Gleanings of the Week Ending November 16, 2013

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

Researchers Regrow Hair, Cartilage, Bone, Soft Tissues: Enhancing Cell Metabolism Was an Unexpected Key to Tissue Repair - The key finding: enhancing mitochondrial metabolism can boost tissue repair and regeneration. This may become a foundational strategy for helping our bodies stay healthy as we age. It is appealing to think of treatments that address the root cause of age related issues ---- reducing or eliminating the need for medications that address the symptoms.

Purring Monkey? Flamboyant Lizard? New Amazonian Species Are Totally Wild - The variety of life on this planet….always fills me with wonder. Hopefully - we are not on a path of our own construction to be the last large species standing.

Gorgeous Turquoise Pools of Pamukkale, Turkey - I found an old tourist book about Pamukkale at a used book sale several years ago. It was from a time when people were still allowed to move all over the pools (there was not a single picture without people in it). I’m glad the access is more controlled these days and that the beauty of the pools is preserved.

A Mesmerizing Interactive History of the High-Rise - Take a different perspective on history - via interactive media….through a narrow lens. Think about how much the elevator changed thinking about how many floors a building could have.

Flower Research Shows Gardens Can Be a Feast for the Eyes – And the Bees - Tuck this idea away for your our planning your garden for next year: planting pollinator-friendly flowers is a no-cost, win-win solution to help the bees. The plants attractive to bees are just as cheap, easy to grow, and as pretty as those that are less attractive to insects.

Discovery of a 2,700-Year-Old Portico in Greece - A long, open structure that often housed shops and delineated public squares from the city…deserted after the area was conquered by Philip II in 357 BC. Over 450 students from University of Montreal have learned excavation techniques and analysis of archaeological material from this site….and the excavation is ongoing.

Amazing Hand-Tinted Photos of Egypt from the late 19th century - The annotations provide an indication of which ones were moved before the Aswan High Dam was completed in the 1960s. There is an image of sand up to the shoulders of an Abu Simbel statue.

Spectacular Lightning Show Over the Grand Canyon - Sometimes catching an image is about being in the right place at the right time….and having the skill to capture what is happening.

High Dietary Intake of Polyphenols Are Associated With Longevity - The headline was typical of many nutrition research articles. What I found more interesting was that this study used a biomarker (total urinary polyphenol concentration) rather than relying on study participants logging their food intake….a positive trend toward making nutrition related research more objective.

Civilizations Rise and Fall On the Quality of Their Soil - About 1% of global land is degraded each year. That can’t be a good thing if we want to feed all the people in the world.

The three waves of disruptive trends - Emerging…differentiating…business value - the waves just keep coming!

Amaryllis

Brookside Gardens has several amaryllis in all stages of blooming in their conservatory when I visited in early March. The large flowers are the culmination of the unfurling of tightly compacted buds. Enjoy the slide show of the various stages of that process below!

January 2013 Doodles

It was wonderful to be come home in early January after being away for almost 6 weeks. I found myself relaxing and enjoying the time indoors while the weather was cold - celebrating being at home. Doodles were a part of the return home too. I found myself drawn to old-fashioned pencils and colorful pens….and the flowers and clouds motifs were included in every doodle in January. I’ll have to pick something different for February.

Enjoy the January 2013 doodles below! Doodle posts for previous months are here.

 

Brookside Gardens Conservatory Flowers - January 2013

The conservatories at Brookside Gardens are lush with greenery and flowers - a welcome contrast to outdoor vegetation this time of year. Begonias and bird of paradise…crown of thorns and petunias. Today is a celebration of the flowers!

Roses and Rosemary

Usually ferns or baby’s breath is used in the filler around long stem roses. My sister recently chose to buy flowers that completed the color of the roses and then trimmed the rosemary plant in the garden to add extra greenery. It looked great and adding the rosemary smell to that of the roses was very appealing as well! Rosemary is now on my list to plant in my garden in the spring.

I am babying the rosemary I kept in a pot on my deck through last summer…so I might be able to just plant it as soon as the weather warms enough in Maryland.