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POPSPain as an art form Mr. Collen wrote to pain doctors around the world to solicit examples of art from pain patients. Working with San Francisco college student James Gregory, 21, who suffers from chronic pain as the result of a car accident, the two created the Pain Exhibit, an online gallery of art from pain sufferers. The images are evocative and troubling.“Some of them are painful even to look at,'’ Dr. Basbaum said. Finding ways to communicate pain is essential to patients who are suffering, many of whom don’t receive adequate treatment from doctors.Mr. Collen said the main goal of the exhibit is to raise awareness about the problem of chronic pain.“People don’t believe what they can’t see,'’ Mr. Collen said. “But they see a piece of art an individual created about their pain and everything changes.'’
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POPSAll-girl fish that hasn't had sex for 70,000 years According to the report in the BMC Evolutionary Biology journal, one theory is that the fish may occasionally be taking some of the DNA from the males that trigger reproduction, in order to refresh their gene pool. Dr Laurence Loewe, of the university's School of Biological Sciences, said: "What we have shown now is that this fish really has something special going on and that some special tricks exist to help this fish survive. "Maybe there is still occasional sex with strangers that keeps the species alive. Future research may give us some answers."
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POPSNeurophysiology and Buddhism <<<It is undeniable, however, that the false reification of that which we identify spuriously as 'self' — now acquiring the weighty imprimatur of modern science — has devastating implications for all brands of Theism. Buddhism alone not merely encompasses this late-revealed truism, it makes it the basis of a new moral order that sees the annihilation of the self as the inelutable first step in our mastery of the existential predicament that doggedly besets us in this sorry world. A few concluding words — there remains a metaphysical (and theological) hiatus in dealing with 'being' without a reference to that other great existential puzzle — the transformative aspect of life that is generally subsumed under the title 'becoming'.>>>
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POPSArt: Maria Lassnig - Nudes A new exhibition of Maria Lassnig's paintings is opening on April 25 at the Serpentine, London. Her work deals with the awareness we have of our own bodies, and rejects the strictures of traditional portraiture. Have a look at some of her work Truth and dare At nearly 90, the painter Maria Lassnig is producing the most confrontational work of her life. She talks to Adrian Searle The painter greets us, naked. She holds a gun to her own head, and aims another at her spectators. Maria Lassnig, approaching 90, might be trying to tell us something. You or Me is the title of this self-portrait, painted in 2005 and the first thing you see in her exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery in London. As well as an introduction, the painting is a test: bolt and run, or stay and face the consequences. I plunged right in. Visual art Truth and dare At nearly 90, the painter Maria Lassnig is producing the most confrontational work of her life. She talks to Adrian Searle In pictur