Gobbledygook

At the Smithsonian Youth Culture Fair in Washington, D.C., visitors can see how language and art reflect the changing world of teenagers. My favorite exhibit at the fair features a large wall covered in colorful wooden tiles, each one carved with a slang word. Some of the words include gnarly, slay, delulu, and gobbledygook. Next to each word is the decade when it became popular. This wall shows how slang can change meaning over time and come back in new ways. For example, gnarly first meant something gross, then it meant something really good, and now people use it to describe things that are cool in skating and surfing. The wall is part of the Museum of Contemporary American Teenagers, which is a project by students from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. It helps show how young people shape the words they use to fit who they are.

Along with the wall of slang, the fair also has a display of paintings made by teenagers. These artworks explore what it feels like to grow up in our modern world today. Some paintings show stacks of comic books and computer screens, such as in Asher Coelho’s In My Element, which mixes old and new ways of telling stories. Other pieces, like Bilen Tamirat’s Smile for the Camera, show how hard it can be to look happy on the outside when you feel imperfect inside. Leda Pelton’s What I will pack when I run away from home and Elizabeth Shanefelter’s Falling show feelings of wanting freedom but also being afraid of the unknown. Together, these paintings let visitors see what teenagers care about and how they express themselves through both words and art.

The wall of words and the student art gallery remind us that youth culture is constantly changing but always powerful. By sharing their slang and their artwork, these teens show how their voices, ideas, and creativity shape the world around them. The fair proves that when young people tell their own stories, everyone can see the world in a new way.

Darth Vader

On July 6, I visited Washington, D.C. to explore the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. The festival brought together artists, students, and skilled craftspeople from around the country to share their work and tell their stories. People were carving stone, weaving colorful threads, painting murals, or sharing parts of their culture through hands-on exhibits. It was a celebration of both tradition and innovation.

At the event, one of the most impressive areas showcased how artists are helping to restore the Washington National Cathedral from the 2011 earthquake damage. Skilled stone carvers worked carefully to repair damaged pieces and recreate new ones using the same tools and techniques that have been passed down for generations. At the Washington National Cathedral, one of the carved statues is Darth Vader, created after a 1985 children’s “Draw-a-Grotesque” contest. The figure is more than 200 feet off the ground and is part of a collection of about 1,500 grotesques. This is a fascinating example of how new culture elements are included in historical settings.

The festival also included booths that celebrated crafts from different parts of the world. I saw a weaver using a loom to create colorful fabrics in traditional patterns. There were leather ropes and beadwork from ranching traditions, gold-painted ornaments, and intricate hand-carved decorations. One beautiful painting in the exhibit showed a woman surrounded by corn, flowers, and peppers, representing food, nature, and heritage all in one image. Each artwork and object had its own story and history.

All around the festival, people were making things by hand and showing how their work connects to their families, cultures, and communities. The Folklife Festival helped me see how traditions survive when people take the time to share them. Through stone, fabric, paint, and words, the fair showed that creativity is one of the most powerful ways to keep culture alive.

Law Rock

    One of my favorite stops during my trip to Iceland was at Þingvellir, also known as Althing National Park. As we walked through the park, our guide told us about how this was the place where the Vikings held their first parliament over a thousand years ago. The meeting place was called the Althing, and it began around the year 930. Chiefs and their families would travel from all over Iceland to gather here once a year to make laws and settle disputes. It was not a building like we think of today but an open-air meeting place in a valley surrounded by cliffs and streams.

    There is a tall Icelandic flag standing on a rocky ledge called Lögberg, which means “Law Rock.” Our guide explained that this was the spot where the lawspeaker would stand and recite the laws out loud for everyone to hear. It felt amazing to stand there and imagine the crowds of Vikings gathered below, listening carefully as decisions were made that shaped the early history of Iceland.

    During our visit to the park, we also went snorkeling. Þingvellir is famous for the clear, cold water that fills the fissures between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. Snorkeling there was incredible. The water was so clear that it felt like floating through glass, and you could see the rocky bottom below. The water was very cold making it inhabitable for fish. The flag at Lögberg and the underwater views made Þingvellir one of the most memorable places of my trip.

