fading away
1
2
3
4
fading away
5
6
this is a book about the power of human memory, and what happens when it is gone forever.
7
8
CONTENTS
11
GOOD MORNING
12
YOUR MEMORIES
73
THAT ARTICLE YOU LIKED
82
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
9
10
Good morning, Arnold.
You’re probably wondering what this is. Well, bad news. You went to the doctor and they said you have Alzheimer’s. You are losing all your memories. So you decided to log a new memory in this book every Month until you ran out. You circled any important words you might forget for a glossary in the back of the book. Good luck.
11
12
Film rolls, August 5, 1993
You used to love photography. It was one of your favorite hobbies. These film rolls are from the trip to the Grand Canyon with Mary. You never got them developed because you realized you forgot the aperture card to store the pictures on when the trip was over. You had a good laugh about it and even though there are no pictures from the trip, these film rolls captured all the memories you needed.
Memory Recorded on November 20, 2009.
13
14
Wiffleball bat, July 4, 2000
This was the day you taught your grandsons, Michael and Johnathan, how to play wiffleball. The whole family came over for a huge back yard barbeque. The look on the twins’ faces when they hit the ball for the first time was heartwarmingly innocent. You were so sunburned the next day because you forgot to wear sunscreen. You had to put bandages on your face, and the boys kept saying that you looked like a mummy. It made them laugh, so you didn’t mind.
Memory Recorded on December 20, 2009.
15
16
Taxidermied Bird, April 1, 2002
You shot this bird on your 70th birthday with your old buddies in the Adirondacks. The had it stuffed for you as a present to commemorate the trip. With the bird, they also gave you anti-wrinkle cream and Viagra as gag gifts. You all had a good laugh. It was the last time the whole college gang all got together before you started losing people. Jimmy wrote “1992� on the plaque because his present that year was making you ten years younger.
Memory Recorded on January 20, 2010.
17
18
Flower guide, May 25, 1952
You got this book when you first started dating Mary. She told you she loved flowers, so you wanted to learn more. You borrowed this from the library, but never returned it. This helped you put together the herbarium you made for her birthday. It took you a long time to freeze-dry all those flowers. Her favorit s were the forget-me-nots.
Memory Recorded on February 20, 2010.
19
20
Brochure, July 1945
Your Uncle Roger brought this back from you after serving in Germany during World War II. At age 13, all you wanted to do was fight in a big war and get super famous. It was seventh grade, you think. Maybe high school. You hadn’t met Mary yet. She is who made you ultimately decide not to join the army.
Memory Recorded on March 20, 2010.
21
22
Wooden Horse, Summer 1977
This was a trinket you bought in Mexico on your last vacation before Elise left for college. Mary was so sad Elise was leaving and kept asking you if time-travelling was actually possible. It was right after they sent up the Voyager Golden Record. Elise thought she saw a UFO on that trip. You don’t remember why exactly you bought this horse.
Memory Recorded on April 20, 2010.
23
24
Lettered blocks, Summer 1967
Elise used to play with these. She would sit at your feet in the living room and make different words. The freezer was filled with popsicles that summer because it was so hot. You think that was the same summer. You secretly miss the tacky, avocado-colored fridge.
Memory Recorded on May 20, 2010.
25
26
27
28
29
30
Lion puppet, 1963
This was the first present you bought for Elise. She carried it with her everywhere. She used to alway do that voice for it when she introduced it to everyone. You don’t know what it’s name was right now, but you remember exactly how it smells just like Elise’s hair. Smell preservation is a powerful memory.
Memory Recorded on June 20, 2010.
31
32
Campa i g n mailers, after college
These are from your first job after college. Y o u sent campaign mailers for the mayor’s race. You were so excited to move to New York and start a life with Mary. Yo u r boss was a real good guy, with a funny accent. Maybe it was British. They always had bagels in the office. Good ones, with smoked salmon and lox. For lunch, there was an arr a y of delicious cured del i me ats. The food w a s y o ur favorite part.
Memory Recorded on July 20, 2010.
33
You wish y ou c o u ld remember what it is now. 34
Stamp collection, Childhood
You kept stamps f r o m e v erywhere your father went. Your favorite one Some of them were m i c rofor m s . You used to is the o n e fr om India. ––– t e ll everyon e y o u s h owed all about it.
Memory Recorded on August 20, 2010.
35
Christm ast i m e .
36
Snow gl o b e It has Fanueil Hall in Bost o n i n s ide. You went to Boston a few times ss a kid, but go t t h i s y e a r s later.
