Gleanings of the Week Ending December 27, 2014

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.

How the Ancient Romans Made Better Concrete Than We Do Now - Article include the ‘how’ plus some information about how the scientists worked out the details. Roman concrete is ‘better’ in terms of durability and its production releases a lot less carbon into the atmosphere.

The Greenland Ice Sheet: Now in HD - The article is a story from Ohio State University. Some of the imagery is available here.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #74 - As usual - I can’t resist looking through these collections of bird pictures.

The Complete History of Earth in One Tidy Infographic - As usual for infographics…lots of data packed into one page. It is worthwhile to read the text then expand the infographic to take a closer look. I am taking the Origins course so it was a nice coincidence that this graphic came out recently.

Top 10 Public Health Stories of 2014 - We are getting to the end of the year and a number of sites are compiling top stories. This one is about public health.

Over two hundred interesting new species in 2014 - We are still finding a lot of new species in the world - even while we know species are going extinct too. How will we ever know the magnitude of the extinctions when we don’t even know all the species on Earth?

Mosaic Design Gets Assist from Robotics and Enterprise Software - I’ve always enjoyed mosaics and now it appears that robots are being used to create them. Will that make them less expensive (and thus more popular)? I hope we see more mosaics in public places - and in homes too. I’ve noticed several airports with mosaics (one of the newer terminals at DFW and Tucson).

Photography in the National Parks: Looking Back On 2014 - So many good places to take pictures…

2014’s Big Advances in (Biological) Science - A list from The Scientist.

A Video Tour of Yellowstone National Park - A 5 minute video about the geysers of Yellowstone.  It’s a reminder to go back to Yellowstone - soon.

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 29, 2014

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.

The Chemistry of Ginger – Flavour, Pungency & Medicinal Potential - This article from ‘Compound Interest’ was timely - with my new favorite winter drink being hot ginger water!

This Menacing Carnivorous Plant Time-lapse Is a Horror Movie for Bugs - I remember sending off for a tiny Venus fly trap plant when I was in elementary school - fascinated by the idea of plants that ate bugs. Now I am even more fascinated by the chemistry behind the rapid action the plant takes to trap the bug! The video is under 4 minutes in length - worth a look.

Scientists study effects of sunlight to reduce number of nearsighted kids - There is still research to be done to fully understand the relationship between outdoor time and nearsightedness…but there is enough evidence already to encourage more outdoor time for children to reduce the lifetime risk of nearsightedness.  The ages between 5 and 9 seem to be critical.

Urban Cartography - This is a collection of maps. My favorite is the mapping of sea level rise on the south part of South Bay (San Francisco). Lots of tech company headquarters are in the vulnerable zone with relatively little rise in sea level.

Gifted men and women define success differently, 40-year study finds - From the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth conducted at Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education and Human Development.  The study involved over 1600 people that were well established in their careers and lives. Collectively they had published 85 books and 7,572 refereed academic articles and secured 681 patents and $358 million in grants. Their scores on measures of emotional well-being, life satisfaction, personal and career direction, and satisfaction with their relationships were universally high. Then the gender differences become more apparent in other areas such as career path, salary, time allocation, priorities, and family. The finding that both the mathematically talented men and women in the study were ‘happy’ says something good about their resilience and the cultural environment.

Update: American Farm Bureau Federation et al. v. EPA Oral Arguments - This update caught my eye because it was about the Chesapeake Bay - something close to home. There is a Total Maximum Daily Load program for the Chesapeake Bay which is coordinated by the EPA in collaboration with the states whose watershed feeds into the bay.

Gingerbread Molasses Scones - Yum! I made these this week. The only changes I made to the ingredients were 1) whole wheat flour instead of plain flour and 2) no topping. I also used the food processor to mix everything. I did the kneading right in the big pan, cut the pieces of dough, separated them a little, and into the oven they went.

These Parasitic Wasps Trick Trees into Building Them Weird Houses - The oak tree hosts quite a few gall wasps. The video show some of the variety.

An Astounding History of Scientific Space Art from the Past 200 Years - Imaginings of other places….

The Complete Crocodilian Primer - Links to articles about the all the different kinds of crocodiles.

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 15, 2014

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.  (Note: There are a lot of planetary science/astronomy related new items this week….a perfect storm with conferences and events).

Mars spacecraft, including MAVEN, reveal comet flyby effects on Martian atmosphere - We were in Florida to see the launch (see picture at right) of MAVEN last fall and I’ve been noticing any articles of it since then.

Baby photos of a scaled-up solar system - My daughter is one of the co-authors! I’m celebrating that her work is getting the publicity.

All 'quantum weirdness' may be caused by interacting parallel worlds, physicist theorizes - This article seemed to fit right in with the last cosmology segment of the Philosophy and the Sciences Coursera course!

