So, is Obama a Vulcan?
QUESTION I can do the Vulcan salute with my right hand but not my left, and I can’t raise one eyebrow like Roger Moore. Why?
tHe frontalis muscles, a pair of muscles extending from the hairline to the eyebrow, play a key role in facial animation.
each contains two different parts, the inner and outer frontalis muscle, also known as the medial and lateral parts. the inner portion is responsible for animating the middle of the brow, while the outer segment moves the eyebrows.
those able to articulate a single eyebrow are able to control their frontalis muscles independently. it’s often said that this is a genetic trait, akin to tongue rolling (though this is debatable) but most people can ‘ learn’ the art of a ‘ Roger Moore’, suggesting a dormant series of neural pathways that can be trained into action. One good method to teach yourself the raised eyebrow is: scowl (as if you were angry with both eyebrows lowered and in the middle), then concentrate on releasing muscles controlling just one side (you can feel these muscles in your forehead), holding one side down if necessary, then try to raise your eyebrow by moving the muscles above that eyebrow (in the forehead) to draw your eyebrow upward.
Widening the eye under the eyebrow you’re trying to move may help. the only prop you need is a mirror and you may want to warm up first by scowling and then raising both eyebrows.
An actor like Roger Moore would have spent hours perfecting facial expressions and mannerisms as part of his craft — though he does rely on a single eyebrow.
some who are able to raise an eyebrow report that it is easier to do with one than the other. Likewise some people find it easier to click their fingers, or perform the Vulcan ‘Live long and prosper’ salute (a hand gesture consisting of a raised hand, palm forward with the fingers parted between the middle and ring finger, and the thumb extended), with one hand rather than another.
this is probably down to ‘handedness’, which is thought to be caused by hemispheric dominance in the human brain (which is divided into connected halves or hemispheres).
the link between handedness and hemispheric dominance is based on the simple logic that one’s preferred hand must mean that the hemisphere controlling this hand is also preferred.
this means that the right-side of the brain is dominant in left-handers while the left-side of the brain is dominant in right-handers, since the brain works contra-laterally (meaning that the left-side of the brain is responsible for the rightside of the body and vice versa).
this, of course, is a simplistic picture. the brain is a spectacularly complex organ and the part of the brain- controlling movement, the primary motor cortex, is found on both sides of the brain, though this also exhibits lateralisation.
Zachary Quinto, who played spock in the recent star trek film, had trouble performing the Vulcan salute. to solve this, the filmmakers had to glue his fingers in position.
Whether this shows a genetic element to the salute or whether it is a case of confused neural pathways is uncertain. Leonard Nimoy, the original spock, had no such problems. He was famous both for his quizzical raised eyebrows and his Vulcan salute.
Dr I. Smith, Cambridge.
QUESTION I like a tipple of port or three and note there are many classed as ‘late bottled’. What does late bottling achieve?
A GOOD friend, James symington, of the symington Family port estates in the Douro Valley, gives the following definitive answer:
traditional vintage port is bottled at two years old without any fining or filtration and, over a period of 15, 20, 30 or more years, matures in the bottle.
During this period, the originally opaque, dark young port, loses some of its colour, the coloured matter forming a heavy sediment in the bottle (which should be stored horizontally to keep the cork moist and avoid it drying out).
the existence of this sediment requires that the port be decanted before serving. A busy modern lifestyle makes decanting too long and drawn out a procedure for many people so late bottled vintage (LBV) came about. this is the wine of a single year but, instead of being bottled like traditional vintage port, it’s kept in the cask and bottled at four to six years old, usually following filtration to make sure it stays bright in the bottle.
When bottled it’s ready to be drunk and it isn’t normally intended for further ageing.
LBV port is usually sealed with a cork stopper which is easily removed by hand without recourse to a corkscrew. it can then be poured straight from the bottle into the glass.
John Catton, Shillington, Bedfordshire.
QUESTION Do any Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs contain recipes?
tHeRe are recipes for ointments and incense in a room in the temple of Horus at edfu.
the room, just off the hypostyle hall, could be classed as a laboratory because the walls are covered with these recipes. they would be used by the temple priests to make all the incense and ointments needed for them to perform their daily duties to the gods.
there are a number of recipes for Kyphi, a compound incense that was used in ancient egypt for religious and medical purposes. Lists of ingredients include: wine, honey, cinnamon, cedar, juniper, frankincense and myrrh.
there are also a number of medical recipes on various papyrus documents in world museums. As for food recipes, these appear to have been handed down verbally.
Rose Halsall, Ormskirk, Lancs. FOOD recipes formed part of the oral tradition in ancient egypt. One exception can be found in the ancient city of thebes, now Luxor.
A limestone cliff there houses the tombs of various nobles and officials who served egypt’s pharaohs. the area is conspicuous for its lack of females.
However, an exception is tomb number tt60, the resting place of senet, dating from the 20thcentury BC. she is thought to have been the mother of Antefoquer, vizier to pharaohs Amenemhat i and his son sesostris i.
On the walls of senet’s tomb, in addition to the standard pictures of hunting, ploughing and daily life that accompanied the dead into the next life, is a detailed pictorial description of bread making.
each stage of the process is laid out: crushing the grain, passing it through a sieve to remove husks, a further crushing to get fine flour, groups of workers kneading the dough and finally cooking over hot ashes. Bread made this way shows that the egyptians were advanced in agriculture and in the techniques of milling, leavening and baking.
Tom Lewin, Goring, Berks.
QUESTION Brighton once had about 17 cinemas, with names such as Essoldo, Savoy, Odeon, Astoria, Curzon, Granada, etc. Where did these names come from?
FURTHER to the earlier answer, my mother Mrs Joan Attrill (nee Mumford) played the Wurlitzer in the Regent cinema between 1937/39 as a stand-in for organist ernest Broadbent at the request of manager Mr Ainsworth.
When she wasn’t carrying out that duty, she was an usherette — all for the princely sum of £2 2s 6d a week.
On her break times, she would slip upstairs to watch the dance instructors teaching (i believe the fee for half an hour was 1/6d).
Mum said that if it was a film she was interested in, she always seemed to be sent to tea at the same time so she missed that portion of the film.
she is now 97 years old and last year we took her to the building. she remembered it clearly, even though it has changed over the years.
Mrs J. Mott-gotobed, Chineham, Hants.