Space travel appears to have taken its toll on NASAastronauts. Those in space for more than a month have shown unexpected symptoms that could set back plans for longer deep-space missions.
Researchers scanned the eyes and brains of 27 astronauts who had spent an average of 108 days in space, either on space shuttle missions or aboard the International Space Station. In many of the astronauts, they found symptoms consistent with intracranial hypertension, a potentially serious condition that happens when pressure builds within the skull.
“NASA has placed this problem high on its list of human risks, has initiated a comprehensive program to study its mechanisms and implications, and will continue to closely monitor the situation,” Dr. William Tarver, chief of the flight medicine clinic at NASA’s Johnson Space Center told Fox News in a recent article.
A symptom of excess cerebral-spinal fluid around the optic nerve was found in 33 percent of the astronauts and a flattening of the back of the eyeball was found in 20 percent.
“The MRI findings revealed various combinations of abnormalities following both short and long-term cumulative exposure to microgravity also seen with idiopathic intracranial hypertension,” said Professor Larry Kramer, lead author of the study.
Odds are the study will have no effect on Virgin Galactic‘s plan to begin suborbital commercial flights this year.
The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas, has just opened a new exhibition exploring the West’s fascination with ancient Egypt.
“Egyptomania” collects forty objects from the Egyptian revivals of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. This was the time when the West became widely aware of the great civilization of Egypt and started excavating there. Cutting open mummies became popular entertainment, the rich collected Egyptian artifacts, and it seemed like everyone wanted to own something in the Egyptian style — like this Art Deco perfume bottle shown here in a photo courtesy MFAH. It was designed by Baccarat c. 1930. Other items on display are Egyptian-style furniture, garden sphinxes (much cooler than garden gnomes) and even Egyptian asparagus tongs.
Visitors to the museum can get a double dose of ancient Egypt right now because the traveling exhibition “Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs” is on display through April 15. This exhibition features more than a hundred artifacts, most of which have never been shown in the U.S. prior to this tour.
If this isn’t enough to stave off your Egyptomaniacal cravings, I suggest a trip to the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum & Planetarium in San Jose, California. This place is a strange hybrid of serious museum and cultish quackery founded by a modern spiritual group inspired by ancient Egypt.
People don’t walk in Boca Raton. Instead they drive their steel monoliths that pass for automobiles down the wide, palm-lined streets flanked by pink mansions. Or, in one case, they run, evidenced by the shirtless (six-packed) camelback-wearing dude burning off his mojitos from the previous night. And then there’s me: dressed for a New York autumn in a blue button-down shirt, a brown V-neck sweater and blue jeans. I’m walking back from the store to my hotel carrying a six-pack of Red Stripe and a bottle of my favorite mineral water, Aqua di Nepi, which I hadn’t seen since moving back to New York from Italy a few years ago.
I’m also trying to make some sense of this town, a place I dropped into unexpectedly for a few days last week. Here are some things I had just dug up about Boca Raton, Florida: this city of 75,000 is the “spam capital of the world”; it has a long history of being associated with confidence tricks (i.e. the work performed by confidence men or, as they’re commonly referred to, “con men”); and according to some U.S. federal indictments a few years ago, the Gambino family still operates here.
I wasn’t really sure why I was in this seaside, south Floridian town associated with wealthy geriatrics and cyber criminals (and wealthy, geriatric cyber criminals). When I told friends I was going there, I was often asked if I was attending a bat mitzvah. This was an impromptu trip, booked with frequent flier miles, and one in which I had a lot of downtime. Besides the beach, there are not many attractions in Boca. The National Cartoon Museum is supposed to be here. There are a lot of upscale restaurants. And something called the Sports Immortals Museum.
For a while, walking beside me on my way back to the hotel, a novelty: probably the only fat man in the entire town. “It’s nice to see someone else walking these streets,” I said as I passed him.
“Someone’s got to do it,” he said and then laughed.
But do they? I thought. And am I obligated to do something travel-y when I travel? I feel the pressure; I’m a traveler. I’m a travel writer. Is it okay to just sit in my hotel all day long, get some work done, read a little, watch old people struggle to do yoga on local cable access TV and await dinner and drinks in the evening? Or do I have to get the most of this place, even if it is a place I’m not wildly sold on? I wasn’t planning on doing any of the local things: hit an early-bird special, take oxycontin, enjoy a game of bocce, nap in the afternoon or pass away in my sleep.
