Human Face Videos

Ever wondered whether it is scientifically possible to become a superhero? In a new series of podcasts, Dr Christopher Pettigrew (aka Dr Boob*) and I are going to tackle this question. Chris is a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Biochemistry in University College Cork, and in these podcast episodes - which we will publish more than a few times a year - we will uncover whether it is possible now to possess the powers of superheroes, and if we can't, whether in the near future we could engineer ourselves to become superheroes. The first superhero we are tackling is Mystique from X-Men. X-men get their powers from an "X gene" that normal humans do not possess, and Mystique is a shapeshifter who naturally looks blue. Actress Rebecca Romijn portrayed Mystique in the X-Men films - I know I clearly remember the blue body-paint... Mystique has a number of powers including: The ability to change skin colour; The ability to shape-shift - that is, change form; She can impersonate other voices; She can rapidly grow her hair. Within nature, chameleons are able to change their skin colour to match their environment. There are also technologies under current development, such as metamaterials, that can be used to make something look invisible. Through a combination of genetic manipulation to activate melanocytes (and possibly chromatophores), and the use of surface coatings, it is not unforeseeable that we could develop human chameleons. The difficulty here lies in whether we can make a skin colour change a conscious decision - how can you wire up the body such that skin colour responds your thoughts? The challenge of being able to impersonate another person's voice should be easy enough to conquer in the near future through a combination of electronics and simple mimicry. It is also possible to foresee rapid hair growth - this could be accomplished by rapid protein synthesis, such as in spider webs. The biggest difficulty comes with the shape-shifting - how can one change their 3D shape? Tune in to the podcast here (or press play below) to discover what scientific techniques we came up with to tackle the problem of scientifically engineering Mystique: A few extra notes to explain some of the random comments in the show: Iva Davies is the front man of Australian band Icehouse; Shane Warne, Greg Matthews and Graham Gooch are all cricketers who advertised the hair-loss company Advanced Hair; Let us know your thoughts on how we could scientifically engineer Mystique. We rated this a 7.5 out of 10 possibly for the next 200 years - if someone really wanted to, notwithstanding the ethical concerns along the way. Also let us know which superheroes you would be interested in us tackling. * From here on in, Chris will be referred to as Dr Boob - this nickname stems from the fact that Chris's PhD and some of his post-doctoral has been into the study of breast cancer - yes, someone who is actually changing the world!

This video will illustrate the differences between male and female faces. In part 1 of this video, I will compare male and female facial features, bone structure and musculature. In the in the second part of this video, I will do a demonstration. During this demonstration, I will review what we learned in the first part and teach you how to draw the nuances of the male and female face for artistic (art) purposes. During my demonstration, I use a pencil an eraser and a blending stick (stub) also known as a tortillion.Lets look at the differences of the male and female skull first and then we will work our way up to the skin. Male and female children have similar skull shapes. But once children hit puberty, the differences start to appear. Testosterone provokes the growth of certain facial features in males, while female faces remain relatively childlike. The presence of higher levels of testosterone give men a thicker bone structure with more prominent

This video will illustrate the differences between male and female faces. In part 1 of this video, I will compare male and female facial features, bone structure and musculature. In the in the second part of this video, I will do a demonstration. During this demonstration, I will review what we learned in the first part and teach you how to draw the nuances of the male and female face for artistic (art) purposes. During my demonstration, I use a pencil an eraser and a blending stick (stub) also known as a tortillion. Lets look at the differences of the male and female skull first and then we will work our way up to the skin. Male and female children have similar skull shapes. But once children hit puberty, the differences start to appear. Testosterone provokes the growth of certain facial features in males, while female faces remain relatively childlike. The presence of higher levels of testosterone give men a thicker bone structure with more prominent bones. Male faces have a wider, more prominent jaw, chin and cheekbones (also known as the zygomatic arch). The physical size of the male skull is usually larger than the female skull. A very distinct characteristic of a male skull, is a protruding supraorbital ridge also known as a brow line. Female faces are more rounded and tend to have a narrow jaw line. They have a softness that the male face lacks. It carries more fat than the male face, especially in the cheeks. Female faces tend to have thicker lips and a higher arch on the top lip. Female eyebrows generally sit a little higher than male eyebrows and they usually have a thinner and more arched shape, mainly due to plucking. The female nose tends to be smaller, shorter and have a narrower bridge and nostrils than the male one. Also, female noses often have a straighter or more concave profile. Men tend to have thicker and lower eyebrows than women. The male jaw line is wider than the female chin. It is also more muscular and square in shape. The lips are thicker and more full on a female. Also there is less of a distance between the arch of the top lip and the bottom of the nose. Before we go on to part 2. I want to make this complex subject as simple as possible so I took notes for you! If you are watching this on youtube hit the link. If not, just go to my website Merrillk.com and type skull in the search box and download this cheat sheet for when you draw. Merrill Kazanjian is a contemporary artist based in New York City. He is also a New York State Certified Art instructor with 8 years of experience. He specializes in drawing, painting and mixed media art.

