Gleanings of the Week Ending March 28, 2015

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.

A Visual Guide to Chemistry Glassware - A vocabulary lesson in glassware!  Probably everyone knows the difference between a test tube and a beaker…but what about a conical flask and volumetric flask?

From soda bans to bike lanes: Which 'natural experiments' really reduce obesity? - Which changes have made an impact? Studies that included longer follow-up periods after a change showed stronger results. Two examples of changes with strong impact were trans-fat bans and active transportation infrastructure improvement.

50% Driving Ban for Paris Due To Air Pollution - Weather conditions in Paris cause spikes in air pollution this time of year. We normally thin of the larger cities in India and China having the worst air pollution problems. The World Health Organization estimated that air pollution contributed to the deaths of 7 million people in 2012…so it is not an insignificant issue for the world.

Science Photographer Reveals Beauty of the Microscopic World - Manipulation of light through the microscope: transmission, differential interference contrast, optical staining, or dark field contrast.

Adapting to climate change will bring new environmental problems - Can we adapt in a sustainable way…or will our adaptation be short-sighted - and bad for the planet in the long term?

Archaeologists discover Maya 'melting pot' - Evidently mobile groups of hunter gatherers came together with settled groups for construction projects and public ceremonies --- they interacted much more than previous thought. They eventually became more uniformly sedentary.

Genome Study Predicts DNA of the Whole of Iceland - The DeCode project has collected enough full DNA sequences from Icelanders to extrapolate to the whole population (because the people are related). From this analysis, they know that 2,000 people in Iceland have the BRCA2 gene….but cannot tell them. The ethics associated with new technology is complex. In this particular case there is a “right ‘not to know’ of genetic hazards.” With more and more genome data being collected - other nations will soon have the same issue Iceland is facing now.

The Last 200 Years Of U.S. Immigration In One Chart - Click in the upper left corner to enlarge the plot. The overall trend is as interesting as where people came from. World War II had quite an impact while World War I did not.

SolarCity to build its own power grids - The market for solar technology seems to be developing very quickly. There are so many more options now than there were 5 years ago. When will the tipping point come…when more people will have solar - or some form of renewable energy where they live and work.

Compulsive Behavior Sells - Habit-forming technology….a little scary. How quickly will people train themselves to realize that it is happening?

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 21, 2015

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.

Add nature, art and religion to life's best anti-inflammatories - Yet another reason to savor the awe of nature, art and spiritually - if you need one. Including these in day-to-day living should not be a hard sell but many times they fall by the wayside if our lives get too full of other things. They don’t go on a ‘bucket list’ for some other time; they need to be included every day!

In a crisis, the bigger your social network, the better - This research indicates that more extensive social networks are a backup strategy for crises - or at least it was in the pre-Hispanic Southwest. Is it always the case? Sometimes it seems that all the increased communication going on in the modern world has increased the divides rather than built positive networks.

Never trust a corporation to do a library’s job - The history of Google and Internet Archive as ‘library.’

High Stakes in Declining Monarch Butterfly Populations and Six Ways to Save Monarchs - The rapid decline of Monarch butterflies is very sad….but there are things to do. I am going make the dominant plant in my chaos garden beginning this year!

How the Eastern tiger swallowtail got 'scary' - Another butterfly story. I bought some tiger swallowtail earrings (one is the caterpillar and the other is the butterfly) so this article captured my attention.

The Chemical Compounds behind the Smell of Flowers - The smell of roses, carnations, violets, lilies, hyacinth, chrysanthemums, and lilacs. The only flower whose smell is not produced with compounds containing ring structures is the lily.

Increasing individualism in US linked with rise of white-collar jobs - A lot has happened in the last 150 years…including a higher percentage of the population working in white-collar jobs. This study showed that the trend in type of job was more correlated with the trend toward individualism that some other changes such as urbanization or frequency of disease or disasters.

How Tourist Garbage Causes Yellowstone's Morning Glory to Change Color - The color of the Morning Glory pool is no longer the blue color of its namesake. Too many people have thrown coins, rocks, and trash into it. This article reports on why the trash caused the change.