Because I usually go somewhere in the world just for eating (and writing about it), I thought I’d give it a try. The previous day I had met with my friend and fellow travel writer Tom Swick, a longtime Ft. Lauderdale native. Fish sandwiches, he told me, were about as local as you could get in terms of food. So I got in a cab and directed the Haitian driver to a place across town, just a few miles away. The cab driver, though, had no idea how to get out of my hotel parking lot. He was struggling with the GPS, trying to put in the address of a restaurant just down the road. I sat there in quiet frustration, as we were stalled on the side of the road, the driver still trying and failing to type in the address, and the taxi meter going up and up and up. Yep, I should have just stayed in my hotel. Just another day in one of the most sedately, strange places in America. I got out of the cab and walked back to my hotel. I had a couple bottles of Red Stripe left and they would do just fine.
Today is my ten-year wedding anniversary, sort of. Does it make sense to celebrate a wedding that was a secret, five-minute affair that was capped off at a nearby Taco Bell over chalupas and 99-cent churros?
I asked my wife to marry me just days before joining the Foreign Service in 2002 and we had to set a wedding date without knowing what country we would be moving to or when we would depart.
When you join the Foreign Service you start out in a two-month long training class called A-100, which takes places in Arlington, Virginia. At the conclusion of the course, you’re given a flag representing your assignment and, depending on the job and the country, you can spend the next one to nine months in job and/or language training.
This uncertainty makes it difficult to deal with landlords but even harder to plan a wedding. Nonetheless, we planned an August 10 wedding in Chicago, and tried to bid on jobs that entailed as much training as possible. In late March, I was assigned to Skopje, Macedonia, with six months of Albanian language training. This meant that I’d be in the U.S. for the wedding, so we initially felt relieved.
But we soon learned that nothing happens in the Foreign Service without a mountain of red tape and logistical hurdles. Our departure for post was scheduled for early October and old Foreign Service hands, including “Dink,” our kindly A-100 course coordinator, told us that a mid-August wedding might not leave enough time for the bureaucracy to get Jen (my wife) on our travel orders.In layman’s terms, this means that the government wouldn’t pay for her travel to Macedonia or ship her household effects. Spouses of Foreign Service Officers (FSO’s) need medical and security checks, and all these things take time, so Dink advised us to go to a courthouse and do a legal marriage ceremony before the real deal to get the ball rolling.
Jen was initially resistant to the idea but eventually her practical side and our desire not to pay to move to Macedonia won out. The sole condition she laid out was that we wouldn’t tell any of our friends and family members. We could get married in a legal sense but would pretend as though the event never happened.
On Tuesday, March 19, 2002, we visited the office of a kindly octogenarian named Joe Newlin, who married couples right down the hall from the Arlington Country Court House in Virginia. Joe was a delightful old man who wore plaid golf pants and had his office decorated with streamers and articles about his practice. He claimed to have married more than ten thousand couples, “some of which were still together,” he joked.
Joe married us right in his office, for a small fee, right underneath some plastic signs, streamers and a paper, wedding bell. Joe also took a couple photos of us and on the way out gave us a complimentary pen, which was emblazoned with his slogan: “I Mary (sic) U.” We’ve moved six times in the last decade and I have no idea where those photos are, but somehow, the pen has magically stayed with us (see photo).
We celebrated our sham wedding with a fine banquet at the adjacent Taco Bell and headed back to the Foreign Service Institute, where we bumped into Dink.
“Dink, we took your advice and got married,” I told him, knowing that Jen wouldn’t care if he knew of our scheme.
Dink’s eyes bulged out of his head and he crouched down to hug both my wife and I.
“Congratulations,” he bellowed, before turning around and telling several of my classmates the “good news.” Before we knew what was happening, a host of colleagues came over to congratulate us. Jen was not pleased.
“This was not our wedding,” she reminded me before adding, “not a word about this when we get back to Chicago.”
And there wasn’t a word about it – not to our families, any of our wedding guests or even the minister, who did not know that we had already been married legally for six months at the time he pronounced us man and wife. In fact, most of our friends and family members will be reading about our “appetizer” wedding for the first time here.
We’ll never know if our first “wedding” was necessary or not but it was a fitting introduction to what some call the Foreign Circus. Over the years, we’d come to learn that lots of Foreign Service couples end up rushing to the altar because of impending departures for posts or other reasons. The nomadic nature of the job can force relationships to either progress or end, sometimes before they would otherwise. We plan to celebrate our anniversary twice this year, almost certainly at someplace nicer than Taco Bell.
