Autism, Visual Thinking, and Justifying the Humanities

You may recall that Fosco has been interested in the question of whether Ben's cat Isis (and all cats, for that matter) is essentially autistic. Fosco got this idea from animal researcher Temple Grandin, who is herself autistic and finds that her condition allows her to understand animals better than neurotypical observers. (Additionally, Fosco is actually pretty impressed with Dr. Grandin's jaunty style, as seen in accompanying picture.)

Well, a couple of weeks ago, Fosco picked up (at his local library!) one of Grandin's books, Animals in Translation. Grandin makes some pretty fascinating claims in the book, relying on both her experiences and insights from neuroscience. For one thing, she provides a model of animal perception that can account for some of the stranger aspects of animal behavior (although not all of them--she still can't explain why slowly-moving fans creep out cows).

One of Grandin's claims is that she and animals both think entirely in pictures (this is not a surprise for animals--what else would they think in? Words?). Grandin tries to explain what it is like for her to do complex human cognition entirely in pictures. It all sounds completely horrible to Fosco, who is highly verbal and cannot imagine trying to do justice to Derrida or Levinas without making use of words and abstract concepts. However, Grandin wants to argue that there are indeed benefits to entirely visual thinking:

Other times thinking in pictures is an advantage. During the 1990s I knew all the dot-coms would go to hell, because when I thought about them the only images I saw were rented office space and computers that would be obsolete in two years. There wasn't anything real I could picture; the companies had no hard assets. My stockbroker asked me how I knew the two stock market crashes would happen, and I told him, 'When the Monopoly play money starts jerking around the real money you're in trouble.'

This is a cute story, of course (although maybe not one I would have left in the manuscript were I Grandin's editor). I suspect that Grandin may have profited handsomely from our recent economic troubles as well--there are certainly no good mental pictures that can represent hedge funds and credit default swaps (although: most of this bubble seems to have been based on the housing market and houses are indeed "real" and easily pictured).

But I think this anecdote raises an interesting question: in what ways is it possible to value non-concrete (i.e., not easily pictured) things? Sure, the original dot-com bubble did burst; however, this didn't mean that the web itself is completely worthless. There are still plenty of companies that are "nothing" but office space and soon-to-be-obsolete computers (like Google, perhaps)--and while Google may (or may not) be overvalued, the services it provides are not valueless.

And yet, at the same time, there is clearly an anxiety about the possibility of valuing things like knowledge, information, content, etc.--and not just for autistic people or visual thinkers. As someone who is (supposedly) in the "knowledge business," I think these issues are worth meditating on, especially as the humanities are increasingly called upon to "justify their worth" in the modern world.

You can purchase several Temple Grandin books by following these links.



Fosco will receive a small percentage and will be grateful.

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America's Most Backward State: Oklahoma!

Last week, Fosco was outraged by the head of the Texas State Board of Education and his love for a book that claims to disprove evolution. Because what kind of state allows that kind of moron to be in charge of education? Well, then Oklahoma had to go one better (thereby winning the appellation "America's Most Backward State").

As Fosco's favorite cyber-crusader, Jonathan Turley, notes:

It appears that Oklahoma legislators are continuing their attempted crackdown on University of Oklahoma for the outrage of allowing evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins of Oxford University speak to its students. After proposing two resolutions denouncing the scheduled appearance, legislators are now demanding answers about the funding and communications with Dawkins.

For those of you who don't know, Richard Dawkins is one of the foremost evolutionary biologists. His writings on evolution for a popular audience are well-written and impeccably reasoned. He is one of the most persuasive theorists of evolution (and a frequent critic of creationism and religious fundamentalism). He is also, by any conceivable measurement, smarter and better educated that every single member of the Oklahoma State Legislature (or does that go without saying?). Oh, and if the above photo is to be believed, he is Buffy's Watcher.