Larger area analysis needed to understand patterns in ancient prehistory - In the past, the main tools used to study prehistory only addressed very small areas. Now there is an acknowledgement that some conclusions cannot be drawn with only those small samples and technologies that can look at larger areas are being applied more frequently to understand how cultures responded to population pressure and climate change in particular.

An ocean of plastic: Magnitude of plastic waste going into the ocean calculated - More than 4.8 million metric tons of plastic waste enters the oceans from land each year; it could be as high as 12.7 metric tons. That’s a lot of plastic. The ocean seems so vast…but we are pushing it in ways that it may not be able to absorb without huge impact to itself and the planet.

Electrochromic polymers create broad color palette for sunglasses, windows - What fun! I’d like these in the windows of my office rather than sunglasses! Maybe the window could be powered by a solar cell.

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 14, 2015

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.

Behind the Photo: Paul Nicklen’s Leaping Penguins - Video of leaping penguins….and how it came to be.

This Scientific Paper Proves That Nature Never Stops Weirding Us Out - Did you know that frogs retract their eyes into their heads to push crickets down their throat?

Older adults: Double your protein to build more muscle - Maybe the recommended daily allowance for older adults needs to change.

Your Two-Minute Break to Enjoy Wildlife Along The Moose-Wilson Road In Grand Teton National Park - A short video….I enjoyed the reminder of how much I enjoyed a vacation at Grand Teton National Park years ago.

Expert panel recommends new sleep durations - Is your sleep duration within the new recommended range? Mine is. I was intrigued that there were two new categories added for this study: Young adults (18-25) and older adults (65+).

A surprisingly accurate map of the U.S. made with 600,000 bridges — and nothing else - Map created from data in the National Bridge Inventory maintained by the Federal Highway Administration…includes bridges that are longer than 20 feet. That’s a lot of bridges!

6 Wildlife Facts for World Wetlands Day - World Wetlands Day was Feb. 2….enjoy the facts and photos.

Fake Meat Gets Real - There are lots of new ways to get protein…some better than others. I liked the last sentence “you’re better off getting most of your protein from whole foods, including legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains.”

Review of nonmedicinal interventions for delirium in older patients - Good! My observation has been that older people on multiple medications have side effects (like increased delirium) that are often worse than the symptom being treated….so it seems prudent to resist adding medications unless they are absolutely necessary.

An Inventory of Protected Bike Lanes - Bikes are becoming more popular for recreations and transportation in many places around the country. Bike lanes are one way cities are responding. By the end of 2014 there were 191 around the country. I hope the trend continues!

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 07, 2015

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.

Millions of Mutated Mosquitoes Could Be Unleashed In Florida—On Purpose - There is concern that tropical diseases like Dengue and Chikungunya will become more common in the US as the climate becomes warmer. Reducing the number of mosquitoes that spread the disease may become a priority and there biotech firm Oxitec has experimented in the Caymen Islands and Brazil with GMO mosquitoes that suppressed the population there by 96%.

Swarm of microprobes to head for Jupiter - The probes will burn up in Jupiter’s atmosphere was send a mass of data for 15 minutes. A lot will be learned about the atmosphere of the planet.

Assateague Island National Seashore Turning 50 This Year - Chincoteague/Assateague is my favorite place on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay….I’ll keep an eye out for extra activities that celebrate its 50 years as a National Seashore.

Mindfulness-based program in schools making a positive impact, study shows - Something to combat the stress of modern childhood?

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #75 - A feast of bird images from around the world. I always enjoy looking through these collections.

This Glorious Gallery Highlights A Myriad Optical Delights - Wow - images from a visual celebration of the International Year of Light. Next time I go to Arizona - I want to see Antelope Canyon

The origin of life: Labyrinths as crucibles of life - This article caught by eye for two reasons: it linked well with the Origins course I finished recently on Coursera and I like the picture of lava.

Two Graphs Highlighting Growth Surge in US Solar Market - With oil prices lower, will the trend continue in 2015?

Food Industry Drags Its Heels on Recyclable and Compostable Packaging - The food industry - particularly the fast food industry - is definitely not trending toward sustainable practices (with the possible exception of McDonald’s and Starbucks….and do we really need K-cups anywhere?

