Dr. Jenner’s Experiment

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  “March 28th, 1797, I inoculated this girl and carefully rubbed the variolous matter into two slight incisions made upon the left arm. A little inflammation appeared in the usual manner around the parts where the matter was inserted, but so early as the fifth day it vanished entirely without producing any effect on the system.” —Edward Jenner (1749–1823). “The Three Original Publications on Vaccination Against Smallpox.” Portrait of Edward Jenner, painted by James Northcote in either 1803 or 1823

Music to Transit By

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With the transit of Venus (about now, if you are in my time-zone), here is a blast from the past (thanks, Kathy) via Tomita's interpretation of Holst's "Venus" from "The Planets" suite. Enjoy the ancient NASA footage (some actual, some artwork) of our visit to Venus in 1976:

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