John Hawks comments on a new study suggesting that the reason human beings have white sclerae is to facilitate detection of what another person is looking at (press story here). Though the article is not out yet, the gist is that humans pay more attention to another person's eye movements, while other primates pay more attention to another's head movements in order to infer what the other is looking at. The pupil through which we look is only color-differentiated from the surrounding iris in people with light irises, but since the iris and pupil are concentric, if we could track the iris, we could track the pupil as well. And because our visual system is tuned to pick up on contrasts, especially between figure and background, a contrasting iris-sclera form would be ideal for tracking someone's eye direction. This in turn would have been useful in cooperative and learning situations where individuals need to focus on the same objects so that background information is shared, minimizing the need to spell out assumptions. This is similar to the Gricean Maxims in the linguistic field of pragmatics -- the more we share assumptions and follow cooperative norms, the less longwinded and lawyerly we have to be in communicating.1) Aside from detecting eye direction, a white sclera would also facilitate detecting emotional eye expressions, as the white sclera contrasts with the full range of human skin colors -- especially the darker ones, but even Irish skin isn't that white. When you narrow your eyes in suspicion or incredulity, for instance, darker shapes (the eyelids) overtake whiter shapes (the sclerae). Conversely, when you express surprise, the darker eyelids recede and open up more of the white sclerae. We look at muscular contractions in the brow area as well when detecting suspicion or surprise, of course, but color contrast between the eyelids and sclerae is also informative. The more varied and subtle an organism's emotional range becomes (i.e., more so in humans than other primates), the more crucial this information may become.
2) The study mentions that gaze-detection would be useful during mother-child learning, and John adds tool-making and tool use, but many cooperative behaviors would not be aided by gaze-detection -- namely, those where individuals are physically separated beyond the threshold at which judging another person's gaze based on eye movement becomes unreliable. I couldn't find any study quantifying this threshold, but I think at the range of about 40-50 feet, a moving head with stationary eyes would convey a stronger signal than a stationary head with moving eyes. If you recall any battle scene you've ever seen where two units were separated by such a distance, they usually communicate by jerking their heads or motioning with their hands and/or weapons, and surely combat is a cooperative and learning situation par excellence. Thus, it's really the close-range, intimate cooperative behaviors that are most facilitated by gaze-detection.3) The news release mentions that "our eyes are more horizontally elongated and disproportionately large for our body size compared to most apes." That makes sense: if you're trying to detect a figure moving across a background, or the frame closing in or opening up by say 25%, these tasks would be easier if the background were larger on an absolute level.
4) It follows from the above three points that larger, whiter eyes would be of greater use to females than males. I tried Google and PubMed for info on sexual dimorphism of eye size and came up with this, though I can't access it. Hormones affect the eye, so there may be dimorphism. Judging from experience, it seems females do have larger eyes, though the magnitude isn't as pronounced as for, say, breast size or height. Dimorphism is slow to evolve, but we're talking about something that likely happened at least before the major human races diverged and sometime after we split from chimpanzees. The primate-human comparison apparently measures the area occupied by the eyes compared to that occupied by the face or body, but that may not be the best way to measure large eyes when the purpose of those large eyes is to make it easy to track the iris' movement. What you'd measure, then, would be the area of the visible iris divided by the area of the entire visible part of the eye. I think it's by this measure that you can tell girls have larger eyes, and that "babyfaces" like Johnny Depp and Pete Doherty do as well.
5) Once eyes become whiter and larger, they could be used to gauge a mate's health since discolorations due to infection will be more apparent against a white background, which would set off a round of sexual selection for more ornamental eyes. Thus does evolution strive to create Penelope Cruz, a dual-mooned beauty if ever there was one". Source: www.gnxp.com
The pay cable channel has greenlighted 12 half-hour episodes (including the pilot) of the single-camera comedy from DreamWorks TV and Steven Spielberg. It's expected to enter production in Los Angeles in the summer.
"Tara," written by Oscar-winning "Juno" screenwriter Diablo Cody, stars Toni Collette as a wife and mother with dissociative identity disorder. John Corbett co-stars as her husband.
Story lines will examine how a dysfunctional family copes with the various identities that might appear on any given day and range in age, temperament and even gender.
Cody will continue to serve as a writer; she also will exec produce with Spielberg, Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank of DreamWorks TV and Alexa Junge. Craig Gillespie ("Lars and the Real Girl") directed the pilot.
"The combination of Diablo Coby's vision and Toni Collette's brilliance at playing her characters(cq) is irresistible," Showtime president of entertainment Robert Greenblatt said. "It's a very provocative idea, and there's a combination of humor and real drama. It's a unique show that seems to be right up our alley."
Greenblatt said he's looking at debuting the show early next year; he had originally hoped he might be able to launch it before year's end, but the writers strike and Collette's pregnancy delayed the shooting of the pilot.
Asked with what series "Tara" might be paired, Greenblatt emphasized that it's too early to say but mentioned "The Tudors," "The L Word," a second season of "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" (the series debuts June 16 after the season premiere of "Weeds") or "maybe another new show to come." Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com
"Since our founding in 1932, New Eyes has brought improved vision and hope for a better future to more than 6.5 million people.
New Eyes for the Needy is a non-profit, non-sectarian volunteer organization. Blindcntr.org focuses on all aspects of health insurance. We offer extensive guides and articles covering health insurance hoping to help our visitors get the information the need before and after buying health insurance". Watch the entire clip of Jake talking in favour of neweyesfortheneedy.org
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This is an interesting health company if you look for an affordable health insurance and maybe you need a “co-payment” option, with a specific charge that your health insurance plan may require for a specific medical service or supply. For example, your health insurance plan may require a $15 co-payment for an office visit or brand-name prescription drug, after which the insurance company will pay the remainder of the charges. Also Blindcntr.org is interesting in coinsurance options, “Coinsurance” is the term used by health insurance companies to refer to the amount that you are required to pay for a medical claim, apart from any co-payments or deductible.
