The oncologist who has been treating me seemed generally pleased with the results of my most recent PET-scan, which revealed a reduction in the standard uptake value (SUV) of some of the “regions of interest.” The SUVs of a cluster of sub-centimeter left periaortic lymph nodes, though, had increased. SUVs greater than 2.5 (all of mine are greater than that) are highly suggestive of malignancy, so the war is still on. But the decrease in values suggests the chemo is working, so the same combination of chemo drugs will continue. True to her promise yesterday morning, the doctor consulted with a radiologist about the prospect of using radiation to deal with the sub-centimeter left periaortic lymph nodes; she called last night to tell me the radiologist confirmed the wisdom of using radiation on them—she will schedule it. Ideally, of course, the cancer would be eliminated by the chemo; but the positive response to the treatments is good news. Still, I want to know whether these findings have any effect on “staging.” That’s a question for the next conversation.
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My late wife’s sister, who remains a very close member of my family, baked an exceptionally tasty apple pie for my birthday yesterday. She brought it over, along with vanilla ice cream, yesterday afternoon. She, mi novia, and I celebrated my continuing aging (and the good oncological news) with one slice each of pie à la mode; I was proud that each one of us had sufficient discipline to stop at one slice, though I could have eaten the entire pie and all the ice cream without their help.
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Science is responsible for humans’ assumption that bees’ (for example) behavior is controlled genetically, not intellectually. But what if science is wrong? What if, due to humans’ inadequate or incorrect understanding of the fundamentals of insects’ brains, we have it all wrong? What if bees, mosquitos, ants, beetles, and all their close and distant relatives are at least as intelligent as humans and are waiting for just the right time to launch an all-out assault on humanity’s control of the planet? It would surprise us, no doubt, to discover that cicadas long ago solved the challenges related to nuclear fission. We would be equally stunned to learn that, during the 30-to-60-day life cycles of honey bees, they document and publish practical instructions for applying the physics of winged flight to 2000-pound steers. And that might be only the beginning. The superior brainpower of lizards and snakes, long considered by humans as the Neanderthals of the reptilian world, could be unleashed to implement unspeakable developments in molecular biology. Earthworms and slugs might be enlisted to undermine the foundations of all the world’s high-rise buildings, leading to unprecedented disasters…imagine a cluster of 225-story buildings collapsing on top of hundreds of older, smaller buildings around them. And it might only get worse. It is too late to offer parity to our close cousin apes and monkeys and to all non-primates. They do not want equality; they insist on dominion…absolute domination.
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Cellophane was invented by Swiss chemist Jacques E. Brandenberger in 1900, while attempting to create a cloth material that would repel, instead of absorb, liquids. During the course of his efforts, he discovered that viscose would repel liquids, but the fabric to which it was applied became stiff. Over time, he abandoned the idea of a liquid-proof fabric, opting instead to focus on softening viscose film by adding glycerin. Cellophane, so named by combining the words cellulose and diaphane, was patented in 1912. I stumbled upon this information quite by accident when searching Wikipedia for something entirely unrelated. And I learned that cellophane is biodegradable. It seems to me that subsequent discoveries, leading to what we now call plastic wrap, have largely replaced a biodegradable product with one that persists in the environment for approximately ten bazillion years.
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Truth exists on a different axis from falsehood. Both, though, share the concept of a circular continuum…but on perpendicular planes.
