Category: Science

Black Hole Sonification by Blind Physicist Kyle Keane at reSOUND New York

I was invited  by accessibility designer  Lauren Race–who took the fabulous above photo of myself and Gio Brignoni!–to an after-hours event at reSOUND New York. Dr. Kyle Keane., a blind physicist and assistive tech lecturer at the University of Bristol translated the energy surrounding a black hole into sound frequencies that fill the “ECHO” exhibit. It was super cool to… Read more

“The Best Books on Blindness and the Brain” at Shepherd.com

The Best Books on Blindness and the Brain on Shepherd.com is a grateful nod to the authors that deepened the sciencey bits of There Plant Eyes! Oliver Sacks, John Locke, Lawrence Rosenblum, Jason Roberts, & @DavidEagleman—whose book Livewired came out after I’d finished TPE but surely would have been in there. Why I wrote this Blindness and the Brain list… Read more

Footnote on ‘The Plant Hunter’ by Cassandra Leah Quave

The great Alice Wong’s Disability Visibility newsletter hit my inbox last year with a book giveaway of The Plant Hunter: A Scientist’s Quest for Nature’s Next Medicines, by Cassandra Leah Quave. It’s not too often that my interest in disability culture crosses with my lay-person’s obsession with plant chemistry, so my curiosity was immediately piqued when I read the blurb… Read more

Colorful Hallucinogenic Pixelated Snow Fuzz & Other Things Blind People See

When I had central vision loss I never saw a black hole—any more than sighted people “see” their blind spots… Now that I’m totally blind, I see colorful hallucinogenic pixelated snowfuzz–still no black! I was curious to know what other bplindkind see, so I asked Facebook and here are some responses—consider adding yours in the comments below! What some blindkind… Read more

Footnote on ‘Lessons in Chemistry: A Novel’ by Bonnie Garmus

Lessons in Chemistry (Doubleday, 2022) by Bonnie Garmus is funny and charming despite the brutal 1950’s sexism—a sexism which, even if less systematic and unapologetic, will still resonate with most women today. You can’t help but fall in love with Elizabeth Zott, who is hilarious in her seriousness about chemistry, love, family, cooking, and everything else. Ad to the formula… Read more

The Voice of the Turtle, essay 3 of #52essays2017

2:10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. 2:11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; 2:12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; 2:13 The… Read more