Touchdown! Rosetta’s Philae probe lands on comet - Hurray! It is amazing that it actually landed…more news sure to come.

Jupiter's Great Red Spot is likely a sunburn, not a blush - Altitude may play a role in the color we observe on Jupiter. The red spot reaches much higher altitudes than clouds elsewhere on Jupiter.

Sense of meaning and purpose in life linked to longer lifespan - The questionnaire used something called ‘eudemonic wellbeing’ which relates to your sense of control, feeling that what you do is worthwhile and your sense of purpose in life…..and then looked at what happened to people with different levels of ‘wellbeing’ for the next 8.5 years.

Chiricahua National Monument Does Away With Entrance Fees - I am paying attention to every near Tucson since I’m sure we’ll be visiting sometime before next summer.

Scientists Discover a Virus That Makes Humans Less Intelligent - Specifically - “The group that harbored the virus performed worse overall on a set of tasks to measure the speed and accuracy of visual processing.”  The impact is slight but measurable. I wonder what other subtle infections exist.

Kilauea, 1790 and today - The eruption in 1790 was explosive but the eruptions of the last 3 decades we are seeing now is effusive. The geologic record shows that the mountain erupts in both ways ---- but not at the same time.

New state level data demonstrate geographical variation in 10-year cardiovascular risk - Where does you r state rank? There is quite a variation.

Unique Roman relief discovered: Depiction of unknown god in Turkey; Relics from 2,000 years of cult history excavated - An international excavation that has been ongoing for over 10 years is still finding new things.

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 08, 2014

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.

Americans' view on obesity is changing: Fewer adults see it as a personal problem of bad choices - A survey asked 50,000 US adults and 50,000 healthcare professionals whether they viewed obesity primarily as a personal problem of bad choices, a community problem of bad food and inactivity, or a medical problem. How would you have answered? For myself - I chose to think of it as a personal problem when I got close being obese and have now been back in the normal range for about 1.5 years because of the lifestyle changes I made. However - I am willing to admit that I benefited from a work environment that encouraged increasing physical activity and a nutrition course on Coursera that honed my knowledge of foods. Both of those would be in the ‘community’ realm.

A Wild Ride: 50 Years of the US Wilderness Act - Reflection on the US Wilderness Act by a Fellow at the International League of Conservation Photographers (includes some great pictures)

'Aging well' must be a global priority, experts say - I liked the very last line in this story: “…think about the benefits that an older, healthier, happier, and more productive older population can bring to society as a whole.” An interesting statistic: by 2020, for the first time in history, the number of people aged 60 years and older will outnumber children younger than 5 years.

Why paper is a necessity - From Richard Watson.

A Stunning View of Sunlit Seas on Titan - A montage of images of Saturn’s moon Titan from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #73 - Which picture do you like the best in this collection? I like the sandhill cranes (toward the end).  I was thrilled to get a picture of some sandhill cranes in Florida (below - Orlando airport's cell phone lot)

What do American babies eat? A lot depends on Mom's socioeconomic background - I was surprised that he study found that some 6-12 month olds were being fed candy, ice cream, sweet drinks and French fries. Are pediatricians and health professionals not stressing dietary needs of babies to new mothers?

A Fascinating Documentary on Crows, One of the World's Smartest Animals - One researcher calls crows “feathered apes”

Climate, emerging diseases - It is difficult to establish a direct link between climate change and evolution of pathogens…mostly because both climate change and pathogens are very complex. But there are emerging or re-emerging diseases being studied that can be statistically linked to environmental changes. 

Incredible New Artifacts Found In 2,000-Year-Old Mexican Tunnel - Even in an area that is well known from an archeological stand point…..there are new finds. This one seems spectacular.  I remember going to Teotihuacan in the mid-1960s and climbing the pyramids. Now there will be even more to see there.

Gleanings of the Week Ending October 25, 2014

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.

You Probably Never Realized How Marble Is Harvested, but It's Beautiful - A short video, with big equipment cleaving very large blocks of marble from the mountain (in Italy).

Klyde Warren Park Wins Open Space Award - I walked through the Klyde Warren Park in downtown Dallas last spring (posted about it here). It is well deserving of the award --- and a visit if you are in the area.

Smart List: 50 Great Blogs & Blasts - There are a lot of great places where education topics are presented, discusses, argued….there is a lot going on. I try to take a couple of education courses per year in Coursera; I have been surprised at the wealth of materials available, how tech savvy teachers are becoming and the ability of student to utilize the online tools in a focused way. Learning expectations for K-12, college and throughout life are increasing because there is a blossoming of learning opportunities!

