October 28, 2016 at 12:11AM

Today I Learned: 1) One way to think about cancer -- it's a reversal, within a single organism, of the evolution of multicelluarlity. I don't think this really tells me anything strictly *new*, but it's a nice way of crystallizing a lot of ideas about cancer in a succict way. 2) Saw some really old piano-like instruments today, including a pianoforte, harpsichord, and clavicle from around the 1730s. Seeing those instruments in person really puts Mozart and the other classical composers in context. They're dainty instruments, relatively delicate-looking and very ornately decorated (though admittedly I was looking at some very wealthy persons' instruments). If I were Mozart and I was given one of those to work with, I bet I'd come up with something classical-sounding too. 3) There was a brief period in ancient Egyptian sculpture where the principal subject of the sculpture would be shown more than once in the same sculpture. I saw one example from a high-ranking official's tomb showing the guy, the guy again with a different kilt, and his wife and children. Nobody is really sure why they did this.