But because some morons aren't happy unless they're fucking things up for everyone else, Oklahoma State Representative Rebecca Hamilton (apparently, in some sort of bizarro Oklahoma universe, a Democrat) tried to force the University to cancel Dawkins's speech. Dawkins was invited to speak to celebrate Darwin's 200th birthday. Hamilton (who is most certainly not a LILF and, as far as Fosco can tell, probably did descend from monkeys) first tried to squelch Dawkins's speech with two resolutions, one of which contained this paragraph:

WHEREAS, not only has the Department of Zoology at the University of Oklahoma been engaged in one-sided indoctrination of an unproven and unpopular theory but has made an effort to brand all thinking in dissent of this theory as anti-intellectual and backward rather than nurturing such free thinking and allowing a free discussion of all ideas which is the primary purpose of a university;

The "unproven and unpopular" part is certainly a hoot. Even if that were true (outside of Ms. Hamilton's church, that is), should we really be making decisions about scientific veracity based on popularity? As for making dissent seem "anti-intellectual and backward," I don't really think the Department of Zoology needs to do much work--Ms. Hamilton has done a good job of making her own dissent seem both anti-intellectual and backward (not to mention petty).

But because the University decided NOT to cave in to Ms. Hamilton's demands that they cancel Professor Dawkins's talk, she's moved on to Plan B: hound the OU administration to the extent that future "controversial" speakers don't seem worth the hassle. As Jonathan Turley notes:

Hamilton has reportedly demanded information relating to the speech from Vice President for Governmental Relations Danny Hilliard, including a list of all money paid to Dawkins and the entities, public or private, the total cost to the university, and an account of any “faculty time spent promoting this event.”

One can only imagine how she intends to use this information. However, I don't think you need to be a strict fundamentalist about academic freedom to recognize that a legislator has absolutely no business inquiring into the scholarly pursuits of any member of the university faculty (including any time they spend "promoting" an academic event). This is a blatantly transparent attempt to produce a chilling effect on scholarship at the University of Oklahoma (a place that, frankly, can use all the scholarship it can get).

I'm starting to think that, sometime in the last twenty years, large swaths of the American public (mostly, but not exclusively, in the "Bible belt") not only became complete idiots about science, but also lost track of what universities are supposed to do. Granted, beating Texas in football every year is an important goal for any institution of higher education; however, Oklahomans need to realize that there is actually a bit more involved in running a university. Nitwits.

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UCSD Cancer Scare

Take notes, UCSC students: this is how protests are supposed to work.

This is a picture from a protest last week at one of UCSC's sister schools, UC San Diego (UCSD). You see, there is some evidence for the existence of a cancer cluster in one of UCSD's buildings. Apparently, there have been eight cases of breast cancer reported by workers in this building since 2000.

Now this is an upsetting story, but it gets even more troublesome for Fosco with the revelation that the offending building is the home of the Literature Department. Fosco's program at UCSC is also a Literature (as opposed to English) program, and so he feels a kinship here. Not to mention that Fosco knows several people in the UCSD program--including one of Fosco's intellectual heroes. These are Fosco's peeps that are in danger!

According to an epidemiological research report commissioned by UCSD, there is a very low probability that this type of thing happened by chance:

the observed incidence of invasive breast cancer in the Literature Building was about 4-5 times the expected incidence in the California general population.

As the report goes on to note (with typical scientific detachment):

Estimated relative risks in the range that was observed suggest that the cluster was worthy of closer epidemiological scrutiny.

So what exactly is going on in UCSD's Literature Building (I mean, besides reading, writing, and cut-throat departmental politics--all the usual things)?

Here is the offending structure:

From the outside it does indeed look safe, unless you are easily-pained by bad architecture. The epidemiological report ruled out mold, water contamination, and chemical causes. Rather, the potential culprit could be electromagnetic fields from the elevator banks. Of course, it's hard to tell for sure: the fact that a recent study has demonstrated no link between EMFs and breast cancer further complicates matters. Even so, UCSD has already taken some steps to reduce exposure to the elevator fields--just to be on the safe side.

However, students, faculty, and employees remain concerned that UCSD's response remains insufficient. I can't blame them--if I worked in the building, I would be demanding that UCSD either

• demolish it
  
• go all "X-Files" and quarantine the whole place (complete with guys in hazmat suits).

Of course, with the UC budget crunch, neither of these things will happen. UCSD is making a high stakes bet here: if the cluster is not a coincidence and if it's not due to the elevators, there will be blood on the hands of UCSD administrators.

All I know is that UCSD better not have been taking out "dead peasant" insurance policies.