Olive oil more stable and healthful than seed oils for frying food - I was glad to see the results of this study since there is so much confusing information out on which oils are best at high temperature. I have always used olive oil as the primary oil for all my cooking.

Positive subliminal messages on aging improve physical functioning in elderly - I liked this finding that positive subliminal messages on aging led to individuals’ positive age stereotypes which then strengthened their positive self-perceptions….and then improved their physical function.  Perhaps what we learn most from this kind of research is a recognition of how often negative stereotypes appear in our media; older people have to intentional either avoid or supplant those negative messages about aging.

Air New Zealand's New Hobbit Video Is Greatest Flight Safety Film Ever - What fun!

The Sun Is Beautiful When Its Magnetic Field Is Angry - I had to include at least one solar related post this week. We tried to see the partial eclipse on Thursday but it was cloudy in our area.

Which States Have The Most Restrictive Voting Laws? - I included this post since the mid-term elections are coming up; early voting has started in a lot of states. There is quite a lot of variability in voting laws.

In East Coast Marshes, Goats Take On a Notorious Invader - Evidently, goats have been used to control kudzu in the south but this study extended to marshy areas with different invasive species.  What a great way to reduce the use of herbicides (which have broader negative impacts on the environment while they kill the invasives).

Birth season affects your mood in later life, new research suggests - Some the descriptions of the statistically significant trends are so general that they sound like horoscopes. Do you fit the trend for the season you were born in?

Gleanings of the Week Ending October 4, 2014

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.

Gender barriers: History of discrimination against women in engineering - Much has changed….but there are still challenges to overcome for women in engineering programs (that are cultural rather than intellectual).

Brilliant Idea: The Green Benefits District - New way to facilitate community investment in new tree-lined streets, parks, and gardens.

The Most Important Animals You May Never Notice - Mussels!

Critically ill ICU patients lose almost all of their gut microbes and the ones left aren't good - Another reason to minimize excessive use of antibiotics….and better understand gut microbes.

Whipsnade Zoo Has A Baby Elephant With The Tiniest Little Trunk - A short video.

Stain Solutions - From the University of Illinois Extension

Foodie Bees: Insects Head Downtown for Dinner - There are many kinds of bees…they are versatile…and gardens everywhere can become better habitats for them!

Immune system of newborn babies stronger than previously thought - Hurray! Newborn immune systems are different….but they work effectively in many instances.

Enjoy the Fall Migration: Your Guide to Bird Observatories - Thinking about birds in the fall…maybe something to combine with a fall foliage trek over a long weekend.

Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Cake - The cake may not need any icing at all. I am going to harvest my sweet potatoes this weekend….so I am looking for something special to make with my small crop!

Coursera Experience - October 2014

Several courses ended in September (Social Psychology and The Camera Never Lies). I still have some items in the ‘to read’ pile/list from the Social Psychology course. More importantly - I find myself looking at media - particularly visual media - very differently; both courses increased my awareness of overt and subtle changes that happen with our exposure to real and virtual experiences. Are we ever fully conscious of all the ways we are being changed? 

Beauty, Form & Function is just about finished. I watched all the videos about enjoyed most learning about symmetry in tiles and crystals…and the bonus video about how nano-manufacturing is done.

The first weeks of Modern & Contemporary American Poetry have introduced me to the thorough reading of poems. The videos are panel discussions of each line in selected poems. My initial reaction to modern poems (too intentionally lacking context to the point of being evasive and not readily understandable….always a puzzle) has not budged but I am gaining a better understanding of the poems included in the discussion.

There are 4 courses starting in October….it’s going to be a busy month for me with these and the peak in fall volunteer naturalist activities and some travel.

I like the variety of topics in these new courses: education, health (childbirth), resources (water), science/philosophy. The global perspective should be well reflected because of the topics themselves and the institutions offering the courses. This will be my first course from the National Geographic Society. The previous courses I took from the other organizations were all excellent. 

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 20, 2014

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.

Comprehensive recommendations on care of women at menopause, beyond - From The North American Menopause Society (NAMS). The recommendations are available on the web here; it is well organized and in clear language. What a good reference!

What to Do in Shenandoah National Park Now: Take a Hike into the Landscape - Maybe we should take a day trip!  Shenandoah is the closest national park to where we live in Maryland.

Some great statistics - From Richard Watson…about some worldwide trends - presented as an infographic.

Fracking: Gas leaks from faulty wells linked to contamination in some groundwater - Highlighting the need to improve well integrity, the study showed that where contamination has occurred it was caused by poor casing and cementing in the wells.  Does that mean that the company responsible for the casing and cementing is liable for damages?

NASA Mars spacecraft ready for Sept. 21 orbit insertion - We were in Florida last fall for the MAVEN spacecraft launch…and now is about to enter into Martian orbit!