Human Influence

When I visited Iceland this summer, I expected to see glaciers, black sand beaches, and volcanoes. What surprised me most was something our tour guide told us as we hiked on Iceland’s glaciers. He explained that a long time ago Iceland was covered in trees, and that it was the Vikings who irrevocably changed the land.

Over a thousand years ago, when the first Norse settlers came around 874 CE, Iceland was full of birch trees and shrubs. Those early Vikings needed wood for almost everything. They used it to build houses, make boats, and stay warm through the long winters. They also cleared land so their animals could graze. Over time, the trees disappeared, and with nothing to hold the soil in place, the strong winds carried much of it away. By the Middle Ages, most of the forests were gone, leaving behind the bare, rugged landscape that people see now.

Now, more than a thousand years later, Iceland is trying to bring its trees back. Across the country there are projects where people are planting birch and other hardy trees in valleys and on hillsides. These trees help keep the soil from blowing away, provide new habitats for birds and other animals, and slowly make the land greener again. Iceland may never look like it did before the Vikings arrived, but these efforts show how people today are trying to care for the land that was changed so long ago. Learning this history made me see the island in a new way.

Variations in the Maxillary Sinus

This paper explores variation in maxillary sinus (MS) anatomy between individuals of East Asian, European, and African ancestry, and how these differences may contribute to health disparities in chronic sinusitis. The MS drains mucus through a small opening called the maxillary sinus ostium (MSO), which is located high on the sinus wall. This positioning makes drainage heavily reliant on mucociliary action, rather than gravity. If mucus can’t drain efficiently, it builds up and can lead to infection. The study used 3D CT scans of 167 adult skulls to measure MS and nasal fontanelle (NF) shape and size, especially the vertical distance from the sinus floor to the MSO.

The results showed that East Asian individuals tend to have significantly taller and larger MSs, with the MS floor positioned farther below the MSO. This increased vertical distance means that mucus has to travel farther to be cleared, possibly increasing the risk of chronic sinusitis. In contrast, individuals of European and African ancestry had shorter MSs and shorter distances between the MS floor and MSO, which may allow for more efficient drainage. Despite these differences, the NF—which is used as a bony landmark for the MSO—was similarly sized and positioned across all ancestry groups, suggesting that surgical approaches to sinus treatment can be standardized.

Importantly, the study emphasizes that these anatomical features do not directly cause disease based on ancestry. Rather, individuals with taller MSs—regardless of ancestry—may be more susceptible to sinus infections. The findings help explain why nonallergic (noneosinophilic) sinusitis is more common in East Asian populations and suggest that internal anatomy, along with socioeconomic and environmental factors, contributes to global health disparities.

The authors conclude that anatomical variation, especially MS height, may play a role in sinusitis risk and should be considered in both clinical treatment and future research. This paper highlights the need to study not just pathology or healthcare access, but also how normal anatomical differences between populations might shape disease vulnerability.

This is the paper I read:

https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ar.24644 

The Anatomy of the Sinuses

 The paranasal sinuses are four paired, air-filled cavities in the face, arranged around the nasal cavity. All of them drain into the nasal cavity. The four sets of paired sinuses are the maxillary, frontal, sphenoid, and ethmoid sinuses. The drawing below displays them:

The paranasal sinuses develop in the fetus as small outpouchings from the nasal cavity that grow into the surrounding bones. After birth, they continue to develop until early adulthood. The sphenoid sinuses are unique to humans and primates. The maxillary sinuses are the largest, with an average volume of 15 mL in adults. The frontal sinuses are the most superior in position. The ethmoid sinuses are made up of multiple small air cells divided into anterior, middle, and posterior groups, and they vary in size.

The exact functions of the paranasal sinuses are not fully understood, but they have several roles. They help fight infection by producing mucus that drains into the nasal cavity and clears germs. They also add moisture to the air we breathe. They help absorb impact and protect the brain in case of head or face trauma. They also increase the resonance of our voices and, because air is lighter than bone and muscle, they make the head lighter overall.

