Author Archives: Jacqueline Ashby

Exploring the intersection between person and place.

Conflict

“Nearly 500 Quebec doctors have signed an open letter demanding their medical associations denounce the crisis in Gaza and call for an immediate ceasefire and access to humanitarian aid.

‘We, physicians in Quebec, are deeply concerned with the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza that worsens each day,’ reads the letter, published Thursday morning. ‘One hundred and fifty eight days of devastation, 31,272 killed and 73,024 injured, 1.5 million refugees. Remaining silent in the face of suffering of this magnitude is contrary to our role as physicians and a forsaking of our shared humanity.’

Included among the signatories are Joanne Liu, former international president of Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders and a professor at McGill University’s School of Population and Global Health, and Amir Khadir, former Québec solidaire MNA for the Mercier riding and a specialist in infectious diseases.

The petition is calling on four provincial medical associations — the Collège des médecins du Québec, the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec, the Fédération des Médecins spécialistes du Québec, and the Collège québécois des médecins de famille — to issue a statement demanding an immediate ceasefire, immediate access to drinkable water, an end to blockades preventing entry of medical supplies and the release of hostages on both sides of the conflict.

The idea for the open letter originated on Facebook, where some Quebec doctors involved in groups on the social media site voiced the distress they were feeling over the war. Last week, a few started their own Facebook page, titled ‘Quebec doctors against the genocide in Gaza,‘ that quickly drew more than 500 members.”

Read more on “Quebec doctors sign open letter demanding ceasefire in Gaza: Remaining silent in the face of suffering of this magnitude is contrary to our role as physicians” via The Gazette.

Photograph Copyright Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images

Emo

“With its hairless silicone skin and blue complexion, Emo the robot looks more like a mechanical re-creation of the Blue Man Group than a regular human. Until it smiles.

In a study published March 27 in Science Robotics, researchers detail how they trained Emo to smile in sync with humans. Emo can predict a human smile 839 milliseconds before it happens and smile back.

Right now, in most humanoid robots, there’s a noticeable delay before they can smile back at a person, often because the robots are imitating a person’s face in real time. ‘I think a lot of people actually interacting with a social robot for the first time are disappointed by how limited it is,’ says Chaona Chen, a human-robot interaction researcher at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. ‘Improving robots’ expression in real time is important.'”

This robot can tell when you’re about to smile — and smile back via Science News.

Art featured: Gustave Courbet, The Desperate Man, 1843–45. Image via Wikimedia Commons

Play

“The human brain is home to around 86 billion neurons, nerve cells connected to one another by synapses.

Every time we want to move, feel or think, a tiny electrical impulse is generated and sent incredibly quickly from one neuron to another.

Scientists have developed devices which can detect some of those signals – either using a non-invasive cap placed on the head or wires implanted into the brain itself.

The technology – known as a brain-computer interface (BCI) – is where many millions of dollars of research funding appears to be heading at the moment.”

Learn more on Neuralink: Musk’s firm says first brain-chip patient plays online chess via BBC.

Art: The Game of Chess. Sofonisba Anguissola c. 1555
National Museum in Poznań, Poznań

Happiness

“In this issue of the World Happiness Report we focus on the happiness of people at different stages of life. In the seven ages of man in Shakespeare’s As You Like It, the later stages of life are portrayed as deeply depressing. But happiness research shows a more nuanced picture, and one that is changing over time. We encourage you to explore the 2024 report for the latest findings on the happiness of the world’s young, the old – and everyone in between.”

Learn more on the World Happiness Report via Oxford University.

Connection

“So there is no shame in feeling lonely even though society often tells us that we’ve done something wrong or you know if we somehow find ourselves alone on a Friday night or if we feel lonely on the playground you know, or in the cafeteria at school. Perhaps most insidious but most harmful is the impact loneliness has on our sense of self. Over time we come to believe  when we’re lonely that we’re lonely because we’re not likable which makes it harder to take a risk and a chance in conversation. So in that way loneliness can be a downward spiral and part of the challenge and the mission to build a more connected society and a more connected life, is figuring out how do we break that downward spiral so that we can once again rebuild connection  which is what we’re naturally called to do.”
Vivek Murthy on Loneliness and the Power of Connection

Foramen

“Under the circumstances, I feel compelled to speak out. As health professionals, we are committed to humanity and must condemn and fight these crimes against humanity.” ~ Aron Troen, Director of Hebrew University’s Nutrition and Brain Health Laboratory

Israeli and Palestinian Doctors Speak Out: Medics and health workers describe how they have been affected by Hamas’ attacks on Israel and the response in Gaza via The Lancet.

On Separation

What cannot letters inspire?
They have souls;
they can speak;
they have in them all that force which expresses the transports of the heart;
they have all the fire of our passions.
They can rouse them as much as if the persons themselves were present.
They have all the tenderness and the delicacy of speech, and sometimes even a boldness of expression beyond it.

~ Heloise in a letter to Abelard