There are various theories on why human childhood is longer than that of other species’. A NY Times Science article examines some newer explanations of the expanded period of dependency that most of us enjoy. The traditional theory attributes the long childhood to our larger brains which need time to be “programmed” and learn survival skills. Thus, childhood is all about education, something modern society has certainly forced upon us with years of school. But after studying hunting-gathering cultures, some anthropologists have proposed that our long childhood is related to our long lifespan and that there are benefits to us not becoming adults quickly. Children learn quickly and can hunt as well as their elders, except for physical differences. As humans lengthened lifespans with better nutrition and hunting skills, childhood also lengthened. “With early mortality reduced, there was a good chance that the investment in an extended phase of juvenile growth would pay off in higher reproductive fitness later.” Of course, opinions are mixed, but the theories are interesing to consider. I always accepted our lengthy childhood, and never considered it as a curiosity.

177 years ago, Joseph Nicephore Niepce exposed a pewter plate coated with bitumen and oil of lavender to a view of a French farmyard. The result is known as “The First Photograph,” but it was only last week that the scientists at the Getty Conservation Institute announced how it was made. The components of the process were guessed at previously, as older articles mention them and Niepce left written notes, but they have now been scientifically verified. There is surprisingly little oxidation of the image, and the institute will be keeping it in a box filled with inert argon gas.

I was an early devotee of Pottery Barn as it began in my neck of the woods long before Williams-Sonoma, Inc acquired it. Crate & Barrel still doesn’t have a store in Connecticut so I didn’t get exposed until later, and knew it as a housewares and kitchen store. Some people get the two stores confused, which, now that they’ve evolved into style arbiter wannabes, I can understand. But I still have an easy time telling them apart: Crate & Barrel carries practical items; Pottery Barn does not. I’m not saying PB doesn’t sell anything useful, but if they did happen to carry a potato peeler, it would probably look like a twig or a mollusk. And they do have placemats. But they’d be caught dead with a salad spinner on the shelf. There is certainly overlap between the two stores, especially now that they both have stylish furniture. But if you want to stylishly outfit your household, go to Crate & Barrel (or, more affordably, Target). If you need finishing touches after that, give Pottery Barn a try. (By the way, the C&B; spokesperson says they have chip & dips in “glass, straw, wood, ceramic, porcelain”, but she left out plastic.)

Wired News spent some time with the foley artists for LucasArts’ games, who were working on sounds for Bounty Hunter. LucasArts’ Foley stage has a tiny room with resources for creating footsteps on different surfaces. Nearby Skywalker Sound has a more impressive studio with an assemblage of junk to recreate many sounds. Thomas Dolby Robertson’s “mini” car, which he left at Skywalker Sound after “Howard The Duck”, has been used to make every car noise there since 1985.

“What walks down stairs alone or in pairs and makes a slinkity sound?.” The Slinky was invented in 1943 by mechanical engineer Richard James and was the hit of the 1946 American Toy Fair. In 1960 James joined a religious cult in Bolivia and his wife Betty was left with his debt (from his cult donations) and six kids. But she led the company to continued profits, moving it to Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania where Slinkies are still made today. Her company, James Industries, was sold to Poof Products in 1998. Betty was inducted into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame in 2000. She finally retired (in her 80s!). Tom James (a son?) continues to manage the company. At $2.99 the Slinky is still a bargain among toys.

The NY Times is running a series called “Notes from Music Camp” which, I assume, will follow some young musicians as they attend The Perlman Music Program‘s summer camp. The first article in the series could be subtitled “The Stage Mothers” as it focuses on the sacrifices the mothers make for their budding Itzhaks and Midoris. “Every bit as competitive, protective, ambitious and self-sacrificing” as tennis moms (who apparently also go all out for their little Martinas), these music moms spend hours chauffering, thousands on instruments, and probably not a few lungfuls of air on words of encouragement and phone calls to get their kids into elite auditions. One mom is planning to drive containers of Korean food to her daughter every weekend of camp. One teen won’t be going to camp because of a hand injury (my guess is that she practiced too much under stress; perhaps a prescription of less “encouragement” from mom would help?).

I haven’t found a corresponding news story about this yet (sadly, I can’t read Spanish or I’d do more searching in news from Madrid), but I was very taken by this photograph of women parading in their wedding dresses. If you looked at the photo by itself, you would think perhaps it was a mass wedding or maybe a fashion promotion. The caption reveals that it is a march against domestic violence. Suddenly, the dresses and shielding veils take on a darker meaning.

They Might Be Giants will be at The Fillmore on July 16 and 17. There will be a new Peter Gabriel album out this year, and, it appears, an accompanying tour. The Powerpuff Girls movie will be out on July 3rd. This has been a public service announcement. We now return you to your regularly scheduled weblogging.

I didn’t expect handwriting recognition to be a major selling point of Microsoft’s new Tablet PC, but I did expect them to make it a little more intelligent and flexible. But according to David Coursey, their recognizer doesn’t train itself to your writing, so it won’t get better over time and learn how you write. Also, it is designed for cursive writing! So if you decide to print legibly, you are out of luck, though there is an input mechanism akin to Palm’s Graffiti. Well, as Coursey discovered, the mantra from Microsoft is “Handwriting recognition doesn’t matter.” True perhaps, but it would be interesting to see what would happen if someone made it good enough to matter. When would we prefer to write? Sending a handwritten note to someone via instant messenger or email is an intriguing concept, though. Just think, you can draw your very own smiley faces.

As Karl is pondering what fireflies eat, I find myself facing another summer without the blink-blink-blink of bugs outside my window. I associate fireflies with the 4th of July as we used to sit outside waiting for the fireworks display, watching tiny glowing lamps signaling in the darkness. Though I do not wish to destroy California’s environment any further, I always think it would be nice to have these little bugs here. I speculated that they need a moist environment, but it appears that there are species that live in dry areas as well. However, little seems to be known about their habitat and food sources. Their bioluminescence has been studied closely, of course. But you won’t see it west of Kansas.