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #72 - I always enjoy the wild bird photograph posts from The Wild Bird Trust. In other bird-related news - there is new research just published: Bird Diversity Drops from Forests to Farms.

U.N. Predicts New Global Population Boom - The human population on Earth could hit 12 billon by 2100 (not taking into account the effects of climate change, food shortages, disease or conflict). Previously it had been widely assumed that the population would flatten around 2050.

How salt causes buildings to crumble - There are so many ways!

Tree rings used to determine history of geological features, arroyos - This blurb caught my eye because of a recent volunteer naturalist training about using tree rings for looking at climate change from 1400 to now. This is a detailed study of the arroyos in northern New Mexico using burial dates in tree rings of salt cedar and willow.

Jaime Lerner’s Urban Acupuncture - A thought provoking book review. What makes good urban life? 24 hour groceries and delicatessens? Open air markets? Music? What kind of parks, plazas, and square work best? The book is available from Amazon.

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 13, 2014

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.

The Chemicals behind the Colors of Autumn Leaves - I couldn’t resist including the link to this post about the colors of fall - from a chemistry perspective.

Smithsonian’s Wilderness Forever Photo Contest - A collection of photographs celebrating 50 years of the Wilderness Act.

Doctors Discover a Woman with No Cerebellum - Wow! Evidently there are some other documented cases of this…but not well studied in a living person.

Scientists discover how to 'switch off' autoimmune diseases - Another step forward in systems biology to understand and then treat the root cause of a disease rather than treatment based on symptom relief.. Until recently it was not even possible to gain the understanding. Is this type of treatment going to become the future of medicine?

New Database of Food Policy Resources - From the Johns Hopkins Center for Livable Future.

New digital map reveals stunning hidden archaeology of Stonehenge - And we thought we knew everything that was there….what a difference applying new technology makes!

This Animated Field Guide to North American Butterflies Is Mesmerizing - Expand the graphic and just look at it! How many do your recognize?

It's the pits: Ancient peach stones offer clues to fruit's origins - Using pits to track the domestication of peaches in China….7,500 years ago.

Who Really Declared War on Coal - It turns out that China’s GDP decoupled from coal consumption in the 2008-2010 time frame. It’s a very good thing for China that it can continue to grow even while improving their air quality by moving to other kinds of energy production.

Bacteria from bees possible alternative to antibiotics - 13 lactic acid bacteria are found in fresh honey and they produce many antimicrobial compounds.

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 6, 2014

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.

Training your brain to prefer healthy foods - Research on people that participated in a weight loss program. It appears that the program changes what foods are tempting to people (based on MRI analysis)…toward healthier diet. Of course, even if this is true there is an uphill battle with all the media pushing food that is not healthy (low nutritional value). Has our culture (the media, social interactions, vending machines, etc.) been training our brains to eat poorly?

Who Should Rule These Scottish Islands? - The intricacies of politics in Orkney….desiring greater autonomy.

Growing mushrooms in diapers - Mexican scientists are designing technology (and running small scale proof-of-concept trials) to degrade disposable diapers. Mexico is the third largest consumer of disposable diapers globally but worldwide there must be a huge number of diapers going to landfills. They will not be a simple to recycle as glass or plastic jugs or milk cartons….but anything that is still a major component going to landfills needs to be considered for re-processing rather than burying. Making it economically feasible is a challenge.

Why Doesn’t Honey Spoil? – The Chemistry of Honey - An infographic and article. It’s antibiotic properties are due to its low water content and pH….details in the article.

Brown marmorated stink bug biology, management options - It seems like there are a few of them around all the time now and sometimes there is a marked increase in their numbers…even inside the house.  The full article is available from here.

Humiliation tops list of mistreatment toward med students - It is not just med students….this happens to other grad students too. There is a significant amount of institutional hazing of students if they choose to continue beyond their undergraduate studies in academia.

Exposure of pregnant women to certain phenols may disrupt growth of boys during fetal development and first years of life - Scary result. Are OB/GYNs educating their patients about these results? There are still some products with parabens and triclosan which could be avoided. Even though more research needs to be done, most women would err on the side of caution during their pregnancy and after the child is born too…if they were provided the information.

Housing America’s Older Adults - From the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University and AARP Foundation.  The housing needs of the US population are changing faster than the available housing can change.

Top 10 Solar Energy States per Capita (US) - The full report (downloadable via a link at the bottom of this article) has data for other states. The top 10 have a lot higher

Exceptionally well preserved insect fossils from the Rhône Valley found - An aquatic bug that would have thrived in brackish water.

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 23, 2014

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.

In Old Blood - Looking at the changing that happen as we age…starting with the blood of a 115 year old woman from the Netherlands that donated her body to science.

