%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |    Not for the faint of art. |
|
Complex Numbers A complex number is expressed in the standard form a + bi, where a and b are real numbers and i is defined by i^2 = -1 (that is, i is the square root of -1). For example, 3 + 2i is a complex number. The bi term is often referred to as an imaginary number (though this may be misleading, as it is no more "imaginary" than the symbolic abstractions we know as the "real" numbers). Thus, every complex number has a real part, a, and an imaginary part, bi. Complex numbers are often represented on a graph known as the "complex plane," where the horizontal axis represents the infinity of real numbers, and the vertical axis represents the infinity of imaginary numbers. Thus, each complex number has a unique representation on the complex plane: some closer to real; others, more imaginary. If a = b, the number is equal parts real and imaginary. Very simple transformations applied to numbers in the complex plane can lead to fractal structures of enormous intricacy and astonishing beauty. ![Merit Badge in Quill Award
[Click For More Info]
Congratulations on winning Best Blog in the 2021 edition of [Link To Item #quills] !](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Quill_Award-1375927_6.gif) ![Merit Badge in Quill Award 2
[Click For More Info]
2022 Quill Award - Best Blog - [Link To Item #1196512] . Congratulations!!!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Quill_Award_2-1375927_6.gif) ![Merit Badge in 30DBC Winner
[Click For More Info]
Congratulations on winning the Jan. 2019 [Link To Item #30dbc] !!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-30DBC_Winner-2064535_14.gif) ![Merit Badge in Blogging
[Click For More Info]
Congratulations on winning an honorable mention for Best Blog at the 2018 Quill Awards for [Link To Item #1196512] . *^*Smile*^* This award was sponsored by the blogging consortium including [Link To Item #30dbc] , [Link To Item #blogcity] , [Link To Item #bcof] and [Link To Item #1953629] . For more details, see [Link To Item #quills] .](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/type-Blogging-2180.gif) ![Merit Badge in Highly Recommended
[Click For More Info]
I highly recommend your blog.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/Kudos-Highly_Recommended.gif) ![Merit Badge in Opinion
[Click For More Info]
For diving into the prompts for Journalistic Intentions- thanks for joining the fun!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Opinion-1150.gif) ![Merit Badge in High Five
[Click For More Info]
For your inventive entries in [Link To Item #2213121] ! Thanks for the great read!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/Kudos-High_Five.gif) ![Merit Badge in Enlightening
[Click For More Info]
For winning 3rd Place in [Link To Item #2213121] . Congratulations!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Enlightening.gif) ![Merit Badge in Quarks Bar
[Click For More Info]
For your awesome Klingon Bloodwine recipe from [Link to Book Entry #1016079] that deserves to be on the topmost shelf at Quark's.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Quarks_Bar-2046190_12.gif)       |
Just about a month ago, I linked an article about going gray, in the entry "A Touch of Gray"  . The PopSci article proclaimed with great certainty that gray hair can never return to its original color. Well, here's SciAm going "nuh-uh" in 2021: Gray Hair Can Return to Its Original Color—and Stress Is Involved, of Course The universal marker of aging is not always a one-way process And here I thought the universal marker of aging was yelling at kids to get off your lawn. As we grow older, black, brown, blonde or red strands lose their youthful hue. Which is why investments in hair dye companies are likely to be lucrative. Although this may seem like a permanent change, new research reveals that the graying process can be undone—at least temporarily. Obviously, everything is temporary, especially if you're old enough to have gray hair in the first place. Hints that gray hairs could spontaneously regain color have existed as isolated case studies within the scientific literature for decades. Sometimes, all it takes to disprove a hypothesis is a single counter-example. Like if you said "all planets have moons," and then someone showed that Venus is a planet that doesn't have moons, your hypothesis would be broken. In biology, though, things aren't always that clean-cut, and a single counterexample could just be a fluke or a hoax. In a study published today in eLife, a group of researchers provide the most robust evidence of this phenomenon to date in hair from around a dozen people of various ages, ethnicities and sexes. While a sample size of around 12 also doesn't do much to make the findings definitive, this phenomenon is apparently rare enough that to expect a bigger sample would be wishful thinking. It also aligns patterns of graying and reversal to periods of stress, which implies that this aging-related process is closely associated with our psychological well-being. On this point, the article is in alignment with the one I posted last month. Around four years ago Martin Picard, a mitochondrial psychobiologist at Columbia University... Now, that's someone who either hates Star Trek with a burning passion, or takes every opportunity to tell his underlings to "make it so." ...was pondering the way our cells grow old in a multistep manner in which some of them begin to show signs of aging at much earlier time points than others. I don't really have anything to say about that process or the science behind it; I just wanted to make a Picard joke in an entry about hair. These patterns revealed something surprising: In 10 of these participants, who were between age nine and 39, some graying hairs regained color. So, this is highly unlikely to apply to older folks who go gray. Still, research like this might lead to a way to artificially restore hair melanin without dyes. Not that I care. I think I'd look awesome with a gray mane. Most people start noticing their first gray hairs in their 30s—although some may find them in their late 20s. That early? This surprises me, though I've known quite young gray-haired people. But one never knows: those who turn gray then could be dyeing their hair, or shaving it off entirely. The team also investigated the association between hair graying and psychological stress because prior research hinted that such factors may accelerate the hair’s aging process. Anecdotes of such a connection are also visible throughout history: according to legend, the hair of Marie Antoinette, the 18th-century queen of France, turned white overnight just before her execution at the guillotine. If true, for a queen, that had to add insult to injury. Eventually, Picard says, one could envision hair as a powerful tool to assess the effects of earlier life events on aging—because, much like the rings of a tree, hair provides a kind of physical record of elapsed events. Or, you know, a sorcerer could use it to control you. You never know. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
