Gleanings of the Week Ending July 14, 2012

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article:

Way out in a barren Chilean desert, the biggest telescope ever made is taking shape - Photos from the construction of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array

High-Tech Tools Give Researchers New View Of Yellowstone Thermal Features - Thermal maps of popular areas within the park

Electricity Storage - Wow - there are a lot of new ways out there and the idea of ‘storage’ of electricity implies a more robust infrastructure for reliable power than we have now

12 stats that matter to digital publishing - the number of people reading electronically rather than from paper is growing….and what/how they read is changing too

Heron Cam 2012 Highlights - All 5 have fledged from the Sapsucker Woods nest!

Scientific History and the Lessons for Today's Emerging Ideas -  A look back at what was happening in the 1890-1910 time period…lots of theories…some are threads to current theories, others are on the trash heap

Bridges for Animals - All around the world…this is an idea being tried to reduce road kill on highways

The 10 most pristine places on earth - none are in the US

Yama no sachi - A Japanese book from 1765. Read it on the Internet Archive. Use page down (or up) to browse through the book. It has illustrations of flowers, insects, and animals. My favorites are the peony (at right) and the poppy.

Drought leads to declaration of natural disaster in 26 US states - That’s more than half the states!

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 7, 2012

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article:

Paint-On Lithium Battery Can Be Applied to Virtually Any Surface - Storage for energy from paint-on solar panels?

Atrazine, a continued concern for all - herbicide banned in the EU but still used in the US….and in our water supply

Good News for Aging Eyes: Debilitating Eyesight Problems On the Decline for Older Americans - Hurray!

Photos of fire damage in Western States - Scary and sad

Pictures: 25 new reef fish found - from National Geographic

Ocean Leaders “Shake Up” How We View the Seas - “Consider the ocean as the blue heart of the planet. How much of your heart would you save?” - Sylvia Earle

Wanted: Vision and Leadership to Ensure a Sustainable Water Future for America - It’s pretty scary what we don’t know about our water resources

What’s Behind the Record Heat? - Map showing temperature anomaly. My immediate area does not look too bad…but Colorado is having a very hot year.

Defuse Summer's TICKing Time Bomb - 10 tick prevention tips and a picture of what the Lyme’s Disease bullseye looks like.

Drought Monitor Shows Record-Breaking Expanse of Drought Across United States - The area where I live is ‘abnormally dry’ but there is a lot of country that is in drought conditions. Enlarge the map for a closer look.

Gleanings of the Week Ending June 30, 2012

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article:

Karen Bass: Unseen footage, untamed nature - TED Talk

Put a Cork in It: Research Details Quiet Composite Material - positive results using cork instead of synthetic foam in sandwich structures…250% improvement in dampening performance with no sacrifice of mechanical properties

A Virtual Telescope Turns Back toward Earth - a blog about the WorldWide Telescope software and virtual tour

A smart-phone add-on enables at-home diagnosis of ear infections - remote diagnostics still have a doctor in the loop but no trip to the office

Louie Schwartzberg: Nature. Beauty. Gratitude. - TED Talk (time lapse photography)

Researchers Catalog Your Microbial Zoo - microbial cells outnumber human cells 10 to 1 in our bodies. An NIH study seeks to increase our understanding of them.

The Scientific Case For A Return To The Moon

First fledge from Cornell Great Blue Heron Nest - 6/26/2012 at 9:18 AM EDT…and then the next two about 30 minutes later. A summary slide show up to mid-June has also been posted by Cornell. I made a donation to support the cameras in celebration.

Waterproof butterflies mobile - made with recycled paper and coated with wax. These could work for Christmas ornaments too (or would they be too messy with the potential of wax rubbing off)!