A Stunning 3D Cross-Section of Greenland's Ice Sheet - Made using ice cores and ice penetrating radar technologies. Watch the video to understand how it was done. There are three distinct periods of climate reflected in the Greenland Ice sheet.

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 24, 2015

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.

Is it possible to reset our biological clocks? - I have just started a Coursera course on circadian clocks so am paying more attention to articles on the topic. This one is from ScienceDaily.

Wild pollinators at risk from diseased commercial species of bee - Honeybees, bumblebees, and social wasps  are all colony living insects that makes the transmission of disease within the colony very rapid…and now there is evidence of transmission between colonies, even colonies of different species.

Google Talking To Automakers about Building Autonomous Cars - I would like to see autonomous cars…but is it just wishful thinking for the near term (say 2020)?

This Ancient Pigment Could Soon Be Used to See Through Your Skin - Egyptian blue (calcium copper silicate). And now it’s becoming a medical technology too. Other applications of Egyptian Blue in an article from Antiquity Now.

How to Uncover a Skeleton’s Secrets - From National Geographic. The examples in the article is from a project in northern Peru

One Scientist's Race to Help Microbes Help You - There has been a lot discovered about the human microbiome…but translating the new knowledge into treatments has been slower. This is a story about the American Gut Project - a massive citizen science experiment - which is focused on accumulating enough data to enable the move toward treatments sooner.

Humanity Is In the Existential Danger Zone, Study Confirms - Scary stuff. Are we engineering a wave of extinctions on our planet that will eventually include ourselves? We are pushing against and past several planetary boundaries.

A Smart Grid Infrastructure Demands Increased Engineering Smarts - One of the skillsets needed for the future. The article is about the program in Syracuse University’s College of Engineering.

Counties Lag Behind National Recovery, Report Finds - A breakdown of ‘recovery’ at the county level reveals key economic indicators on a more granular level that we usually hear about. The clickable version of the map is available here.  I found that the county where I live has recovered 2 of the 4 indicators (which is considered ‘recovered’) but where my daughter lives in Tucson has not recovered any of the 4; having visited Tucson for the past 3 years, I do notice that things have improved - but they are not back to the levels prior to 2008.

Breathtaking Frozen Bubbles Look like Elegant Glass Ornaments - I hope we have a cold day soon so I can try making frozen bubbles like this! I’m pretty sure it takes lots of practice to make them look as good as these!

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 17, 2015

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.

Under-the-Radar Environmental Stories for 2015: The Furtive Five - Five stories and some comments about trends in environmental reporting in mainstream media. Did you know that 33% of the children living the Tehran have asthma or air-pollution related allergies?

Technology to recycle all type of plastics without using water - This sounds like a good technology for the future…and in areas where water is already scarce.  The research/development was done in Mexico.

Chitosan: Sustainable alternative for food packaging - Chitosan is made from shells of crustaceans. The process for manufacturing is not currently economical but could become so….and the material biodegrades much faster than the 100-400 years it takes for most plastic packaging today. I wondered if the packaging would cause people with allergies to shellfish a problem. The research/development was done in Spain (Basque Country). This and the article just above caused me to wonder if countries other than the US are surging ahead when it comes to enablers for a sustainable Earth.

Sweet potato leaves a good source of vitamins - I just discovered that sweet potato leaves are edible from my CSA last fall. It’s thrilling that they are very nutritious as well. I liked them a lot in salads; they are best if eaten within a few days of being picked so I don’t anticipate they will find their way into grocery stores very often.

6 Birds That Are Champion Flyers - Champion flyers from different perspectives: Arctic Tern, Bar-tailed Godwit, Peregrine Falcon, Grey-headed Albatross, Hummingbird, Purple Martins.

The Chemistry of Decongestants - This was a timely post on the Compound Interest site.

Lose Yourself in These Photos Of Europe's Most Magnificent Libraries - Books and buildings….what will they be in 100 years? They already have a museum quality.

