Features

My Grandmother: An Armenian-Turkish Memoir
Fethiye Cetin
Translated by Maureen Freely
London-New York: Verso, 2012
Pp. 114

This memoir reopens a chapter of history that, until recently, was largely obscured, not least in the country where it happened. By telling the story of her grandmother, Fethiye Cetin bears witness to a woman’s amazing adaptation and inner strength in the face of unspeakable tragedy. Implicit in the narrative is the question of why the truth should be unspeakable. It was not forgetfulness that made her grandmother keep silent about events that changed the course of her life and her very identity. She had an excellent memory. 

Cetin spent much of her childhood in her grandparents’ home in Maden, in southeast Turkey, and grew up loving her grandmother most of all. The book includes warm and funny family memories — going to the cinema with her siblings, learning to play the mandolin, folktales told by her grandmother, and anecdotes about her grandfather, who was a charming person unless he was hungry, when he turned into an ogre.

It thus came as a shock when years later, after she had moved to Ankara to study law, Cetin learned that her grandmother’s name was Heranus, not Seher, as they had always called her; that she was an Armenian Christian, not a Turkish Muslim; and that she had been separated from her mother on a forced march towards the Syrian border in 1915. One day in 1975, Cetin’s grandmother took her aside to whisper a seemingly strange request to help her find her relatives in America, whom Cetin knew nothing about. 

From then on, always making sure they were alone, Heranus began to relate what happened to her as a child: how gendarmes came to their village, taking away and later killing all the men, returning to carry off particularly beautiful young girls and women, and once again to herd the remaining women and children on a long, agonising death march. Though her mother fought with all her might, Heranus was seized from her arms by a Turkish officer who took her into his childless home. 

In relative terms, Heranus was lucky. The officer loved her and was very kind, but she suffered many indignities from his wife and neighbours who knew of her Armenian origin. It was a relief when she was married off to a “cousin” and could start her own family, but the price of leading a normal life was drawing a curtain of silence over the past. 

Others have documented the horrors of the Armenian massacre. What is compelling about Cetin’s memoir is her exploration of the human effects of having experienced so much suffering and loss of family. She ponders why her grandmother recounted events without emotions or explanations, how she could have held so much pain inside her for so many years in total silence. Perhaps she could not fathom the depth of human cruelty she had witnessed, much less come to terms with it.

Cetin also ponders her own reaction: “I didn’t discuss what she told me with anyone else, and neither did I discuss the shock waves it sent through my own life. I cannot say if this was because my grandmother wanted it this way, or if it came from my own shame, but I, too, hid what I was hearing from others: my world had been turned upside down… We formed a special and very secret alliance. I sensed her longing to rid herself of the burden she had been carrying all these years — to open the curtains that hid her secret, to tell this story she had never shared with a soul… ” (p. 62)

Translator Maureen Freely’s introduction puts Cetin’s account in historical context, showing how European designs and territorial realities at the end of World War I produced a toxic mixture pitting Turkish nationalists against minority communities.

Cetin’s discovery of her family’s true history opened her eyes to the hidden diversity of Turkish society. Heranus’ story was no exception. Many Armenian girls were adopted or married by Turks and integrated into the society. As a relative later told her, “In the place where we come from, it’s hard to find anyone without ‘impure blood’ — there’s no one with any other kind.” (p. 84) 

The book is a study in the disastrous effects of ultra-nationalism and prejudice, but it also records counterexamples, showing that not all were poisoned by racial myths, not all agreed with the killings and deportations. And it’s not only about Armenians. Cetin has applied what she learned from her grandmother to her own life, participating as a lawyer in the Committee to Promote Human Rights and the Minority Rights Working Group. By speaking truth, this memoir is oriented as much towards the future as to the past, part of a growing movement to create a more democratic and tolerant Turkey.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and that means romantic dinners for two are in order. Why not cook an elegant restaurant style dinner at home? With just a little romantic planning you can put together a great meal worthy of any five-star chef.

An elegant meal that comes to mind when I think of fine dining is a plate of perfectly seared scallops. It always looks appealing and is surprisingly easy to prepare. It’s what you serve with the scallops that makes the dish even more special. A delicious sauce and a special side can elevate a plate of scallops to new heights. This meal may look more complicated than it is, but it’s very manageable to make.

Searing the scallops is the easiest part of this recipe and it only takes minutes. You’ll want to have the pancakes and the butter sauce prepared a few minutes beforehand. If you know how to fry hash browns or latkes, then you won’t find these celeriac pancakes difficult to make at all. The beurre blanc needs some elbow grease to make. But if you know how to whisk quickly, then you’re all set. Enjoy this dinner for two with your special someone.