Whether this cluster is indeed a coincidence or the sign of a real problem, this is a terrifying story that hits too close to home. I don't know what I would do were I a grad student at UCSD; I would hate to think that my advisor and beloved departmental staff were risking their lives by working in the building. Luckily, if UCSD is anything like UCSC, the grad students are probably unaffected--considering that none of us have offices in the Lit building (or anywhere else, for that matter).

Any UCSD students out there who can offer a "local report" on this story? Holla atcha colleague.

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Breakfast for Dessert

Every meal can be breakfast on "Foodie Friday."

There it is, my friends: the French Laundry cinnamon-sugar doughnuts with cappuccino semifreddo. It's one of the signature desserts at Thomas Keller's Napa temple of gastronomy (read a wonderful blog review of the restaurant here). And it's also, according to this NY Times piece, the original inspiration for the culinary trend of breakfast-themed desserts.

The Times profiles several of the more interesting breakfast-inspired dessert options, including several of the offerings at David Chang's Momofuko Empire in NYC. Momofuku's pastry chef is Christina Tosi is known for her panna cotta made from cereal milk (you know, what's left in the bowl!). She also has some other tricks up her sleeves:

She is also developing a pancake cake, stacked pancake layers separated by cinnamon-bacon, maple syrup and brown butter fillings. At Momofuku Ko, she serves a sphere of guava sorbet with a cream-cheese skin: the flavors mirror classic Latin breakfast sweets.

As you may recall, Fosco used to belong to a pancake club... which means that "pancake cake" has now become his obsession.

And then there is molecular gastronomy. The craziest food science in the country is going on at Chicago's Moto and the desserts are no exception:

“Breakfast flavors are so familiar, and that makes them a great way to bring in unfamiliar textures and temperatures,” said Ben Roche, the pastry chef at Moto in Chicago, where he uses an ice-cold “cooking” surface and a syringe full of “batter” (a purée of pancakes, milk and maple syrup) to make a dessert called frozen flapjacks (the taste is like ice cream with concentrated essence of pancake.) Mr. Roche’s twist on coffee and doughnuts is a cup of hot doughnut soup (made from chopped glazed doughnuts steeped in milk) with a circle of coffee-flavored whipped cream. The whipped cream is sucked through a vacuum sealer to make it tall, puffy and firm enough to cut.

You can actually see these frozen pancakes being prepared in this clip:



And yes, you heard correctly: Moto executive chef Homaro Cantu works with NASA. This is truly an exciting time in the history of food!

Famous Birthday Dinners

"Foodie Friday" concludes at Fosco Lives! Eat well this weekend.

As you may have noticed from yesterday's news, February 12 was a huge day for birthdays. Three of the greatest people in history were born yesterday. And because today is "Foodie Friday," it naturally occurred to Fosco to ask: "What did these great figures enjoy eating?" Here are the fruits of his research:

• We already have a good idea of Abraham Lincoln's favorite foods, thanks to the Obama Inaugural menu. But, according to this strange little article, there is more to know:
  

  Mary Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's wife, knew that her husband liked fresh fruit, so she kept fresh fruit around all the time. Lincoln was especially fond of apples, which he ate fresh, but also loved in apple pies.
  
  One of Lincoln's favorite meals was a simple fruit salad with cheese and crackers.
  
  There were two known main dishes or entrees that Abraham Lincoln loved; the first was chicken fricassee with biscuits, and the second was an oyster and scallop stew.
  
  [...]
  
  Nuts were another favorite food of Abraham Lincoln's, and he ate them often.
  
  President Lincoln preferred to drink water above all other beverages, and seldom drank anything alcoholic.

  Well, that's all pretty straightforward. If you, like Fosco, don't know what chicken fricassee is, here is a a recipe that seems to give the general idea.
  
  
• You hopefully heard that yesterday was also the bicentennial of the birth of Charles Darwin, probably the most important scientist of the last two centuries. But what did he like to eat? Darwin's wife, Emma, actually wrote her own cookbook. Here is her recipe for "Beef Collops," whatever the hell that might be:
  

  Cut thin slices from the rump or rib. Spread them on a table, season with, black pepper and salt —Dash each side with flour, have ready some butter in the frying pan, boiling but not browned, put in the collops, fry them on each side a light brown, take then out of the pan without any of the butter that is left, and put them into a stew pan with some good beef gravy, plenty of sliced onion, some soy and walnut pickle, let all stew gently till the collops are quite tender and the sauce a proper thickness — This dish requires to be served up very hot. — N.B. The onions should be baked a little while before they are sliced.