May be you visited Boston again with Mary w h e n you were older. You wanted to stop c o c o oning, but you like d b u t t e r flies.
Memory Recorded on September 20, 2010.
37
You r e m e m b er feeling th e s n o w seeping throu g h your boot s t h at day. Th e y wanted pictu r e s .
38
It w a s so snowy wh e r e you lived then. T h ere was just a huge storm. The bears were hibernating.
T h e b acky ar d
All y ou wanted was a McDonald’s Burger. Memory Recorded on October 20, 2010.
39
We sat on the b o a r d walk and drank tetra paks of mi l k . She k e p t humming “F o r e v er Youn g . � It was a reenactment of your youth.
40
C o ney isl a n d h o t dogs.
Memory Recorded on November 20, 2010.
41
You w e re pani c k ed so built a s h elter. Mar y canni n g vegetab l e s.
42
y ou started
Scraps fr o m your shed. You
l o ved fixin g things.
Pasteuriz a t i o n.
Do n’t
fo r get .
Memory Recorded on December 20, 2010.
43
Th e
44
boys ’
crayon s .
The y were
C ofo lorg rin etg
y o ur
grandsons.
yo wioth em made ab ut th the sperm bu ank and th e free z i n g eg g s .
Memory Recorded on January 20, 2011.
45
Rocks f rom
46
the o cean.
The sItum tage, hmer a d cot a cellar fo
r
wi ne stor age.
Memory Recorded on February 20, 2011.
47
H er favor i te boo k . Y ou t u ckedI theis r ainfacwsit h ilie. it. im But the boo k is immortal.
“An e l e phant never forgets,� she alway s said.
48
Memory Recorded on March 20, 2011.
49
Old coins, ho w old ?
Find 50
the
hol y gra il .
g wo rk? You’rDeoe osld.cloni You nwa n t Bo t ox. How ca n you be c o me Yo u want Resverat r ol.
a
v a mpire?
Memory Recorded on April 20, 2011.
51
her hai r was sof t that da y.
52
Mary sai
d,
specia l
f lw oers
Memory Recorded on May 20, 2011.
53
Phones.
Yo u c a lled eve ry one that d ay .
54
Memory Recorded on June 20, 2011.
55
56
57
58
Perpe t ual
ligh s t
Memory Recorded on July 20, 2011.
59
60
aYouncould writ all-tim bes t se e ller.
J ust c all h im..
Memory Recorded on August 20, 2011.
61
s
62
h ip
co ns erv
ti o a
n
Memory Recorded on September 20, 2011.
63
64
s
p
l
a
t
Memory Recorded on October 20, 2011.
65
66
r
Memory Recorded on November 20, 2011.
67
m h
d m y
d 68
c
m
minu t ho u r d a y m on t h y ear dec a d e centu r y mil e n n i u m
e
Memory Recorded on December 20, 2011.
69
70
71
72
parallel worlds by Stephen Willats
73
74
75
If we see a complex more dynamic world, it results in a more complex, dynamic language being employed to articulate what we want to express and vice versa. This relationship between language, perception, and ultimately belief facilitates the personal encoding of what is seen, so as to help lift and transform it from a descriptive state, into an imagined, psychological realm of a possible state. The world as it is, is lifted into, and through a ‘meta state’, is transformed into the ‘world as it could be: In all perception there resides the potential for transformation to occur, from one thing into another, for there to be two parallel realities ‘as it is’ · and ‘as it could he: the descriptive and the prescriptive. This transformation from one thing into another I consider is the fundamental creative act.