Joseph Erdos is a New York-based writer and editor who shares his passion for food on his blog, Gastronomer’s Guide. One for the Table is Amy Ephron’s online magazine that specializes in food, politics and love (oneforthetable.com).

Serves 2

For the pancakes:

• 226gm celeriac, peeled and grated
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 large egg
• Fine sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Vegetable oil, for frying

For the beurre blanc:

• 1 cup sparkling wine
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
• 226gm (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• Fine sea salt

For the scallops:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 scallops, abductor muscles removed
• Fine sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Chopped chives, for garnish

Combine the celeriac with lemon juice in a bowl and toss. Mix in the flour and the egg. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat a shallow layer of vegetable oil in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Form celeriac mixture into flat 7.6cm patties. Once oil is shimmering, add patties and cook in batches until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Remove to a tray lined with paper towels. Yield: 8 to 10 pancakes.

Add sparkling wine and shallot to a small saucepan set over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and simmer until reduced to about 2 tablespoons. Strain shallot from mixture and return to saucepan set over low heat. Begin vigorously whisking in butter, a little at a time, until an emulsion forms. Season with salt. Yield: 1 cup.

Warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet set over medium-high heat. Liberally season scallops with salt and pepper. Sear scallops for about 2 to 3 minutes per side. They should be brown and crusty on each side and just opaque in the middle. 

Arrange pancakes on a platter or individual plates and top each with a scallop. Spoon beurre blanc over the scallops and garnish with chives.

PARIS — Whether you are a night owl or an early bird, don’t bother fighting the impulse because it’s probably in your genes, a recent study suggested.

Scientists have long known that all plants and animals — from lowly phytoplankton to homo sapiens — have internal biological clocks attuned to a 24-hour cycle.

But within this so-called circadian rhythm, individuals of some species, including ours, may have a natural preference for day or night.

Previous research had singled out genes with an unspecified influence on these rhythms. 

But very little was known about which parts of our genetic code determine whether you are more of a night crawler or a morning lark.

A research team led by David Hinds of California-based biotechnology company 23andMe trawled the genomes — the unique genetic blueprint of an organism — of 89,283 people for clues.

The team compared the findings with responses to a Web survey in which the same individuals were asked to indicate whether they preferred mornings or evenings.

The study, published in Nature Communications, found a clear link between more than a dozen gene variants, and healthy individuals who said they were at their best in the morning.

The team also looked for genetic links with sleep disorders such as insomnia, apnoea or sweating while slumbering, but came up empty-handed.

Other research has detected correlations between the morning/evening preference and abnormal weight or depression. But here again, Hinds and colleagues did not find a link.

The mechanism controlling circadian rhythms is found in neurons located in a part of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nuclei, in the hypothalamus.

The same process is involved in jetlag, which is the feeling of being out of phase — too sleepy or wide awake — with a given time cycle.

SEATTLE — For Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS), an oil-imaging company in Oslo, Norway, finding pockets of oil and natural gas in the ground essentially starts by taking a large ultrasound picture of Earth.

“It involves huge amounts of data,” said Guillaume Cambois, PGS’ executive vice president of imaging and engineering. “And, of course, time is of the essence.”

PGS, this year tried to speed up that work by buying a supercomputer built by Seattle-based Cray. The computer, housed in several pantrylike cabinets, takes PGS’ massive library of images and data, and applies algorithms to get crystal-clear pictures that speed the complex task of finding oil.

PGS is one of the several businesses that have been buying Cray’s supercomputers, a shift for a company that has traditionally sold to government agencies and academic institutions. Cray says 15 per cent of its revenue last year, expected to fall between $720 million and $725 million, came from sales to businesses. That’s double the percentage from 2014.

Cray’s shift comes at a time when demand for cloud computing — which allows businesses access to greatly expanded computing power — is rising as corporate big-data needs increase. But demand for supercomputers is also strong; the massive pieces of technology do some things that the cloud just can’t.

Cray isn’t alone in this. At IBM, sales grew last year for just one of its more than a dozen lines of business, according to estimates by investment bank UBS. That would be mainframes, the giant computers with tonnes of processing power that Big Blue has been selling for decades. Sales by IBM’s System Z unit soared 30 per cent, to $2.8 billion, UBS estimates.

Market-research firm IDC says sales of high-performance computers reached $10.22 billion in 2014 and estimates the market will grow 8.6 per cent a year in the following five years, topping $15 billion in 2019.

