Horribly Fascinating Things

Heaven’s Gate Suicide

Heaven’s Gate was a group of people that were led by Marshall Applewhite. It was a religious group that thought the Eart was about to be “recycled” and the only way to survive this was to leave ASAP. They decided to commit mass suicide. They believed if they committed mass suicide, they would be transported to a space-ship that was following the Hale-Bopp comet.

They also decided to wear the same brand of Nike Shoes (as seen in the pictures)

Babies From Space

…ok, just babies in a sun-bed.

These babies in an orphanage are getting a sun-bath, which was once a common procedure during the winter months in order to stave off vitamin D deficiency in those who couldn’t or didn’t go outside.

The skin produces vitamin D when it’s exposed to the sun, and without vitamin D, the body can’t absorb or utilize calcium, resulting in weakened bones and a host of other problems, which, when it occurs in children, is called “rickets”. In adults, chronic vitamin D or phosphorus deficiency leads to osteomalacia, which is a similar condition, but does not lead to stunted growth, obviously.

The stylish goggles protect the baby’s eyes, as they’re easily damaged by direct exposure to ultraviolet light.

The story behind DNA’s double helix

The notorious race to uncover the structure of DNA, the molecule of inheritance, began in 1951, when American biologist James Watson  arrived at the University of Cambridge. Here he met Francis Crick, an English physicist and the two began building scale models to test their ideas of what DNA’s appearance might be.

Meanwhile, two scientists at King’s College London called Maurice Wilkins  and Rosalind Franklin were also studying DNA. They were attempting to crystallise the molecule to make an x-ray pattern of it. They hoped this would provide important clues about its structure.

Although the two institutions were effectively competing against each other, Francis Crick (University of Cambridge) and Maurice Wilkins (King’s College London) communicated regularly. Letters sent from Wilkins to Crick reveal their close personal relationship.

It was Rosalind Franklin’s famous x-ray image, nicknamed ‘Photo 51’, that finally revealed the structure of DNA in May 1952. The pattern appeared to contain ‘rungs’, like those on a ladder, set between two strands. The fuzzy “X” pattern indicated DNA’s helix shape. In early 1953, Wilkins showed Watson the image, seemingly without Franklin’s knowledge.

Osteo-chondro-myxosarcoma before and after surgical intervention

Osteogenic tumors develop bone that displaces soft tissue. Osteo- means “bone”, and -genic means “to form”. In addition to the osteogenic behavior, this patient’s tumor has caused disordered cartilage (chondro-) and mucous membrane (myxo-) growth.

The case report states that it took “many” surgeries to completely remove the tumor and partially reconstruct the jaw, but that the patient lived a further 8 years after removal, and experienced no recurrence of the tumor in that time. While his vision suffered, as the left eye was unsalvagable, and his speech was impeded by both the incomplete jaw reconstruction and the excess skin remaining on the face, he was able to hold down a steady job and communicate. He was reported to be of “average-to-high” intelligence.