PALM DESERT, Calif., Aug. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Singing sensation Justin Bieber is speaking out as a huge fan - and has just been named a spokesperson - of Proactiv®, America's #1 acne system. Bieber will talk to teens about being proactive about acne and skin care to prevent breakouts as part of the brand's unique Be Proactiv® marketing campaign.
To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click: http://www.multivu.com/players/English/45556-Justin-Bieber-Proactiv-Spokesperson/
The Canadian-born YouTube sensation was the first recording artist to have seven songs from a debut album on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, with My World, which was released in November 2009 on Island Def Jam. Rocketed into the spotlight, Bieber credits his devoted loyal fan base for discovering him, saying, "I owe everything to my fans. They found me on YouTube and they make this whole thing fun."
He followed up the success of his debut album with the release of his first full studio release, My World 2.0 released in March 2010 and has since achieved even greater success; debuting at number one and certified platinum in less than two months of release in the United States, making Justin the youngest solo male artist to have a number 1 album on the Billboard Top 100 since Stevie Wonder in 1963. His album remained number 1 on the charts for four-weeks. He has over 8 million fans on Facebook, and over 4 million followers on Twitter, and his current hit "Baby" is the most viewed YouTube video of all time, at just over 260 million views. He has sold over 5 million albums worldwide to date.
Called the world's biggest pop star by People Magazine, Bieber joins a star-studded line-up of celebrity customers-turned-spokespeople, including leading pop music artists Katy Perry and Avril Lavigne, actresses Jenna Fischer and Jennifer Love Hewitt, singer and actress Julianne Hough, and many more.
"This is kind of a way I can give back to my fans, by letting them know I use Proactiv and that it's really easy - 1, 2, 3 and you're done. My fans already know I'm just a regular kid, except the stuff about my life that's not regular... like performing to thousands of kids and always being in the spotlight. But, I know that for a teenager, it doesn't matter how many people are looking at you, you don't want acne on your face."
As part of his work with Proactiv, Bieber will also raise awareness for an educational cause that's important to him, Pencils of Promise. Pencils of Promise is a nonprofit organization started less than two years ago to build schools and increase educational opportunities in less fortunate communities around the world.
"Pencils of Promise is an organization that I've been involved with since it was founded and I am really proud to support their work. Education and helping kids around the world is something I am passionate about. Working with Proactiv, we are going to help Pencils of Promise build 15 schools around the world," said Bieber.
For more information about Justin, Pencils of Promise, special offers from Proactiv, and exclusive behind-the-scenes videos from his Proactiv commercial shoot, visit http://justin.proactiv.com.
About Proactiv
Celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2010, Proactiv® Solution is America's #1 acne system, and a leader in acne prevention and treatment. Now with new micro-crystal benzoyl peroxide, Proactiv utilizes a three-step Combination Therapy® to directly target the root causes of acne - bacteria, oil production, and dead skin cell build up - and heal and soothe acne prone skin. Proactiv clears existing blemishes, soothes inflammation and redness, and helps to prevent new breakouts from occurring. Proactiv Solution has a complete line of products, beyond the Three-Step System, including moisturizers, sunscreens, spot treatments and body washes formulated specifically for acne prone skin.
Proactiv was developed by former acne sufferers and leading dermatologists, Katie Rodan, M.D. and Kathy Fields, M.D. It has been used successfully by millions of women, men and teens around the world. Proactiv has been recognized with 28 awards and honors from the beauty and health industry.
For more information about Proactiv, call (800) 778-1011 or visit www.proactiv.com.
In June of 2003, I was contacted by a ‘Good Morning Arizona’ viewer asking for help. His name was David Smith. He weighed 630 pounds and was given only about 4 more years left to live. At first, I just wanted to sit down and talk to him. I knew that we could change his body, but I needed to see if he was ready to make the change in his lifestyle. Within 10 minutes of talking to him, I knew that I would devote the next couple years of my life to changing his. David was never given a chance in life. He had no one to teach him, no one to believe in him. I drove out to his house every other day for a year and a half to work with him.
For the first month we focused on nutrition…because once you understand nutrition, you understand how to control the body. I taught him food combinations, meal timing, and how to portion foods to maximize results. To make sure that his program was successful, it had to be enjoyable and easy. I gave him cheat days every other day to look forward to, and began the phases of The Carb Cycle Solution™ – first resetting his metabolism, then moving through the phases to maximize weight loss. Whenever his weight loss plateaued, we would simply reset his metabolism and cycle him through the phases again…until he reached his goal weight.