The uptick in sales of giant computers by Cray, IBM and others bucks decades of struggles to compete with smaller computers and the cloud. It’s also a reminder that established technologies sometimes show surprising staying power in the face of rapid change.

The history of technology is largely a story of new innovations competing to elbow out the old. Personal computers were the death knell for the typewriter. The iPhone started a wave of change that would dethrone cellular-phone giants Nokia and BlackBerry.

The Seattle area, home to Amazon Web Services and Microsoft’s Azure platform, is the epicentre of what technology analysts say is a once-in-a-generation shift in how people and businesses deal with their digital goods.

But that move towards cloud computing, or using giant data centres to store data and run software programmes, hasn’t spelled the end of the line for the business of selling refrigerator-sized computers.

As Jefferies analysts noted after IBM reported its fourth-quarter financial results recently, “the entire world is not moving to the cloud all at once”.

For some companies with heavy-duty computing needs, “the economics don’t make sense” to move to the cloud, said Donna Dillenberger, a technical fellow with IBM who specialises in business-focused computer systems. “It would be cheaper to have their own on-premise data centre.”

Data restictions

Many buyers of mainframes or other high-performance computers belong to industries like insurance or finance. Because of regulatory or other restrictions on how they use data, they tend to remain plugged in to powerful computers they own and operate themselves.

In other cases, complicated software developed over decades would be tough to rework for the cloud. That includes things like airline-reservation systems or complex logistics and scheduling software for railroads or utilities.

“There are a lot of applications running on mainframes that have been there for a long time and are hard to move,” said Mark Russinovich, chief technology officer of Microsoft’s Azure unit.

Renting computer  not a good option

Microsoft and rival Amazon.com are introducing increasingly powerful computers that customers can rent, but analysts say high-performance computers can clear technical hurdles that most “public clouds” of pooled servers can’t.

Steve Conway, an analyst with IDC, said the cloud is great at simpler technical problems. But supercomputers are often needed for complex problems where one small design change may have a ripple effect that changes 50 other inputs and everything needs to be calibrated as one, he said.

“Calculation that takes everything into consideration at the same time takes a hell of a lot of computing power,” Conway said.

Supercomputers are used across industries. They aren’t just for heavy players in the auto and manufacturing businesses.

Companies use them for designing a Pringles can so that chips can soar into the air and back into the can. Or they’re used to create a diaper that absorbs properly but also has its many tabs in all the right places.

Golf-equipment manufacturer Ping is using the technology to make golf clubs.

“What’s good technology for designing a space shuttle turns out to be good for a golf company,” Conway said.

In many cases, though, the question of whether to use such proprietary servers or cloud-based services isn’t an either-or proposition.

Rick Arthur, director of advanced computing at GE Research, said the company uses supercomputers in many stages of its design process to examine “overwhelmingly complex” data and make sense of it. It also uses the cloud.

“If you have a cloud plus this secret sauce of a supercomputer behind it, you can now do things that are not possible” for someone relying on Amazon or Microsoft alone, he said.

More cloud reliance

However, many analysts and industry insiders expect most businesses and government entities to increasingly rely on the cloud for most tasks.

“The whole industry should be going to the cloud,” Dillenberger, with IBM, said. “It’s more efficient.” In addition to selling and leasing its mainframes, IBM rents their processing power in its own cloud services.

Microsoft’s Russinovich said the technical barriers and businesses’ wariness of the cloud are both eroding. “I think all of these blockers will be addressed over time,” he said.

Commercial companies have used supercomputers for decades. But as costs for the technology come down and the amount of data companies collect rises, Cray sees an opportunity to make a splash across industries.

The company sold supercomputers to businesses across five industries in 2015, including financial services, manufacturing and life sciences. Corporations may buy the same type of computer as a $100 million model that goes to a government agency, but the company’s model may cost a few hundred thousand dollars. The trade-off is less computing power.

Cray, said Chief Strategy Officer Barry Bolding, is moving “away from being exclusively a provider to big government”. For the company, which employs 150 people in Washington and 1,270 worldwide, targeting commercial buyers is something of a blast from the past.

The company sold the first supercomputer to the auto industry in 1979. But more recently, the majority of the company’s sales targeted government clients.

Cray itself is emerging from the bumpy road of corporate deal making in the 1990s that saw the company change hands twice in four years and a corporate cousin go bankrupt. That ended in 2000 when the Cray Research division was acquired by Seattle-based Tera Computing, and renamed itself Cray.

