How Humans Change Space Itself

Ojiya chijimi summer kimono, seen on

This type of kimono is made in Niigata prefecture (old Echigo province). Hemp kimono fabric bolt (tanmono) are laid outside to be whitened by sunlight reflecting on the snow. This process is similar to the one used for yuki-tsumugi kimono, and both are registrered as UNESCO Immaterial Heritage.

This process is depicted in Kawabata’s Yukiguni (Snow country)

The chijimi creased effect is considered very chic. Snow-made fabrics are especially appreciated for summer clothings.

“The Mouse chirpeth… The Duck quaketh… The Wolf howleth” — from the very first picture book for children, published in 1658: http://buff.ly/2l6FaBH

On this date in 1884, the first edition of what would become the Oxford English Dictionary was published under the name A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles; Founded Mainly on the Materials Collected by The Philological Society. Research for the OED had begun in 1857, when the Philological Society in London established an “Unregistered Words Committee” to find words that were either poorly defined, or absent from contemporary dictionaries. When the list of unregistered words outnumbered the amount of words found in nineteenth-century dictionaries, the group decided to write their own. The Oxford University Press agreed to publish the dictionary in 1879, and the group published the first fascicle – which covered A to Ant –in 1884 to disappointing sales. It wasn’t until 1928 that the final fascicle was published, totaling 128 fascicles in total.

In 1933, a thirteen-volume set including all fascicles and a one-volume supplement went on sale under its current name: Oxford English Dictionary – only seventy-six years in the making!

Pictured above is our well-loved copy of that historic first fascicle, which includes the preface to the dictionary and entries A through Ant. While the volume is huge and a little intimidating, it was only the beginning to what would become the most comprehensive dictionary in the English language.

Ed. James A.H. Murray. A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles; Founded Mainly on the Materials Collected by The Philological Society v. 1. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1888. 423 M96 v. 1.

Photographer Florent Tanet’s precarious (non-photoshopped) ‘equilibrium’ series

The late effects of stress: New insights into how the brain responds to trauma

Mrs. M would never forget that day. She was walking along a busy road next to the vegetable market when two goons zipped past on a bike. One man’s hand shot out and grabbed the chain around her neck. The next instant, she had stumbled to her knees, and was dragged along in the wake of the bike. Thankfully, the chain snapped, and she got away with a mildly bruised neck. Though dazed by the incident, Mrs. M was fine until a week after the incident.

Then, the nightmares began.

She would struggle and yell and fight in her sleep every night with phantom chain snatchers. Every bout left her charged with anger and often left her depressed. The episodes continued for several months until they finally stopped. How could a single stressful event have such extended consequences?

A new study by Indian scientists has gained insights into how a single instance of severe stress can lead to delayed and long-term psychological trauma. The work pinpoints key molecular and physiological processes that could be driving changes in brain architecture.

The team, led by Sumantra Chattarji from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) and the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (inStem), Bangalore, have shown that a single stressful incident can lead to increased electrical activity in a brain region known as the amygdala. This activity sets in late, occurring ten days after a single stressful episode, and is dependent on a molecule known as the N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor (NMDA-R), an ion channel protein on nerve cells known to be crucial for memory functions.

The amygdala is a small, almond-shaped groups of nerve cells that is located deep within the temporal lobe of the brain. This region of the brain is known to play key roles in emotional reactions, memory and making decisions. Changes in the amygdala are linked to the development of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a mental condition that develops in a delayed fashion after a harrowing experience.

Previously, Chattarji’s group had shown that a single instance of acute stress had no immediate effects on the amygdala of rats. But ten days later, these animals began to show increased anxiety, and delayed changes in the architecture of their brains, especially the amygdala.

“We showed that our study system is applicable to PTSD. This delayed effect after a single episode of stress was reminiscent of what happens in PTSD patients,” says Chattarji. “We know that the amygdala is hyperactive in PTSD patients. But no one knows as of now, what is going on in there,” he adds.

Investigations revealed major changes in the microscopic structure of the nerve cells in the amygdala. Stress seems to have caused the formation of new nerve connections called synapses in this region of the brain. However, until now, the physiological effects of these new connections were unknown.

In their recent study, Chattarji’s team has established that the new nerve connections in the amygdala lead to heightened electrical activity in this region of the brain.

