Gleanings for the Week Ending December 24, 2011

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week:

A Guide to Wassail - history and good holiday fare!

Holiday Images from Cassini Imaging Team - Saturn and its moons

Planets Dazzle Holiday Skies - At dusk - Jupiter…Venus. At dawn - Mercury, Saturn, Mars

Triple Citrus Cupcakes - Orange, Lemon, Lime…Wow!

Winter Solstice: Patterns of Darkness and Light - Observations from Joanna Paterson

A Prosthetic Eye to Treat Blindness - Sheila Nirenberg’s TED talk…hope this or comparable technology will be available for people with macular degeneration soon since sight is so important to quality of life for everyone and that it may lead to better treatments for deafness as well.

David Zax’s 10 Favorite Technologies of 2011 - How many of the 10 have you heard about previously?

50 most Innovative Companies - Take a look at Technology Review’s 2011 list and suggest ones for 2012

Gleanings for the Week Ending December 17, 2011

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week:

Materials-coating advance could lead to eyeglasses that shed fingerprints – Hope this is something that gets to market quickly.

Water Wonders Every Child Should Know (Little Studies of dew, frost, snow, ice and rain)– A free e-book available from Google, published in 1907. Many black and white pictures of ice and snow crystals by Wilson A. Bentley.

Peppermint Biscotti - What a great way to us candy canes!

Feathers in fillable glass or acrylic ornaments - I bought some of these already made but may try to make some myself for hanging in windows.

Peppermint Crunch Bark - This is a recipe for a homemade version of a holiday favorite I previously purchased already made. I think I’ll make a batch before Christmas!

Chipmunks - These little animals can be such fun to watch! Over the years we’ve had a small population around our house and seen them frequently when we go camping.

Molecule of the Month - I look at this page produced by the Chemistry Department at the University of Bristol every year in December to read through a year of postings. In 2011 there were postings about Deet, Musk, Bleach, and Warfarin. I like the history of the discovery and uses for the molecules.

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 10, 2011

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week:

• The economics of Christmas lights – Seth Godin’s thoughts about why Christmas lights and good/free internet content are indicators of healthy communities
• Lassen Volcanic National Park – year long time lapse from the visitor center webcam…snow…plows…the melt…corn lilies
• Tools vs Insight – Another thoughtful piece from Seth Godin…we need to spend less time learning new tools and more time using them.
• Paper Stars – An interesting idea – maybe to use up odd bits of wrapping paper. They could be hung on a tree or wreath too.
• Future Agenda: The World in 2020 – Insights from a project to look at trends and predict what will happen by 2020.
• Crochet Chain Mini-Wreaths – Simple idea for tree ornaments
• Kepler 22-b…an Earth-like planet – Wow! 600 light years away is pretty far though.
• NASA Mars Rover Finds Mineral Vein Deposited by Water – The Opportunity rover just keeps going and going.
• Why Aren't We Smarter Already? Evolutionary Limits On Cognition – There is already evidence that there are not-so-good side effects to cognition enhancing drugs. Perhaps nature has it about right.
• Our Beautiful Planet…timelapse vignettes – A preview of Tom Lowe’s film. So beautiful.

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 3, 2011

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week:

• Painting Of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area  - Robert Dalegowski’s painting made while he was artist-in-residence there…capturing the feeling of the place
• Coral pictures – 5 pictures of coral that show the tremendous variety in appearance of these animals (actually mostly their skeleton is what is seen)
• Fixing the Pentagon's Broken Windows - Small Steps Can Bring Focus, Efficiency – An opinion piece that takes New York’s ‘broken windows program’ and applies it to the Department of Defense
• The Art of Everyday Wonder – Joanna Paterson’s blog…full of nature photos of Scotland and accompanying poetry
• Caterpillar molting video – almost like a little dance
• Yarn/thread and glue bowl – a great craft project – colorful and functional
• Gulf Islands National Seashore – a warm place to visit…maybe at its best in the winter?
• Spicy Orange Greens – Collar greens are not a routine food for me…this sauce recipe sounds so interesting though…something to try

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 26, 2011

The items below were the cream of the articles I read this past week:

Wild Turkey Facts – did you know that sonic booms can cause domesticated turkey to have fatal heart attacks?

National Parks Conservation Association report on the Chesapeake Bay – the bay will never be as it was when John Smith arrived…but there are things that can and should be done to help the bay recover rather than declining further

Baltimore’s can-do approach to food deserts – it can be very difficult/expensive to find healthful food inner city neighborhoods. Baltimore is trying to improve that situation.

Whale Fossils in the Atacama Desert – there are a lot of them and the research is just beginning

Mars Sand Dunes in Motion – the red planet dunes are not as static as once thought

Paper gems (template included) – hum…maybe this is a use for odd bits of wrapping paper? I’ve already printed off the template to give it a try!

Changes In Ancient Humans’ Diet Made Wisdom Teeth Obsolete – I am a person who did have all 4 wisdom teeth removed before I was 20. It is interesting to have this explanation but it may not be the only reason wisdom teeth need to be extracted.

Know your Sharks Gallery – Fascinating creatures that are getting a lot of attention from National Geographic right now

Makeup tips for aging faces – Some of these tips I had derived on my own some now…and every little bit helps!

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 19, 2011

The items below were the cream of the articles I read this past week:

1. National Park Service Documents Ancient Towers in Afghanistan - this is the second week in a row there has been an archaeology story from somewhere dangerous on my gleanings list (last week is was Lybia)
2. Baby Elephant pictures (Borneo) - note how large the eyes of the baby are in relation to the rest of him
3. New Mouthwash Targeting Harmful Bacteria May Render Tooth Decay a Thing of the Past - Wow! If this works as the early tests revealed (and without bad side effects), this is a disruptive technology....maybe to more than denistry if the same idea could be applied to other bacterial problems
4. Lots of Bundt Cake Recipes - some of the recipes reference books, others online - there are a lot of great ideas (and pictures) on this site to motivate me to dig out the Bundt pan!
5. Cynthia Kenyon: Experiments that hint of longer lives (TED talk) - genes have been identified that cause organisms to not age as fast (and thus live longer); studying what those genes do in the body is a very active area of research
6. Cranberries (info and recipes) – Cranberry upside-down cake…sounds good…think I’ll try this next week!
7. Fossil poop - coprolites - some discoveries from these bloob-like fossils...one included a human hair
8. Gaston Lacombe’s Fundy National Park Picture sequence - the photo of water smoothed rocks pulled me in (it is a great first picture for the series)

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 12, 2011

The items below were the cream of the articles from this past week!

1. 25 Inspiring Pictures of Snow - beautiful!
2. Castles in the Desert: Satellites Reveal Lost Cities of Libya - now if the country could become safe enough to find out more about them from the ground.
3. 5 Foods Threatened by Climate Change - Arrgh! Chocolate is one of them!
4. Cave Paintings Showed True Colors of Stone Age Horses - yes - there were spotted horses around at that time so the paintings are realistic rather than symbolic
5. Nature Notes: The Black Oaks Of Yosemite National Park, The Video - great visual about how the Indians processed the acorns for food
6. Impact of Space Weather - now that we are more dependent on satellites (for things like GPS), maybe we should be paying more attention 
7. New System of Intelligent Management of Street Lighting Enables 80% Savings in Energy - makes sense to only power lights when you need them, just like at home
8. Condors in Grand Canyon – 3 chicks - one has already died but the other two seem to be thriving; bit about trash being a potential threat quite depressing
9. Why we need public libraries is the future - for a subset of the reasons we need them today but very real and long term (it's not about books)