Strongly Worded Letter

This Is Why You Shouldn't Do Drugs

"Albert Hofmann, who died on Tuesday aged 102, synthesized lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in 1938 and became the first person in the world to experience a full-blown acid trip." (Telegraph.co.uk)

Okay, I had two thoughts when I heard the news yesterday. First, anyone who had Dr. Hofmann in his celebrity death pool technically lost ground in the game. The way many of these pools work is on a point system. You generally get 100 points, minus the celebrity's age. That way Miley Cyrus, God  forbid, would be worth  85 points but would be a much gutsier pick than, say, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who is on the exact flip side at 15 points. So if you had Hoffman, you owe 2. 

Secondly, he was only 102. Imagine how long he might have lived if he'd stayed clean like his parents probably advised him to. This is why you shouldn't do drugs.

In case the letters LSD mean nothing to you, here is more from the rather interesting Telegraph obituary:

"Hofmann was working as a research chemist in the laboratory of the Sandoz   Company (now Novartis) in Basel, Switzerland, where he was involved in
studying the medicinal properties of plants. This eventually led to the study of the alkaloid compounds of ergot, a fungus which forms on rye.

Hofmann’s studies led to many new discoveries such as Hydergine, a medicament for improvement of circulation and cerebral function and Dihydergot, a circulation and blood pressure stabilizing medicine.

His interest in synthesising LSD was stimulated at first by the hope that it might also be useful as a circulatory and respiratory stimulant.

But when his molecule, known as LSD-25, was tested on animals, no interesting effects were observed, though the research notes recorded that the beasts became “restless” during narcosis. The substance was dismissed as of no interest and dropped from Sandoz’s research programme.

But five years later, acting on some intuition, Hofmann decided to resynthesise LSD. In his autobiography, LSD, My Problem Child (1979), he recalled that in the final stage of the synthesis, he was interrupted by some unusual sensations.

In a note to the laboratory’s director, he reported 'a remarkable restlessness, combined with a slight dizziness. At home I lay down and sank into a not unpleasant intoxicated-like condition, characterized by an extremely stimulated imagination.'

'In a dreamlike state, with eyes closed, I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors. After some two hours this condition faded away.'

Hofmann concluded that he must have accidentally breathed in or ingested some   laboratory material and assumed LSD was the cause. To test the theory he waited until the next working day, Monday April 19 1943, and tried again, swallowing 0.25 of a milligram.

Forty minutes later, his laboratory journal recorded 'dizziness, feeling of anxiety, visual distortions, symptoms of paralysis, desire to laugh.'

Unable to write any more, he asked his assistant to take him home by bicycle. 'On the way home, my condition began to assume threatening forms.'

'Everything in my field of vision wavered and was distorted as if seen in a curved mirror. I also had the sensation of being unable to move from the spot. Nevertheless, my assistant later told me that we had traveled very rapidly.'

Back home, when a friendly neighbour brought round some milk, he perceived her as a 'malevolent, insidious witch wearing a lurid mask.' After six hours of highs and lows, the effects subsided.

Sandoz, keen to make a profit from Hofman’s discovery, gave the new substance the trade name Delysid and began sending samples out to psychiatric researchers.

By 1965 more than 2,000 papers had been published offering hope for a range of conditions from drug and alcohol addiction to mental illnesses of various sorts.

But the fact that it was cheap and easy to make left it open to abuse and from   the late 1950s onwards, promoted by Dr. Timothy Leary and others, LSD became the recreational drug of choice for alienated western youth.

An outbreak of moral panic, combined with a number of accidents involving people jumping to their deaths off high buildings thinking they could fly, led governments around the world to ban LSD.

Research also showed that the drug taken in high doses and in inappropriate settings, often caused panic reactions. For certain individuals, a bad trip seemed to be the trigger for full-blown psychosis.

Hofmann was disappointed when his discovery was removed from commercial distribution. He remained convinced that the drug had the potential to counter the psychological problems induced by 'materialism, alienation from nature through industrialization and increasing urbanization, lack of satisfaction in professional employment in a mechanized, lifeless working world, ennui and purposelessness in wealthy, saturated society, and lack of a religious, nurturing, and meaningful philosophical foundation of life.'

Good times.  

BRRRRRRRRRR...........

Old business first: Yes, as many of you surmised, it was #1. And, no I can't explain the belly button thing either.

New business: I love chicken pot pies. Who doesn't, right? But the weirdest thing happened yesterday. Nea, my friendly FedEx guy showed up at the front door with a big ol' box and inside were two frozen pot pies (yay!) from an outfit in Chicago.  No note or anything so I don't know who to thank but just in case it was you, thanks!

