Finally! The Vomeronasal System as Interpretive Dance

Ricky Jay wrote his book Learned Pigs (see previous blog entry) at UCLA. According to a New Yorker profile, Thomas Wright, (a professor of literature and librarian), tried to persuade Jay to apply for a postdoctoral research fellowship.

When Jay explained that he didn’t have a doctorate, Wright said, “Maybe a master’s degree would be sufficient.”

“Thomas, I don’t even have a B.A.” [said Jay.]

Wright replied, “Well, you know, Ricky, a Ph.D. is just a sign of docility.”

Add to that flexibility now that Science magazine has solicited videos for its “Dance Your Ph.D.” contest. The idea was for researchers to “interpret their Ph.D. research in dance form.” Here's a non-winning entry that's still among the best submissions. (Keep in mind that “best” is a limited word in this context.) For example, here's Wendy Grus's take on her thesis: “Evolution of the vomeronasal system viewed through system-specific genes."

If you insist on seeing a winner, Vince LiCata, a biochemist at Louisiana State University, took the “Professors” category with this take on "Resolving Pathways of Functional Coupling in Human Hemoglobin Using Quantitative Low Temperature Isoelectric Focusing of Asymmetric Mutant Hybrids."

The four dancers are “representing the interaction of pairs of hemoglobin molecules." Wondering why Old Man Winter runs in to pour Styrofoam frost on someone? Muscle up and read the thesis. How hard could it be?

Un-Noosed and Not Kosher

This 1931 poster for the Man With the Iron Neck gives a good preview of his act. The Great Peters was a bungee-jumping pioneer; the rope he used covered a really long elastic band, so Peters could plummet, nearly touch the ground, bounce back, and un-noose himself.

Though the Man With an Iron Neck died in 1943 while performing this stunt, it wasn’t due to a weak spine. (Intestinal fortitude was also not to blame.) The Great Peters met his end when his rope broke. There’s no bouncing back from that.

In a not-very related story, the New York Times has a story today about Israeli gangsters sitting shiva for murdered crime boss Yaakov Alperon. Apparently, somebody didn't like Alperon despite attempts to rehab the family name. As part of this p.r. campaign, Alperon had opened up his family home to model Yael Goldman (above) "as part of a television reality show, 'Once in a Lifetime,' in which people were matched with different, often incongruous, types of families." Kooky!

Goldman was happy to do the show, but waxed philosophical afterwards. The model said, “You see ‘The Sopranos’ and it sounds sexy that some Mafioso comes and charms you into the sunset. But in reality it is the opposite. It is very intimidating, scary, not kosher.” Oy.

The poster above is from Ricky Jay’s droll and vastly informative book on unusual performers, Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women.