It is the ‘Descriptive World’, the world we describe ‘as is’: that is predominately the normative world, the world of rules, convention and beliefs that has been determined by the dominant institutional fabric of society. For it is this institutional fabric that has the means of verifying, legitimizing, idealizing and projecting, as well as possibly implementation penalties, to induce conformity and compliance in perception, belief and behavior. The descriptive world I see as embodying ‘determinism’, while in the ‘imagined world’ there is the possibility, not always exercised, of the freedom of creative self-organization, to go beyond what has been given, into the possibilities of what can be. Walking down any street, ‘reality’ is experienced as a time based multichannel encounter with a complexity of variables that are so vast that we are unable to coherently comprehend them all, and so they require a reduction to be made, to form an articulation of all that data into a model. Of course, this act of reduction is made according to shifting priorities that enable selective items to be singled out from the complex multichannel mosaic, and moreover it enables particular items to be related to each other, so that a ‘descriptive model’ can be formed. Items become ‘cues’ in the sense that a ‘meaning’ has been attached to them, and access to this
76
‘meaning’ is triggered by the item, and so there is an active coupling between priorities, meaning and learning in the process of reduction, which is made in time and consequently is never static. And yet in the dominant institutional society the representation of a reduced reality is emphasized as just that, static, for example as in the setting up of monuments. Though of course even here the meaning of monuments can change over time. Within institutional society cues are given a set vested meaning, where they become signs, and the social collective psychological pressure is to accept the given message. So while a role of culture is to provide us with certainty in our perception, the certainty it gives us is layered onto an en tropic base of reality in constant flux and it is this that under pins (but is psychologically separated or even denied) in all our social cognition. So when we look for a moment at an item in the street we are seeing it existing in two parallel worlds, of the descriptive with its meaning given to us by the society surrounding us, i.e. its determinism, and at the same time can become a cue that has the potential to act as a transformer that leads into the counter consciousness. Of course the transformed cue, in the imagination can become actual in that a new use or meaning becomes established as its function [ ... ]. In real time, sequences of cues are experienced and sequential acts of individual transformations likewise opens up the possibility of feed forward chains of imagined associative meaning. Different languages will give different frameworks of understanding that can be applied to the ‘cue’: and will thus generate their own relative networks of associative meaning. Not only is the ‘world’ now recognized as richly complex and dynamic, in our psychology of perception, but what has been culturally encoded for us to absorb has likewise found forms to externalize this new state of affairs. Thus the world as it is, the way we describe things encountered is subject to us using a language, the form of which is in itself is a cultural phenomena that has been externally infiltrated into the formation of our perception to create a parameter in our responses to what is seen.
77
78
79
GLOSSARY OF TERMS All-time bestseller ‘Mark Twain’s Memoirs: Is this the oldest bestseller ever?’ Publishers routinely set release dates far in advance, and keep a book’s secrets under wrap to build anticipation, but Mark Twain’s demand that his memoir be published a century after his death surely must set some kind of record. Hugely underestimating its audience, the University of California Press planned a first print run of 7,500 copies - but they’ve already printed 275,000 so far. The publisher cannot print copies fast enough, as bookstores across the country demand more copies of the 500,000-word tome in advance of the holiday season.
An elephant never forgets - or does it? Scientists have long believed that animals do not have an ‘episodic’ memory - the kind that allows humans to remember past events. Animal memory researchers first face the challenge of establishing communication between species: ‘You can’t exactly ask the animals where they were.’ The saying that elephants never forget, however, has been backed by science. It seems the old adage is particularly true in the case of matriarchs who lead the herd.
signs of ageing and help slow down the ageing process. Lastly, sunscreen -1 day protects the skin from premature ageing by UV rays and protects its from getting burned. Some anti-wrinkle products promise to make you look 15-20 years younger.
Aperture cards Comprising a punched card with a cut-out window into which a chip of microfilm is mounted. These cards are used for archiving and for making multiple, inexpensive copies of documents for easy distribution. Typical aperture cards are punched with machine-readable metadata associated with the microfilm –> 5 centuries image, the details of which are printed across the top of the card for visual identification. The microfilm chip is most commonly 35 mm in height, and contains an optically reduced image. There are libraries of these containing over 3 million cards. Aperture cards have various advantages when compared to digital systems: They have a 100 year lifetime, are human readable, and there is no expense or risk in converting from one digital format to the next when computer systems become obsolete.
Archive A study of wild African elephants has revealed that dominant females build up a social memory as they get older, enabling them to recognise ‘friendly’ faces. They then signal to the rest of the herd whether an outsider is a friend or foe, allowing family members to focus on feeding and breeding when there is no danger.
Noun: records, annals, chronicles, accounts; papers, documents, files; history. Record office, registry, repository, depository, museum, chancery. Verb: file, log, catalog, document, record, register; store, cache. Origin: Early 17th century (in the sense [place where records are kept] ): from French ‘archives’ (plural), from Latin ‘arch iva’, ‘archia’, from Greek ‘arkheia’ ‘public records’.
Anti-wrinkle cream
Containing objects such as: Stone tablet and stone paintings, Nickel tablet, Books, manuscripts and newspapers: 1 made from acid-free paper and with acid-free and non-ferrous ink, made from acidic paper (especially prints from the 19th and early 20th century).