As David lost weight, he began to turn his life around. Once he could fit into a car, he got his driver’s license, received his GED, and got his first job. He began working at a gym and studying to become a personal trainer to ‘pay it forward’ to others in need of help. As he began spending more time at work, I needed to find a way to help him control his nutrition outside of the house. I made a containerized system for him to carry, portion, and time his meals at work – and so the concept of the STAX Nutrition System was born.
In 26 months, he lost 401 pounds. He averaged almost 17 pounds of weight loss per month. Most importantly, he did it the natural way…without gastric bypass. I received thousands of emails from people inspired by David Smith’s weight loss success, who once thought gastric bypass was their only option. It isn’t.
Throughout the process, we became the best of friends. It is now our vision to educate, motivate, and inspire anyone and everyone that the human body is an amazing machine that can be transformed through nutrition and exercise. With a simple lifestyle program and the tools to make it easy, we can change our body however we want.
His success inspired the best medical professionals in the Southwest to donate their services to help David complete his transformation. With their help, he has been able to shed his old self to become the true David he has always been inside. A very special thanks to the incredibly generous doctors and institutions that donated their services and supplies to help David in his journey. BELOW IS DAVID’S STORY, WRITTEN THROUGHOUT HIS TRANSFORMATION. YOU WILL SEE WHAT AN INCREDIBLY WONDERFUL PERSON HE IS, HOW HE OVERCAME HIS OBSTACLES…AND WHY HE IS MY BEST FRIEND. DAVID’S STORY, WRITTEN JULY 2004: My name is David Smith, I have an all too common name, but I am not at all common. I was at one time well over six-hundred pounds...six-hundred and thirty to be precise.
What I am about to share with you is very personal and painful - my family does not even know about it - My Past & My Demons. When I was six years old I was molested several times by someone...someone I trusted. It was not a family member or an adult that molested me, it was another child - my first friend I ever made. This is where my problems began, I have looked back at my life many times to find where I lost myself - when I turned to food as my friend...and that is where it all starts.
I was never able to develop my social skills as a child. Until now, I have lived a lonely life, a life that never felt comfortable to me because in my heart I knew it wasn't for me. I have lived in the same house for almost twenty of my twenty seven years of life, and what do I have to show for it? Nothing. No friends at all, no job. I feel like a stranger, an outsider...nobody knows the real me, not even my family. Until recently, I didn't know the real me either.
When I was seven we moved to the East Valley of the Phoenix area. My abusive friend was gone, but my shame wasn't. The only thing that made me feel happy was food and soda, because it didn't judge me, it didn't hurt me, and it numbed the pain. By the time my wounds began to heal, another problem arose - my weight. I was the fattest and one of the tallest kids in every school I attended. I always kept to myself, hoping that someone would make the first contact and be my friend. I didn't know how to reach out and communicate with people. I didn't want to be hurt again. I was full of shame.
Even though I was the biggest kid in school, I was always picked on because I never stood up for myself, unless I was provoked - and you never want to poke a bear. When I was in school, everybody used to play a game where they would try to provoke me into a fight, then twenty kids would try to restrain me. I didn't mind it because it made me look tough and I would never have to fight anyone. That opened up the flood gates - I was a measuring stick for everyone who wanted to look tough in front of everybody. When I was eleven I was fighting kids and teenagers I didn't even know. They would just come up to me and start punching me. I have been spit on, I have had dirt clots, rocks, bolts, basketballs, books, even feces among other things thrown at me. It started to take a toll on me. I started to hate people. Nobody wanted to be my friend. I didn't even want friends anymore, I just wanted to be left alone.
In high school the physical abuse stopped because I was too big to be picked on, but the emotional abuse started and continued up until last year. This hurt the most. I could heal my bumps and bruises over time, but my soul couldn't heal as fast.
When I was seventeen I dropped out of high school - something I have always regretted, because most of my family has dropped out. I couldn't take it anymore. I was having panic attacks just walking down the halls of the high school. I would walk with my head down and just concentrate on walking. I didn't want to see my tormentor's faces. I still don't know what they look like. I just remember the taunts and the laughter they directed toward me.