A game that heals: Jane McGonigal at TEDGlobal 2012 - psyching yourself to emotional (and physical) health

Gleanings of the Week Ending June 23, 2012

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

Mars Weather Report: Size of Particles in Martian Clouds of Carbon Dioxide Snow Calculated - Using several years of data…and multiple data sources

Get the Most from Your Skin Care Products: Sequence in Which You Apply Skin Care Products Influences Their Effectiveness - Cleanse, treatment/medication, moisturizer/sunscreen, makeup….but using several products at the same time may negate the benefits and irritate the skin

Antibacterials in Personal-Care Products Linked to Allergy Risk in Children - Another study that suggests that children need exposure to common pathogens to build healthy immune responses…or the immune system can become overactive to food, pollen or pet dander

Million-Year-Old Groundwater in Maryland Water Supply - Wow…Even no-so-dry places are using up ground water faster than it can be replenished

Birding In The National Parks: Top 10 Birding Spots In The National Park System - I’ve been to 4 out of the 10!

5 solar myths busted - infographic

Pralines - Follow the link in this piece if you want to try making your own pralines!

Oil and Conventional Gas Extraction Can Cause Earthquakes Too - evidently biggest risk of earthquakes is when the wastewater from those operations is pumped back down into deep sandstone or other formations for permanent disposal

Non-Antibiotic Approach for Treating Urinary Tract Infections - Promising approach….could eventually be used for other types of infections as well?

What America Spends on Groceries - Comparison between 1982 and 2012

Gleanings of the Week Ending June 16, 2012

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

Wood ducks - duckling paratrooper video. The ducklings leave the nest high in the tree when they are about 24 hours old.

Body Hacks for a Longer Life - infographic

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #15 - birds…and more birds

A Century of Learning About the Physiological Demands of Antarctica - severe exercise, malnutrition, hypothermia, high altitude, sleep deprivation

There Are Two Kinds of “Busy.” Is Yours the Good Kind? - excerpt from “It Takes an Egg Timer” book

Bamboo, A Beautiful and Versatile Material - It can grow 1.6 feet per hour!!!!

Does This Look Infected? Medical Procedures Then and Now - electroshock therapy, bullet removal, inflammation and the common cold, pain relief

50 Future Ideas You Really Need to Know - from Richard Watson

Top Solar Power Countries - The US is 22nd in terms of total solar power per million people, 31st in total new solar power per million people…..seems like this could result in a challenge to our long term competitiveness in the world

Solar Panel Technology Advancements - infographic

10 Years Ago – In June 2002

Many years ago I started collecting headlines/news blurbs as a way of honing my reading of news. Over the years, the headline collection has been warped by the sources of news I was reading…increasingly online. Reviewing the June 2002 headline gleanings - I forced myself to pick 10.     

  1. Centuries-old oak toppled in Maryland storm
  2. A wildfire raging in the Pike National Forest
  3. Archeologists doing maintenance at the famous Inca citadel of Machu Picchu have found new stone terraces, water channels, a rubbish dump and a wall dividing the site's urban sector from its temples
  4. A moderate earthquake shook a wide area around southern Indiana
  5. A 4,600 year-old Egyptian tomb, glued shut and with its original owner still inside, has been discovered by archaeologists working near the Giza Pyramids.
  6. Ann Landers, the columnist whose snappy, plainspoken and timely advice helped millions of readers deal with everything from birth to death, died Saturday. She was 83.
  7. Hundreds of people were killed or injured as an earthquake and a series of aftershocks rocked northern Iran
  8. FBI searches apartment in anthrax probe
  9. An Argentine icebreaker prepared to leave on a mission to rescue 107 people aboard a ship stranded off Antarctica.
  10. The consumption of forests, energy and land by humans is exceeding the rate at which Earth can replenish itself 

My interest in science is reflected in 7 of the 10 (archeology in 3, 4; botany in 1; climate/ecology in 2, 10; geology in 4 and 7).  The others fit into a people/places/politics category.