Anti-wrinkle products are manufactured to meet the world’s demand for younger-looking skin. A typical anti-wrinkle cream contains some of the following: retinol, epidermal growth factor, AHA, peptides, coenzyme 010, antioxidants and sunscreen – 1 day. The retinol in most anti-wrinkle creams minimises pores and fine lines. Epidermal growth factors (EGF) stimulate the regeneration of skin and natural collagens to create a supple look. AHA, or alpha-hydroxy acid, is responsible for the peeling effect of creams, dissolving the adhesion between the dead skin and new. Peptides, on the other hand, have no clear effect on the skin. They are thought to help the creation of antibodies, which help with bacterial protection. Coenzyme Q10 is responsible for cellular respiration. Antioxidants are generally understood to reduce the 80
Films: On celluloid, On cellulose triacetate, On polyethylene terephthalate (PET) colour film, On black and white film, Optical storage media (burnt): CD-R, CD-R with Gold reflection layer, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD+R and DVD+RW, DVD-RAM, BD-R. Optical storage media (compressed): CD, DVD, BD, Diskette, Hard drives in use, Hard drives as archival medium, Lomega REV removable disk, USB stick.
Books
Canning
Good handling and storage are the best ways to avoid damage. Books are complicated mechanical objects and the way in which they are opened, closed and manipulated during use determines how long they last.
In theory, canned food will last indefinitely but, in practice, homecanned food should be consumed within two years. The US Department of Agriculture officially recommends you consume canned contents within one year. Canning is a method of preserving food in which it is processed and sealed in an airtight container. Canned goods (and canning supplies) sell particularly well in times of economic recession due to the tendency of financially-stressed individuals to engage in cocooning –> 1-2 months. In February 2009, the recession-laden United States saw an 11.5% rise in sales of canning-related items.
How to extend the lifespan of your book: Always open a book carefully and without forcing - the materials it is made from may have become weak over time. Some old books may not open much beyond 90°. Placing books face down on a flat surface will break the binding. The paper may be weak or damaged so turn the pages carefully to avoid tearing. Be aware that dirt and oil from your skin can damage and stain paper. Gloves are sometimes recommended for handling bindings, particularly textile bindings or those with metal clasps. However, since they reduce your sensitivity to delicate papers, it is better to use clean, dry hands for turning pages. Take care when removing and replacing books from shelves. Headbands are particularly prone to damage and can be accidentally pulled off when removing a book.
Borrowing a book (also known as temporarily owning) A copy of a library book George Washington borrowed was returned on 20 May 2010 to a New York library - over two centuries late. The former president borrowed The Law of Nations by Emer de Vattel on 5 October 1789, according to the records of the New York Society Library, and had never returned it. Staff discovered it was missing when they conducted an inventory of books in the library’s 1789-1792 ledger earlier this year. The former president’s overdue fines, it has been calculated, would theoretically amount to $300,000. After staff at Mount Vernon, Washington’s former home in Virginia, learned of the situation, they got in touch with the library offering to replace the book with another copy of the same edition. A ceremony saw Mount Vernon staff present the book to the library.
Cloning Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create exact copies of DNA fragments (molecular cloning), cells (cell cloning) and organisms. The term also refers to the production of multiple copies of a product, such as digital media or software. Take a step towards immortality! Dr. Richard Seed, a leading proponent of human cloning, believes it will help us discover how to reverse DNA back to age 20, or whatever age we want to be. If he is right, cloning is a step towards the fountain of youth.
Cocooning Cocooning is the name given to a trend that sees individuals socializing less and retreating into the home. It was first identified as a commercially significant trend that would lead to, amongst other things, stay-at-home electronic shopping. The creation of the WWW, home entertainment technology, advances in communication technology (cell phones, PDAs, and Blackberries) that allow ‘work-athome’ options, and demographic changes have made cocooning an increasingly attractive option. This is also known as e-cocooning. In the book Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk, cocooning is described as a modern social ill.
Curing Botox Botulinum toxin, also known by one of its trade names, Botox, decreases muscle movement by blocking nerve impulses. The result is muscles that can no longer contract, and so wrinkles relax and soften. Usually, it takes two to four days to see cosmetic improvement, with effects generally lasting from four to six months. Scientists have suggested that blocking the body’s ability to move causes changes in cognition and emotion. A study conducted by a University of WisconsinMadison Psychology Ph.D. Candidate, David Havas, broke new ground by linking the expression of emotion to the ability to understand language. Normally, the brain would be sending signals to the periphery to frown, and the extent of the frown would be sent back to the brain. With Botox, that loop is disrupted and the intensity of an emotion and our ability to understand it when embodied in language is impaired.