Seven years ago my mother was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. My mother and I were very close. You could have called me a 'Momma's Boy.' It was very stressful on the family, especially me because my mom was the only one that I allowed myself to show love to. My family and I took care of her the best we could at the end, but I almost needed help too - because of my weight. She died almost two years ago, and it hit me hard. The first month I hardly ate anything, but after the first month I was an eating machine. I didn't care about anything. I just wanted to get my fix and be left alone.
My social disorder got a hundred times worse I could not go out in public without feeling like the elephant man. When I went out in public everybody stared, pointed, made comments to each other, and even laughed behind my back. Sometimes, they even laughed in my face. I felt ashamed every time I stepped outside my door, just like the shame I felt when I was molested. I felt anger for people, like I felt anger for my abusive friend. I hated you all. I felt that everybody thought of me as a joke, that I was put on this earth to entertain you all. My soul was in agony every time I would try to sleep I could hear it moan. My heart was turning evil and I was going insane. I started talking to myself because I had no one to talk to. I could go a week and only speak once or twice to a family member.
I couldn’t go on living anymore, so I felt that suicide was my only option. This is where my social disorder kept me from killing myself. At this point in my life I couldn’t even step outside in my backyard until it was dark out. I was so afraid of being made funof, I thought that if I did kill myself, maybe the police and mortuary people would make fun of my body. I didn’t want to be a joke in death as I was in life. I postponed it until I came up with a way to kill myself and not leave a body. I thought of many ways to end it but, I picked fire. It was a perfect plan. I would buy a plastic swimming pool and some gasoline. My death would be painful because that is what I thought I deserved. I even picked a spot on the map - a dry lake bed called the Painted Rock Reservoir. I wanted to be as far away as possible from my home because I didn’t want my ghost to haunt my house...I had already haunted it for twenty years. Instead, I wanted to haunt the desert. When I lit myself on fire as planned, maybe my screams could be heard in the city, maybe my screams would let me be free from my pain, maybe I would be like a phoenix and be reborn in my flames and ashes. I was so close to doing it, until one day in May I decided to change my life.
I was in my room really depressed about my life, regretting everything I did wrong in my past - like never graduating, never having a girlfriend, never playing high school sports - the usual 'Why me'? Why me? Why did life past me by? Then I realized I could sit here the rest of my life regretting everything - or try to fix my life. Live my life like I was supposed to live it. If I didn’t, I realized I would regret this point of my life, my turning point, the point when I could have done something. I knew my weight was going to catch up to me sooner or later. I felt that if I didn’t do something soon, I would have to go to the hospital. I GAVE MYSELF THREE OPTIONS: 1. Gastric bypass surgery. I decided against it because it was too risky I didn’t want to die on the operating table. I didn’t want to leave behind my obese body to be mocked by people. 2. Lose the weight the old fashion way - learn proper nutrition and exercise. 3. Suicide by fire.
I picked number 2, and I am glad I did. I started a new plan...not one that would take my life, but one that would save my life. The first thing I needed to do was to let my past go. It was eating me up too much, if I wanted a new life I had to start fresh. No more regretting my past mistakes and decisions. The second thing I needed to do was get over my fear of the outside world. I knew I couldn’t function as a human being if I couldn’t even step outside of my house. I decided the best way to get over my fear was to destroy it. I decided the best way to get over my fear of people was to be seen, and the best way to be seen is on television.
I knew that if I was on television, people would know my story. They wouldn’t see me as a joke. They would see me as a human, and not as a beast. So I contacted channel 3 in late June, and I told them I needed help. Within a few days, Chris contacted me and showed me the way to my freedom. About a month ago, Chris told me he was hesitant at first, because he needed to know if I was truly dedicated to a change in my lifestyle - and a change in the traditional 'eat less & exercise more attitude'. His approach was different, and he decided to give me a chance. I am so glad he did...because if he didn’t, I probably wouldn’t be here today. I never thought losing weight would be this easy. The hardest part was giving up my lifelong relationship with food - even though he lets me 'cheat' every other day.
I am now losing weight quicker than people who have undergone gastric bypass operation. My metabolism is higher than ever. The only thing I needed was willpower and commitment something I never had before. I still don’t believe how I got out that door the first time and started walking. At first, I couldn’t walk more than 500 feet without stopping, now I can walk miles without stopping. Here I was wasting away a body that I never gave a chance to. I thought to myself... if I had even a sliver of courage, I could accomplish anything including my freedom.