Gleanings of the Week Ending June 9, 2012

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

Animals Benefiting From Climate Change - a slide show from Discovery News

Dark Chocolate Could Prevent Heart Problems in High-Risk People - Evidence keeps mounting re the benefits of 60-70% dark chocolate

Things That Go Bump—or Hoot—in the Night: 5 Animals You May Hear While Camping in Your Yard - pictures and recordings of sounds they make

Discover Life - free on-line tools to identify species, share ways to teach and study nature’s wonders, report findings, build maps, process images, and contribute to and learn from a growing, interactive encyclopedia of life

How much energy does the internet use? - about 2%...quite a bit is by huge data centers and the article discusses the methods used/proposed to reduce their consumption

Brainmail Bonanza - Richard Watson’s (accidental futurist) newsletter highlights

Horseshoe Crab are blue bloods - their blood is copper rather than iron based

'Safe' Levels of Arsenic in Drinking Water Found to Compromise Pregnant/Lactating Mothers, Offspring

Top Wind Power Countries per Capita

After three months of trying to contact the Mars rover, NASA is calling it quits - Goodbye to Spirit

Gleanings of the Week Ending June 2, 2012

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

The World’s Largest Solar Thermal Power Plant - Built in the dessert outside Las Vega. When finished it will generate 370 megawatts of electricity on sunny days.

Ultra-efficient Solar - solar cell technology is getting better all the time…and approaching the point of producing electricity more cheaply that fossil fuels

Perspectives on the Geothermal Energy Association Showcase in DC - The US has the greatest installed base of geothermal energy in the world but investors and entrepreneurs are developing elsewhere because of policies/politics

Too Much Vitamin D Can Be as Unhealthy as Too Little, Study Suggests - Based on a quarter million blood tests in Copenhagen.

21st Century Bloodletting Reduces Cardiovascular Risk - a study done of obese people donating blood… with a positive result for them

The 10 Ways to Know Whether Your Job is Meaningful - this is an older post…but I just found it.

Seven Ways to Save on Health Care Costs - Some practical suggestions from Fidelity

Pocket marvels: 40 years of handheld computers - a slide show of history. I was disappointed that they didn’t include the early TI calculators.

The Evolution of Solar Technology - It all started in 1839!

California and American West Top 2012 State Clean Energy Index - 6 states now generate more than 10% of their utility-scale electricity from wind, solar, and geothermal…twice as many as in 2010

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 26, 2012

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

Lyrids meteor shower and Earth - as seen from the International Space Station

Unique Gold Earring Found in Intriguing Collection of Ancient Jewelry in Israel - jewelry from 1100 BC found in jug

Toxic Mercury, Accumulating in the Arctic, Springs from a Hidden Source - the rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean (the Lena, Ob, and Yenisei are the main ones) turn out to be more significant than the atmosphere

Equifax Eyes Are Watching You--Big Data Means Big Brother - They know more than your credit score.

European Physicists Smash Chinese Teleportation Record - This is all about the next generation global communications network. The race is between Europe and China. Yikes! No player from the US.

'Personality Genes' May Help Account for Longevity - Positive attitude toward life is a trait shared by most centenarians

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #14 - Always a great selection…and you can look back to previous weeks as well

First Ladies: Grace Under Fire - Marlo Thomas provides a slide show featuring 12 first ladies

Avoiding bees, wasps, mosquitoes and ticks - tips for avoiding bites from the National Wildlife Federation as you are out and about this summer

Cost of Lighting - infographic comparing incandescent light bulbs, compact-fluorescent bulbs and light emitting diodes

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 19, 2012

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

Scientists 'Read' Ash from the Icelandic Volcano Two Years After Its Eruption - A description of how data was collected immediately following the event and how it is now being used to improve model for predicting dispersion of particles - particularly from volcanic eruptions

Sulfur Finding May Hold Key to Gaia Theory of Earth as Living Organism - looking at the Earth as a giant living organism…sulfur in the ocean, atmosphere, and land

Study in Rats Shows High-Fructose Diet Sabotages Learning, Memory - what you eat has an impact…this study says reduce high-fructose and make sure you have enough omega-3 fatty acids

Statistical Analysis Projects Future Temperatures in North America - map that shows the temperature change expected by 2070 for the US.