  I was onboard the whole way--until the "walnut pickle."
  
  
• Last, but certainly not least among our February 12 bithdays, we have renowned author Judy Blume, who turned 71 yesterday. In a wide-ranging interview, Ms. Blume was once asked about her favorite food. Her response:
  

  Pasta, pasta, pasta! My all-time favorite.

  Clearly, she is one of the greatest living Americans. Let's hope she celebrated yesterday with a big plate of noodles.
  

Food of Tomorrow... Today!

Welcome to "Foodie Friday" here at Fosco Lives!

Let's kick some things off today with a bit of gastroporn--both professional and amateur. Fosco remains fascinated by the work that Grant Achatz does at his Chicago temple of molecular gastronomy, Alinea. Achatz was born in both the same year and the same state as Fosco, so he feels a natural connection with the star chef. At some point, you should read about Achatz's battle with tongue cancer--it's an amazing story.

Here are some professional pictures of Achatz's creations. One of his guiding principles is to create entirely new ways of tasting familiar flavors. This is "rhubarb."

And this is a "tomato" caterpillar:

And now here are three "amateur" photos of dishes that Fosco had on his visit to Alinea in December 2007. I don't know who took this (found it on image search; my own pic didn't really turn out), but the dish is called "Lamb in Cubism." There are two preparations of lamb plated onto colorful panes of sauce--each pane is a different sauce, focusing primarily on Mediterranean flavors (yogurt, mint, pomegranate, saffron, &c.). The idea is to mix and match.

The next two photos were taken by Fosco. This is a dish called "venison." Achatz is also very interested in the ways in which scents can impact flavor--so yes, that is an inedible juniper branch. Nestled inside the juniper is a super-heated river rock. On top of the river rock, a small venison roll is being seared. The roll contains marinated Japanese plum and is topped with candy cane shards. You eat it in one bite with chopsticks. (And in case you think this looks like too small a portion, recall that the Alinea tasting menu has something like twelve courses. Fosco was very full.)

This dish was one of the desserts. It's a tempura-battered fried pumpkin pie popsicle (frozen with liquid nitrogen) on a cinnamon stick that is set aflame (look at the tip).

And you see that Achatz custom-designed wire holder? They've been popping up at other restaurants recently (including Jean-Georges, where Fosco saw them last December). That's called influence.

UCSC on Colbert Report

UC Santa Cruz researchers have named a local elephant seal after Stephen Colbert. You can read all about "Stelephant Colbert" in this UCSC press release--humorously titled "I am elephant seals (and so can you!)" Well, the shameless bid for publicity paid off because last night on "The Colbert Report," Stephen led off the show by acknowledging UCSC (sort of) and his eponymous elephant seal:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Stelephant Colbert the Elephant Seal

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Paul McCartney Appearance

Funny Political Videos
More Funny Videos

True, Stephen does actually call us the "University of Santa Cruz"; but that's close enough, right? And how about the graphical shoutout to the Santa Cruz Sentinel? This may be the most national exposure Santa Cruz has had since it was "Murder Capital of the World" back in the 1970s.

You know, last year Fosco had tickets for the hike to the beach at Año Nuevo State Natural Reserve to see the mating elephant seals. Sadly, it was pouring rain on that day and Fosco just let the ticket go to waste (as if he would hike two miles in the rain!). Maybe he should try again this year--especially since it no longer seems to rain in Santa Cruz. Imagine the great pix of Stelephant Colbert that he could get (because I'm sure that elephant seals all look very different from each other--just like Jonas Brothers...).

From the Annals of "Holy Crap!"

I've been meaning to mention this for a couple of weeks. From SFGate:

Science closing in on cloak of invisibility.

Seriously.


Of course, as cool as it sounds, this is going to be an extraordinarily bad thing.

Isis gotta watch Wapner

Fosco has never had a cat before, but now he's helping to raise Oz's cat Isis. As Fosco has previously noted, he feels some anxiety about Isis's psychological well-being. He spends more time than he should wondering about Isis's thoughts and feelings. And he's actually gotten a little frustrated: what is going on in kitty's head?


