Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at 09:36PM 
From: http://harbaugh.uoregon.edu/Brain/index.htm
This is pure AWESOME. First off, it takes a lot of talent to be able to knit this...let alone be anatomically correct! There are some other nice examples on the museum's website: http://harbaugh.uoregon.edu/Brain/index.htm
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 01:55AM 
From: Bleacher Reports
Three days ago Gary Carter, a Hall of Fame catcher from the Mets, lost his battle with cancer. Back in May 2011, Gary Carter was diagnosed with a grade IV glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tumor. GBM tumors are known to be very aggressive and tend to have a very poor prognosis. Without therapy, patients with BGM tumors typically die within 3 months (Bruce et al. 2011). Treatment can prolong life, though typical survival time is still <12 months (2011). Survival rates can vary due to progression of the cancer and it's location within the brain, though late stage inoperable cases like Carter's tend to have the worst outcomes.
I planned on writing about GBM prevalence, treatment, and current research findings….but instead I'm going to write about why Gary Carter is my favorite athlete of all-time. I'm also going to share about why he will be remembered as an even better person off the field.
Thinking about these memories was a bit like trying to remember a dream right after waking up. Aspects of the memories are clear as day, while other parts seem to fall out of sequence, meld together, and start to slip away. Here is my best attempt to make sense of it all.
I learned to love the Mets from watching them on TV with my father. We used to watch the games together after dinner, and sometimes even during dinner when my mother wasn't around. When it got late, I would have to go up to my room before the game ended, which I always thought was unfair. My mom always worried I wouldn't get enough sleep for school, but all I cared about was if the Mets won. I was lucky to have a small radio that I kept by my bed. On a clear night the broadcast was pristine, though on cloudy/rainy nights I had to get the antenna *exactly* right to hear Bob Murphy call the game. My mom wasn't wild about me staying up late to watch the end of games, but somehow listening to the game while in bed was okay. I still don't fully understand the rationale behind this, though I suspect it was a compromise between my mother and father.
Listening to Bob Murphy do the play-by-play of Met games was magical. He was like watching HDTV for the first time, the game seemed to come alive and play out in my room each night. Years later I would get a blue space-aged looking TV (think the unibody iMac) that I thought would replace my radio. At first I was excited to be able to watch the game in my room, but the novelty wore off and then the game felt too far away. I realized I liked the radio better because I could listen to it with my eyes closed and feel like I was at the game.
In 1986 the Mets won the World Series, and Gary Carter a.k.a. 'The Kid' was a big part of that run. Shortly after the World Series ended, my family was given the opportunity to meet Gary Carter (and some other Met players). I think it was the Spring of '87 because I remember wearing a windbreaker, so it couldn't have been too cold out. I didn't know what to expect, but I did know my family was going to see where my favorite team played, and it was going to be awesome.
I remember thinking that the car ride to the stadium took FOREVER, but in reality it was less than an hour away. The parking lot was empty, so we were able to park right next to the stadium. This was before the age of the cellphone, so we had to flag someone down to get us in touch with the right people. Before long we went up to some office (GM or maybe the business office?) I don't know, I just remember thinking it was weird that there was an office *at* Shea Stadium. We weren't in the office more than 5 minutes when Gary Carter just came strolling through like it was nothing. I remember looking at my dad and being like, "It's Gary Carter!!" He talked with my family for a bit, signed our jerseys, and gave us a signed ball with a bunch of player's autographs on it. I remember someone saying it was used in the World Series, but who knows. Gary talked with my parents, and before I knew it, we were going on a tour of Shea Stadium....with Gary Carter. I remember thinking it was the best day of my life because here was THE KID...with MY FAMILY!
I remember walked through the bowels of Shea Stadium, it seemed like the biggest building I had ever been in (it may have been, as I was only ~7 at the time). We checked out the clubhouse and on the way met some players who were kicking around. To be honest, I can't remember any of the players, but I do remember coming out through the dugout door and stepping onto the field. I was too young to do much damage trying to hit a baseball, but I threw a ball around the infield. I remember running the bases too. We got some dirt from the infield that I put in a jar (I thought that was so cool!). The dirt is long gone, much like Shea Stadium, but it is still a great memory. The windbreaker is gone too, though the signed baseball is still with my other sports memorabilia, somewhere in the attic of my father's house.
I remember running out to right field, which seemed like a mile from home plate. We took some pictures and then headed back to the dugout and had some sunflower seeds and gum. I had a big wad of gum and sunflower seeds like Nails (minus the chewing tobacco). I remembered it mostly tasting like salt and feeling like I dropped my gum in a pile of wood chips. We eventually went back into the tunnels of Shea Stadium and back to the station wagon. We talked the entire ride home about what had just happened; I felt like Bob Murphy recapping the most recent Met's come from behind victory.
***
Fifteen years later….my dad was in West Palm for business. He was out walking the grounds of the Ibis Country Club, when he saw Gary Carter walking down one of the fairways toward him. My dad isn't the type of guy to bother someone while they are golfing, so he just waved. According to my dad, Gary took his shot and then came over to talk to him. My dad said that Gary didn't miss a beat, he asked about our family, gave my dad an update about his family, etc. Over a decade later and he said it felt like they were old friends catching up at a BBQ. They talked golf (my dad is in the business), and then they went their separate ways.
I talked to my dad later that day and he nonchalantly mentioned that he ran into someone while he was out walking the course. I figured it was a PGA player like Freddie Couples, as a lot of the Senior Tour live/play around Palm Beach. Nope...it was The Kid. It was so cool because he was so excited to tell me all about it. My dad doesn't get that excited about meeting a famous athlete (outside of Arnold Palmer...whom he met a few years back at a golf dinner), but he got excited about talking with The Kid again. Evidently Gary was a regular at the club, along with some other former Mets and retired athletes. It wasn't a surprise to hear that everyone at the club loved The Kid. He never "Big League'd" a staff member or talked about himself without being asked *cough* Dan Marino *cough*. Gary Carter used his celebrity to help others.
I haven't talked to my dad since Gary died, and I'm really hoping he doesn't bring it up. I have such fond memories of him, and thinking of him any other way just sucks. I spent quite a bit of time in the Palm Beach area (golfing & seeing friends), and Gary was one of the staples of the community. He was always doing a charity golf tournament, a dinner, a clinic, etc. There are a ton of great athletes that live/retire around Palm Beach, but Gary was one of the best people…who happened to be a great athlete too. I know as an all-time Met favorite he'll be missed, but he'll also be missed by a community that loved him for his generosity and his commitment to do things the right way.
References
Bruce, J.N. (2011, December 6). Glioblastoma Multiforme. Retrieved February 19, 2012. from http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/283252-overview.
Cancer, GBM, Research in Non-Neuropsych Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 10:48PM 
There is a really interesting article over at the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) website about new advances in autism research. The mapping of neuronal networks has been applied in the study of other disorders like ADHD, but it is now showing promise in the world of autism research. Structural abnormalities in the brain are thought to be a major contributing factor to autism. These abnormalities can impact connectivity and signaling within the brain. Science is still chasing Nature, but I still have faith in Science and the great researchers studying autism.