Puzzle Description:

Dinner Bell.

#1: Teresa K (fasstar) on Sep 6, 2009 [SPOILER]

From TIME Magazine Nov. 26, 1923:

Science: The Dinner Bell

Another brick in the pile of evidence that is gradually being built up by Kammerer, Guyer and others in favor of the theory of "inheritance of acquired characteristics" (TIME, May 12) has been laid by Professor Ivan P. Pavloff, great Russian physiologist, who visited America last Summer (TIME, July 23). In an address given at the Battle Creek Sanitarium and published in Science last week, he described his latest researches on "conditioned reflexes " in animals.

Dr. Pavloff's newest experiments, not yet completed, are on white mice. The rodents were trained to run to their feeding place at the sound of an electric bell. It took 300 repetitions of the feeding-ringing combination to make the mice run at the sound of the bell. The same thing was tried on the offspring of the original mice, and they learned the connection after only 100 repetitions. The third generation absorbed the theory after 30 lessons, the fourth required 10 repetitions and the fifth but five. The sixth generation will be tested after Dr. Pavloff's return, but he thinks it very probable that after a time a generation of mice will be bred that will run to the feeding place on hearing the tinkle of the bell, with no previous lesson.

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Frankly, I would have been surprized if the image had NOT been a dinner bell...and it is a very beautiful one, indeed! However, I did not expect a reference to Pavlov, but how appropriate! My mouth is watering already...time for lunch!

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Robin, shortly after Pavlov's death, his theory of acquired characteristics was supposedly disproved. Recently the study of epigenetics has shown that feast or famine in one generation can alter how genes are expressed in subsequent generations. The PBS show NOVA ran a documentary last year on the new discovery that was quite fascinating. I just viewed the video shown by a fellow presenter at a genetics conference recently, and it was one of the best scientific documentaries I have ever seen. This video should be in everyone's home library. Read about it and view a preview of the video here:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/genes/

Thanks for entry # 9 it's beautiful!

Do you know what Batman's mothers sings when it's time for dinner?

Dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner, dinner Batman!

Thanks, Teresa, for that link.

LOL, Petra.

Adam, it's so interesting. Scientists are looking into alcohol as an epigenetic agent. We already know that babies exposed to alcohol in the womb "remember" the smell and are more likely to start drinking at an early age (proven by animal research), and predisposes them to alcohol abuse. We also see children whose parents did not drink but who had grandparents who drank heavily and the grandchildren have neurobehavioral symptoms similar to children exposed to alcohol in the womb.

Teresa, I saw that episode of NOVA too! =) I looked up some of those experiments from the 1920s and 1930s and they were criticized for bad experimental technique.

Teresa, an alternate explanation for the grandparents' alcoholism appearing to affect their grandchildren could be that the grandparents became alcoholics to cope with neurological problems. Not saying that's the case, of course, just trying to think like a scientist.

Yes, Robyn. There are so many factors to consider when looking at neurobehavioral disorders. The three main factors are genetics, prenatal exposure to alcohol, and of course environment after birth. People with mental health issues are more likely to abuse alcohol. Many mental health disorders are inheritable. Too many children are having to cope with both inherited disorders PLUS a compromised central nervous system because of alcohol exposure.

Found to be logically solvable by jan.

that was a fun challenge. I've also enjoyed the comments.

made me hungry, Teresa

don't know much about science but I know when we were little, when Mom rang the dinner bell, all the kids on the block knew it was time to go home for supper NOW!

my grandfather whistled me to din din :)

fascinating topic, fun puzzle :-)

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