Food Preservation - As this post comes out, I am hearing the author talk about the topic! I am always looking for new ideas on processing the surplus of food during the summer to enjoy in the winter.

Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Compare - This is an interface to visual epidemiological trends and levels worldwide from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (an independent global health research center at the University of Washington. There are lots of ways to look at the data. In the snapshot below I set the Bottom Chart to ‘Map’ and then clicked on ‘Migraine’ in the Top Chart.

Would you live in a shipping container? - A collection of websites curated by Marcelle Sussman Fischler on this top on Learnist. Some still look like shipping containers….others are transformed.

Most of What You Need To Know About Planet Earth, in Seven Minutes - A short animation from Kurzgesagt.

Profiles in Xeriscaping: The Chocolate Flower - Something to think about for next summer’s garden.

10 Tips for Eating Healthy on a Budget - Good ideas! I would add: 1) keep in mind that there are other sources of protein than meat (and almost all of them are less expensive for the nutritional content) and 2) be mindful of lower cost veggies that are high in nutritional value (sweet potatoes are an example).

Why Did Plants Evolve These Weird and Horrific Flowers? - I can’t resist the botanicals.

Providing futile treatment prevents other patients from receiving the critical care they need - Futile treatment (i.e. unbeneficial medical care) in ICUs is not good for the patient….and this study shows that it is hurting others. Perhaps a tangential take away from this article is that patients and their families need to be in a position to decline unbeneficial medical care.

Exploring the Waterworks Deep inside the Inner Gorge of Grand Canyon National Park - A video about the springs in the Grand Canyon. 10 of the 12 spring types are found within the Grand Canyon (see the 10 here).

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 9, 2014

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.

5 Important Tips for Keeping Your Eyes Healthy - The tips come from the National Institute for Senior Health but are good for all ages. Start early to keep your eyes health for life!

Behold These Incredible Works Of Architecture Made Out Of Living Trees - I am not patient enough for a project like this but I’m glad that some people are!

How to Freeze Garden Vegetables and Fruits - Timely article. I am sure there will be CSA or deck garden bounty that I’ll not be able to eat immediately.

Want To Improve Your National Park Photography? Catch This Webcast from the Parks - I plan to watch these live classes in late August. I haven’t been to either Olympic or Mount Rainier National Parks so I’ll enjoy the scenery along with some new photography techniques.

Turnips, Kohlrabi, Radishes, and Other Odd Vegetables: Are They Our Key to Survival? - Getting produce from the CSA this summer has sharpened by awareness of these vegetables. Surprisingly the one I knew the least about before the CSA (kohlrabi) is now my favorite - and it even comes in several colors!

More crop per drop: Reducing water footprint of cultivated herbs - Hopefully this type of research is going on in the US too since water is becoming an increasing issue in many parts of the country.

Society bloomed with gentler personalities, more feminine faces: Technology boom 50,000 years ago correlated with less testosterone - Was the change relatively sudden or did it happen over many 1000s of years….and is the trend continuing?

Massive volcanic outbursts on Jupiter's moon Io: More common than thought? - Even as we learn more about exoplanets…there is still a lot to learn about our own solar system.

Get Ready For Monarch Migration - We don’t see many monarchs in the area near our house although they were quite plentiful 15 years ago. I miss them. The milkweed around the field near us is gone too - a victim of the ‘Round Up Ready’ farming done there. I hope there are places in Maryland where the butterflies find a safe haven.

Atlantic warming turbocharges Pacific trade winds - Another example of how the earth’s climate is a system that involves the whole world rather than something that occurs locally.

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 2, 2014

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.

The Atmospheres of the Solar System - An infographic rom Andy Brunnig

Are Crows Smarter Than Children? - The study showcases crows - ‘the Einsteins of the bird world.’

Pesticide linked to three generations of disease: Methoxychlor causes epigenetic changes - This study shows that some of the effects of man-made environmental changes go far beyond the time horizon we normally study in ‘safety’ trials.

Nearly 750,000 U.S. Weapons Are Unaccounted For In Afghanistan - Bad news. Will we seek to ‘clean up’ better in future conflicts?

The Lunar Surface as you’ve Never Seen It Before - For some reason, my first impression was that it looked like layers of thick finger paint.

Opossums and Gardening: A Few Things to Know - It turns out that they are mostly helpful!

A Post-Antibiotic Future? - A scary prospect. There was also another study about long term heal trends that was also unsettling: Life expectancy gains threatened as more older Americans suffer from multiple medical conditions.

Simple Meal-Planning Strategies for the Plant-Based Kitchen - These strategies make sense in every kind of kitchen! The CSA had changed my shopping pattern somewhat this summer but I have always tried to only make one trip to the grocery store per week.