The 19th-Century Photography Trick That Changed How We See Snow - How William Bentley made his famous images of snowflakes….spurs me on to try more snowflake photography next time in snows in my area. I may add a feather to my supplies!

The Daily Routines of Famous Creative People, Charted - Is your daily pattern similar to any of these ‘famous creative people’?

‘Kitchen of the future’ here, now - I like the idea of a high definition backsplash! There is a film available from the location of the materials for the Science Daily story here. I already use my ceramic cooktop as working surface when I’m not cooking on it…so I agree that there are certain components of the ‘kitchen of the future’ that are now.

Six ways city landscapes can be more flood resilient - in pictures - With rising sea levels - more cities will be looking at flooding mitigations. These are some beautiful solutions. In our area of Maryland - rain gardens are often included in new housing developments.

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 10, 2015

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.

Birding in the National Parks: Return of the Snowy Owls - It looks like this winter will be another one for seeing Snowy Owls in the northern states of the US! There were some sightings in Maryland last winter so I am hoping…

Did Venus Once Have Oceans of Liquid Carbon Dioxide? - Maybe the geological features on Venus (rift valleys, river-like beds, and plains) were may be liquid carbon dioxide rather than water like they are on Earth.

From the Feature Well - This is the summary of 2014 special issues from The Scientist. Looking back at them provides a good review of Biology issues and progress for the year.

The "Rule of 50" Helps You Know When to Give Up on a Book - How do you know when to quit reading a book? Usually I decide via scanning before I every start reading rather than determining ahead of time a number of pages I’ll read before deciding. I can’t remember the last time my scanning failed.

Monarch Butterflies May Soon Be an Endangered Species - The population has declined by 90% since the 1990s. It’s very sad. The agricultural changes in the mid-90s killed the milkweed (food plant for the caterpillars) at the edges of fields. Now there needs to be a concerted effort to increase the availability of milkweed.

The Most Amazing Meteorological and Space Observatories Ever Built - Beautiful and functional architecture from around the world.

Top Planning Trends – 2014 - A look at traffic data on Planetizen…popular tags overall and popular posts for each state. The most popular post for Maryland was about high-rise, mixed-use suburban developments.

Significant link between daily physical activity, vascular health - These type of studies come out frequently…with some nuance defined a little better than before. Hopefully no one is waiting for another study to transition some sedentary to active time every day. Now that I think about it - do these studies prompt people to become more active?

A Look Back at Our Most Popular Photos of 2014 - From the National Wildlife Federation. The very first one (a snowy owl) caught my attention.

National Park Service Launches Website Honoring 22 World Heritage Sites in the United States - Did you know that there are 22 World Heritage Sites (a UN designation) are in the US?  Most of them are National Parks…but now all. The list can be found here.

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 3, 2015

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.

2014 in Numbers: Huge Valuations, Shocking Security Stats, and a Big Climate Deal - Factoids for the year. The last one was the one that caught my attention the most 4.4 zettabytes = all digital information in the world….and it is growing by 40% per year!

2014: An amazing year in space exploration - Philae, Orion, SpaceX Falcon 9, and Mar Rover Opportunity setting off-Earth, off-road distance record.

2014 in Materials: Rhubarb Batteries, the Gigafactory, and Printing Body Parts - It’s hard to keep up with all the innovations. How fast can any of these really get to market and be affordable?

Researchers create method that recovers high value metals for industries while protecting the environment - A step in the right direction. Hopefully the metals recovered will be valuable enough to drive the technology from the lab to application.

The Year in Pathogens - Ebola tops this list from The Scientist.

2014 in Computing: Breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence - Seeing the aggregate for the year….2014 was quite a year for AI in a number of areas.

2014 in Energy: The Year in Energy and Climate Change - Increased urgency of warnings….only slow progress. Frustrating.

Young entrepreneurs innovate in green energy with an in situ organic waste digester - Kudos to the young Mexican entrepreneurs….and the company that is implementing their innovation.

American cities are many times brighter at night than German counterparts - The US could learn from German….and help us all see more stars in the sky too.

Social Media Sites Offer a Nice Sampling of Winter Scenery in Parks - Winter brings a different perspective.