“Their history since then has been kind of a low-hanging-fruit thing,” said IDC’s Conway, who worked at Cray in the early 2000s. “The first order of business was to get revenue coming in so they went after the government and large universities and have done really well in building that company back.”

So it’s understood, we are all making an effort to protect the trees and save the planet by printing less and keeping information in digital format whenever it is possible. Well, most of the time this is true, but we still need to print every now and then, and in the end we spend more than reasonable money on ink. Have things improved in the last 10 years or so?

Globally they haven’t but the industry has come up with a few little innovations that help to alleviate the pain. This is no miracle solution but every bit counts and helps.

Epson is the company leading the colour ink-jet market, the type of printer that is frequently used at home and in small offices, the places where expenditure hurts most. Epson has released a series that uses tanks of ink that can easily be refilled with ink sold in inexpensive bottles, instead of having costly cartridges that you throw away and completely replace with new cartridges.

By designing high capacity tanks and saving the user the cost of disposable cartridges, the company’s L series (L300, L800, L810 models) significantly reduces ink cost over time. Other manufacturers have adopted the concept that has proven to be very environmentally friendly, though you still find on the market printers’ models that use disposable cartridges.

And then there are tips.

Remember that your printer has a draft mode. For simply reviewing a text, properly sizing a photo or printing simple notes that you will discard anyway in a few minutes or hours, selecting the draft mode consumes less ink that the regular or the high quality modes. Even better, first print in black only until you are satisfied with the contents, then you can shift to colour printing for the final copy.

Of course, when your printer tells you to buy ink for you’ll soon be running out of it, follow the wise advice but don’t actually replace the cartridge until you really can’t print at all.

The ultimate savings can be achieved by using compatible inks, but this has to be done wisely, carefully.

Compatible inks are made and sold by third party manufacturers, i.e. not by the original maker of the printer like Epson or HP, to name the main two giants. These third party inks can be 60 to 70 per cent less expensive than the original ones. However, whereas buying Epson or HP ink is an absolute guarantee of quality, finding reliable third party ink is more difficult, for you may get a product that will result in degraded printing quality or may even cause printer damage. A thorough search should still lead you to finding good quality third party inks and save significant amounts of money this way.

Some technical reviews found on the Web say that even the best quality compatible inks will cause some damage to your printer in the end. It may be true, especially when it comes to laser printers, but the actual cost over time has to be properly evaluated. If compatible inks ruin your printer after say 10 ink replacements or more then the savings you would have made on ink will be noticeably higher than the price of a new printer! You still win in the end. We all know that, typically, printers are not expensive but ink is.

Perhaps the smartest, simplest way to save money on ink for printers is to print less. Back to square one.

LOS ANGELES — A new coffee diet claiming to help lose weight and improve IQ is gaining a major following in the United States — and raising eyebrows among doctors sceptical of its benefits. 

Dave Asprey, the founder and CEO of the “Bulletproof Diet”, pulls no punches when making claims for his radical health recipe, cup of coffee in hand.

“You become a better employee, better parent, better friend, better person,” said the former Silicon Valley entrepreneur now living in Canada. “My energy changes, my brain changes. I can pay attention, I can follow through.” 

The cornerstone of Asprey’s diet is a drink called Bulletproof Coffee, a modified version of the caffeinated beverage which uses beans stripped of mycotoxins — essentially mould that forms during the fermentation process. 

Add to that butter from grass-fed cows and medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) oil. 

The ingredients are blended together to produce a creamy, naturally sweet beverage a bit like a milkshake, taken at breakfast in lieu of a meal. 

“So you drink a couple of these and all of a sudden you don’t care about food for a very long time,” said Asprey. “Your brain has energy that doesn’t come from sugar, you didn’t want sugar in your coffee and you lose the craving and you sort of have freedom.” 

Asprey used to weigh 300 pounds, and spent much of his life battling to lose weight.

The coffee diet idea came to him during a trip to Tibet in 2004. He was weak with altitude sickness while travelling in the mountainous region — until he drank yak butter tea. 

Asprey was so impressed by the energetic effect of the drink that he tried to reproduce it at home.

After years of trying all kinds of ingredients and combinations, he unveiled a patented formula in 2009 through his blog and on social media, claiming the coffee and an associated health regimen helped him attain a “bodybuilder” physique. 

‘Better our body’

Asprey’s diet is now one of the most popular in the United States, where a third of the population of some 320 million is obese. 

And his modified coffee has become the first link in an empire that includes the New York Times best-selling book “The Bulletproof Diet”.

