Things I've Learned: An Underground Park, Instagram Food Art, & Radiobiology

Here is one radiation oncology-related thing and four other random things I've found interesting this week!

1. snow removal -- I didn't realize how comprehensive Edmonton's snow removal protocols were until I read a news article this week on snow clearing. The city has a blading schedule where each neighbourhood gets bladed once a week (with the mandate to blade roads down to a 5 cm snowpack) and there are specifically set goals for the frequency of road and sidewalk clearing. All of this work does come at a cost -- $54 million a year (and apparently the 2014 budget has already been exceeded by $10 million) -- but I have to say, I've been pretty impressed with Edmonton's ability to deal with snow.

   

   neighbourhood blading schedule -- Tuesday for me! (http://www.edmonton.ca/transportation/on_your_streets/street-cleaning.aspx)

2. underground park -- Manhattan plans to transform a 116-year-old abandoned trolley terminal into the world's first underground park. Called the Lowline (the counterpart of the pre-existing High Line Park built on an old elevated railway track), it will be lit by filtered sunlight from street-level solar collectors and will cost an estimated $60 million to construct.

   

   (http://www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/deep-under-manhattan-developers-plan-to-create-world-s-first-underground-park-1.2119876)

3. bamboo recycling -- Twice a year McMaster University's biology department prunes the bamboo in its greenhouse and donates it to the Toronto zoo pandas...but apparently the 200 kg only lasts them a couple of days!

   

   (http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/mcmaster-university-and-the-toronto-zoo/40797/)

4. @leesamantha -- This Malaysian-based food artist posts her unique and entertaining creations on Instagram. I love this kind of simple art, as it's fun, relatable, and appealing to all ages.

   

   (http://instagram.com/leesamantha)

5. alpha/beta ratio -- Today over lunch hour we had a lecture (well over my head) on using radiobiology to predict radiation response. A basic radiobiological concept that's often discussed is the alpha/beta ratio of a given cell line. In the linear quadratic model of radiation response, the alpha/beta ratio is the ratio of radiosensitivity (alpha) to repair capability (beta) of the cells. Rapidly proliferating poorly-differentiated tissues are very radiosensitive, so have a large alpha/beta ratio. Slowly proliferating (i.e. long cell cycle; more time for cell repair) well-differentiated tissues are more radioresistant, so have a small alpha/beta ratio (this includes normal tissues, with late complications). I think radiobiology would be a really fascinating area of study (and one I wish I knew more about!).

What is something interesting you learned this week?