If you want to make a person feel better after they sneeze...

You shouldn't say, 'God Bless You.' You should say, 'You're so good-looking!'" (Jerry Seinfeld)

There are several orders of business, today, which must be addressed, starting with a request (by an unnamed female Dominican) for a follow-up from my last entry. Apparently it wasn't altogether clear what a cochlear hair cell is and, due to her persistence to learn, she wants the whole story. Here it is, young grasshopper, simplified & shortened for avid students in all corners of the world:

Cochlear hair cells are found in the cochlea, a fluid-filled tube of the inner ear coiled like a snail's shell & ultimately accountable for hearing. Cochlear hair cells detect sound & are responsible for what's termed mechanoelectrical transduction - or, simply put, the conversion of sound waves (i.e., music) to their equivalent electrical waveform (i.e., the form of Energy appropriate for transmission, via neuronal connections, to the brain for auditory processing).

There's no easy way to explain just what makes these cochlear hair cells lengthen & contract in response to auditory stimuli, but the process involves a membrane protein called prestin, in which a conformational change is induced, thus expanding the cell's surface area. The YouTube video in my last entry highlights the speed of the cell's mechanical response, which is sufficiently fast to produce changes in the cell's shape in synchrony with the sound stimulus (i.e., the song).

And now, moving on to World Issues, in ascending order of importance:

• My laptop is currently in Cyperspace's Intensive Care Unit - please pray to the God/ Force/ Energy of your choice & ask for a full recovery.
• I decided to indulge my antecedent ambitions to become a Film Director (yes, I almost applied to NYU Tisch School of the Arts - but that's a story for another day) & "shoot a movie" on Friday night. Odile debuted in the role of Paul, our alcoholic neighbor who engages in daily prehistoric-sounding roarings. Much to my dismay, however, the video will not be released to the public due to lack of cooperation from... an unnamed female Dominican.
• Led Zeppelin is rumored to play at Bonnaroo 2008? Is this true?
• OUTRAGE! Apparently, there is newly found evidence that the dryer does, in fact, eat your socks!?! It's no myth, peoples! It was explained (in quite some detail) in a German cartoon quite recently - I'll do my best to get my hands on the episode.

The world fascinates me! And now, speaking of outrages, turn up your volume & watch your arm hairs stand on end...

Vitas - Opera #2

Besos.