The pot pies were packed in dry ice.  I should have remembered something about that from high school science class, right?  I didn't, so I touched it with my bare hand and froze/burned it in a bad way. Ouch.

What is this mysterious thing called dry ice? Is it from outer space? Here are some fun facts, courtesy of the sometimes reliable Wikipedia.

In 1835 the French chemist Charles Thilorier published the first account of dry ice. Upon opening the lid of a large cylinder containing liquid carbon dioxide he noted much of the carbon dioxide rapidly evaporated leaving solid dry ice in the container.

In medicine it is used to freeze warts to make removal easier .

In the construction industry it is used to loosen floor tiles by shrinking and cracking them, as well as to freeze water in valveless pipes to allow repair.

Dry ice can also be used for making ice cream.

It can be used to carbonate water and other liquids such as beer.

It can be used as bait to trap mosquitoes and other insects

It is also used in cloud seeding: the process of altering cloud precipitation.

One of the largest alternative uses of dry ice is blast cleaning. Dry ice pellets are shot out of a nozzle with compressed air. This can remove residues from industrial equipment, such as ink, glue, oil, paint, mold and rubber. Dry ice blasting can replace sandblasting, steam blasting, water blasting or solvent blasting.

When dry ice is placed in water sublimation is accelerated, and low-sinking dense clouds of fog are created. This is used in fog machines, at theaters, discotheques and nightclubs for dramatic effects, and at Halloween.

Good times!

Whoa!!! Slow Down!!!

Ready for a webcam where nothing happens for years at a time? Nope, not the treadmill in my attic, this is the Guinness Book of World Records' "longest continuously running laboratory experiment."

Highlights from the website of The Pitch Drop Experiment:

"The first Professor of Physics at the University of Queensland, Professor Thomas Parnell, began an experiment in 1927 to illustrate that everyday materials can exhibit quite surprising properties.   The experiment demonstrates the fluidity and high viscosity of pitch, a derivative of tar once used for waterproofing boats. 

At room temperature pitch feels solid - even brittle - and can easily be shattered with a blow from a hammer.  It's quite amazing then, to see that pitch at room temperature is actually fluid!  

In 1927 Professor Parnell heated a sample of pitch and poured it into a glass funnel with a sealed stem.  Three years were allowed for the pitch to settle, and in 1930 the sealed stem was cut.  From that date on the pitch has slowly dripped out of the funnel - so slowly that now, 77 years later, the ninth drop is only just forming.  

The experiment was set up as a demonstration and is not kept under special environmental conditions (it is actually kept in a display cabinet in the foyer of the Department), so the rate of flow of the pitch varies with seasonal changes in temperature.  Nonetheless, it is possible to make an estimate of the viscosity of this sample of pitch. It turns out to be about 100 billion times more viscous than water!   

In the 77 years that the pitch has been dripping no-one has ever seen the drop fall.  If you're interested in trying your luck, or at least just having a look at the experiment, you can view it live."

   

If your eyes glassed over a few paragraphs in, here's the gist: These scientists figured out that tar was not a solid but a liquid. So they are letting it flow but it is so thick that only one drop falls every eight to twelve years. And the pitch sample is large enough that it is expected that the experiment can continue for at least another hundred years!

Thanks to blog reader White Devil for the tip. Let me know if you connect to the video. I was unable to but if the trouble is on my end I don't want to deprive you of the sheer joy of  watching history being made. That pitch could drop any month now! 

Bet You'll Yawn!

Ahead of the comments you'll leave, let me admit that I know you likely yawn at most of the posts you read here at StronglyWorded letter.com. But today I nearly guarantee it.

What is the yawn reflex? Science doesn't know. Lack of oxygen is a popular unsupported theory. And if why we yawn is a mystery, even more of a conundrum is the phenomena that causes us to yawn when we see other people yawning. I am so susceptible to the suggestion that I yawn when I see someone else doing it on TV. I can't stop myself from yawning even when I read the word "yawn." How about you?

There are several theories as to why yawning is contagious.  One is a complicated idea that "mirror neurons" in the brain copy the action when we see it, but I don't hear about people starting to blink or cough because others do.

Another theory is that yawning is part of the evolutionary herd instinct; that the yawn serves to synchronize mood behavior among animals to signify tiredness to the pack and coordinate sleeping.

My whole life I have tried to fight reflex yawns but can't do it. It is a powerful, mysterious impulse.