Health group policies are not nearly as flexible as individual policies. Individual policies allow you to choose from a variety of deductibles. If you are not a parent, you can remove maternity coverage. Individual plans are also the easiest to renew, whereas an employer can cancel a group policy at any time. Regarding general benefits, group insurance is usually more generous. Yearly mammograms are covered and trips to the chiropractor are generally covered. Source: www.blindcntr.org
Jun. 11 - Hollywood actress Reese Witherspoon takes part in a Japanese tea ceremony, serving green tea for breast cancer survivors in Tokyo.
Wearing a traditional Japanese kimono, Witherspoon was taught the tea-making procedure in which powdered green tea, or matcha, is ceremonially prepared and served to others.
The Legally Blonde star is an Avon Global Ambassador promoting women's health and safety, a project supported by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).
"The Tea Ceremony, which is a multi-faceted traditional activity designed to capture the spirit of healing the body, mind and soul, offered an open forum to discuss breast cancer issues and needs in Japan, which is a critical topic due to a high rate of breast cancer in the country and the Asia Pacific region. At the Tea Ceremony, Ms. Witherspoon met Dr. Matsuda, Chairman of the Japan Breast Cancer Association, and three Japanese breast cancer survivors, and talked with them about the lack of breast cancer awareness and screening facilities."As Avon's Global Ambassador, I'm honored to have this opportunity to meet with such extraordinary women, and experience a highlight of Japanese culture" said Ms. Witherspooon. "While their courage is inspiring, I was saddened to hear that only about 12% of women in Japan receive regular breast cancer screening. The lack of testing equipment and breast cancer experts in Japan means that many women here do not have access to the medical technology and care that is critical to diagnose and fight this deadly disease."Source: www.prnewswire.com
"The New York City Opera commissioned Charles Wuorinen to compose an opera based on "Brokeback Mountain," the 1997 short story by Annie Proulx that became the basis for a 2005 movie that won three Academy Awards.
The opera is scheduled to premiere in spring 2013, City Opera said Sunday. It will be City Opera's second Wuorinen premiere, following "Haroun and the Sea of Stories," which was based on a Salman Rushdie novel and opened in October 2004.
"Ever since encountering Annie Proulx's extraordinary story I have wanted to make an opera on it, and it gives me great joy that Gerard Mortier and New York City Opera have given me the opportunity to do so," Wuorinen said in a statement". Source: www.msnbc.msn.com"Yep, 12-tone gay cowboys ... It's not a hoax ...
When word emerged this week that an operatic version of Brokeback Mountain is in the works, with a score by Charles Wuorinen, a lot of people in the classical music world weren't sure what to think. For a start, the news appeared in the Rush and Molloy gossip column in New York's tabloid Daily News — not a place the industry thinks to look for breaking developments. And the combination of material, medium and music seemed wildly improbable: a spare short story by Annie Proulx about inarticulate Wyoming sheepherders — which, granted, had been made into a film that was very compelling but was far from histrionic — translated into the most histrionic of art forms? With a composer who's one of America's last major unrepentant modernists?
"I think it's a marvelous idea," Wuorinen's manager, Howard Stokar, told Playbill Arts. "And so did Annie Proulx ... she liked the idea of it being an opera, and she liked the idea of Charles composing it."
There's no commission or opera house involved just yet — says Stokar, "Right now, it's really just under discussion. Who knows what's going to happen?" — but Proulx's approval means that one major hurdle that fells many worthwhile projects has been cleared. (Leonard Bernstein, for instance, is said to have worked on a treatment of Nabokov's Lolita but couldn't get rights to the story.)
The idea for a Brokeback opera was all Wuorinen's. "He wanted to work on a dramatic piece," said Stokar, "and this seemed like the perfect subject."
After Haroun and the Sea of Stories, the composer's adaptation of Salman Rushdie's novel for children which premiered at New York City Opera in 2004, Wuorinen was eager to create another stage work. "He was very impressed with the movie adaptation of the short story," said Stokar, "and he thought it would be quite marvelous as an opera. In a way, it's a good old-fashioned love story."
Would Proulx's taciturn characters fit best in a chamber opera? "It would be a big piece," Stokar said, "something for an actual opera house."
Wuorinen is certainly aware of the problems involved in translating the story for the stage. "What's impressive about the film adaptation is that it really has an excellent screenplay," Stokar pointed out. "Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana did a terrific job of turning this little work of prose" — the original "Brokeback Mountain" is barely more than 10,000 words — "into a two-hour movie. Something similar would have to be done for an opera — for example, the language in the film is not language you can use in an opera. Who that's gonna be [to write the libretto], of course, it's much too early to say." Source: www.playbillarts.com
1) Aside from detecting eye direction, a white sclera would also facilitate detecting emotional eye expressions, as the white sclera contrasts with the full range of human skin colors -- especially the darker ones, but even Irish skin isn't that white. When you narrow your eyes in suspicion or incredulity, for instance, darker shapes (the eyelids) overtake whiter shapes (the sclerae). Conversely, when you express surprise, the darker eyelids recede and open up more of the white sclerae. We look at muscular contractions in the brow area as well when detecting suspicion or surprise, of course, but color contrast between the eyelids and sclerae is also informative. The more varied and subtle an organism's emotional range becomes (i.e., more so in humans than other primates), the more crucial this information may become.
3) The news release mentions that "our eyes are more horizontally elongated and disproportionately large for our body size compared to most apes." That makes sense: if you're trying to detect a figure moving across a background, or the frame closing in or opening up by say 25%, these tasks would be easier if the background were larger on an absolute level.