Curing is a food preservation and flavouring process, most commonly used for meat and fish, achieved by the addition of combined salt, sugar, nitrates or nitrite. Because salted meat is, essentially, nonperishable and easily stored, it was widely used as a food source on ships during the Age of Sail. When at sea for a longer period than that in which perishable fruits and vegetables could be stored, sailors developed a disease called scurvy. Scurvy results in the formation of spots on the skin, spongy gums and bleeding from the mucous membranes. There were strange sensory and psychological effects too: it disarmed the sensory inhibitors that keep taste, smell and hearing under control, and which stop us from feeling too much. The sound of a gunshot was enough to kill a man in the last stages of scurvy, whilst the smell of blossoms from the shore could cause him to cry out in agony. This oversusceptibility of the senses primarily expressed itself as a 81
tendency to cry at the slightest disappointment, and a hopeless and passionate yearning for home. Captain Cook is widely credited as having conquered scurvy with sauerkraut.
Facsimile A facsimile (from Latin ‘fac simile’, ‘made alike’) is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or any other item of historical value, which is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from other forms of reproduction by attempting to replicate the source accurately in terms of scale, colour, condition, and other material qualities. For books and manuscripts, this entails a complete copy of all pages; hence an incomplete copy is a ‘partial facsimile’. When creating facsimiles, great importance is given to the use of materials resistant to ageing, so that the value and durability of an edition are, ideally, virtually unlimited. For conservation reasons, even acknowledged researchers are no longer granted unlimited access to the original masterpieces of medieval book painting. Perfect facsimile editions, however, have made these outstanding examples of ancient art accessible to scholars, collectors and bibliophiles alike.
Forever Young (Song by Bob Dylan) ‘ (…) And may your song always be sung / May you stay forever young.’
alternative to burial, cremation or traditional taxidermy. Freeze-dry pet preservation creates a lasting memorial and, more importantly, preserves your pet in a natural state. This allows pet owners to see, touch and hold their pets and in a sense, ‘never have to let go.’ Choosing the correct freezedry company to preserve your pet will be one of the larger decisions you will make in your life. www.perpetualpet.net
Freezer Ice cream, a popular commodity in the 20th century, used to be obtainable only by travelling to its source, where the product was made fresh, and eating it on the spot. Now, it is a common food item. Ice-on-demand not only adds to the enjoyment of cold drinks, but is useful for first-aid. Cold packs can be kept frozen for picnics and in case of emergency.
Freezing Human Oocytes (Eggs) Some game-changing fertility technology promises to let your baby-bearing clock tick well past the witching hour. Egg-harvesting, freezing and storage companies cannot put an infant in your crib, but they can promise to keep your eggs safe until pregnancy becomes an option. That is 20 eggs, put aside and ready for use when the time is right. Fertility scientists recommend women freeze their eggs before the age of 35, and not past 40. There is no limit to the length of time that eggs can be stored.
Forget-me-not Myosotis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae, popularly known as Forget-me-nots. According to German legend, God had named all the plants when a tiny, unnamed one cried out, ‘Forget me not, 0 Lord!’ God replied, ‘That shall be your name.’ In 15th-century Germany, it was widely believed that wearers of the flower would not be forgotten by their lovers. A popular medieval legend tells of a knight and his lady walking alongside a river. He bent to pick a posy of flowers but, because of the weight of his armour, fell into the river. As he was drowning he threw the posy to his loved one, shouting, ‘Forget me not!’ This flower has often been worn by ladies as a sign of faithfulness and enduring love.
Freeze-drying Freeze-drying works by freezing a material, reducing the surrounding pressure and then adding enough heat to allow the frozen water in the material to sublime directly from the solid to the gas phase. Freeze-drying is used to preserve food, as well as for the conservation of water-damaged books and the preservation of a much-loved pet for eternity. Perpetual Pet know that the loss of a dearly loved pet is a very difficult experience. Through the use of new techniques in freeze dry technology, we can offer a ‘Loving and Lasting’ 82
Fridge Refrigerators allow the modern family to keep food fresh for considerably longer than was possible before. This, along with the modern supermarket, provides the majority of families (even those without a sizeable garden in which to grow vegetables and raise animals!) with a vastly more varied diet and better health resulting from improved nutrition.
Get super famous Understand that there is not just one path to fame. In fact, there are as many paths to fame as there are famous people. When you say ‘famous’ perhaps you mean that when people come to your town, they’ll see you and say, ‘I heard of you, you’re a really good dancer,’ and perhaps they won’t mean it in a bad way. Just think how great it would be to come back to your town, many years later, and to find people still talking about how great you were at a certain skill. Maybe this article will help you get to the point of small-town fame.