“Most studies on stress are done on a chronic stress paradigm with repeated stress, or with a single stress episode where changes are looked at immediately afterwards – like a day after the stress,” says Farhana Yasmin, one of the Chattarji’s students. “So, our work is unique in that we show a reaction to a single instance of stress, but at a delayed time point,” she adds.

Furthermore, a well-known protein involved in memory and learning, called NMDA-R has been recognised as one of the agents that bring about these changes. Blocking the NMDA-R during the stressful period not only stopped the formation of new synapses, it also blocked the increase in electrical activity at these synapses.

“So we have for the first time, a molecular mechanism that shows what is required for the culmination of events ten days after a single stress,” says Chattarji. “In this study, we have blocked the NMDA Receptor during stress. But we would like to know if blocking the molecule after stress can also block the delayed effects of the stress. And if so, how long after the stress can we block the receptor to define a window for therapy,” he adds.

Chattarji’s group first began their investigations into how stress affects the amygdala and other regions of the brain around ten years ago. The work has required the team to employ an array of highly specialised and diverse procedures that range from observing behaviour to recording electrical signals from single brain cells and using an assortment of microscopy techniques. “To do this, we have needed to use a variety of techniques, for which we required collaborations with people who have expertise in such techniques,” says Chattarji. “And the glue for such collaborations especially in terms of training is vital. We are very grateful to the Wadhwani Foundation that supports our collaborative efforts and to the DBT and DAE for funding this work,” he adds.

Mae’s Millinery Shop

Photo: Photograph of Mae Reeves and a group of women standing on stairs, Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift from Mae Reeves and her children, Donna Limerick and William Mincey, Jr.

African American women have been wearing fancy hats for generations to church. In 1940, Mae Reeves started Mae’s Millinery Shop in 1940 in Philadelphia, PA with a $500 bank loan. The shop stayed open until 1997 and helped dress some of the most famous African American women in the country, including iconic singers Marian Anderson, Ella Fitzgerald and Lena Horne. 

Reeves was known for making all of her customers feel welcomed and special, whether they were domestic workers, professional women, or socialites from Philadelphia’s affluent suburban Main Line. Customer’s at Mae’s would sit at her dressing table or on her settee, telling stories and sharing their troubles. 

Photo: Pink mushroom hat with flowers from Mae’s Millinery Shop, Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. In our Power of Place exhibition, we recreated a portion of Reeves’ shop to showcase this African American tradition. Our shop includes its original red-neon sign, sewing machine, antique store furniture and hats. View artifacts from Mae’s Millinery Shop in our collection: s.si.edu/2oVlbFj 

Dolphins beat up octopuses before eating them, and the reason is kind of horrifying

Generally speaking, it’s best if your food doesn’t kill you. This isn’t usually a problem in the animal kingdom, as prey tends to be dead and limp by the time it hits the gullet. But not all creatures are harmless after death: consider the octopus.

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A history of note

In 2016 the Bank of England will issue their first polymer (plastic) banknotes. Here’s a brief history of the banknote, from Chinese origins to a worldwide phenomenon.

Paper currency was first used in China as early as AD 1000. It was the Chinese who first printed a value on a piece of paper and persuaded everyone that it was worth what it said it was. The whole modern banking system of paper and credit is built on this one simple act of faith. The Chinese had invented both paper and block printing, and this allowed the printing of paper money.

The Chinese writing along the top of this Ming dynasty banknote reads (from right to left): ‘Da Ming tong xing bao chao’ and translates as ‘Great Ming Circulating Treasure Note’. You can find out more about it here. 

The Ming were the first Chinese dynasty to try to totally replace coins with paper money. After seizing power from the Mongol rulers of China in 1368, the rulers of the Ming dynasty tried to reinstate bronze coins. However, there was not enough metal available for this, and paper money, made of mulberry bark, was produced from 1375. Paper money continued to be issued throughout the Ming dynasty, but inflation quickly eroded its value. The effect of inflation was so devastating that paper money was regarded with suspicion for many years and it was not until the 1850s that paper money was issued again. 