In addition to people looking to lose weight, it attracts athletes and supporters of “biohacking”, a movement that combines biology and food technology to improve physical and mental capacity. 

“Me and my wife are in the fitness industry, so we are trying to do things that better our body,” said Justin Lovato, a burly personal trainer. 

Past the hit of morning coffee, the method advocates a diet free of gluten and sugar that draws around half of its calories from “healthy fats” such as MCT oil, 20 per cent from protein — preferably grass-fed meat and dairy or wild caught seafood — and the rest from organic fruit and vegetables.

Other foods are classified as “bulletproof”, “suspect” or “kryptonite” according to how they fit into the diet’s categories and meals are taken on a set schedule.

A young athlete who gave his name as Ray said drinking the coffee every morning “increases your energy levels for sure”.

“You don’t feel sleepy anymore, you don’t have the crash I would say after 20 minutes. Its effects are longer” than any of the products he has tested before, Ray added.

Asprey also advocates brief bursts of high-intensity exercise, with a focus on allowing the body to recuperate with food and sleep. 

Where are the nutrients?

Several celebrities have publicly lauded the benefits of the “miracle drink”, like actress Shailene Woodley — protagonist of “The Divergent Series” saga — and comedian Jimmy Fallon. 

But experts have raised the alarm over the diet’s nutritional value.

The British Dietetic Association listed the “Bulletproof” method among its top 10 celebrity diets to avoid for 2016 — along with such questionable fads as the “all kale and chewing gum diet”.

“Un-bull-ieveable!” was its verdict. “Whilst the idea of minimising alcohol and processed food is positive, the classification of foods is at odds with health recommendations and lacks evidence.”

UCLA Medical Centre nutritionist Amy Schnabel told AFP the diet could work short term. 

“Initially, any diet that has you restrict large food groups does result in some weight loss,” she said.

She also said the diet’s popularity was understandable — whether or not it is rooted in actual health benefits.

“Coffee is a good source of antioxidants and it has caffeine. That would make any of us feel good,” said Schnabel, “whether it is black or loaded with cream”.

“If you expect to drink one cup of this and feel good, and have mental clarity, you probably will — just because of the placebo effect.” 

But Schnabel also warned “the dangers of following this diet long term are possible nutrient deficiency”. 

Doctors widely caution that the first meal of the day is the most important one and should contain cereal or bread (carbohydrates), eggs or yogurt (protein), fruit (fibre) and coffee or tea (stimulant).

Asprey’s emphasis on the removal of mycotoxins is also potentially misleading, since coffee producers now regularly use wet-processing, during which the beans are washed and the toxins eliminated.

He insists the benefits of his formula are proven. 

And beyond the science, the commercial success of Bulletproof Coffee is undeniable. 

The “Bulletproof” website does a brisk business in coffee and related health products — from engineered “healthy fats” to coffee “performance kits”, sleep-inducing mattresses, nightlights and “Zen” iPhone protectors that filter out blue light.

The future looks bright, too, after Asprey’s company received an injection of $9 million from investors to expand its network of stores, the first of which opened in affluent Santa Monica, near Los Angeles, last year.

I had never heard of a frozen shoulder till I got one. Now, if you asked me about frozen Margarita, I knew everything there was to know about it: from the recipe to the flavours to the blackout-inducing hangover one suffered the next morning if one had too many helpings of it. But how a human limb froze, while it was still attached to the rest of the body, was a completely alien concept to me.

What had started as a niggling pain in my upper clavicle, in the next few weeks developed into a dull ache that spread all over my collarbone. A random survey of the “household remedies to fix everything” website on the Internet had me drinking gallons of warm milk, in which heaped spoonsful of turmeric powder was added. Other than staining my teeth deep yellow, the entire routine did nothing to alleviate my misery. It was time to visit the doctor.

The specialist sat me down and explained what my problem was. The bones, ligaments and tendons that made up my shoulder joint were encased in a capsule of connective tissue. This capsule had thickened and tightened around the shoulder joint, restricting its movement, which gave me a frozen shoulder. He was not sure why this had happened to me because it was more likely to occur in people who had diabetes or those who recently had to immobilise their shoulder for a long period, for instance, after surgery or an arm fracture.

The predicament developed slowly, and in three phases with each stage lasting for a number of months. The first was the freezing stage; any movement of the shoulder caused pain and the shoulder’s range of motion started to become limited. Second was the frozen state where the pain began to diminish during this time, but the shoulder became stiffer and using it was more difficult. Final was the thawing period where a range of motion in the shoulder began to improve. However, in the entire duration, the agony worsened at night and disrupted sleep.

