Tag: medicine

Memorial for those who donated their bodies to science.

This unique memorial was created several years ago in La Jolla, on the Scripps Institution of Oceanography campus. Words on a circular plaque read: IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO DONATED THEIR BODIES TO SCIENCE – UC SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA.

Walk down the Coastal Meander Trail, look for two benches above the beautiful Pacific Ocean, and then look for this memorial.

The memorial plaque points to where the sun sets during the Winter Solstice, Spring/Autumn Equinox and Summer Solstice. A quote on the plaque, by Carl Sagan, reads: We began as wanderers, and we are wanderers still. We have lingered long enough on the shores of the cosmic ocean. We are ready at last to set sail for the stars.

Families remembering loved ones who gave their bodies to further scientific knowledge can sit on the benches and enjoy a sunny day, and watch a beautiful sunset over the wide ocean.

You can read more about the UC San Diego School of Medicine Body Donation Program Memorial Site by clicking here.

UPDATE!

I took the next photo during a later walk…

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Sign up for tomorrow’s More Than Pink Walk!

You can still sign up for tomorrow’s Susan G. Komen More Than Pink Walk! I was told this today as I walked through Balboa Park. The headquarters for the big event is being set up along Sixth Avenue, south of Laurel Street, in its usual spot.

If you’d like to help researchers find a cure for breast cancer, and help those who’ve been diagnosed with the disease, check out this website. You can join the 5k walk tomorrow morning (Sunday), become a team member or a sponsor, join the pre-walk festivities, and more! Or you can simply make a donation to Susan G. Komen on their website and help them with their important work.

Tomorrow’s weather in San Diego will be perfect for a walk. Why not join?

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Floating lab Gene Chaser visits San Diego.

A very unusual yacht with a very unusual name is visiting San Diego. I saw the research yacht Gene Chaser this morning docked at Broadway Pier.

Gene Chaser is essentially a super high tech floating laboratory. I had to search the internet to learn about it. This article explains the ship’s capabilities and the aim of its owner: scientist, inventor and entrepreneur Dr. Jonathan Rothberg.

The yacht is fitted in such a way that technological breakthroughs can be made while traveling the world’s oceans seeking new solutions and knowledge from nature.

The article explains: To support the fast pace of creating and using new technology, GENE CHASER has extensive rapid prototyping capabilities — best in class 3D printing, CNC, laser cutting, and electronics fabrication are all on board. All of which complement the cutting edge molecular biology laboratory and high power computational infrastructure at the heart of the ship.

Comparing my photos with that in the article, it’s apparent major changes have recently been made to the vessel. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Runners, walkers and Padres Pedal the Cause!

Hundreds of runners and walkers headed along San Diego’s Embarcadero this morning during the Padres Pedal the Cause fundraiser. They were participating in the 5K Walk/Run!

Lots of thumbs up and smiles spontaneously appeared as a stream of humanity flowed down the boardwalk.

Funds were being raised for Curebound, an organization that helps to further cancer research. Local institutions they help include the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, Salk Institute, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, Rady Children’s Hospital, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, and Scripps Research.

You can learn more or donate here!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Mushrooms become popular in San Diego!

The 25th Annual Fungus Fair of the San Diego Mycological Society was held today in Balboa Park. I’ve checked out this event in past years, but I’d never seen such enormous crowds before. The popularity of mushrooms in San Diego appears to have greatly . . . mushroomed!

Not only was Room 101 of the Casa del Prado jammed with people gazing at informative exhibits, but numerous vendors were displaying mushroom art and crafts and edible concoctions in the building’s outdoor courtyard.

I wandered about amazed by all the varieties and apparent benefits of fungi. Mycophiles in attendance could learn how to grow and forage mushrooms. Curious people like me could learn about the characteristics, medicinal uses and dangers of different types.

Check out some fun fungus photography!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Bless The Healers in Golden Hill.

A large, bold mural in San Diego’s Golden Hill neighborhood shows a praying nurse and reads: Essential – Bless The Healers. It can be seen on the side of a building on the southwest corner of 30th Street and B Street.

I discovered the mural yesterday. I hadn’t walked this way in quite a long time. Given the message, I suppose the mural was created during the COVID-19 pandemic. But I don’t know exactly when it was painted, or by whom. Leave a comment if you know!