DAVID AND CHRIS - 'TEAMMATES'
When I was on GMAZ in early February I was surprised with the make over I was to receive when I reached my goal weight. I was shocked because I still felt like I was six hundred pounds. I felt like I was a fraud why would anybody want to be nice to me -I didn’t deserve it. Doesn’t anyone see what I see in the mirror? People were coming up to me telling me that I looked so great, but I saw myself every day and I thought I looked the same. Chris kept reassuring me, so when I got home from channel 3, I watched my segment and I was amazed at what a difference it was from my first appearance. For the first time I saw myself as others have viewed me, I was not a fraud - it was real!
TEN MONTHS LATER
My darkness, my personal demon, suffered a devastating blow that day. It had tried to convince me that I was failing - but I was not. It knows that its days are numbered, It also knows that it is going to fail - not me. The darkness tries to keep me down but I am too strong to even give it the time of day. The darkness lived off my fear and sorrow, and now that fear and sorrow is no more. I have recently started to regain a life that I never thought possible.
THE TRUE DAVID
I am no longer that scared little boy, but I am starting to become the confident man I knew that I could be. I have finally gotten my drivers license - seven months ago I couldn’t even fit in a cars front seat. I just recently received my GED and Chris helped get me my first job at the local Wal-Mart. I am not afraid of people anymore. I can walk with my head held high. I don’t care what people think of me. Some people know my story and some don’t - all that really matters is that I finally love myself. That is the one thing I never did was love myself. Once you love yourself, you can be anything you want to be. I can’t wait to experience the things that I have never experienced in my life. I want to experience a lot of things that are fun, adventurous, exciting, mysterious, and dangerous. I have only allowed myself to experience pain and suffering. The one thing that I am most excited about experiencing, is love. I have heard that the greatest feeling in life is to fall in love. I want to know how that feels. No matter how deep you dig yourself into a hole, you can always dig yourself out, I am proof of that. Nothing is impossible in this world - if you want it you just need to grab hold of it and never let go of your dreams...because some dreams if you work hard enough, really do come true.
DAVID E. SMITH 18 MONTHS AND 320 LBS LATER...
DAVID TODAY This is an update on my life so far…I have now lost 401 pounds in 26 months - naturally. I used to be an animal, a creature, a beast. I have been called a lot of things lately, but none of the above in along time – it has all been positive for the first time in my life. I have actually overheard that I am kind of cute a couple of times, go figure considering what I used to be. I now have new eyes and a new smile, thanks to the kind doctors who have helped me. My scarlet letter, my skin is now gone. It feels like my life is finally ready to begin.
DAVID E. SMITH TODAY...
There is so much I haven't experienced in my life. It feels like I am the oldest person in the world to be a virgin, or never been on a date, or never had a first kiss. There is always that ‘what if’ in my mind…what if she laughs at me, what if she thinks that I am a freak, what if, what if, what if. All I can do now to null the pain is to take a little bit of love that is ahead of us and use it now, even though it doesn't exist yet. I know she is out there somewhere. I didn't change my life to die alone, I changed it for her. I changed it for us. I changed it for our children, and our children's children.
I think about my past and about my decision to ask for help. I was so lost, I felt like I had no other alternative but suicide. I now look at all these paths ahead of me, and I remember that one unlikely path I choose – to ask for help before I took my life. It was the greatest thing I have ever done. Chris is like a brother to me. He never gave up on me. He has not only saved my life, he has taught me a lot about this new world I am living in. We go out on the weekends, see movies, get a bite to eat, or just hang out. Our friendship has blossomed out of something so barren, that it is incredible how it has happened. We are two unlikely best friends - its so funny how life works. He made me feel like a human even when the outside world thought not.
Not only has my life changed, but I’ve inspired others as well…and hopefully many more to follow. It has been amazing watching the events of a path in the road that I would have never chosen. Chris always says that I changed his life more than he changed mine. Either way, we are going to be best friends forever.
I appreciate every breath I take, every sight I see, everything because it could be a lot different. It could be nothing, nonexistent. It feels good to have something I never thought I would. It feels good to be human.
A 6-year-old boy shows his hands: one with seven fingers and another with eight, in Shengjing Hospital in Shenyang, capital of northeast China’s Liaoning province, on March 22, 2010. Ready to undergo an operation, the boy has a total of 31 fingers and toes, which outnumber the current world record of 25.