The good doctor rattled off the entire account like he was reading out a news bulletin. In fact, he related the last line, which highlighted my nocturnal grief, with twinkling eyes and a short laugh, as if he had just delivered the punch line of a joke. When I looked at him in horror, he swiftly composed himself and told me to raise my arm. He had figured the easiest and best way to thaw my frozen shoulder, he muttered. And then he asked me, how many parties or social gatherings I attended every week? 

Three or four on an average, I told him. My raised limb was beginning to hurt but he did not allow me to lower it. Standing behind my chair, he moved my arm from left to right and then back, in a semi-circle sort of exaggerated wave. That is the way I must greet each person I met socially for the next few days, he instructed. In this manner, without taking any painful steroid injections or physiotherapy sessions I would get cured in a week’s time, he concluded.

“Flagging down a taxi?” my friend asked as soon as I greeted her. 

“Hello”, I waved my arm from side to side. 

“You okay?” she questioned. 

“Good evening,” I replied, moving my arm overhead again. 

“Shoulder froze?” she guessed. 

“Thawing the freeze,” I admitted. 

“With a new regal wave,” she smiled waving back at me.

By 3D-printing a fake gel brain and watching it “grow”, scientists at Harvard University have discovered how the human cortex develops its creepy, classic folds.

The discovery, published in the journal Nature Physics, may solve a long-standing mystery about the structure of our grey matter and could even help shed light on certain disorders that may be linked to underfolding or overfolding of the brain.

The researchers “have provided the first experimental evidence of the theory of differential growth and demonstrated that physical forces — not just biochemical processes alone — play a critical role in neurodevelopment”, Ellen Kuhl of Stanford University, who was not involved in the study, wrote in a commentary. “Their findings could have far-reaching clinical consequences for diagnosing, treating and preventing a wide variety of neurological disorders.”

Think of the brain, and you might conjure up a pink, wrinkly object roughly the shape of a partly deflated basketball. But not every species’ brain has these telltale wrinkles — smaller animals such as rats have smooth, pink thinkers. Human foetuses don’t start developing these folds until about 23 weeks of gestation and don’t put the final touches on the branch-like network of creases until after they’re born.

Scientists have long known that the brain’s folded structure actually has some major benefits: It allows for far more connectivity across the cortex (the surface layer of our brain that consists of “grey matter”) than a smooth surface would.

“Each cortical neuron is connected to 7,000 other neurons, resulting in 0.15 quadrillion connections and more than 150,000km of nerve fibres,” Kuhl wrote.

But what causes these folds to develop has had scientists a little stumped. Many researchers have tried to identify the cellular or biochemical processes at work, but Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan, a physicist and applied mathematician at Harvard University, decided to study the physics of the structure itself, and develop a mathematical model of its behaviour.

“I have a long-standing interest in trying to understand how the body or bodies of animals organise themselves,” Mahadevan said. “I approach these problems from a mathematical perspective.”

Researchers have tried to get at this question for decades, Kuhl wrote. Roughly 40 years ago, another group of Harvard researchers suggested a physical model where the differences in growth within the brain’s tissues could explain fold formation.

“The model challenged the conventional wisdom that surface morphogenesis, pattern selection and evolution of shape are purely biological phenomena,” Kuhl wrote. “To no surprise, this rather hypothetical approach was perceived as highly controversial.”

Part of the problem was that there seemed to be no good way to answer this question, she added. Experiments with human brains can be “ethically questionable”, and experiments with rats or other small animals wouldn’t work because their brains are smooth. And usually, an experiment in non-living material wouldn’t show you how the brain develops these folds because non-living tissue doesn’t grow.

But for this paper, the scientists built a physical model that solved that last problem with some clever use of materials. They used magnetic resonance imagery from a smooth foetal brain at 22 weeks’ gestation and 3D-printed a cast to make a fake brain out of gel. This was the “white matter” of the brain, which they covered with a thin coat of rubbery gel to mimic the layer of “grey matter”, or cortical tissue.

The researchers then submerged the brain in a liquid solvent that caused that stretchy cortex-like layer to start growing. Sure enough, unnervingly brain-like folds began to emerge in the once-smooth surface.

Here’s what seems to be happening: The cortical tissue wants to keep growing but it’s anchored to the limited real estate of the white matter below it. As the cortex expands, that strain eventually causes the tissue to collapse, leading to the gyri (round features) and sulci (deep grooves) that cover the surface.

The next step, Mahadevan says, is to link these large-scale structural predictions to the process that may be contributing on a molecular level.

