Obit of the Day: “The Father of Australian Jazz”
When the Bee Gees were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association Hall of Fame in 1997, they shared the stage with an 82 year-old man who was setting the standard for Australian jazz 20 years before their group was formed.
Graeme Bell was a classically trained pianist who found himself becoming a star as a bandleader and composer of jazz, Dixieland, and ragtime. He put together Australia’s first “big band,” the Australian Jazz Band, which was the first from the country to tour Europe. Bell would also lead the first Western jazz band into China.
Bell was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1978. To gauge the influence Bell had on Australian jazz, you needn’t look further than the Australian Jazz Awards which hand out “Bells” to the winners.
Graeme Bell who would continue to perform at the age of 90, died at the age of 97.
(Graeme Bell - A Compilation of His Recordings, 1947-2007 is copyright Newmarket Music, 2008.)
YOUR siblings may be closer to you than you thought. Male cells have been found in the umbilical cord blood of baby girls with older brothers, suggesting that the transfer of cells between mother and baby may be more extensive than previously imagined. Indeed, all of us may be walking chimeras*.
Previous studies have shown that cells from both mother and fetus can cross the placenta during pregnancy, and survive for decades in the skin, liver, brain and spleen - a phenomenon called fetal microchimerism. There is even evidence that fetal cells may repair damage to the mother’s heart during pregnancy.
*A chimera is a single organism composed of two genetically distinct groups of cells, which originated from different zygotes (the initial single cell formed after fertilsation).
In addition to the hard-science and math questions that have for decades defined this rite of passage into the medical profession, nearly half of the new MCAT will focus on squishier topics in two new sections: one covering social and behavioral sciences and another on critical analysis and reading that will require students to analyze passages covering areas like ethics and cross-cultural studies.
The goal is to improve the medical admissions process to find the people who you and I would want as our doctors. Being a good doctor isn’t just about understanding science, it’s about understanding people.
What are your thoughts of this development? Discuss below.
A man with approximately $24,900,000,000 has just promised “limitless” support of the Republican nominee for president. Literally. Casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson is ready to crush any opposition to Romney, simply by dropping giant golden checks on the heads of those who dare to question the supremacy of the rich.
The future of American politics comes down to one question - can people outwork and out-maneuver the dollars of the corporatocracy?(via truthout)