First Gene Therapy Successful Against Aging-Associated Decline: Mouse Lifespan Extended Up to 24% With a Single Treatment - Research from Spain. Treatment has been found safe and effective in mice. The effectiveness was shown in ‘health span’ not just life extension.

List Of "Most Endangered Rivers" Flows Through National Parks - the Potomac is #1 on this list…that’s pretty close to home for me

Yosemite Nature Notes: Water - 6.5 minute video - waterfalls, churning water, gently flowing water, rainbows in the mist…and then it’s trek all the way to the coast of California; narrated by park rangers

Evolution Of A Glasshouse: From Colonial Glassmaking To Decorative Arts - Jamestown Colonial National Historical Park includes a glassworks!

Prosthetic Retina Offers Simple Solution for Restoring Sight - just one of the promising technologies to address the problem of age related macular degeneration; I hope one of them is practical and effective by the time I need it

Backyard Color of the Week: Yellow - last week it was blue….this week is yellow

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 12, 2012

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

Yosemite Range of Light (video) - Series of time lapse images of Yosemite accompanied with well selected music. Whether you’ve been to Yosemite or not…worth looking at. Double click to see it full screen (then esc to go back to smaller format)

Moon Jellies (photo) - an intersection of life and art

A Look at Solar Growth in the US - (infographic) show top 9 states (Maryland is 9th!) and the demographics on who is installing solar

Find out your city’s air pollution grade from the American Lung Association - infographic and tool using zip code or a map to search the data for your city

Encyclopedia of Life Reaches Historic One Million Species Pages Milestone - If you haven’t already discovered the Encyclopedia of Life web site, it is well worth a look

Carbon Disclosure Project - (infographic) what local governments are doing

Backyard Color of the Week: Blue - collection of photos of blue life (mostly birds)

Top Countries for Higher Education - the environment for higher education around the world....it’s a different look than we get from looking at single institutions

UK stat: growing population over 100 years old - tremendous increase projected between now and 2066. The picture is the best part of the post - implying that this increase in older population will benefit the youngest of us!

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 5, 2012

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

Live stream of Blue Heron nest at Cornell Ornithology Lab - There are 5 chicks…two cameras. I leave it on almost all the time. I love having bird noises in my office and they are so interesting to watch. The chicks are growing fast so don’t wait to take a look. The adult male has the extra plummage on his head (the female lost hers in a battle with an owl) and a missing toe on his right foot. They take turns on the nest.

New Saturn video created from Voyager and Cassini spacecraft images - Video and music

New Reservation System In Place For Firefly Viewing At Great Smokies June 2nd—10th - The fireflies that flash synchronously have become so popular that a ticketing system has been put in place. Good to know if you plan to see them this year.

About One Baby Born Each Hour Addicted to Opiate Drugs in U.S. - very sad

Arabic Records Allow Past Climate to Be Reconstructed - Weather in Iraq/Syria in the 816-1009 time period…a time with lots of cold waves in that area of the world

Yellowstone Super-Eruptions More Numerous Than Thought? - yes, it’s still a super volcano

The Library of Utopia - Another try to create the giant online library

10 Emerging Technologies - A list from Technology Review. It has a pull down so you can look at their list from previous years too

Is automation the handmaiden of inequality? - Productivity per hour has continued to climb while the hourly compensation flatten sometime in the 1970s. Manufacturing jobs in the US have declined precipitously since around 2000 while the manufacturing output has continued to increase (and this in spite of outsource manufacturing to other countries too!). Blog post + comments to get lots of interpretations of the data.