[Photo/Asianewsphoto]
An X-ray of the feet of the 6-year-old boy who has a total of 31 fingers and toes, which outnumber the current world record of 25. [Photo/Asianewsphoto]
In April, 29th, 1961 a doctor of the 6th Soviet Antarctic expedition Leonid Rogozov aged 27 felt pain in a right lower belly and fever. The next day brought only exasperation. Having no chance to call a plane and being the only doctor at the station “Novolazarevskaya”, at night, in April, 30th the surgeon made an appendix removal operation on himself using local anesthesia. He was assisted by an engineer and the station’s meteorologist.
In 1959 Leonid Rogozov graduated from the Institute and was immediately accepted to the surgery clinical residency. However, his studies at the residency were broken off for some time due to Leonid’s trip to Antarctica in September, 1960 as a doctor of the 6th Soviet Antarctic expedition to Novolazarevskaya station.
During this expedition there happened an event that made a 27-year old surgeon world-famous.
In the 4th month of the wintering, in April, 29th, 1961, Leonid showed disturbing symptoms: weakness, nausea, fever and pain in a right iliac region. The following day his temperature got even higher. Being the only doctor in the expedition consisting of 13 people, Leonid diagnosed himself: acute appendicitis. There were no planes at any of the nearest stations, besides, adverse weather conditions would not allow to fly to Novolazarevskaya anyway. In order to save the sick member of a polar expedition there was needed an urgent operation on site. And the only way out was to operate on himself.
At night, on the 30th of April, 1961, the surgeon was being helped by a mechanical engineer and a meteorologist who were giving him the medical instruments and holding a small mirror at his belly. Lying half bent on the left side, the doctor made a local anesthesia with novocaine solution and made a 12cm incision in the right iliac region with a scalpel. Either watching in the mirror or by touch he removed an inflamed appendix and injected antibiotic in the abdominal cavity. In 30 or 40 minutes from the beginning of the operation there developed a faint and giddiness and the surgeon had to make pauses for some rest. Nevertheless, by midnight the operation lasting 1 hour and 45 minutes was over. In five days the temperature normalized, in two days more – the stitches were taken out.
In the St. Petersburg Museum of the Arctic and the Antarctic there is an exposure of surgical instruments that Leonid Rogozov applied for this uneasy operation.
An astronaut-pilot of the USSR, a Hero of the Soviet Union, German Titov wrote in his book “My blue planet”:
“In our country an exploit is life itself.
… We admire the Soviet doctor Boris Pastukhov, who injected himself with plague vaccine before applying it on the sick people: we envy the courage of the Soviet doctor Leonid Rogozov who made an appendix removal operation on himself in the hard conditions of the Antarctic expedition.
Sometimes I reflect upon this in solitude and ask myself if I could do the same and only one answer comes to my mind: “I would do my best…”
This list of extraordinary human abilities was inspired The Top 10 Tips to Improve Your Memory when I began thinking about how some people are blessed (or cursed, depending on your point of view) with the ability to recall a scene as if they were looking at a photograph. And how other people can recreate music from memory, such as Mozart’s famed reproduction of Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere after one hearing. What other extraordinary abilities might humans have? I’ve listed nine of the most well understood (i.e. not paranormal or ‘fringe science’) and interesting abilities rated from most common to most interesting and rare. Bear in mind that most of these unusual abilities are genetic and cannot be controlled by the person affected but are an inherent quality of their physical self.
9
Supertasters
People who experience taste with greater intensity than the rest of the population are called supertasters. Having extra fungiform papillae (the mushroom shaped bumps on the tongue that are covered in taste buds) is thought to be the reason why these people have a stronger response to the sensation of taste. Of the five types of taste, sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami, a supertaster generally finds bitterness to be the most perceptible. Scientists first noticed the differing abilities of people to taste a known compound when a DuPont chemist called Arthur Fox asked people to taste Phenylthiocarbamide (PTC). Some people could taste its bitterness; some couldn’t – whether people could depended on their genetic make-up (a variant of this test is now one of the most common genetic tests on humans). While about 70% of people can taste PTC, two thirds of them are rated as medium and only one third (approximately 25% of the wider population) are supertasters. Supertasters will often dislike certain foods, particularly bitter ones, such as brussel sprouts, cabbage, coffee, and grapefruit juice. Women, Asians, and Africans are most likely to have the increased number of fungiform papillae that make them supertasters.