Herbarium In botany, a herbarium is a systematically arranged collection of preserved plant specimens. These specimens may be whole plants or plant parts, usually in dried form and mounted on a sheet. Freeze-drying—40 centuries
is also used for floral preservation. Wedding bouquet preservation has become very popular with brides who want to hold on to the flowers from their special day.
Hibernation Groundhogs go into a state of profound hibernation. By greatly reducing their metabolic rate, their body temperature drops to only 4°C. Before entering hibernation, they must eat a large amount of food, storing energy in sufficient fat deposits to survive the winter. Groundhogs binge and purposefully put on weight in the summer, reaching their maximum mass in late August. They become lethargic and prepare for hibernation in October. By February, hibernating groundhogs have lost as much as half their body weight. For some species, hibernation may last several days, for others, weeks, also taking into account ambient temperature, time of year, and the quality of the fur on the animal’s body.
reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced about 25 times from the original document size. Advantages of microform: It enables libraries to greatly expand access to collections without putting rare, fragile, or valuable items at risk of theft or damage. Highly compact, it requires up to 95% less storage space. A stable archival form: when properly processed and stored, microfilm has a life expectancy of 500 years. In tropical climates, however, and high humidity, fungus eats the gelatin used to bind the silver halide. Analog (an actual image of the data), it is easy to handle and view. With low intrinsic value, it does not attract thieves. Few heavily used microform collections have suffered any losses due to theft. Disadvantages of microform: Reading microfilms on a machine for prolonged periods may cause headache and/or eyestrain.
Holy Grail
Mummy
The Holy Grail is a sacred object figuring in literature and certain Christian traditions. Most often identified with the dish, plate or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper, it is said to possess miraculous powers. Some versions of the story refer to the Grail as a stone, which provides its keeper with eternal life:
Mummies of humans and animals have been found throughout the world. These have been preserved, deliberately or otherwise, by a variety of processes, including freezing (Otzi the Iceman, the Ice Maiden), submersion in acid (Tollund Man), ‘salting’ (Salt Man), and >40 centuries dessication (Tarim mummies). There are more than 1000 mummies in dry Xinjiang China, and over one million animal mummies have been found in Egypt, many of which are cats. Presently, the oldest discovered naturally mummified human corpse was a decapitated head found in 1936 and dated at 6000 years old. The most famous Egyptian mummies are those of Seti I and Rameses II, both from the 13th century BC, although the earliest known Egyptian mummy, nicknamed ‘Ginger’ for its hair colour, dates back to approximately 3300 BC. Preparing a body for the afterlife in ancient Egypt was a very long and complicated process. The Egyptians believed that the preservation of the body in death was fundamental to the continued existence of the soul.
‘There never was a human so ill but that, if he one day sees that stone, he cannot die within the week that follows. And in looks he will not fade. His appearance will stay the same, be it maid or man, as on the day he saw the stone, the same as when the best years of his life began, and though he should see the stone for two hundred years, it will never change, save that his hair might perhaps turn grey. Such power does the stone give a man that flesh and bones are at once made young again. The stone is also called the Grail.’ – Le Conte du Graal, written around 1188.
Immortality Alex Chiu (born 1971), developer of a ‘Magnetic Immortality Device.’ He purports that his magnetic rings, if worn correctly every night, will allow anyone to live forever.
Immortal Books A manual on how to write immortal books: Woodrow Wilson’s How Books Become Immortal, 1891
Pasteurization Pasteurization is the process of heating food, usually in liquid form, to a specific temperature for a definite length of time, and then cooling it immediately. This slows microbial growth. The process was named after its creator, French chemist and microbiologist, Louis Pasteur. Pasteurization is typically associated with milk; this application was first proposed in 1886. Ordinary pasteurized milk needs constant refrigeration and should, unopened, have a shelf life of 10-16 days.
McDonald’s Burger Myth would have it that a McDonald’s hamburger can resist decomposition for 12 years.
Microform Microforms are any form, whether film or paper, that contains microreproductions of documents for transmission, storage,
Perpetual Everlasting, never-ending, eternal, permanent, unending, endless, without end, lasting, long-lasting, constant, abiding, enduring, perennial, timeless, ageless, deathless, undying, immortal; unfailing, unchanging, never-changing, changeless, unfading; rare sempiternal, perdurable, constant, permanent, uninterrupted, continuous, unremitting, unceasing, persistent, 83
unbroken, interminable, incessant, ceaseless, endless, without respite, relentless, unrelenting, persistent, continual, continuous, non-stop, never-ending, recurrent, repeated, unremitting, sustained, chronic, around / round-the- clock ...
