Touch, Our Most Complex Sense, Is a Landscape of Cellular Sensors

“David Ginty is the emperor of touch,” said Alexander Chesler, a sensory neuroscientist at the National Institutes of Health.

“You look at his publication list and you go, ‘Oh my God,’” said David Hughes, a neuroanatomist at the University of Glasgow. “He’s so massively productive, and all his papers are published in the very highest-impact journals.”

Beyond the technical breakthroughs and the discoveries fit for biology textbooks, it’s the images that stick in his colleagues’ minds. They’re otherworldly, like deep-sea creatures — not at all what you might imagine neurons could look like. These strangely shaped cells are the reason why the experience of touch is so rich and multifaceted — why a buzzing cell phone feels different from a warm breeze or a lover’s caress, from raindrops or a mother’s kiss. To realize that your body is covered in them — that they are a part of you — takes your breath away.

“Each one of these neurons tells a story,” Ginty said. “Each one has a structure that is unique and responds to different things. It’s all about form underlying function. That’s where the beauty is.”

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Of all the senses, the somatosensory system is the most complex, and therefore touch, some researchers argue, is the most difficult to study. Vision and hearing, for instance, are confined to the retina and the cochlea — parts the size of a postage stamp and a pea, respectively. Touch, however, is diffuse: The neurons that relay touch signals reside in clusters outside the spinal cord, from which they extend a vast web of axon fibers, like jellyfish tentacles, into the skin and internal organs. Each axon forms an ending just beneath the skin’s surface; the different types of endings are mechanisms for picking up and interpreting the variety of touch sensations.

While our eyes and ears each process information related to light or sound, touch concerns a smorgasbord of stimuli, including pokes, pulls, puffs, caresses and vibrations, as well as a range of temperatures and chemicals, such as capsaicin in chili peppers or menthol in mint. From these inputs arise perceptions of pressure, pain, itchiness, softness and hardness, warmth and cold, and the awareness of the body in space.

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Ginty will keep counting them. Today he’s asking the same fundamental questions he set out to answer more than a decade ago: Where do the various touch neurons go, what are their end structures, and how do they capture the richness of the physical realm? “We’ve gotten a pretty good handle on who’s who in the skin and what their response properties are,” Ginty said. But what about the heart, lungs, larynx, esophagus, stomach, intestines and kidneys? What are the neurons that make muscles ache and fatigue, or trigger migraines, or cause milk to flow in a mother’s breast when her baby suckles?

Ginty also wants to know how all these neurons connect to the brain to generate perceptions. How does pressure and vibration across millions of nerve endings become a hug? How do we feel wetness, slipperiness or elasticity? “Think about squeezing a balloon,” he said. “Presumably no one sensory neuron type is going to encode squeeziness.”

His work has transformed our understanding not only of individual touch sensors, but also of their connectivity. Until recently, the canonical view was that touch signals, like a telephone conversation, travel along fixed lines all the way to the somatosensory cortex, the part of the outer brain associated with sense information. “So any higher-order feature of the tactile world was seen as an emergent property of the cortex,” Ginty said. But his research and that of others has caused a paradigm shift. It’s now clear that a great deal of information carried by touch neurons converges in the spinal cord and brainstem before reaching the cognitive parts of the brain, suggesting that the touch signals are processed earlier in the neurobiological pathway than once believed.

If you ask Ginty what all this knowledge is good for, he’ll list the predictable applications: better pain drugs, improved treatments for sensory processing disorders  such as autism, more lifelike prosthetics. But what really motivates him is something less tangible: awe. His work, he’ll tell you, has given him a deeper appreciation of this sense we so often take for granted — how nuanced and multidimensional it is, and how much it can still surprise him.

Not long ago, he said, he attended a performance of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. “I put my fingers on the chair, and I closed my eyes and just felt the music.”

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Wisdom, Oldest Albatross

The world's oldest known wild bird, a Laysan albatross that is at least 68 years old, has laid another egg.

Wisdom, who returns each year to Midway Atoll to nest, was seen back at her favorite nest site in late November, and biologists at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge have confirmed she's brooding.

The remarkable albatross is believed to have laid nearly 40 eggs over the course of her life, although it's impossible to know the precise number.

She has single-wingedly transformed scientists' understanding of albatross lifespans and the age limits on avian reproduction. The bird is "a world renowned symbol of hope for all species that depend upon the health of the ocean to survive," according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Wisdom is not just continuing to procreate — she's doing it at an impressive clip, too. Many albatrosses take a year off between eggs because the process of laying and incubating an egg is so energy-intensive.