... help predict the future? "Can a smile in a photograph taken at age 21 provide scientists with enough information to forecast the future happiness of a person? BBC clip from 'The Human Face'."Rated 3.9903 / 5 | 345 views | 9 comments Click here to watch the video Submitted By: ShapeSphere Tags: human face

This year, the Mr Science Show has again entered the charity moustache growing contest, Movember. Movember supports men's-health charities, and this year in Australia, all money raised is going towards the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue - the national depression initiative. These issues are close to my heart as people close to me have suffered, and even died, because of prostate cancer and depression. Read more about the Fundraising Outcomes. Did you know: Depression affects 1 in 6 men....most don't seek help. Untreated depression is a leading risk factor for suicide. Last year in Australia 18,700 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer and more than 2,900 died of prostate cancer - equivalent to the number of women who will die from breast cancer annually.For more sciencey stuff on moustaches and Movember, here is everything you need: The science of moustaches;Movember time-lapse from 2006;My photos from the 2006 and 2007 events.To sponsor us, check out our Mo-space or donate directly from this link Thanks y'all!

One of my favourite sites on the web is called Face of the Future. Face of the Future is an EPSRC funded public engagement project aimed at exploring the latest advances in facial computer vision and graphics, and what they mean for society. The project has developed a number of standalone interactive exhibits, online demos and a lecture presentation aimed at engaging the public with the technology and the social implications of the technology. The face transformer is a very cool little applet that can change your face so that it looks older, younger, like a different ethnic group or into a particular art style. The concept behind it is fairly simple, although I'm sure it's quite difficult to implement. People of different ages and races have slightly different facial features. The team behind the face transformer has collected this information and created "average faces" for the different groups of people. When you upload a photo of yourself, you tell the program where your eyes and mouth are, and it morphs your face towards the average face of the group into which you are transforming. Your skin colour, eye shape, hair line and general facial shape will change depending on what you are morphing into. Here is me at the start of the process - a very cheesy Movember shot, as Afro-Caribbean, as an older gentleman (hi Dad, spot the family resemblance!), a chimp, a child (with a bit too much facial hair), a Modigliani painting, a Bottelcelli and an East Asian. More photos can be found on my photo site here

This week on the podcast, I talk to Associate Professor Stephanie Schuckers from Clarkson University about her research into biometric security systems - security systems based upon your physical traits such as fingerprint analysis, voice and face recognition and iris and retina scans. Stephanie's research aims to find vulnerable areas in such systems and so she has fooled fingerprinting systems with simple tools such as play doh. I am publishing a complete article on biometric systems later this year with The Helix magazine. Grab the mp3 here.

It's that time again, Movember (the month formerly known as November). I'll be growin a Mo (slang for Moustache) to raise funds for The Prostate Cancer Charity. Prostate cancer is now the most common cancer diagnosed in men in the U.K. with at least one man dying every hour from the disease. Every year about 35,000 men in the U.K. are diagnosed with prostate cancer and about 10,000 men die from the disease. One man in 11 will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime in the U.K.To sponsor my Mo (moustache) and fight against prostate cancer please go here. To bring some science to this, you may remember last year's mo-tastic Mr Science take on it all. Following these links for all you will ever need to know about moustaches and science The science of moustachesWeek 1 Movember 2006 DocumentaryFarewell Moustache - Time lapse and a look back More info is available at www.movember.com. Movember is proudly grown by Bulldog Natural Grooming and Playboy. Movember is proud partners with The Prostate Cancer Charity.