Breakthroughs in glass technology - and they’ll come on line in the next few years...I like the idea of having wall sized screens!

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 28, 2012

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

Red-Rock Splendors of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks (video)

Anti-depressants likely do more harm than good - How many other drugs would come out like this is reviewed from a whole system perspective?

A serving a day of dark chocolate might keep the doctor away - A study that showed 50 grams of 70% dark chocolate was good for you. I love having it for breakfast (although I usually have only eat 20 grams)!

Surging Seas - a site that gets specific about the expected impact of rising sea level by 2020.

Almost Seven Million Birds Perish at Communication Towers in North America Each Year - a study that documented the problem…and some possible solutions (for example - making the red lights blinking rather than solid would reduce mortality by 45%!)

Building Muscle Without Heavy Weights - more repetitions with lower intensity also works!

If the food’s in plastic, what’s in the food? - Maybe we need to know more about the packaging of the food we eat

NASA Landsat Satellites See Texas Crop Circles - An image and a bit of history about irrigation and Landsat

Psychologists use social networking behavior to predict personality type - Some research results that prompts more questions than it answers

Less invasive scoliosis treatment - A rod system that is manipulated with magnets - marketed by a California Company - being tested in Hong Kong because of the difficulty getting technology approved for testing in the US

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 21, 2012

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

Trekking Poles - A comparison of 3 hiking sticks. I am eventually buy a pair

Innovate or Evaporate commentary - from Norm Augustine - After a major study of the ever widening education gap, Management Consultant McKinsey and Co. concluded that "if U.S. youth could match the academic performance of students in Finland, our economy would be between 9 and 16 percent larger."

4 feet of hail near Amarillo TX on 4/11 - Wow…and then came flash flooding when it melted

Traveler’s Checklist: Petrified Forest National Park - Things to do and see

1000 Days of Infrared Wonders - 10 images from the Infrared Array Camera aboard NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope (there is a ‘tornado’ nebula!)

Magnifying the Universe - Click on the graphic…and start looking at the relative size of things…from the observable universe to a hydrogen atom

Space Shuttle Discovery Flies Over the National Mall - En route to its museum home on 4/17

Atul Gawande: How do we heal medicine (TED talk)

The Worrying Consequences of the Wikipedia Gender Gap - Almost half the readers of Wikipedia are women but they make up only 13% of those that contribute…and it appears to be impacting the content

State of Flux - NASA’s images of change…mining growth in Chile, Dead Sea, plus more…in time for Earth Day on 4/22 (look at the bottom to see more before and after images…there is a series of pictures of the Dallas-Fort Worth area from 1974 to 2003)

15 Earth Day Tips that Really Make a Difference

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 14, 2012

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

The Amazing Trajectories of Life-Bearing Meteorites from Earth - What happens to the ejection of rocks/water from big impacts?

Ocean surface currents animation from NASA - using data from June 2005 to December 2007

A Apple Pie by Kate Greenaway - online version from the popular Victorian illustrator

What is a Vegan Diet? - Pointers to good references. “Even if you have no intention of going vegan yourself, anyone can benefit from enjoying a completely plant-based meal from time to time.”

Baking with Whole Grain Flours - A goof reference for if you’re in the mood to experiment with some of those exotic flours that are finding their way into your grocery store - amaranth…buckwheat…quinoa

Smart grids (info graphic) - lots of technology being integrated…coming soon (click on the graphic to enlarge it)

Top 25 US Cities for Energy Star Buildings - Los Angeles and Washington DC are the top 2; Dallas-Fort Worth is 8th

Obesity Accounts for 21% of US Health Care Costs - One more reason to achieve/sustain a normal weight

Birding in the National Parks - Spring time and bird migration

Paleo-Birding: What Birds Looked Like 125 Million Years Ago - Photos of bird fossils with commentary

Know where your food comes from - An interactive map…type the name of a food and see where it comes from in the US

History of Botanical Print Making - Online Examples

Botanical prints have been popular since the beginning of books. They were intended to be educational and often show dissections of flowers or seed pods. They are often beautiful works of art as well.