America's 'Oldest' Wild Bird Survived Tsunami That Hit Midway Atoll

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Wisdom was first banded by biologist Chandler Robbins in 1956, along with thousands of other albatrosses. At the time, she was already mature, or older than 5 years old. That means we know Wisdom is at least 68 — but she could easily be even older than that.

Wisdom carried Robbins' band around the globe for decades. Then, astonishingly, the biologist and the bird were reunited in 2002, when Robbins returned to Midway to research albatrosses again. He rebanded Wisdom and, checking the detailed band records, discovered he had placed her original band there 46 years before.

In 2006, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff located Wisdom again and gave her yet another band, this one designed to make her easier to spot for monitoring. Since then, the FWS has kept a close eye on Wisdom.

In 2011, Wisdom survived a tsunami that crashed into Midway Atoll and killed thousands of birds. In 2015, Wisdom and Akeakamai lost an egg, possibly due to predators, but the couple successfully hatched chicks again in 2016, 2017 and February of this year.

Albatrosses lay just one egg at a time. Eggs take two months to hatch, and the chicks live at the nest for five months before they are ready to live on their own. During that time, mother and father alternate between nest duty and food foraging.

Akeakamai, by the way, means "lover of wisdom." And albatrosses mate for life, though it appears that Wisdom outlived at least one partner before Akeakamai.

- This is from 2018 and now in 2025 she is still alive :-) 

Principles of Adult Behaviour

Be patient.  No matter what.

Don't badmouth:

• Assign responsibility, never blame.
• Say nothing behind another's back you'd be unwilling to say, in exactly the same tone and language, to his face.

Never assume the motives of others are, to them, less noble than yours are to you.

Expand your sense of the possible.

Don't trouble yourself with matters you truly cannot change.

Expect no more of anyone than you yourself can deliver.

Tolerate ambiguity.

Laugh at yourself frequently.

Concern yourself with what is right rather than whom is right.

Never forget that, no matter how certain, you might be wrong.

Give up blood sports.

Remember that your life belongs to others as well.  Do not endanger it frivolously.  And never endanger the life of another.

Never lie to anyone for any reason.

Learn the needs of those around you and respect them.

Avoid the pursuit of happiness. Seek to define your mission and pursue that.

Reduce your use of the first personal pronoun.

Praise at least as often as you disparage.

Never let your errors pass without admission.

Become less suspicious of joy.

Understand humility.

Forgive.

Foster dignity.

Live memorably.

Love yourself.

Endure

 

- Perry Barlow (via Tim Ferris 5-bullet Friday)

Words of Wisdom!

The true measure of success is a calm nervous system.

- via here

How To Grow Old

Make your interests gradually wider and more impersonal, until bit by bit the walls of the ego recede, and your life becomes increasingly merged in the universal life. An individual human existence should be like a river — small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing passionately past rocks and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly, and in the end, without any visible break, they become merged in the sea, and painlessly lose their individual being.

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The man who, in old age, can see his life in this way, will not suffer from the fear of death, since the things he cares for will continue. And if, with the decay of vitality, weariness increases, the thought of rest will not be unwelcome. I should wish to die while still at work, knowing that others will carry on what I can no longer do and content in the thought that what was possible has been done.

- Bertrand Russel (via here)

25 Years, 10 Lessons: Insights From Faunalytics’ Founder Che Green

Binary Thinking Hurts Everyone

A major lesson for advocates of all types is that binary thinking isn’t just outdated, it’s also a barrier to more effective advocacy. A mindset of animals versus humans is arguably what got us into this whole animal exploitation mess to begin with; it also ignores the fact that, to help animals, we need to work with other humans. The same is true for pitting vegans against non-vegans or ‘abolitionists’ against ‘welfarists.’ If you want to be effective in persuading others — whether it’s getting non-vegans to become vegan or other advocates to change their tactics — othering them is a non-starter. We can stand by our principles and perspectives while meeting people wherever they are on their own path.

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The Long And Winding Road

Let’s face it: animal liberation isn’t just around the corner. Eliminating the largest cause of (anthropogenic) suffering in history is a long-term, multi-generational struggle. So celebrate the short-term victories and commiserate with each other over losses, but don’t let them distract you from a long-term perspective. We need a movement-wide theory of change to coordinate the many voices of advocates and set global strategies for decades or even centuries, not just years. That includes building a respected and resilient talent pool and treating employees and volunteers well. It also means focusing on self-care and sustainable advocacy, for ourselves and for those who work alongside us in the long-term fight for animals.