This, along with the fact that Vasa had been newly built when she sank, contributed to her successful conservation.
Smell preservation Photography Nicephore Niepce made the first permanent photograph from nature with a camera obscura in 1826. Photography seemed able to capture more detail and information than traditional mediums, such as painting and sculpting. A reputation for authenticity means photography is often used as a medium of documentation. Taking pictures for private use is popular, to fill the family album and make memories last longer. If the image is printed using traditional photographic technology, it will show noticeable fading or discolouration after fifty to one hundred years - longer if it’s stored in the dark. When properly stored, dyebased inkjet and dye diffusion thermal transfer prints have a level of stability comparable to that of traditional photographic prints.
Reenactment Historical reenactment is a recreational and educational activity in which participants attempt to recreate aspects of a historical event or period. The focus could be as narrow as a specific moment from a battle, such as the reenactment of Pickett’s Charge at the Great Reunion of 1913, or considerably broader, as is the case with Regency reenactment. Historical reenactment is primarily based on research, although there are varying degrees of attention to authenticity. Activities related to ‘reenactment’ have a long history, which goes back to the ancient world.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, originally published in German as Das Parfum, is a 1985 story by Patrick Suskind. The novel explores the sense of smell and its relationship with the emotional meaning that scents can carry. Above all, this is a story of identity, communication and the morality, or otherwise, of the human spirit. The story focuses on a perfume apprentice in 18th-century France who, born without any body odour, begins to stalk and murder virgins in a search for the ‘perfect scent’. He dedicates his life to its preservation, wrapping dead bodies in wax-coated linen sheets to extract and preserve the scent of them.
Smoking Smoking is the process of flavouring, cooking or preserving food by exposing it to the smoke from burning or smouldering plant materials (most often wood). Meat and fish are the most commonly smoked foods, though cheese, vegetables and ingredients used to make beverages, such as whisky and Lapsang Souchong tea, are also smoked. Smoke alone is insufficient for the long-term preservation of food: it gives only the vulnerable exterior surfaces an extra layer of protection, failing to penetrate far into meat or fish. In the past, when smoking was a useful preservation tool, it was used in combination with other techniques, such as salt-curing or drying. Today, smoking is carried out almost exclusively for its flavour. Artificial smoke flavouring can be purchased in liquid form to add a chargrilled edge to food, but does not have any preservative qualities. Traditionally smoked meats can be stored in a cool, dry place for up to a year.
Resveratrol In 2003, two separate research studies reported in the journal Nature that resveratrol significantly extends the lifespan of test subjects. In 2006, Italian scientists were able to increase the lifespan of a vertebrate, Nothobranchius furzeri (Turquoise killfish), by 56%.
Ship conservation Ship conservation is a time-consuming and costly undertaking. Vasa, a Swedish warship which sank after sailing less than a nautical mile (ca. 2 km) into her maiden voyage on 10 August 1628, was salvaged in 1961. Although Vasa was in surprisingly good condition after 333 years at the bottom of the sea, it would have quickly deteriorated if the hull had dried out. The large bulk of Vasa (over 900 cubic metres of oak timber) constituted, therefore, an unprecedented conservation problem. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) eventually prove the answer, and Vasa was sprayed with it for 17 years, followed by 9 years of slow drying. Unlikely as it seems, credit for the good condition in which Vasa emerged from the water goes to the heavy pollution of the Stockholm strom. A highly toxic and hostile environment meant the tough microorganisms that break down wood had difficulty surviving. 84
Sperm bank Sperm is stored in small vials or straws that hold between 0.4 and 1.0 ml, and cryogenically preserved in liquid nitrogen tanks. Whilst it’s been proposed that there should be an upper limit on how long frozen sperm can be stored, a baby has been conceived in the UK using sperm frozen for 21 years. One of the most controversial sperm banks, known as ‘The Repository for Germinal Choice’, was set up by American millionaire Robert Klark Graham in an underground bunker on his ranch near San Diego in the late 1970s. His dream was to save humanity by using the sperm of brilliant minds. He changed the face of modern sperm banking, not just with the innovation of the donor catalogue but, also, by allowing clients to actively choose donors.
Sunscreen Contrary to common advice that sunscreen should be reapplied every 2-3 hours, research has shown that the best protection is achieved by application 15-30 minutes before sun exposure, followed by one reapplication 15-30 minutes after exposure begins. Further reapplication is only necessary after
activities such as swimming, sweating or rubbing/wiping. With the rise of pale-faced vampires like Robert Pattinson, the age of the sun bed is definitely over. No one wants to look like they had time to lie in the sun for weeks. Our health will benefit: the less the body is exposed to sunlight, the slower skin ages and wrinkles >2 decades, and age spots can be prevented.
