Going to Class in December

The community college in the neighboring county hosted a Freshwater Benthic Macroinvertebrate Workshop on Monday and Tuesday this week. It was two full days of day of taking small critters (preserved in alcohol) out of vials, putting them in a small Petri dish, and looking at them under a microscope. There were two lab rooms full of student – most teachers or Master Naturalists or environment monitoring related non-profits or government organizations. I’d signed up as soon as I heard about it….a great opportunity to see a lot of specimens and improve my ability to identify them for upcoming field trips with students in the spring.

It’s been a long time since I was in a lab like this – since the 70s!  I liked that there were actual chairs with backs rather than stools. I can remember classes held in labs and being very uncomfortable both from the hardness of the seat and not being able to lean back at all. We also had a microscope for every student; when I was in school we always had to share.

Some of the things I saw, I won’t see on the field trips because we don’t have enough magnification: oval shaped gills (easily detached when preserved) or comb-like spines (that look like false eyelashes) that distinguish certain families of mayflies (Ephemeroptera).

I learned about Macroinvertbrates.org and am looking forward to seeing its continued development. The family-level key we used in class is also online. Generally, we only classify to order on the field trips.

In the foyer of the building – where we registered and a table was filled with morning caffeine urns...and donuts that called all of us to jettison our diets…there was a display case of bones, which dovetailed nicely with the osteoarcheology class I just finished on Coursera. There were pathologies (like arthritis) and young bones (with the defined areas near the ends where growth was occurring).

I enjoyed the course tremendously and have signed up for another anatomy related course from the same university. I seem to be focused on biology related topics this December!

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 17, 2016

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.

Ceiling panel cools regardless of climate – I like to read stories about ‘out of the box’ solutions…although I wonder how many of them will prove feasible in the end.

Big Pharma and Distracted Driving are Killing Americans Early – Life expectancy in the US declined in 2015. It’s the first time in 23 years. It’s not a big drop but there is worry that it begins a downward trend. Deaths due to motor vehicle accidents have gone up by 6%. Accidental poisonings increased by 13% with 95% of that from drug overdoses and alcohol. There is related story – from another source: American Death Rate from Drugs, Alcohol, and Mental Disorders Nearly Triples since 1980.

Toward Treating Alzheimer’s Disease with Brain Waves – Another ‘out of the box’ solution…inducing gamma (brain) waves using optogenetics…exposure to flickering light.

“Neural Tourniquet” Zaps a Nerve to Stop Bleeding Anywhere in the Body – An example of bioelectronic medicine…that’s been researched for 15 years.

World Map Reveals What Each Country Does Better than Any Other – I’m not sure how useful this work is…how the ‘best’ about a country was determined. But it is interested to look at ti for a few minutes. The US is best at ‘spam emails’ --- not a positive thing.

Museum in Japan has a collection of 1,700 rocks that look like human faces – I remember ‘seeing’ faces in the patterns of wood veneer…why not rocks too. Some of them look more face-like than others to me.

The appalling reality of Bosnia’s missing dead – Mass graves from 25 years ago – a sad reminder of tragedy that is hard to unravel from what remains.

Reach Out Reporter – Science News for Children – Free Technology for Teachers post and actual site – There is ‘Fact Pack’ about the December Solstice that links to this time of year…I like the video about starling murmurations! The site is designed for teachers…but is useful for anyone interacting with children on science related topics.

A few new maps in National Park Maps – A great site to check before you head out to any of the national parks!

10 Intentional Deformed Skulls from Around the World – I’m taking a Osteoarcheology course on Coursera right now and am reading the articles other students are referencing. Expect more items on the gleanings for next week too.