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| Phoenix Arizona |
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| Cruise Ship, Fort Lauderdale Florida |
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| Downtown San Jose California |
Ammonite
Monday, February 28, 2011
A Birds Eye View
Friday, February 18, 2011
Caribou
I've been busy this past week. Occupied to the brim at work, but also with contemplations about various things that I have read, or learned about on TV. (I've recently discovered that I can watch Netfix on my iPhone while at the gym!) And, for those of you who don't know it already, I am officially on vacation for the next week!
I recently read a book called Midnight Wilderness by Debbie Miller, in anticipation of my littlest brother moving to the Arctic. I thought it would be neat to learn a little something about the place that Jay is going to call home for the next few months. Simultaneously I have been watching a 6 part documentary series on the history of India. And the culmination of all of this input has led me to this realization: If I believed in Hinduism, the last thing I'd want to be reincarnated as is a caribou. And after I explain why, you'll feel the same way I am sure. (Note: No not continue reading if you are eating...this will seriously gross you out.)
Caribou are actually North American reindeer. And in general I have an affinity toward reindeer because a.) they propel Santa's sleigh, and b.) their fur make the best mittens and sleeping bags on the planet.
But I recently learned something about the less romantic aspects of Caribou life. And by less romantic I mean super gross, and quite traumatic from human standards.
OK, but before I get all gnarly on you, I'd like to point out a couple neat things about caribou (this is all from the above mentioned book by the way). Caribou have specially designed wide and flat hooves that help them maneuver through the snow. They have nature made snow shoes. They also have hollow hair (like polar bears!) which simultaneously makes them more buoyant while traversing swollen springtime arctic streams, and aid in minimizing heat loss during the cold of winter.
But moving onto the part that horrifies me. The arctic is one of those few places left on earth were nature is sovereign. And so we immediately think of silver foxes, handsome caribou, thousands of migrating birds, or the afore mentioned majestic polar bears. But what we neglect to acknowledge are the BILLIONS of insects that flood the tundra every spring in an evolutionary race to procreate.
We've all seen documentaries of the millions of birds, totaling to hundreds of species, that make the incredible journey to the arctic in spring to nest and lay their young. And if you are at all like me, you just assumed it was a random thing that birds do, for no specific reason. Well, it turns out it's not random. The entire reason that birds fly thousands of miles to lay eggs is specifically because of the disgustingly huge amount of insects that are available and ready for consumption. And that's great...for birds. But we're talking about caribou right?
All of the pests that are so delicious to birds have to find a way to survive the winter. I'm sure it's pretty sweet to be a fly when the weather is above freezing, but how can you survive as a fly when the temperature dips to 40 below zero?
Uggg. Well, caribou are the answer. As wrong as it seems to us to subject an innocent mammal, that already has a rough go of life in sub zero temperatures to another hardship, that is the answer.
Those tasty warble flies (that sustain many bird species) lay their eggs in the soft fur on the belly of a caribous stomach in the warm months of the year. Then as the larva grow, they burrow and penetrate the skin of the caribou. Eventually they make their way under the skin into the intestines and make their way to the back of the animal. It's the area that gets the most warmth, but it's still protected by the warm hollow hair. The larva stay there, all fall, all winter, munching away at the walls of their foster home, waiting for spring time. By the time the snow has melted each larval individual is maybe a half inch in length. And they are by no means alone. When the weather truly changes, hundreds, or thousands of squiggly disgusting wormy larvae cut their way through the skin of their host caribou to breathe fresh air for the first time, and to begin the process anew. To begin another hijacking of a new caribou.
And as horrible as that sounds, there is still more in store for our friendly caribou, minding it's own business, just trying to survive in one of the harshest environments on the planet.
We haven't mentioned the Botflies. Shoot. If you thought warble flies were bad...botflies lay their eggs and grow in the nasal passages and lungs of caribou! Caribou are often heard coughing and sneezing.Apparently it's not dust they are trying to get rid of. It's botfly eggs and larva. Uggg.....
So there you have it (and consequently the reason why I would not want to be reincarnated as a caribou, or reindeer ...or whatever!).
Sometimes I get bent out of shape because I have to wait in line at the grocery store, or pay an extra 7 cents a gallon for gas. But that, and every other complaint I can think of, seems so ridiculous when I think about what a caribou has to live through.
I recently read a book called Midnight Wilderness by Debbie Miller, in anticipation of my littlest brother moving to the Arctic. I thought it would be neat to learn a little something about the place that Jay is going to call home for the next few months. Simultaneously I have been watching a 6 part documentary series on the history of India. And the culmination of all of this input has led me to this realization: If I believed in Hinduism, the last thing I'd want to be reincarnated as is a caribou. And after I explain why, you'll feel the same way I am sure. (Note: No not continue reading if you are eating...this will seriously gross you out.)
Caribou are actually North American reindeer. And in general I have an affinity toward reindeer because a.) they propel Santa's sleigh, and b.) their fur make the best mittens and sleeping bags on the planet.
But I recently learned something about the less romantic aspects of Caribou life. And by less romantic I mean super gross, and quite traumatic from human standards.
OK, but before I get all gnarly on you, I'd like to point out a couple neat things about caribou (this is all from the above mentioned book by the way). Caribou have specially designed wide and flat hooves that help them maneuver through the snow. They have nature made snow shoes. They also have hollow hair (like polar bears!) which simultaneously makes them more buoyant while traversing swollen springtime arctic streams, and aid in minimizing heat loss during the cold of winter.