“In the end, all of them are related,” he said. “If I think about the shape of the folds in a foetal brain then yes, there are molecular processes: There are biochemical processes which cause cells to move, cause cells to divide, cause cells to change shape and cause cells to change in number.”

Ultimately, the research could help researchers better understand a variety of different neurological disorders, scientists said.

“Making these connections can help us identify topological markers for the early diagnosis of autism, schizophrenia or Alzheimer’s disease, and, ultimately, design more effective treatment strategies,” Kuhl said.

Much awaited and launched last, the 13th generation of America’s most iconic and best-selling pickup truck is the most advanced in its segment. Built with use of extensive high strength steel in its frame and a lightweight body from tough military-grade aluminium, the new F150 weights up to 317kg less than its predecessor. 

Raising the bar in the large pickup segment, the 2015 utilitarian Ford F150’s massive weight saving translates into improved performance, fuel efficiency, braking, ride and handling, and hauling and towing. Driven in range-topping and most luxurious 5.0 Platinum guise, the F150 is also available in various engine, body, cargo and drive-line versions and choices for professional, recreational and private use.

Rugged yet lightweight

First among peers, the F150’s aluminium body is extensively tested for durability. Meanwhile, its masterful design both captures a rugged and bold aesthetic evolution and is functional. Assertive yet subtly honed for better aerodynamics and airflow than ever, even the F150 cab bed design is also designed to reduces turbulence, while a low waistline allows good visibility.

Brimming with tough Tonka-truck appeal and slightly wider than it is tall, the F150 Platinum features a huge, upright and dominant chrome grill with angled back edges, semi-split LED headlights, and massive 275/55R20 footwear. Jutting, assertive and eager in demeanour, the F150’s ridged and stepped bonnet reduces the distance to the wheel-arch apex for a cleaner, better flowing aesthetic

A luxurious large truck designed for mixed professional and private use, the F150’s much improved cabin features quality padded textures and surfaces with considerably reduced use of hard plastics. Layouts and designs are user-friendly, ergonomic and accessible, including multi-function steering and instrument display. Meanwhile, big wide-swinging front and rear doors and an automatically lowering running board provide easy accessibility.

Coyote charisma

The f150 is available with several engine choices including entry-level naturally aspirated 3.5-litre “Cyclone” and muscularly efficient turbocharged 2.7- and twin-turbo 3.5-litre “Ecoboost” V6 variants. The range-topping Platinum edition driven, however, features Ford’s gurglingly mighty and progressive naturally-aspirated 5-litre DOHC V8 “Coyote” engine, mated to a smooth and concise shifting 6-speed automatic gearbox.

Essentially the same engine powering the Mustang GT muscle car, the Coyote is tuned for less heady characteristics for F150 service, producing 385BHP at 5750rpm rather than 435BHP at 6500rpm. Muscular at low- and mid-range speeds to suit a heavier 2,209kg truck application, the Coyote-powered F150 Platinum produces effortlessly accessible and exploitable torque throughout its rev range, peaking at 387lb/ft by 3850rpm.

Launching responsively off the line and flexible in mid range, the F150 5.0 is seamless, smooth and rewardingly and progressively in delivery. Eager through revs and refined and subdued when cruising, the F150’s engine note builds from a low-end burbling laced with evocative induction noises to an insistent growling and pounding staccato as it hunts towards its redline.

Comfort and composure

Quickest and with least drive-line power loss when in rear-drive mode, the F150 5.0 sprints from standstill to 97km/h in under 6 seconds and slips and pushes indefatigably through wind resistance to its easily attainable and electronically governed 170km/h top speed. Meanwhile, an automatic four-wheel drive mode can divert power to the front axle when enhanced traction and grip is needed.

A more refined, composed and agile vehicle than expected in the large pickup segment, the new F150 may be hugely spacious, but seemingly feels smaller, nimbler, and more manoeuvrable and than the competition. Riding on double wishbone front and heavy-duty live axle and leaf spring rear suspension, the F150’s outboard rear dampers and suspension make it perhaps the smoothest, most refined, controlled and nuanced among peers. 

Controlled and balanced through corners and with tidy turn-in for its enormity, the F150 also features light but comparatively well communicative steering feel. Reassuringly grippy through corners, the F150 virtually eliminates the hard cornering side axle hop and acceleration squat and brake dive associated similar vehicles. The F150 is also more composed and buttoned down on rebound than is expected in its segment.