Many of these old books have been scanned and are accessible via the Internet. I’ve created a time ordered sequence below and pointed to where you can find the whole book of similar prints.

 

Published in 1484, Peter Schoeffer’s Herbarius latinus contains simple drawings like on the right. The drawings clearly could not be used by themselves to identify a plant. This book was created not that long after the printing press became more widely used (i.e. the Gutenberg Bible was made in the 1450s).

 

 

 

 

 

In 1487, Hamsen Schonsperger published Gart der Gesundheit. An example showing an Iris is on the left; the color is rather primitive.  The images are embedded with the text rather than being on separate pages.

 

 

 

Hieronymus Brunschwig’s Das Distilierbuoch came in 1521. It has some plain drawings and some colored. The plain drawings show more detail than earlier drawings although some parts seem stylized rather than reflecting of reality as shown in the grape vine representation on the right. This book also include manufacturing type diagrams...it is a 'how to' book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1546, Kreüter Buch, darin Underscheid, Würckung und Namen der Kreüter so in Deutschen Landen wachsen by Hieronymus Bock was published. The strawberries are easily recognizable. The color is a little better than in the 1400s example.

 

 

 

 

 

Skipping ahead to 1788 when Joseph Gaertner published De frvctibvs et seminibvs plantarvm the attention to detail had increased even more. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1805, William Hooker published 2 volumes of The paradisus londinensis:or coloured figures of plants cultivated in the vicinity of the metropolis with color representations. While these volumes were focused on plants near London - the 1800s were a time of plant exploration around the globe and the botanical prints of the era made those discoveries more widely known with their realistic portrayals.

 

 

 

 

In 1818, William Jackson Hooker published 2 volumes of Musci exotici - with renditions of mosses. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2 volume Florae Columbiae by Hermann Karsten was published in 1869. 

 

 

 

 

Medizinal Pflanzen was published in 4 volumes in 1887. I picked the dandelion print for the example from this book (on the right). Note the way the illustrator sought to fit as much as possible about the plant onto a single page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1904, Kunstformen der Natur was published by Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel. This book has a wide range of prints, not just botanical. The one of pitcher plant is shown at the left. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1907, Alfred  Cogniaux published the many volumes of Dictionnaire iconographique des orchidees. The prints are lovely and grouped by the classification of orchids at the time. My favorite orchids are the slipper-like ones.

 

This is just a small sample of what is available. The two main repositories that I’ve used are Botanicus and the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Both have many more volumes of botanical prints than I've shown here and I encourage you to browse through them. Both repositories have a similar online viewing design. The frame along the left side of the book browsing window generally shows which pages have an illustration (marked 'illustration' or 'plate' or 'tab', for example) so it is possible to skip to the pages that include prints.

Enjoy!

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 7, 2012

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

Funny Food (365 fun, healthy, silly, creative breakfasts) - Take a look at this site if you need to spice up  a child’s (or your own) breakfast

Bioluminescence in the ocean - pictures and explanation from National Geographic

The Secret Life of Fish (TED video)

UK Emissions Dropped 7% in 2011 - due to reduced energy demand (warmer weather) and increased low-carbon electricity generation

5 states (US) getting over 10% of electricity from wind power - South Dakota, Iowa, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wyoming.  Wind generation has been growing by 36% each year since 2007. States that are getting between 5 and 10% from wind are Colorado, Kansas, Idaho, Oregon and Oklahoma. If Texas were a country, it would rank 6th in the world for total wind capacity.