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Mural in San Ysidro encourages vaccination!

A mural full of whimsy decorates a fence at the north end of San Ysidro’s Cultural Corridor. Painted by local artist Gerardo Meza (@mezarte), the colorful street art encourages residents to become vaccinated against COVID-19!

I walked up the Cultural Corridor today and noticed a variety of new murals that were painted since my last visit. I’ll be sharing the rest of them in my next blog post, but this particular mural is so creative and visually fun I thought I’d post it first, to get things started.

Last time I passed this section of the fence–about a year and half ago–it featured Día de los Muertos artwork, also created by Meza. You can see a portion of it in the final two photos here.

As you can see, the San Diego Trolley passes very close by–just southeast of the Beyer Avenue station. The Cultural Corridor, with its many murals, runs south down Cypress Drive.

Casa Familiar, a nonprofit service and community development organization, reminds those passing by that Las Vacunas Salvan Vidas–Vaccination Saves Lives.
Composite creatures, seemingly emerged from mythology, capture the eye.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Celebrating life at the 2022 Transplant Games!

A big celebration of life is taking place this week in San Diego. People from around the United States have gathered at the San Diego Convention Center for the 2022 Transplant Games!

Organ transplant recipients and living donors are participating in a variety of fun sports competitions. As you can see in the above photograph, cycling 5 km and 20 km road races along Harbor Drive were part of today’s activities!

Through this Wednesday, the public is welcome to visit the Transplant Games Village and Expo, located in Exhibit Halls A and B at the convention center. There you can watch some indoor competitions, such as basketball and table tennis. For a schedule of events, click here.

Many organizations that help those in the transplant community are also present.

I met authors who’ve written books describing the whole transplant process, making it all easier to understand. Other creators have produced videos featuring loved ones who were helped, or who helped to save a life by making an organ donation.

I saw organizations that create online community, gather inspirational stories, or offer practical guidance and mental health services. Medical providers and pharmaceutical companies also had tables. All of these smiling people were there to offer critical help.

Near the entrance to the Transplant Games Village and Expo, several beautiful quilts remembered loved one.

Everywhere I turned, I observed people full of happiness, gratitude and hope, and a strengthened love of life.

I came away feeling inspired.

Smiles from The Mended Hearts. The non-profit works to inspire hope and improve the quality of life of heart patients and their families through ongoing peer-to-peer support, education, and advocacy.

Robert Horsey has written the book Gifted and is producing a video concerning the complex topic of organ donation. According to his website: Even the largest football stadium in the U.S. could not fit the number of people on the national transplant waiting list.

Many transplant stories pinned to a board, courtesy Balboa Nephrology and Evergreen Nephrology.

Author Brenda Cortez is a living kidney donor. She has written a series of Howl the Owl books making transplant and medical procedures less scary for kids.

The Joe 238 documentary celebrates the decision to donate. According to the website: Through multiple stories of grief and recovery, we learn about healthy grieving, what it means to be a donor family and plant the seed for an honest conversation about organ donation every family needs to have.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Transplant Games come to San Diego!

The 2022 Transplant Games are being held this week in San Diego!

A big parade was held for participants this morning along Harbor Drive. (Which I just missed!)

This evening the Opening Ceremony will be held at the San Diego Convention Center.

As their website explains: Every two years the Transplant Games of America gathers together thousands of transplant recipients, living donors, donor families, individuals on the waiting list, caregivers, transplant professionals, supporters and spectators for the world’s largest celebration of life.

Transplant recipients and donors will compete in many different sporting events through this Wednesday. Most of the competition will be at the Convention Center. It will also be the location of the Transplant Games of America Village, and according to the Schedule of Events, the public is welcome!

I think I’ll go tomorrow. I’d like to watch a bicycling competition that will be held Sunday morning at Embarcadero Marina Park South, just behind the Convention Center.

Would you like to become involved–perhaps by becoming an organ donor yourself? Check out the 2022 Transplant Games web page here.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

You missed Red Shoe Day? Donate online!

It’s Red Shoe Day in San Diego!

Volunteers hanging out at busy intersections this morning were collecting donations for the Ronald McDonald House, which helps sick kids who are being treated at local hospitals, providing a nearby place for their families to stay!

Did you miss an opportunity to place some money in a red shoe this morning? Well, you can donate online. Do it here!

Thank you!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!