Vampire Get bitten by a vampire!
Viagra ‘This is the age of taking action. And getting the answers you want. So you can get on your way.’ www.viagra.com
Taxidermy From the Greek for ‘arrangement of skin’. Taxidermy is the art of preparing, stuffing, and mounting the skins of animals to lifelike effect. Only the outer hide of the animal typically remains, attached to a plastic form or some other type of artificial mounting. Europe’s oldest stuffed animal is Albrecht von Wallenstein’s favourite horse, which died during the battle of Lutzen in 1632.
Tetra Pak In 1943, Erik Wallenber, Harry Jarund and Erik Torudd had an idea for a completely new form of milk packaging. They developed a novel tetrahedron format, together with a new way of coating paper with plastics and a special sealing technique, all designed to safely contain liquids. Tetra Pak was founded in 1951. The name derives from the original tetrahedron shape that resulted from its manufacturing technique: a cardboard tube, already containing the product, is twisted, branched off by 90 degrees, welded shut and cut off. Today, Tetra Pak is the world’s leading food processing and packaging solutions company. By combining its standard aseptic processes with ultra-high-temperature processing (UHT), it is able to package liquid food that can be stored under room temperature conditions for up to a year. Because Tetra Pak Iprotects what is good it is no longer necessary to eat your breakfast in the dark in order to prevent the destruction of precious vitamins by dangerous daylight.
Time travelling Black holes are the product of the collapse of a massive star - one that has such extreme gravitational force that it keeps light particles from leaving its surface, making it practically invisible. The gravitational pull of a black hole stretches and warps space-time around it to an incredibly deep, conshaped hole. It spins at a rate close to the speed of light, and when is rotating a singularity forms in the shape of a ring. In principle, it would be possible to dive into such a space and, through the ring, to emerge in another place and time. Two of the most respected scientific minds, American theoretical physicist Michio Kaku and England’s leading physicist, Stephen Hawkins, suggest that time travelling could, on this basis, become part of science reality and not just a sci-fi cliche.
Voyager Golden Record The Voyager Golden Record is a data plaque containing visual and audio information sent to outer space by NASA onboard space probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. These 30 cm gold-plated copper disks were sent to space in 1977, and are still travelling there today. The idea behind the records came from American astronomer Carl Sagan who, with a team commissioned by NASA, carefully selected visual and audio material designed to explain the human race and life on Earth to extraterrestrials. The contents of the record include 116 images and a variety of natural sounds, such as those made by surf, wind, and thunder; the songs of birds and whales. To this, they added music from different cultures and eras, spoken greetings in fifty-five languages, and printed messages from President Jimmy Carter and U.N. Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim. ‘Here is our message: We are trying to survive our time so we may live into yours. We hope some day, having solved the problems we face, to join a community of Galactic Civilizations. This record represents our hope and our determination and our goodwill in a vast and awesome universe.’ –Jimmy Carter.
Wine storage Wine has been around for thousands of years. From ancient Romans to modern Americans, this lavish drink is enjoyed worldwide. Nowadays, most of us simply buy our wine from the local grocery store. We don’t know, or care, how to store it to properly to ensure it lasts as long as possible. Here are some tips: Keep it in the dark. Store corked wine bottles on their sides. Keep the temperature constant. For extended ageing of wine (over one year), refrigeration is a must in most parts of the world; even a below-ground cellar is not cool enough. The wine storage temperature should not go over 24°C, and should never fluctuate more than 1.6°C a day and 2.7°C a year. Don’t move the wine. Keep humidity at around 70%. Store for an appropriate amount of time; not all wines will improve over the years. Red wines can be stored and aged for anywhere between 2-10 years to become fully mature, although this depends on their balance of sugar, acid and tannins. Most white wines should be consumed after 2-3 years of storage, though certain White Burgundies (Chardonnays) can be aged for over 20 years.
85
86
“ we forget all too soon the things we thought we could never forget.” – Joan Didion
87
88
Th is book was created by Sarah Gorman in the Fall of 2011 during her time as a student at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Design. It was made under the instruction of Kristin Hughes for the course, Advanced Typography: Communication Design III. It was printed with a Canon 9000 II on French Paper. Images and text were provided by Kristin Hughes. Additional images are courtesy of Rutger’s University and Oxford Neurology Labratory. Additional text was written by Sarah Gorman, Stephen Willats, Meredith Wilson, and Joan Didion.
89
90
91
92