Landmark Buildings That Were Never Supposed to Last This Long - Tidbits of history through buildings.

Drought Is Parching the United States from Underground, Too - Looks like water is going to become more precious - both on the surface and in the aquifers.

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 26, 2014

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.

More Phones, Fewer Doctors - An interview with venture capitalist Vinod Khosla about trends in health care. His contention is that 80 percent of what doctors do can be replaced by machines. This article was part of a series done by MIT Technology Review about our health care system. Another one talks about Big Data Mining (about medical analytics).

DIY, Zero-energy Pool Warmers Could Save You Thousands - Made with hula hoops and polyethylene film!

Study reveals 'unhappiest' cities in the U.S. - The authors of the study emphasize that it is obvious that people care about other things that ‘happiness’ when making decisions about where they will live! I’m always a little suspicious of ratings that focus on only one aspect (like happiness/unhappiness) because most of our decision making is much more complex than that. Still - it is worth staring at the map for a few minutes. Does your perception of where you live match with the color coding?

STEM Graduates Branch Out - Many of college graduates with STEM degrees are not working in jobs that are science or technology related fields according to a report from the Census Bureau.

Fluoride & Water Fluoridation – An Undeserved Reputation? - Infographic from Andy Brunning - a chemistry teacher in the UK

Cursed Warship Revealed With Treasure Onboard - A ship sunk off the Swedish coast in 1564…complete with silver and gold coins and canons.

To Measure Summer Smog, Plant an Ozone Garden - The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder CA has designed a garden that is sensitive to ozone that includes plants that grow easily in many parts of the US: milkweed, snap bean, potato, and cutleaf coneflower.

Pangolins Walk Just Like T. Rex - Scaly anteaters wall on 2 legs! Watch the video of this odd animal and think about T. Rex depictions. The head of the T. Rex was much larger but the using tail as a balance to the upper body to allow ‘walking’ on the hind legs like the pangolin is a possibility.

The bend in the Appalachian mountain chain is finally explained - The Appalachians slant along the east coast - make a bend in Pennsylvania and New York.

What vacation? Expect to work while you're away - The down side of mobile work environments.

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 19, 2014

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.

Two articles related to elephants caught my eye this past week: Does this trunk make me look fat?  about overweight zoo elephants and Short lives, violent deaths about the findings from the CT scans of the remains of 2 Siberian mammoth calves (one was 30-35 days old and the other was 52-57 days old).

Icelanders Grieve for the Peculiar Lake Balls - Lake Myvatn used to have balls of algae all over its bottom. Now the lake is full of algae-smothering sediment after mining operations dumped extra phosphorous and nitrogen into the lake cause dense bacteria blooms. There are a few other places in the world where the balls of algae form but one is gone.

NIH Senior Health - NIH has a web site specifically for health and wellness information for older adults!

Longhorns on the Prairie - Not cattle….beetles!

Journey Underground to These Eye-Poppingly Incredible Old Mines - The images look like science fiction (dystopian). Many appear to be open for tourists.

Exploring the Parks: New River Gorge National River - Looks like a beautiful place in West Virginia. I’m putting the link on my ‘vacation planning list!

One injection stops diabetes in its tracks: Treatment reverses symptoms of type 2 diabetes in mice without side effects - Lots of research to come on this. Too good to be true for humans?

14 Fun Facts about Piranhas - From Smithsonian.com. Somehow these fish rank right up there with sharks as ‘scary things in the water.’

Contributing factors to groundwater table declines identified - The article includes color coded maps of Texas from the 1930s to 2000s and shows how much deeper one has to look these days to find groundwater in the state. The declines are mostly due to irrigation and population growth….but there are other factors too. The population of the state is expected to double by 2060 while the water supply is expected to decline by 10%.  Something has to change (probably more than a single thing)!

The Soil Pollution Crisis in China: A Cleanup Presents Daunting Challenge - Third and final of a series. The links for the other two articles in the series are at the bottom of this final article. Scary stuff. With population growth, it is tragic to damage farmland. 

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 12, 2014

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.

How baby names spread across the US - interactive map - What fun! The map is set with a search box (enter a name) and then the historical preference for that name by state begins to play.  Some names spike and then ebb….others stay about constant.

Geothermal Heat Melting Road Surface of Firehole Lake Drive in Yellowstone National Park - Wow! I’m sure we probably drove this rode when we vacationed in Yellowstone. Hope they can figure out how to fix the road.

Fossil Interests Attack Clean Energy Politics: State-By-State Map - The ‘fossil interests’ would be appreciated more for delivering quality in their own products (reducing costs, reducing or eliminating environmentally damaging byproducts, etc.) than when they attempt to trash their competition.  American consumers are getting savvier all the time about how energy costs come about.

