Dust storm image (Source: http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/all-the-bad-news-thats-fit-to-print/)
---------"Dead skin makes up
90% of the dust on our floors"-----------
(Source 1)-Cool!
A) On human skin, and how it sheds:
"Scientists estimate that the human body is made up of around 10 trillion cells in total. Your skin makes up about 16 percent of your body weight, which means you have roughly 1.6 trillion skin cells. Of course, this estimate can vary tremendously according to a person's size. [...] Of those billions of skin cells, between 30,000 and 40,000 of them fall off every hour. Over a 24-hour period, you lose almost a million skin cells.
" (Source 2)
"In one year, you'll shed more than 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms) of dead skin." (Source 2)
"It takes roughly one month for new cells to get all the way to the top layer, meaning the skin you have a month from today will be completely new compared to the skin you have now." (Source 2)
The Komondor breed, at its moppy best.
behold the fiercy beauty of this wild mop dog in its natural environment amid the rocky steppes of the eastern Hungarian mountaintops...
B) On dust mites:
-Dust mites are everywhere we are. They are invisible to the human eye, microscopic. They are 1/80th of an inch long, so cannot be seen with the naked eye.
-The majority of their diet is dead human skin flakes that fall off us, at least when found near humans.
-They are scavengers.
(Source 1)
-You could say that, like with gut bacteria, we are in a constant symbiotic relationship with dust mites, as we shed lots of dead skin shells I mean cells, and dust mites help us clean up this mess by cleaning it up by eating it. After all, they don't hurt us, they just eat our tiny bits of dandruff that flutters off us every day.
-Actually after a bit more research some people can be harmed by dust mites, in the fact that if you have a lot of dust, and therefore a lot of dust mites, you can have allergic and asthmatic negative reactions to the dust mites, specifically their poop, which is one of the most common allergens in the world. (Source 6)
-Ways to reduce dust and therefore mites and their mite-sized poopy allergen: vacuuming, washing clothes and bedding regularly, having special allergen-proof or dust-proof pillowcases and bedding, increased ventilation, decreased humidity. (Source 6)
C) Artist paints with smog and dust
-Alessandro Ricci does this to raise awareness about the smog problem in Florence, Italy. (Source 3)
(Source 5) (Source 5)
D) Another artist who paints with dust
-Allison Cortson of L.A., California paints portraits of people. She uses dust from their homes to paint the background.
-On her philosphy behind using dust:
"Through her dust paintings, the artist tries to emphasize the fact that “matter is mostly empty space” and it’s only through interactivity with living beings that they provide any value. That’s why, in all of her Dust Paintings artworks the human subjects are painted in color, while the background is recreated with dust. " (Source 4)
-How does this technique work?
"Once she has gathered enough dust, she renders the human subject in oil paint, and moves on to the bland background. ”I sprinkle the dust on the canvas and manipulate with a brush. When finished the dust is coated with an acrylic sealer”, Allison explains. " (Source 4)
Bibliography
1. "The Unknown Micro World: Dust Mites" Youtube video uploaded by Mr1in10. URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47CIdUld8eQ&feature=related.
-This is a cute little video, very much, 'you will never believe the gross little creatures crawling over you at every moment.'
2. "How Many Skin Cells Do You Shed Every Day?" by Ed Grabianowski. Health.howstuffworks.com 2012. URL: http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/information/anatomy/shed-skin-cells.htm.
-Also views this topic as disgusting. Why can't an article just talk about it objectively - it's not bad, it's cool!
3. "Painting with Dust and Smog" article by Spooky. Democratic Underground, LLC, 2012. URL: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1028126.
4. "Innovative Artist Creates Beautiful Dust Paintings" article by Spooky. Democratic Underground, LLC, 2012. URL: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1028126.
5. "Florentine Artist Fights Pollution by Painting with Smog" article by Spooky. Odditycentral.com, 2012. URL: http://www.odditycentral.com/news/florentine-artist-fights-pollution-by-painting-with-smog.html.
6. "Dust Mites: A Household Health Hazard" by Rallie McAllister. Creators Syndicate Inc., 2008. URL: http://www.creators.com/health/rallie-mcallister-your-health/dust-mites-a-household-health-hazard.html.
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