8
Absolute pitch
People with absolute pitch are capable of identifying and reproducing a tone without needing a known reference. It is not simply a better ability to hear but the ability to mentally class sounds into remembered categories. Examples of this include identifying the pitch of everyday noises (e.g. horns, sirens, and engines), being able to sing a named note without hearing a reference, naming the tones of a chord, or naming the key signature of a song. Doing any of these is a cognitive act – it requires one to remember the frequency of each tone, be able to label it (e.g. ‘A’, ‘C#’, or ‘F-flat’), and sufficient exposure to the range of sound within each label. Opinions vary as to whether absolute pitch is genetic or a learned ability that is strongly influenced to one’s exposure to music at crucial developmental stages – much like how a child’s ability to identify colors by their frequency depends on the type and level of their exposure to it. Estimates of the portion of the population having absolute pitch range from 3% of the general population in the US and Europe to 8% of those (from the same areas) who are semi-professional or professional musicians. In music conservatories in Japan however, about 70% of musicians have absolute pitch. Part of the reason for this significantly larger percentage may be because absolute pitch is more common among people who grew up in a tonal (Mandarin, Cantonese, and Vietnamese) or pitch accent (Japanese) language environment. Absolute pitch is also more common in those who are blind from birth, have William’s Syndrome, or have an autism spectrum disorder.
7
Tetrachromacy
Tetrachromacy is the ability to see light from four distinct sources. An example of this in the animal kingdom is the zebrafish (Danio rerio), which can see light from the red, green, blue, and ultraviolet sections of the light spectrum. True tetrachromacy in humans is much rarer however – according to Wikipedia only two possible tetrachromats have been identified. Humans are normally trichromats, having three types of cone cells that receive light from either the red, green, or blue part of the light spectrum. Each cone can pick up about 100 graduations of color and the brain combines colors and graduations so that there are about 1 million distinguishable hues coloring your world. A true tetrachromat with an extra type of cone between red and green (in the orange range) would, theoretically, be able to perceive 100 million colors. Like supertasting, tetrachromacy is thought to be much more common in women than men – estimates range from 2 – 3% to 50% of women. Interestingly, colour-blindness in men (much more common than in women) may be inherited from women with tetrachromacy.
6
Echolocation
Echolocation is how bats fly around in dark forests – they emit a sound, wait for the echo to return, and use that sound of the echo in each ear plus the return time to work out where an object is and how far away. Surprisingly (well, maybe not on this list!), humans are also capable of using echolocation. Use of echolocation is probably restricted to blind people because it takes a long time to master and heightened sensitivity to reflected sound. To navigate via echolocation a person actively creates a noise (e.g. tapping a cane or clicking the tongue) and determines from the echoes where objects are located around them. People skilled at this can often tell where an object is, what size it is, and its density. Because humans cannot make or hear the higher pitched frequencies that bats and dolphins use they can only picture objects that are comparatively larger than those ‘seen’ by echolocating animals. People with the ability to echolocate include James Holman, Daniel Kish, and Ben Underwood. Perhaps the most remarkable and well-documented of cases is the story of Ben Underwood, who lost both his eyes to retinal cancer at the age of three. He is shown in the video above (warning: the scene where he puts in his prosthetic eyeballs may be a bit disturbing for some).
5
Genetic Chimerism
In the Iliad Homer described a creature having body parts from different animals, a chimera, from this mythological monster comes the name of the genetic equivalent – chimerism. Genetic chimerism, or tetragametism, in humans and other animals happens when two fertilized eggs or embryos fuse together early in pregnancy. Each zygote carries a copy of its parents DNA and thus a distinct genetic profile. When these merge, each population of cells retains its genetic character and the resulting embryo becomes a mixture of both. Essentially, a human chimera is their own twin. Chimerism in humans is very rare; Wikipedia states that there are only about 40 reported cases. DNA testing is often used to establish whether a person is biologically related to their parents or children and can uncover cases of chimerism when DNA results show that children are not biologically related to their mothers – because the child inherited a different DNA profile to the one shown by a blood test. This is what happened in the case of Lydia Fairchild: DNA tests of herself and her children led the state to think that she was not actually their mother. People born with chimerism typically have immune systems that make them tolerant to both genetically distinct populations of cells in their body. This means that a chimera has a much wider array of people to choose from should they need an organ transplant.