Rewriting the history of volcanic forcing during the past 2,000 years - New data from detailed analysis of Antarctica ice cores about volcanic sulfate emissions in the Southern Hemisphere over the past 2000 years is feeding into climate module simulations. The research was done with 26 cores from 19 sites and has taken more than a decade of collaborative ice core collection.

The Alien Brains Living on Planet Earth - Learn something new…about octopi.

Never-Before-Seen Photo of Europa Shows Rivers of Red Ice - A natural wonder than could pass for a work of art!

Babies born to healthy moms worldwide are strikingly similar in size - Focusing on baby born to health, well-educated and well-nourished mothers….this was a large study too: 60,000 pregnancies from 8 urban areas around the world (Brazil, China, India, Italy, Kenya, Oman, the UK, and the US).

Made from History - A site started in May 2014 that collects and organizes historical materials. The main collection areas are World War I, World War II and Civil Rights but there is a search capability as well. I did a search for ‘Little Bighorn’ and article called ‘The Top 7 Military Mistakes in History’ was the result.

Radio-burst discovery deepens astrophysics mystery - There is still a lot to learn about the universe….in this case, the new data confirms observations from the Parkes radio telescope in Australia (there had been speculation that it was a fluke of the Parkes instrument rather than an actual observation prior to this new observation from Arecibo).

Mutations Pervade Mitochondrial DNA - More than 500 point mutations in mtDNA have been implicated in diseases….and there may be a linkage to aging as well. This is deservedly a hot area for further research.

Coursera Experience - July 2014

Following the general schedule of the brick and mortar universities that offer courses through Coursera, there were a lot of new starts in June. It made for a grand total of 5 courses on my ‘to do’ list by the end of the month:

The Diversity of Exoplanets (University of Geneva) - The course has provided a good framework for me to understand the news items on the topic….and there are quite a lot of them these days!

Preventing Chronic Pain: A Human Systems Approach (University of Minnesota) - The Systems Biology course I finished last month prepared me for the most technical module of this course!  Since I don’t have chronic pain at this point in my life, I am truly focused on the ‘preventing’ aspect of the curse. The biggest action I’ve taken so far is to broaden the amount and kind of stretching I am doing.

Paradoxes of War (Princeton University) - This course has been thought provoking both from a historical and more general societal context. Since there has been some time sequence to it - we are now in the years of my life and I am appreciating the different perspectives of what happened in the 60s and 70s.

An Introduction to Global Health (University of Copenhagen) - There is so much to be done and, while there have been strides, there are set backs too. The people that are the most vulnerable are in the least healthy situation and their pliant is often impacted by disasters (floods, earthquakes, wars). At the same time, we are facing the reality that many in the developed world had chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) that are sapping medical resources too (and now the NCDs are increasing in the developing world too).

Globalization and You (University of Washington) - The course divides Globalization (political) from globalization (interconnectedness) and encourages students to research how each impacts them directly. I am already behind in the reading and the participation! Strangely enough - a lot of what I’ve been learning in some of my other classes seems feed into this one (the ones that come immediately to mind are Global Health, US Food System, How to change the world).

By the end of the month I should begin to recover. Several courses will end and the only one that will start in July is:

Social Psychology (Wesleyan University) - The course is advertised to focus on ‘research findings that are easy to apply in daily life.’ What a great course to enjoy with air conditioning in August!

Gleanings of the Week Ending June 21, 2014

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.

Historic Agreement Aims to Restore, Protect Chesapeake Bay Watershed - Good news and close to my home! The bay is a long way from recovery --- but this is progress in the right direction. There is so much of what is special about Maryland that relies on the bay!

The Location of Every Tornado Touchdown in America, Graphed - Crunching the tornado stats (strength and latitude/longitude in the US) from 1950-2013….and show it on a map.

Infographic: Schooling around the World - A collection of factoids about education. Did you know that Mexico is the country with the highest public expenditure on education (as a percentage of total public expenditure)?

Liver dangers from herbal supplements, OTC and RX drugs, new guidelines warn - Too many people assume that herbal supplements and over the counter medications are either always good - or at least not bad - for them. Drug-induced Liver Injury (DILI) is pretty scary….and the incidence is increasing.

On The Road to Three National Park Jewels in the Pacific Northwest - This is probably the direction I’ll go for my next vacation…so I am noticing all the articles coming in by feeds about the area. If you headed near the Grand Canyon, here’s recent post about what do in 4 hours!

Local Foods: From Fad to Force and What It Means - Food doesn’t always have to be the least expensive….quality and taste are important too. I am enjoying the Community Supported Agriculture veggies grown less than a mile from my house tremendously!

Spain & Portugal Could Survive Just On Geothermal Energy - Another energy producing technology to explore…and develop in a way that won’t cause other problems (like earthquakes).