That is, until he read this brief note in Sunday's NYT Book Review. Temple Grandin's new book Animals Make Us Human includes some interesting thoughts about cats. According to the review:

In her chapter on cats, she offers advice on how to prevent “cat explosions” at the vet’s office and mentions at least one book, “All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome,” that Inside the List would like to get its hands on. “Cats seem autistic,” she writes, “because they don’t come across as being sociable or eager to please like a dog, and also because their faces are kind of blank.”

Fosco thinks this is actually a pretty brilliant way to think about cats. From what he can tell of the book All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome, it is intended primarily as a teaching tool for people who want to understand Asperger's better; however, based on this summary of the book, it seems to offer a pretty decent description of cat behavior as well. So this is Fosco's new approach to thinking about Isis: she is the feline equivalent of an Asperger kid. And once you realize that, you stop worrying about why she doesn't always want to cuddle or why she sometimes ignores Tina Tuna or she both fears and loves crinkly plastic.

All this means, of course, is that Fosco was using the wrong cognitive model to represent Isis. He was thinking about her as a low-functioning but essentially "normal" human (hmmm, like a baby!). But Isis is not like most neurotypical babies; rather, she may be more like an Asperger or autistic kid. And Fosco can deal with that.

Finally, a Reason to Care about Science

There is always something interesting going on at Harvard. Like, for instance, a visit from the best chef in the world, Ferran Adrià (of impossible reservation El Bulli in Spain). Adrià is responsible for molecular gastronomy, an approach to cuisine that uses experimental techniques based in chemistry and engineering to produce new preparations of food. You've probably seen it practiced (usually badly) by several "Top Chef" eliminees of the past few seasons. The foremost American practitioner is probably Grant Achatz of Chicago's Alinea (where Fosco had an ethereal and surreal meal in December 2007).

But dinner at El Bulli is beyond pretty much anything that you can find in this country. Dinner is a 35 course tasting menu. Adrià is a living legend, responsible for some of the most fascinating (and funny!) food preparations you've ever seen. Here is his "letter soup":

You can find an entire slideshow of his creations here.

Adrià's visit to Harvard is especially notable, however, because it came under the auspices of the Harvard School of Engineering. According to the press release, Adrià's talk actually focused on the use of hydrocolloids. Even more interesting, this visit allowed the signing of a "Memorandum of Understanding"(!) between El Bulli and the Harvard SEAS, which allows for a staff exchange(!!) between the two institutions. How cool would it be to be an engineering grad student who got to spend some time doing research at El Bulli? (Well, assuming that it could ever be cool to be an engineering grad student...)

Roxy Music Vindicated

And you thought Brian Ferry et al. were exaggerating when they said "love is the drug and I need to score." Well, according to this story in the Times, our industrious scientists have essentially isolated the neurochemicals responsible for feelings of love. One of them is oxytocin (calm down, Mr. Limbaugh, I said oxy-tocin). In fact, the possibility of a pharmaceutical intervention (or "love drug") is well within our reach:

Although Dr. Young is not concocting any love potions (he’s looking for drugs to improve the social skills of people with autism and schizophrenia), he said there could soon be drugs that increase people’s urge to fall in love.

“It would be completely unethical to give the drug to someone else,” he said, “but if you’re in a marriage and want to maintain that relationship, you might take a little booster shot yourself every now and then. Even now it’s not such a far-out possibility that you could use drugs in conjunction with marital therapy.”

What's more fascinating about the Times story, however, is how much more interested the author (John Tierney) is in an antidote or vaccine for love. As Tierney notes,

A love vaccine seems simpler and more practical, and already there are some drugs that seem to inhibit people’s romantic impulses.

[...]

I doubt many people would want to permanently suppress love, but a temporary vaccine could come in handy.

Especially if you're ever cast in a movie alongside Angelina Jolie.

But seriously, this Tierney guy just won't let his love vaccine go. In another article published in the Times on the same day, Tierney speculates about the potential for a love vaccine, noting that many SSNRI antidepressants already seem to suppress romance and attachment. That's a nasty irony, eh?

How about you, commenters? Are you ready for your chemical romance?

The Brown Fairy

From a report on the Beeb:

People who drank more than seven cups of instant coffee a day were three times more likely to hallucinate than those who took just one, a study found.