4
Synesthesia
Imagine consistently associating numbers or letters with certain colours, or hearing a specific word which triggers a particular sensation of taste on your tongue. These are two forms of a neurological condition called synesthesia. Synesthesia is when stimulation of a particular sensory or cognitive pathway leads to an involuntary (i.e. synesthesia is not learnt) response in other sensory or cognitive pathways. Synesthesia is most often genetic and the grapheme (letters, numbers, or other symbols) to colour form of synesthesia is the commonest. Other synesthetes can experience special-sequence synesthesia (e.g. where dates have a precise location in space), ordinal linguistic personification (when numbers have personalities), or sound to colour synesthesia (where tones are perceived as colours). Although synesthesia is a neurological condition it shouldn’t be thought of as a disorder, because generally it does not interfere with a person’s ability to function. Most people are not even aware that their experiences of life elicit more sensory responses than other peoples might and the ones that are rarely consider synesthesia to have a negative impact on their lives. Predictions of the percentage of people with synesthesia vary widely, from 1 in 20 to 1 in 20,000. Studies from 2005 and 2006, using a random population sample, suggested 1 in about 23 people have synesthesia. Examples of people with synesthesia include the author Vladimir Nabokov, composer Olivier Messiaen, and scientist Richard Feynman. Daniel Tammet, who is mentioned in the next section of this list, is a synesthete (in addition to being a mental calculator) who sees numbers with shapes and texture.
3
Mental calculators
The most extraordinary group of people adept at performing complex mental calculations is those who are also autistic savants. While there are many trained people who can work out multiplications of large numbers (among other calculations) in their head extremely fast – mostly mathematicians, writers, and linguists – the untrained ability of autistic savants is the most interesting. The majority of these people are born with savant syndrome (only an estimated 50% of people with savantism are also autistic), which is still poorly understood, few develop it later in life, usually due to a head injury. There are less than 100 recognised prodigious savants in the world and of the savants with autism who are capable of using mental calculation techniques there are even less. Recent research has suggested that a blood flow to the part of the brain responsible for mathematical calculations of six to seven times the normal rate is one of the factors that enables mental calculators to work out math much faster than the average person. Examples of people with extraordinary calculation skills include Daniel McCartney, Salo Finkelstein, and Alexander Aitken. Daniel Tammet is one of few who are also autistic savants.
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Eidetic memory
When a person has photographic memory or total recall this is called eidetic memory. It is the ability to recall sounds, images, or objects from one’s memory with extreme accuracy. Examples of eidetic memory include the effort of Akira Haraguchi who recited from memory the first 100,000 decimal places of pi and the drawings of Stephen Wiltshire (who is also an autistic savant) – his recreation of Rome is shown in the video above. Kim Peek, the inspiration for the autistic (Peek is not actually autistic though) character of Raymond Babbit in the movie Rainman, also possesses eidetic memory – among other things he can recall some 12,000 books from memory. Whether true photographic memory exists in adults is still a controversial issue, but it is accepted that eidetic abilities are distributed evenly between men and women. One also cannot become an eidetiker through practice.
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Immortal cells
There is only one known case of a person having immortal cells (cells that can divide indefinitely outside of the human body, defying the Hayflick Limit) and that is of a woman named Henrietta Lacks. In 1951, 31 year old Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer, which she died from within the year. Unknown to her and her family (i.e. without informed consent) a surgeon took a tissue sample from her tumor that was passed on to a Dr. George Gey. A scientist for the John Hopkins University Tissue Culture Laboratory, Gey propagated Lacks’ tissue sample into an immortal cell line – the HeLa cell line (pictured above). The cells from Lacks’ tumour have an active version of the telomerase enzyme (telomerase is the mechanism by which cells age or are aged) and proliferate abnormally fast. On the day of Henrietta Lacks’ death, Dr. Gey announced to the world that a new age in medical research had begun – one that might provide a cure for cancer. HeLa cells were utilised in 1954 by Jonas Salk to develop the cure for polio. Since then they’ve been used in researching cancer, AIDS, the effects of radiation and toxic substances, and for mapping genes, among other things. Today, the HeLa cells are so common in laboratories that they contaminate many other cell cultures and have rendered some biological studies invalid through their presence. There are also more HeLa cells alive today than when Henrietta Lacks was alive – they outweigh her physical mass by many times. Tragically, Lacks was never told of the immensely valuable contribution her cells made to science and her family was not informed until many years later that her cells were being used for research purposes (a 1990 court ruling later verified Lacks’ hospital as the owner of her discarded tissue and cells). I highly recommend reading this story for a better picture of Henrietta Lacks’ life and the consequences of her cancer.