If Only Modern Infographs Were As Stunning As These 19th-Century Ones - John Philipps Emslie worked over 100 years ago and packed a lot of information into his illustrations. Few of today’s infographs are as densely packed with relevant data.

This Isn't a Utopian Vision -- It's Actually What London Is Like Today - Wow! London has a lot of green space. I wonder how other cities would compare.

Omega-3 inhibits blood vessel growth in age-related macular degeneration - All the more reason to make sure you get some Omega-3 fatty acids through your diet (or through supplements if you can get it from the food you eat).

Gleanings of the Week Ending June 14, 2014

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.

10 Top National Wildlife Refuges to Explore - I’ve only been to 2 of the 10 (Chincoteague and Wichita Mountains but I’ll take the opportunity to see more if I am in the area of these. I was surprised that Merritt Island (Florida) did not make the top 10.

The Sleep Schedules of Some of History's Greatest Minds - I was surprised at how many are on a 10PM to 5 or 6 AM schedule (which is similar to what seems to work best for me!)

The 10 Cutest Animal Flash Mobs in the World - The hummingbird video (#6 on the list has music to enjoy while you watch the hummingbirds getting fuel for migration. It’s a strangely relaxing frenzy!

The Finest Examples of Art Nouveau Architecture in Central Europe - I am more interesting in architecture since I took the Roman Architecture course last spring.

Articles that appeared recently about two of my favorite places: Mesa Verde National Park and Chaco Culture National Historical Park

Road Salt Creating Beefier Butterflies - A little extra salt causes developmental changes (and they are different for male and female Monarch butterflies) that could be beneficial….and then at some point the extra salt becomes toxic.

Company man or family man? Fatherhood and identity in the office - Research published just in time for Father’s Day.

Common heart drug's link to diabetes uncovered by researchers - The study found that statins can activate an immune response that stopped insulin from doing its job properly….and that taking Glyburide suppressed the side effect. It is a bad thing to take a drug that then requires us to take another drug. How do we determine when the bad side effects multiply beyond the benefits of the cocktail?

Most comprehensive 'world map of research' yet: Researchers analyze 15 million scientific articles - Articles used from the analysis were published from 1996-2006. There are three clusters of countries: biomedical, basic science and agriculture/fisheries. The US is in the biomedical cluster, Singapore and Japan are in basic science and most of the developing nations are in agriculture/fisheries.

Fruits, Vegetables, and Disease Risk - Which vegetables are the most nutrient rich? This article points to a recently released report that include a list (available here).

Gleanings of the Week Ending June 7, 2014

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.

Now that I am taking an Exoplanets on Coursera, I am noticing a lot of articles in my news feeds about them: 'Neapolitan' exoplanets come in three flavors, Astronomers discover two new worlds orbiting ancient star next door: One may be warm enough to have liquid water, First light for SPHERE exoplanet imager: Revolutionary new VLT instrument installed, Astronomers find a new type of planet: The 'mega-Earth', Diamond planets may be more common than astronomers thought, Super Earths Found Circling Ancient Star, Harsh space weather may doom potential life on red-dwarf planets, and The Closest Known Potentially Habitable Planet Is 13 Light-Years Away

Exploring the Parks: Musings from El Morro National Monument - Always a nice reminder to see a story about a place I’ve been and enjoyed!

Hundreds of "Hidden" Paintings Discovered at Angkor Wat - Using de-correlation stretch analysis on walls with traces of pigments.

Is the food industry really concerned with obesity? If people eat less, profits will decline - Consumers have to be savvy enough to see the healthy food that gets shifted to the background by marketing of (mostly unhealthy) processed foods.

Are your pets disturbing your sleep? You’re not alone - We have two cats. I ignore them during the night and early morning but my husband responds to their nudges to be scratched…..and so they now ask for more scratches during the night (my husband reports this while I sleep through it all)!

New Desalination Technologies Spur Growth in Recycling Water - Desalination is not just for seawater. The technology is also important for reusing agricultural water and industrial effluent.

Views of Venice - Art Added to Street View Imagery of Venice - This article is on a ‘tools for teachers’ site but the visuals over the google street view are fun for everyone. Visit the site and click on the ‘menu’ button in the upper right to see the art work that can be overlaid of the street view.

Wind Turbines and Birds: What’s the Real Story? - Bats are impacted too. The key question still seems to be - how can we develop wind turbines that avoid the negative impacts to biodiversity (and avian/bat mortality).

A Complete Primer for All the Species of Cats - A collection of a series of posts about species of wild cats.

New health services needed for rise in 100-year-olds - With more people living to 100 years and beyond - the need to hone health services(particularly palliative care) for them is becoming more important.