Photo 1 is from our “real” wedding in Chicago.
Read more from “A Traveler in the Foreign Service” here.
In celebration of Syracuse University Orange’s #1 seed in March Madness, the city is featuring a “1 for 1 All the Way” campaign, offering a variety of $1 deals. Twenty-two local hotels, restaurants, spas, museums and theaters are offering discounts for the Orange’s run through the NCAA Tournament. To receive all promotions, just mention “1 for 1 All the Way.” Check out some of the top deals below, or go to Visit Syracuse for a complete list and more information.
Hotel Skyler
Recently opened is Hotel Skyler (pictured right), once a temple and then a theater until it was turned into a hotel. Now, it’s an eco-chic LEED Platinum Hotel that offers a mixture of retro and metropolitan style with “organic comfort.” In honor of March Madness, the property is offering visitors who purchase two nights at the “best available rate” to get a third night for $1.
The offer is valid until April 10, 2012, on new reservations only. Call 1-800-365-4663 or 315-476-4212 to book. Lakeland Winery
Lakeland Winery was the first custom winemaking facility in New York and offers wine tours, classes and even the chance to make your own wine and label. Throughout March, the winery will be selling select bottles of red and white wine for $1.
Hours are Monday to Friday, 4:00 to 8:00 a.m., and Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Jefferson Clinton Hotel
Located in Armory Square, the Jefferson Clinton Hotel (pictured right) is an eco-friendly property and a member of the Historic Hotels of America. It was originally built in 1927 as an upscale hotel, but had to shut down after the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression of the 1930s. Under new management, the accommodation was able to reopen in June of 2001 and has been a Quality Award Winner for the past six years, as well as the Hotel of the Year in 2003. For March Madness, they’re offering guests who stay two nights a third night for $1.
Deal available until May 1, 2012, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday arrivals. Black out dates include April 19, 20, 21, 27. Call 315-425-0500 to book.
Belladerma Wellness Spa
Belladerma Wellness Spa is a boutique day spa that offers personalized service and treatments. To help celebrate March Madness, the spa is offering a deal on their UltrasonicFacial – buy one for $75, get one for $1. The treatment involves cleansing sound waves that bolster cell repair and muscle tone. The treatment is followed by an arm and hand massage, as well as a moisturizing mask.
Available until May 1, 2012. Call 315-751-1439 to book.
Onondaga Historical Association Museum and Research Center
The mission of the Onondaga Historical Association Museum and Research Center is to “inspire people’s understanding that the history we share as a community is the foundation for our future together.” Visitors will learn about the beginnings of central New York, transportation, architecture, agriculture and more through exhibits like “Agriculturally Speaking,” “Birth of a County” and “Crossroads of New York.” Through March, the historical association is offering the following deals:
Syracuse China Standards- Buy one at $10, get a second for $1.
CD’s direct from the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra collection- Buy them for $1 each.
Syracuse China Approved Sample Plates- Buy one at $15, get a second for $1.
OHA Signature DVD’s- Buy one at $19.98, get a second for $1.
Limit one deal per item, per customer.
Elsbeth Rose
A boutique clothing store, Elsbeth Rose sells fine women’s clothing and accessories in classic and urban styles. Their most popular location is in Armory Square, where you will find dresses, pants, tops and accessories by designers such as Ronen Chen and Isda. This is the location you’ll want to stop in during your March Madness visit as they are offering the chance to buy one Alternative Tee Shirt and get a second of equal value for $1.
Available until the end of the NCAA tournament.
Empire Brewing Company
Established in 1994, the Empire Brewing Company is a bohemian downtown bar and grill that also houses an award-winning brewery. For the eco-conscious, the venue uses only local ingredients, and even won a Snail of Approval Award from Slow Food for its efforts. In honor of March Madness, Empire Brewing Company is offering 16 ounce pints of house-made brews for $1.
Deal available during Syracuse University men’s basketball NCAA Tournament games.
1060 Restaurant
1060 Restaurant is an easy-going restaurant with an upscale feel. The venue uses locally sourced ingredients to create a menu of American and international cuisine, like Greek-style vegetarian pitas, mesquite-smoked pulled pork sliders, and Atlantic salmon. Until April 10, the restaurant will be honoring March Madness by offering $1 domestic beers.