My Recipe For Optimism

If you were hoping for total animal liberation in your lifetime, I’m sorry to burst your bubble. But after more than 25 years in this movement, I’m actually quite optimistic. Many things have already changed for the better (I still remember vegan burgers made at home from powdered mixes). And while the globalization of factory farming means things will likely get worse for animals in the near term, we also know that meaningful change can happen in surges. But I’m probably most optimistic because of the incredible and tireless dedication of the people in our movement. Individuals may fade in or out, but as a group we are stronger today than we have ever been. 

Bonus Lesson For Leaders: Succession

As an animal advocate, the thing I’m most proud of might actually be when I resigned from the Executive Director role at Faunalytics in 2019. Instead of two weeks, I had given the board five years’ notice. I was aware of Founder’s Syndrome and wanted Faunalytics to both thrive and, eventually, outlive its founder. We planned the transition for years, hired an Operations Manager to shadow me for a year, and eventually named her the organization’s new ED. Since then, Faunalytics has continued to flourish beyond what I could have imagined. The lesson: organizations matter more than individuals and egos, so think about succession sooner than later.

- More Here

FDA Announces Plan to Phase Out Animal Testing Requirement for Monoclonal Antibodies and Other Drugs

What a day! April 14th 2025, Tamil New Year 7 & I woke up to read this press release from FDA ;-) 

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is taking a groundbreaking step to advance public health by replacing animal testing in the development of monoclonal antibody therapies and other drugs with more effective, human-relevant methods. The new approach is designed to improve drug safety and accelerate the evaluation process, while reducing animal experimentation, lowering research and development (R&D) costs, and ultimately, drug prices.

The FDA’s animal testing requirement will be reduced, refined, or potentially replaced using a range of approaches, including AI-based computational models of toxicity and cell lines and organoid toxicity testing in a laboratory setting (so-called New Approach Methodologies or NAMs data). Implementation of the regimen will begin immediately for investigational new drug (IND) applications, where inclusion of NAMs data is encouraged, and is outlined in a roadmap also being released today. To make determinations of efficacy, the agency will also begin use pre-existing, real-world safety data from other countries, with comparable regulatory standards, where the drug has already been studied in humans.

“For too long, drug manufacturers have performed additional animal testing of drugs that have data in broad human use internationally. This initiative marks a paradigm shift in drug evaluation and holds promise to accelerate cures and meaningful treatments for Americans while reducing animal use,” said FDA Commissioner Martin A. Makary, M.D., M.P.H. “By leveraging AI-based computational modeling, human organ model-based lab testing, and real-world human data, we can get safer treatments to patients faster and more reliably, while also reducing R&D costs and drug prices. It is a win-win for public health and ethics.”

Key Benefits of Replacing Animal Testing in Monoclonal Antibody Safety Evaluation:

• Advanced Computer Simulations: The roadmap encourages developers to leverage computer modeling and artificial intelligence to predict a drug’s behavior. For example, software models could simulate how a monoclonal antibody distributes through the human body and reliably predict side effects based on this distribution as well as the drug’s molecular composition. We believe this will drastically reduce the need for animal trials.
• Human-Based Lab Models: The FDA will promote the use of lab-grown human “organoids” and organ-on-a-chip systems that mimic human organs – such as liver, heart, and immune organs – to test drug safety. These experiments can reveal toxic effects that could easily go undetected in animals, providing a more direct window into human responses.
• Regulatory Incentives: The agency will work to update its guidelines to allow consideration of data from these new methods. Companies that submit strong safety data from non-animal tests may receive streamlined review, as the need for certain animal studies is eliminated, which would incentivize investment in modernized testing platforms.
• Faster Drug Development: The use of these modern techniques should help speed up the drug development process, enabling monoclonal antibody therapies to reach patients more quickly without compromising safety.

Global Leadership in Regulatory Science: With this move, the FDA reaffirms its role as a global leader in modern regulatory science, setting new standards for the industry and encouraging the adoption of innovative, humane testing methods. In recent years, Congress and the scientific community have pressed for more human-relevant testing methods. Today’s announcement is a step by the FDA towards its commitment to modernize regulatory science as technology advances.

Working in close partnership with federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the National Toxicology Program and the Department of Veterans Affairs, the FDA aims to accelerate the validation and adoption of these innovative methods through the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM). The FDA and federal partners will host a public workshop later this year to discuss the roadmap and gather stakeholder input on its implementation. Over the coming year, the FDA aims to launch a pilot program allowing select monoclonal antibody developers to use a primarily non-animal-based testing strategy, under close FDA consultation. Findings from an accompanying pilot study will inform broader policy changes and guidance updates expected to roll out in phases.

