry-based or chicken rice. And of course, I don’t usually make them at home because: 1. They’re easier to make in bulk 2. You can get them cheaper outside 3. My version would pale in comparison to the masters’ 4. It requires hours of preparation, except for some of the easier curry dishes in Addicted to Curry. (A manga cap of the recipe is above!)

Addicted to Curry lists Singapore as Curry Central, and I never realized how true that was until I went abroad for a couple of years and missed how we would just drown everything in curry, especially for mixed rice dishes like Chap Chye Png and Nasi Briyani. There was also a huge uproar when McDonald’s ran out of Curry Sauce for McNuggets (they have since started selling it in bottles), and a near-riot when a neighbour complained about the smell of another neighbour cooking curry. Also, Gordon Ramsay can’t beat our laksa, even though I think that particular store he challenged isn’t the best one.

(Not everything is curry, of course, but if there’s no curry, generally, there must be chili. And woe betide those who eat the wrong kind of chili with the wrong kind of food. And here’s a PSA for foreigners - Chili Crab is largely for tourists. Take Black Pepper Crab or Salted Egg Crab instead. It’s possible to live as a weak sauce who can’t take spicy foods here, but less exciting. )

Happy 51st Birthday, Singapore! Here’s to the spread of our food all over the world! And a birthday wish would be for more kinds of our food to be shown in manga/anime. :D - O.C.N.

PS: By the way, Eizan Senpai, you can get Hainanese Chicken Rice for $3, and it is considered Street Food even though there are $30+ versions at hotels. Never eaten one with Jidori Chicken, though.