The maxillary sinuses sit beneath the eyes in the maxillary bones. They are small at birth but grow rapidly between ages 0–3 and again between 6–12 years. In adults, they reach about 15 mL and are the largest sinuses. They are also the most common site of sinusitis. They drain into the nasal cavity through the hiatus semilunaris into the middle meatus. The floor of the maxillary sinuses is formed by the alveolar process of the maxilla and lies close to the roots of the upper teeth, which means that dental infections, such as abscesses, can spread into these sinuses. The osteomeatal complex connects the frontal, anterior ethmoid, and maxillary sinuses to the middle turbinate.

The frontal sinuses are located in the frontal bone above the eyes and have a triangular shape. They are the most superiorly located sinuses. Absent at birth, they begin forming around age two but do not become visible until about ages five or six. Their drainage pathway can vary. Fluid usually flows through the frontal recess, then either into the hiatus semilunaris and middle meatus or directly into the middle meatus. Like the maxillary sinuses, they are also a common site of infection.

The sphenoid sinuses are found behind the eyes and are the deepest sinuses. They occur only in humans and primates. They are absent at birth but begin to appear around age two, maturing between ages twelve and fourteen. They drain through the sphenoethmoidal recess into the nasal cavity. Important structures, such as the internal carotid artery and the optic nerve, lie close to the sphenoid sinuses. Surgeons can pass instruments through the nose into the sphenoid sinus and then into the hypophyseal fossa to treat pituitary adenomas. This approach, called endoscopic trans-sphenoidal surgery, provides a minimally invasive method to remove pituitary tumors.

The ethmoid sinuses are located between the eyes and behind the nose. They appear as small pockets of air cells separated by thin septa. These sinuses are present at birth and mature around age twelve. Their total number varies, ranging from four to seventeen. They are divided into anterior, middle, and posterior groups. The anterior group drains via the hiatus semilunaris into the middle meatus, the middle group drains into the lateral wall of the middle meatus, and the posterior group drains into the lateral wall of the superior meatus.

Evolutionary Impact of Social Isolation

One of the greatest mysteries in human evolution is how the Neanderthals went into extinction ~40 thousand years ago. This paper discusses the genome of a Neanderthal called “Thorin,” found in Grotte Mandrin in Mediterranean France. Thorin’s remains include a mandible and 31 teeth from between 52,900 and 48,050 years ago. These remains are linked to the PNII lithic industry, one of the final Neanderthal cultural phases in the region. Genomic analysis shows that Thorin belonged to a previously unknown Neanderthal lineage that diverged from other late European Neanderthals around 100,000 years ago and then remained genetically isolated for about 50,000 years. This isolation is unusual because other late Neanderthals were thought to be part of a single connected population.

Genetic analysis supports the isolation of this Neanderthal lineage. Thorin’s genome showed no signs of gene flow with other Neanderthals, including those living nearby. His mitochondrial DNA was most closely related to individuals from Gibraltar and Poland, and his Y chromosome also diverged early. Thorin also had high levels of homozygosity, with around 7% of his genome in long homozygous stretches, indicating recent inbreeding and a small group size. These findings suggest that his population had limited social contact with other Neanderthals. Interestingly, this isolated group also had a distinctive cultural identity, with stone tools that differed from the better-known Mousterian and Châtelperronian traditions in nearby areas.

The researchers conclude that Thorin's population likely represents one of the last Neanderthal groups in Europe, living in isolation until around 42,000 years ago. Their genetic and cultural separation may have made them more vulnerable to extinction. Unlike modern humans, who built wide social networks and exchanged genes across regions, these Neanderthal groups were fragmented and possibly avoided interbreeding—even with other Neanderthals. This paper adds more knowledge to the debate about Neanderthal extinction, suggesting that social and genetic isolation may have been just as important as external factors like climate or modern human expansion.

This is the paper I read: https://www.cell.com/cell-genomics/fulltext/S2666-979X(24)00177-0