Here and There

A few tidbits I picked up yesterday:

* Finished an article in the August 20, 2007, issue of The New Yorker about Asperger’s syndrome, a mild form of autism. The author, someone with the condition, describes its symptoms, which include “early precocity, a great ability to maintain masses of information, a lack of ability to mix with groups in age-appropriate ways, ignorance of or indifference to social norms, high intelligence, and difficulty with transitions, married to a preternatural ability to concentrate on the minutia of the task at hand.” Wow.

I read the article, well, because I try to read as much of the magazine as I have time for, but also on the specific recommendation of a coworker, who suggested another coworker had the condition. Ha!

* Late one night at work recently, I approached a third coworker for some small talk before the end of the shift. He’s an avid wikipeder, and had up on his monitor the “Platypus” entry. “Did you know they can sting with their tails?” he asked me. Apparently, these aquatic mammals have a venomous spur in their hind feet that can hurt people pretty badly. I remember a few years ago when I watch Sir David Attenborough’s Life on Earth series.

* Talked last night with my parents, who just returned from their first trip to Alaska. They saw Mt. McKinley, commonly known to be the highest point in all of North America, at 20,320 feet above sea level. What I learned is that to most Alaskans, the mountain is known simply as “Denali.” As in the SUV. As in the national park. Good to know.

This is the first installment of a new feature on Here and There, tentatively titled “mepedia.” I hope you enjoy.

These are some of the things I learned yesterday, Monday, August 13, 2007:

* Karl Rove will resign from the Bush administration at the end of August. Reactions are expected and generic, but my insight is that the “family” excuse is to politics what the “busy” excuse is to the rest of us. Sort of. At least in its transparency.

* Brooke Astor dies. Okay, “news” of a 105-year-old woman dying isn’t exactly, well, news. But I’d like to give my boss props for calling this one the night before (Sunday) on, as far as I can tell, absolutely no evidence. He also mentioned some friends of his at The New York Times who had Astor and Pavarotti on their death watch. Luciano lives another day.

* Finished an article in the August 13, 2007 issue of The New Yorker about Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, a rare, fucked-up disorder found only in males in which the sufferer is compelled to destroy himself. It manifests most readily in the eating of the fingers and lips. Article mentions a spectrum of self-mutiliating behavior that encompasses a bad habit of mine: eating cuticles till they bleed. Help! Danger!

* After going over a story on transit-oriented development somewhere in the Peninsula (in the city of San Mateo, I believe), a coworker told me about the idea of arcology, or massive structures of huddled humans living in a sustainable, ecologically sound way.

* From visiting the wikipedia page on arcology, I found the concept of the count noun, such as “cattle” or, formerly, “fish.” Never knew that term, but it’s handy for making people think I’m some kind of grammarian.

* Toward the end of the shift last night, a coworker informed me of Van Halen’s reunion tour, which former bassist Michael Anthony will unfortunately not be taking part in thanks to his sacking by Eddie van Halen earlier this year. The younger van Halen brother replaced the band’s longtime bassist (and proud purveyor of the Jack Daniels bass guitar) with none other than his own son, 16-year-old Wolfgang van Halen. Natch.

* Read somewhere that the new Minneapolis bridge(s) will have five lanes each way. Well, the smaller bridge didn’t work, so what else to do but build bigger??

* Another New Yorker tidbit: From James Surowiecki’s Financial Page, learned the term rent-seeker, describing “a company [that] seeks to manipulate economic conditions rather than actually create value.” Sounds vaguely familiar.

* Finally, began an article in the same New Yorker about elaborate, highly lucrative European olive oil scams. Learned a little about the process of making olive oil, which the author describes as similar to juice extraction. Also learned that olives are closely related to cherries and plums (and mangoes, which the author omitted), all of which are known as drupes. Nice word.

It’s something I’ve wondered as long as I can remember: why are yawns contagious?

I’ve never heard a good explanation, until now. Granted, it’s just a hypothesis, but I like the sound of it.

According to the entry for yawn on wikipedia, the contagion effect of yawning might be traceable back to mirror neurons. I wrote an article in journalism school about the discovery of mirror neurons, and their possible implications with conditions such as autism.

But they just may be the trigger mechanism that makes me yawn when you yawn, and vice versa. Good stuff.

PS: If you’re looking for a topic for the comment you’re about to leave, how about letting us all know how many times you yawned reading this post. I’m half-serious. I clocked about 10 or 11 while reading the wikipedia entry.