The other thing that puzzles me is how you are able to tell if someone is staring at you. I don't know if it has ever been proven by scientists, but hasn't everyone reading this had it happen before? Someone out of sight from you is giving you the evil eye and you can almost feel the burn. You look around and there he or she is. For me it is usually a model checking me out but your experience may vary. 

Saturday night Donna and I were enjoying the wonderful 1944 film Gaslight and there it was again. Charles Boyer's character takes his wife, played by Ingrid Bergman, to a music recital. He starts squirming after a few minutes as he almost "feels" the presence of Joseph Cotten's Scotland Yard officer who is seated several rows behind the couple. Sure enough, he turns around and Cotten is more certain than ever that Boyer is up to no good in his attempt to fleece his new bride of her inheritance.   Weird, right?

P.S. Godzilla is home. Update tomorrow and I thank you again for all your well wishes.

 

    

There Are Southern Lights Too!

It is odd that I don't collect stamps seeing as how I love the post office (I go there several times a week) and that I am interested in so many of the subjects of each year's first class stamps.  This month a new stamp came out of particular interest to me: the Polar Lights, also called the Northern Lights, or the Aurora Borealis.



I have never seen them in person but have heard that they are occasionally visible from Seattle, where I live.  My better bet would be Idaho or Montana in the Lower 48 or I could almost guarantee to see them if I spent some time in Alaska.

What are these strange and wonderful things? From the USPS press release:

Oct. 1, 2007, the U.S. Postal Service will issue this pane of 20 41-cent stamps with two designs that feature photographs of the polar lights, often known as auroras.

         

"The polar lights are a luminous glow seen in the night sky at high latitudes surrounding the north and south magnetic poles. These auroras are the result of a magnetic storm — when Earth’ magnetic field is unusually active due to a dynamic interaction with the Sun. During magnetic storms, energetic electrons descend from space and collide with molecules in the upper atmosphere, leading to the emission of green and sometimes red light. Auroras come in different visual forms, including arcs, curtains and rays, and are a relatively common sight in Alaska, Canada and northern Europe. During particularly intense magnetic storms, auroras can occasionally be seen in some of the lower 48 states as well.          

“Aurora” is the Latin name of the ancient Roman goddess of the dawn. The aurora borealis are the northern lights, and the aurora australis are the southern lights. Through history, auroras have inspired a colorful folklore, especially among northern Europeans and the Inuit people of Siberia and North America, where the lights have been attributed to human or animal spirits and have sometimes been thought to foretell ominous news. Today, the aurora is the subject of scientific investigation, with researchers from many countries collaborating during International Polar Year 2007–2008."

Yes, please!! 

 

 

You Are Getting Very Sleepy

Our beloved English bulldog Tater Tot (the best dog in the world ever) had a minor surgical procedure this weekend and though she recovered well it is always worrisome for us when she has to be put under. Driving her home I was trying to imagine what the world was like before anesthesia was invented.

According to Wikipedia, nitrous oxide was used to try to deaden pain during surgery around 1800; carbon dioxide around 1820; chloroform in the 1830s, diethyl ether in 1842, and cocaine (!) in 1859.

I found it interesting that Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. coined the word "anesthesia" in 1846. I wish he has made it easier to spell.

Think of all the surgeries people have fairly regularly and try to picture what they would feel like with no anesthesia: wisdom teeth removal, broken bones being set, heart bypasses, etc. Ouch.

Happy Fiftieth Birthday!

Not many of you were alive 50 years ago today (Sorry, dad) at the very start of the space race. On October 4, 1957 the Soviet Union (kids, ask your teachers) launched the world's first artificial satellite.  And it was called Sputnik. And it was good.

Good for them because the sight of a little piece of Russian technology cruising over American skies every 90 minutes for 1440 revolutions was "proof" that their communist way of life was superior to ours.   

And good for us too because the beating America's national pride took that fall was enough to convince educators and politicians alike of the need to make the teaching of math and sciences a matter of national interest and security.

Download sputnik_tones_from_space.mp3

(Thanks to the Toledo Blade)

As much as we got served by the Russians, who followed Sputnik with the the first animal in space and then the first human, we more than caught up by the early 60s and by the end of the decade had landed our first man on the moon.   

This week I saw the outstanding new documentary on the Apollo program that is currently in theaters and can recommend it to you if you have even a passing interest in the space program.

Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin (pictured) are among the Apollo astronauts interviewed for the film and their personal accounts of the trip to and from the moon on Apollo 11 are as fascinating a tale as any human has ever had to tell. Look for In The Shadow Of The Moon in your movie clocks.