Research on how Giant Gypsum Crystals form - some recent discoveries about the initial stages and how increasing our understanding could benefit industrial production of plaster and help keep pipes clear in desalination plants

Photo of the Day: Rufous Hummingbird

Lean Back - slide show from The Economist re media consumption

12-Mile-High Martian Dust Devil - dust devils form on Mars too (there are two animations accessible via the bottom of this page - http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_026394_2160)

The role of mobile devices and social media in news consumption

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 31, 2012

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

wind map.jpg

Wind map - a (nearly) current map of winds in the continental US. This is an artwork and quite a learning opportunity for how the winds change over time...I find myself looking at it several times a day. 

Step inside the millennium seed bank - a video that walks through the science facility that stores seeds from 10% of the world’s plants

The Beginnings of Dr. Seuss - An Informal Reminiscence - A short piece done for Dartmouth (where he went to college) and made available online recently.

13 Nature Photos with water reflection - Enjoy! My favorite is the spoonbills (the second one).

Nature and Wildlife Photography Tips Center - from National Wildlife Federation

The Psychological Effects of Global Warming in the US - More people will experience weather extremes than ever before…and many more will develop anxiety disorders

Wind Farm in San Gorgonio - A striking picture of wind turbines in a pass in the mountains east of Los Angeles

Regular Chocolate Eaters are Thinner, Evidence Suggests - Just more data that supports my 2 squares of dark chocolate for breakfast habit!

How Animals See the World (infographic)

First Day of Spring (40 pictures) - From around the world

New inverter design shrinks size/cost of connecting solar panels to the grid - Company that created them will start selling them in May. Could shave $0.15/watt from a solar panel installation. There is a lot happening in the solar energy field right now. It's very exciting.

Re-inventing the toilet (turning human waste into power) - A Gates Foundation project. Watch the video.

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 24, 2012

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

Fundamental Steps Needed Now in Global Redesign of Earth System Governance - the argument of 32 scientists and researchers that some fundamental reforms are needed to avoid dangerous changes in the Earth system

How Monarch Butterflies Recolonize Northern Breeding Range - About 10% of the Monarchs in Canada have come all the way from Mexico. 90% were born en route mostly in the central US.

Feeding Habits of German Wolves - Less than 1% of their prey is livestock

The Physics of Cooking (Science and Cooking) - Videos from Harvard that talk about the mechanics of various culinary techniques (there are 42 hours - 26 segments - of videos on the topic!)

America’s First Cuisines - A chapter from the book that focuses on produce that came from the new world

A brief history of solar energy - Beginning in 1767….

Monarch butterflies down again this year - The scene from Texas - 30% fewer monarchs this year

Surface features on Vesta (giant asteroid) - New pictures from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft

Civic Engagement and Local e-Government: Social Networking Comes of Age - a study of how local governments are using social media…a ranking of the 75 largest cities in the US

What is your Water Footprint? - A calculator of how much water your lifestyle takes

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 17, 2012

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

Visualizing the Growing E-Waste Epidemic - a graphical view of the way we dispose of computers, cell phones, televisions, monitors, printers. Maybe we should change the scenario.

NASA Scientist: Will We Leave Our Children a “Climate System Spiraling Out of Control”? - (video)

Energy stats from Germany - In 2011, 40% of their nuclear power capacity was phased out….and they still remained a net power exporter!

Recent Generations Focus more on fame, money than giving back - Data collected from the American Freshman survey over the past 40 years on 9 million young adults…unexpected results.

Lenticular Cloud - A wonderful photograph

Air Pollution Could become China’s Biggest Health Threat - lung cancer and cardiovascular illnesses already rising

How Packaged Foods Makes Girls Hyper - Why is BPA still in our food chain (the resins that line cans of food, packaging, drink containers)?

‘Invisible Wires’ for Transporting Electricity on SolarWindows - How long will it be before this technology (or something equivalent) is ready for market…and then used in virtually all new windows?

The Secret Powers of Time - A Philip Zimbardo video

WolfQuest - a 3D wildlife simulation game that challenges players to learn about wolf ecology by living the life of a wild wolf in Yellowstone National Park