The first banknotes in Europe were issued in Sweden by the Stockholm Banco, set up in 1656 by merchant Johan Palmstruch. It produced its first notes a few years later, in 1661, as an alternative to the huge and inconvenient copper plate money which was then in circulation in Sweden. Though the designs of these early notes were simple, they were carefully printed on handmade paper. They were given official authority by impressions of several seals, including the seal of the bank, and no less than eight handwritten signatures. Johan Palmstruch’s own signature can be seen here at the top of the list, on the left of the note. The Stockholm Banco was a private business, but it had close connections with the Swedish crown and the government. It was very successful at first, but then lent too much money and issued too many notes without proper backing. Palmstruch was blamed for the difficulties and imprisoned for mismanagement. Despite the failure of his bank, he is remembered now for introducing notes which were passed freely as money, just like the banknotes that we use today.

Bills of exchange evolved with the growth of banking in Europe from the 13th century. Paper money like the banknotes we use today was not then part of everyday currency in the West, but bankers and merchants did use written records for settling payments, especially in trade. In their simplest form, bills of exchange were written instructions by one person to an agent, authorising payment to a named individual or firm at a specified future date. They were therefore a convenient way of providing credit or making payments over a distance. In this example, John Emerson in Hamburg has instructed Austin Goodwin, a merchant in Bristol, to pay £380 to Joachim Coldorph in three months’ time. If Coldorph needed money sooner, he might choose to sell the bill to a fourth party at a discounted rate. That buyer would then present the bill for payment in Bristol at the appointed date.

In the mid-19th century, individual banks in the American states issued many different banknotes. This continued during the Civil War (1861–1865), but new paper money issued by the treasuries of the United States in New York and the Confederate States in Richmond reflected the political conflict. In the North, the first public paper money issued under the Constitution of the United States was authorised in July 1861, to finance war with the Confederacy. The back of the notes were printed in green, giving rise to the nickname ‘greenbacks’ for American bills. The colour green was chosen as that colour ink best stuck to the paper. The note shown here is an example of the second issue of 1862. On the front is a portrait of Salmon P Chase, Secretary to the Treasury.

During the First World War (1914–1918) a shortage of coins encouraged towns and regions in several European countries to issue local notes worth small sums. In Germany this Notgeld (‘emergency money’) became popular as a theme for collecting, and by the 1920s these tiny notes were produced in vast numbers with collecting, rather than spending, in mind. Designs on the notes ranged from wartime propaganda to local views or scenes from folklore. This example from the town of Hameln (Hamelin), in bright primary colours, refers to the Pied Piper, the legendary rat catcher who lured the children of the town to their deaths in the 13th century. A whole sequence of notes was issued, each one illustrating a different part of the tale.

The issuing of the £5 polymer banknote, which will bear the portrait of Sir Winston Churchill, means that England joins the growing number of countries who already use polymer technology. The durability and increased security afforded by the plastic notes have made them an attractive proposition to issuing authorities throughout the world from Australia and Nigeria to Brazil and Canada. This image shows a sheet of 32 uncut polymer banknotes printed for Clydesdale Bank in Scotland in 2015.

Discover the history of money in the British Museum’s Citi Money Gallery (Room 68), supported by Citi.

Four years of failed harvests (1695, 1696, and 1698–99) resulted in severe famine and depopulation, particularly in the north of Scotland. Starvation killed 5 to 15 percent of the Scottish population, but in areas such as Aberdeenshire, death rates reached 25 percent.

Rarely has a natural disaster had such wide-ranging historical consequences as did the famine that struck Scotland in the mid-1690s. Little more than a decade later, as Scotland’s social elites despaired about their nation’s grinding poverty and profound structural weakness, the country’s Parliament finally voted away its age-old independence in favor of unification with England, previously Scotland’s bitterest and most enduring enemy.

The author of this sermon was a very colorful figure. A Scottish Presbyterian minister denounced as a rebel in 1674, he was restored next year but arrested again the following February. Later he was arrested for refusing to pray for the Prince of Wales, but again released. His matrimonial adventures were no less robust than his professional career. He was married seven times and fathered at least nine children.

David Williamson (1636- 1706). Scotland’s sin, danger, and duty: faithfully represented in a sermon preach’d at the West-Kirk, August 23d, 1696: being a solemn fast-day upon occasion of the great dearth and famine. Rare BT162.F3 W54 1720 

Check out this 1890s advertisement for cowpox vaccines sold by Lancaster County Vaccine Farms. The advertisement was published as part of the 1893 volume of Polk’s Medical and Surgical Register of the United States.