I’m always craving your fingers
tracing my body’s outline in that
z
i
g
z
a
g
manner
whispering into my ear
tugging pieces of my hair
sending chills up my spine with every beat
I love your laugh and my laugh together. I love it when you reach your hand out when I step away as we’re walking. I love it when I first see you and always run and jump into your arms. I love grabbing your jaw and kissing you. I love going into Whole Foods with you. I love it when you lift me up so I can touch the rim and dunk it. I love it when you wrap your arms around me practically twice. I love it when we communicate in every way except normal. I love how you let nothing get to you. I love how everyone tells me we’re crazy and the same person. I love getting on top of things and doing bird calls with you. I love how you always carry my purse and yell “Indiana Jones has one!” I love how your immense practical sense makes up for my nonexistent practical sense. I’ve loved these eight months. I love you.
Hormone Hatchery
Our pituitary gland produces hormones that control bodily functions including growth, temperature, sex drive and the conversion of food into energy. Any malfunction can have dire consequences for health. The gland is hard to study in action, however, being no bigger than a pea and located in a bony cavity at the base of the brain. Animals with more accessible endocrine systems can provide useful insights into how hormones are produced, transported and released in parts of the body where they are needed. Here, we see an x-organ sinus gland of a crab – there is one in each eyestalk – preparing to release hormones, packaged into little balls (stained blue), into the bloodstream. While the human pituitary gland behaves in a similar way, further comparisons are limited because the crab’s hormones control shell shedding, buoyancy and change of body colour.
Written by Mick Warwicker
—
- Tina Carvalho
- Originally published under Creative Commons (CC-BY 2.0) by NIH
(via sugaratoms)