Comfort and capability

Settled, stable and smooth at speed, the F150 is feels supple, forgiving and fluent over rough surfaces, bumps and cracks, despite massive 20-inch alloy wheels. Meanwhile, it is extensively well equipped with adaptive cruise control and advanced blindspot, lane keeping, rear cross-path and towing semi-autonomous driver-assistance systems, and a 360° around view monitor. Safety systems include three inflatable 3-point rear seatbelts and childseat latches. 

Engineered for tough towing, hauling and off-road work — especially with the FX4 package as driven, the F150 is equipped with high and low gear permanent four-wheel drive modes.

Capable of carrying 943kg in a 1,495-litre volume cargo bed, the F150 can also tow up to 4,944kg, depending on three available axle ratio options. The F150 FX4 also features generous 238mm ground clearance, 25.5° approach, 21° break-over and 26° departure angles.

Vastly spacious for five large passengers and with a highly adjustable driving position, the thoroughly well equipped F150’s instrument panel even features a display to show steering angle, gradient, side slope and active four-wheel drive power distribution.

A luxurious workhorse, the F150 features Ford’s intuitive Sync infotainment system with Bluetooth streaming and voice command, and massaging front seats. Stiffer side seat bolsters would, however, be welcome to matches the F150’s good cornering ability.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 5-litre, all-aluminium, in-line V8 cylinders

Bore x stroke: 92.2 x 92.7mm

Compression ratio: 10.5:1

Valve-train: 24-valve, DOHC, variable valve timing

Gearbox: 6-speed automatic, four-wheel-drive, low ratio transfer case

Gear ratios: 1st 4.17:1; 2nd 2.34:1; 3rd 1.52:1; 4th 1.14:1; 5th 0.86:1; 6th 0.69:1; R 3.4:1

Axle ratio options: 3.31:1, 3.55:1, 3.73:1

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 385 (390) [287] @5750rpm

Specific power: 77.7BHP/litre

Power-to-weight: 174.2BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 387 (524) @3850rpm

Specific torque: 105.8Nm/litre

Torque-to-weight: 237.2Nm/tonne

0-97km/h: 5.5 seconds (estimate)

Top speed: 170km/h (electronically governed)

Minimum fuel requirement: 91RON

Wheelbase: 3,683mm

Track: 1717mm 

Overhang, F/R; 959 /1247mm

Ground clearance: 238mm

Approach /break-over /departure angles: 25.5° /21° /26°

Seating: 5

Hip room, F/R: 1587 /1643mm

Cargo bed height, length, width: 543, 1705, 1285-1656mm 

Load floor height: 907mm

Cargo volume: 1,495 litres

Fuel capacity: 125 litres (optional)

Kerb weight: 2,209kg

Payload: 943kg

Gross Vehicle Weight Rating: 3,175kg

Towing maximum: 4,082-4,944kg (depending on axle ratio)

Steering: Electric-assisted rack & pinion

Turning circle: 15.57 metres

Suspension, F/R: Double wishbones, coil springs /live axle, leaf springs

Brakes, F/R: Disc, 34 x 350mm /drum, 22 x 335mm

Brake callipers, F/R: Twin /single

Tyres: 275/55R20

Toyota’s Scion brand is going the way of Oldsmobile, Mercury and Tucker.

Toyota will scrap the youth-oriented nameplate. Certain Scions will be rebadged as Toyotas. Some Scion employees will continue to work for the parent company.

The Japanese car giant characterised the news as the end of a triumphant period in which the perky, inexpensive Scions brought new customers to the brand and introduced a generation of buyers to Toyota.

But those customers have grown up, Toyota said, and now prefer Toyota cars and can pay Toyota prices.

“We could not have achieved the success we have had without the incredible support of Scion’s customers, dealers and team members, so supporting them throughout this transition process will be one of our top priorities,” said Jim Lentz, the executive who began Scion and later rose to CEO of Toyota’s North American operations. “This isn’t a step backward for Scion; it’s a leap forward for Toyota.”

Toyota said it had sold a little over 1 million Scions during the brand’s 2003-15 lifespan. The best sellers, accounting for about three quarters of all sales, were the xB and tC models.

Some 2017 Scions will become Toyotas, including the FR-S sports car, iA sedan and iM hatchback. The new C-HR will continue as a Toyota. But the popular tC sports coupe will end production and not return.

Kelley Blue Book analyst Karl Brauer called the event historic.

“We’re used to seeing domestic brands like Mercury, Oldsmobile and Plymouth die… but this is the first time a US-specific brand, launched by a successful Japanese automaker, has been killed,” he said.