See, this is why Fosco's prefers to get his energy from cocaine.

I can see your death...

Everything about America is now best expressed using a red and blue map, even your risk of dying from a natural hazard. For the purposes of this map, a natural hazard is anything weather- or geology-related (tornado, flood, earthquake, rockslide, snowstorm, Jim Cantore, etc.) Or, if you live in Kentucky, a natural hazard is what God sends to punish the gays. Either way, your risk of dying in one can be calculated (especially if you are gay--okay, not really).

At any rate, scientists have done the work (so you don't have to!) and have produced the following "death map":

Just as on any recent political map you've seen, blue is good and red is bad. The blue counties are counties in which people are less likely than average to die of a natural disaster. The red counties are more likely than average. The white counties are average. Gets it?

A few noteworthy observations:

• The lovely Bay Area is a big blue splotch (including Santa Cruz). What that says is that, even with our earthquakes, we're still outliving the rest of y'all.
  
• There is further evidence that Utah sucks.
  
• Getting stabbed by a smack-addicted tranny hooker is apparently not a natural hazard, because Las Vegas is a white county.
  
• Alaska and Hawaii are not included because neither state has ever reported a death from natural hazard (although that Greg Brady surfing incident was a close call).
  
• Arkansas is almost completely red, presumably because ATV accidents often involve some natural component (e.g., tree branches, dirt ramps, ponds, raccoons).
  

You may now plan the rest of your life accordingly.

In which Fosco defends the role of the courts in democracy...

As you've probably heard, the CA Supreme Court has agreed to hear legal challenges to the despicable Prop H8. As the SF Chronicle notes,

the justices asked for written arguments to be submitted through Jan. 21. The court could hold a hearing as early as March, and a ruling would be due 90 days later.

That means that we could have a decision by mid-June.

This is good news, of course (although, as the article notes, there is reason to fear that one of the justices that originally overturned the marriage ban may not be willing to overturn Prop H8). It's also good news in that it could allow gay couples to plan late-June weddings (although, in California, a "June wedding" is possible nine months a year).

You may have noticed the little "teapot tempest" occurring in the comments section of one of Fosco's previous posts on H8. One of Fosco's friends, The Beemaster (come to think of it, why do Fosco and his friends have aliases that sound like supervillains? Count Fosco, The Beemaster, Oz... It's like a whole Legion of Doom thing...)--but anyway, The Beemaster has questioned whether relying on the courts to overturn a ballot initiative is a subversion of democracy. I have to disagree; in fact, I think court review of these kinds of things is actually one of the best features of our system of democracy because it protects the rights of minorities from whims of majorities.

Think about it. The state of Utah is 62% Mormon. That pretty much means that, if Utah allows its state constitution to be revised by a pure majority vote (like CA), the Mormons could decide to do anything they wanted to the non-Mormons. They could revoke suffrage, legalize discrimination, even require non-Mormons to wear special underwear (how ridiculous!). (Disclaimer: I don't know if the Utah constitution can be altered by a majority vote; but that doesn't change our thought experiment).

But, you say, that would never happen because the courts would prevent it (based on either the US or State constitution). Exactly.

Actually, we could even consider this in a CA context. Prop H8 passed with about 5 million votes (approx. 1/7 of the population of CA). Now there are lots of things I bet I could get 5 million Californians to vote for (especially if I had millions of dollars in Mormo cash to help me run a misleading ad campaign). Remember how they had those troubles linked to Black muslims in Oakland (at Your Black Muslim Bakery--no, that's your Black Muslim Bakery, not mine)? I bet I could get 5 million Californians to require Black muslims across the state to register with their local police departments.

Or what about Scientologists? Heck, I bet if I had enough money (enough to outspend the Cruises), I could even get 5 million CA voters to force Scientologists to get freaky facial tattoos!

My point should be ridiculously clear by now: a democracy doesn't work unless there are courts to protect minorities from impositions by the majority. Now, we can argue all day about how the CA Constitution (or the US Constitution) should be interpreted when it comes to marriage equality. Or, to put it a different way, we can argue all day about whether marriage equality is a basic civil right. But I don't think it's worth arguing that this is a question for the courts--this is exactly a question for the courts.

Excuse me while I stumble off of my soapbox to make a gin & tonic.