Commissioner Makary noted the far-reaching significance of this proposal. “For patients, it means a more efficient pipeline for novel treatments. It also means an added margin of safety, since human-based test systems may better predict real-world outcomes. For animal welfare, it represents a major step toward ending the use of laboratory animals in drug testing. Thousands of animals, including dogs and primates, could eventually be spared each year as these new methods take root.”

Living an Audaciously Mundane Life

Max taught me this and boy! what a gift mundane life is. Thank my love. 

Jason McBride has a beautiful piece on this topic: 

When the game is rigged, the only way to win is not to play.

If you want to live a life of contentment and happiness, you need to be brave enough to fully enjoy a mundane existence.

You have to live an audaciously mundane life.

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My grandparents left little in the way of an inheritance when they passed. They were never rich, but they were some of the happiest people I’ve ever met because they knew how to be happy with enough. They knew how to find the small joys in life.

They were extraordinarily ordinary.

None of them ever ran a marathon or took a trip around the world. My dad’s mom kept a beautiful flower garden, and my mom’s mother raised a variety of vegetables in her backyard.

My grandpas would take me for long drives around the Idaho countryside on hot summer afternoons, telling me stories about their lives and showing me where our people used to live.

When my grandparents weren’t entertaining grandchildren or on road trips staying with relatives, they played cards or dominoes with their neighbors and friends from church.

There were no cruises or sports cars.

For most of human existence, that was how we all lived. We worked, played, and then we died. Life used to be simple.

The truth is, it still can be. If you are willing to lower your expectations and open your eyes, you can lead a wonderful life just being ordinary. Instead of longing for a life you’ve seen on Instagram, you can go outside and watch the sunset where you live for free every night.

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From the outside, my life looks dull. I spend most of my day working on maintaining our home, raising children, and writing to pay the bills.

But in our home, there is always laughter. We have enough food to eat and live in one of the most beautiful places on the planet. Every day, I cook and clean — and every day I see something wonderful.

I may not ever be able to retire or visit all of the places in the world I long to see, but every day I draw breath, I can find contentment in my life and wonder in a world that is always changing, even as it rotates through the same four seasons each year.

It takes a certain kind of audacious courage to love living a mundane life. But if you’re brave enough to give up a life of endless striving and chasing hits of outrage, you can find peace and happiness in the ordinary.

 

This Tree Wants to Be Struck by Lightning !

When lightning strikes a tree in the tropics, the whole forest explodes.

“At their most extreme, it kind of looks like a bomb went off,” said Evan Gora, a forest ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, N.Y. Dozens of trees around the one that was struck are electrocuted. Within months, a sizable circle of forest can wither away.

Somehow, a single survivor stands, seemingly healthier than ever. A new study by Dr. Gora, published last week in the journal New Phytologist, reveals that some of the biggest trees in a rainforest don’t just survive lightning strikes. They thrive.

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From 2014 to 2019, the system captured 94 lightning strikes on trees. Dr. Gora and his team visited sites to see which species had been struck. They were looking for dead trees as well as “flashover points,” where leaves are singed as lightning jumps between trees. From there, the canopy dies back, and the tree eventually dies.

Eighty-five species had been struck and seven survived, but one stood out literally and figuratively: Dipteryx oleifera, a towering species that had been struck nine times, including one tree that had been hit twice and seemed more vigorous. D. oleifera stands about 30 percent taller than the rest of the trees and has a crown about 50 percent larger than others, almost as if it is an arboreal lightning rod.

“It seems to have an architecture that is potentially selecting to be struck more often,” Dr. Gora said.

All the struck D. oleifera trees survived lightning strikes, but 64 percent of other species died within two years. Trees surrounding D. oleifera were 48 percent more likely to die after a lightning strike than those around other species. In one notable die-off, a single strike killed 57 trees around D. oleifera “while the central tree is just happy and healthy,” Dr. Gora said. Lightning also blasted parasitic vines off D. oleifera trees.

The clearing of neighboring trees and choking vines meant struck D. oleifera trees had less competition for light, making it easier to grow and produce more seeds. Computer models estimated that getting struck multiple times could extend the life of a D. oleifera tree by almost 300 years.

Before the study, “it seemed impossible that lightning could be a good thing for the trees,” Dr. Gora said. But the evidence suggests that D. oleifera benefits from each jolt.

“Trees are in constant competition with each other, and you just need an edge relative to whatever is surrounding you,” said Gabriel Arellano, a forest ecologist at the University of Michigan who was not involved in the study.

The physical mechanisms that help trees survive intense lightning strikes remain unknown. Different trees could be more conductive or have architectures that escape damage, Dr. Gora suggested.

- More Here