But moving onto the part that horrifies me. The arctic is one of those few places left on earth were nature is sovereign. And so we immediately think of silver foxes, handsome caribou, thousands of migrating birds, or the afore mentioned majestic polar bears. But what we neglect to acknowledge are the BILLIONS of insects that flood the tundra every spring in an evolutionary race to procreate.
We've all seen documentaries of the millions of birds, totaling to hundreds of species, that make the incredible journey to the arctic in spring to nest and lay their young. And if you are at all like me, you just assumed it was a random thing that birds do, for no specific reason. Well, it turns out it's not random. The entire reason that birds fly thousands of miles to lay eggs is specifically because of the disgustingly huge amount of insects that are available and ready for consumption. And that's great...for birds. But we're talking about caribou right?
All of the pests that are so delicious to birds have to find a way to survive the winter. I'm sure it's pretty sweet to be a fly when the weather is above freezing, but how can you survive as a fly when the temperature dips to 40 below zero?
Uggg. Well, caribou are the answer. As wrong as it seems to us to subject an innocent mammal, that already has a rough go of life in sub zero temperatures to another hardship, that is the answer.
Those tasty warble flies (that sustain many bird species) lay their eggs in the soft fur on the belly of a caribous stomach in the warm months of the year. Then as the larva grow, they burrow and penetrate the skin of the caribou. Eventually they make their way under the skin into the intestines and make their way to the back of the animal. It's the area that gets the most warmth, but it's still protected by the warm hollow hair. The larva stay there, all fall, all winter, munching away at the walls of their foster home, waiting for spring time. By the time the snow has melted each larval individual is maybe a half inch in length. And they are by no means alone. When the weather truly changes, hundreds, or thousands of squiggly disgusting wormy larvae cut their way through the skin of their host caribou to breathe fresh air for the first time, and to begin the process anew. To begin another hijacking of a new caribou.
And as horrible as that sounds, there is still more in store for our friendly caribou, minding it's own business, just trying to survive in one of the harshest environments on the planet.
We haven't mentioned the Botflies. Shoot. If you thought warble flies were bad...botflies lay their eggs and grow in the nasal passages and lungs of caribou! Caribou are often heard coughing and sneezing.Apparently it's not dust they are trying to get rid of. It's botfly eggs and larva. Uggg.....
So there you have it (and consequently the reason why I would not want to be reincarnated as a caribou, or reindeer ...or whatever!).
Sometimes I get bent out of shape because I have to wait in line at the grocery store, or pay an extra 7 cents a gallon for gas. But that, and every other complaint I can think of, seems so ridiculous when I think about what a caribou has to live through.
Cosmotheoros
I can't even remember why I decided to read Cosmotheoros by Christian Huygens. I think it was partly because I was intrigued at the idea of reading a scientific work written over three hundred years ago, partly because the thesis of the book is the probability of extra terrestrial life elsewhere in the universe, and lastly because I found a free English translation of the book on the Internet.
It was pretty interesting, but more in a "history of science" kind of way than a technical one. Cosmotheoros was Huygens last book, and it wasn't even published until after he died. It was his most controversial book, which is why he probably saved it for last. In it he discusses all the reasons why he believed that life existed elsewhere in the universe (well, solar system actually, but in the late 1600's that pretty much was the universe). He laid out his arguments , and explained his reasoning quite thoroughly I thought. It was a strange mixture of accurate science, and divine interpretation. He would, for example, discuss (more or less accurately) the length of a day on Jupiter, and say something like "But in the length of their years, that is in the revolution of the Planets around the Sun, there is an exact proportion to their distance from the Sun followed. For the Cubes of their distances, so are the Squares of their Revolutions..." blah blah blah... And then further down the page he would shift gears and say something to the effect of why would God create moons around other planets if there were no people there to appreciate them?
It's weird to contemplate because in a way his reasoning is sound. Based on scientific understanding at the time, no one questioned whether or not God made the universe. People actually believed that everything was made by God for the sole benefit of man. The moon didn't just exist for no reason, it existed to light the sky at night, keep track of time, usher in the tides, and provide direction to sailors wandering the ocean at night.
It's amusing to think that Huygens had greater expectations for extra terrestrial life than our modern day scientists do. Especially because he claims he was a Christian. (I say "claims" because while reading I couldn't help but notice many of his references to God seem like they were added to appease others, not himself. It was like he was saying "OK calm down. Put your pitch fork and Bible down and give me a chance. Yes, God is awesome, and we are the best thing He ever made, but...") Anyway, that's pure conjecture on my part. It's pretty impossible to know what someone who lived 300 years ago really thought. But I'd still like to share a couple quotes with you from the book that either struck me inspirationally (or spiritually some might say) or as modern, and applicable to the world we live in today.
"There's one sort who know nothing of Geometry or Mathematicks, will laugh at it as a whimsical and ridiculous undertaking. It's mere conjecture to them to talk of measuring the Distance or Magnitude of the Stars...What should we answer to these men, but that their ignorance is the cause of their Dislike , and if they had more Sense they would have fewer Scruples?" SNAP! (Just to be clear, I added the "snap". I am pretty sure it was implied though.)
"If anyone is resolved to find fault with it (meaning the truth of what Huygens is arguing) let him first be sure he understands it."
"Certainly when I consider all these things, how great, noble, and useful they are; when I consider what an admirable providence it is that there 's such a thing as Pleasure in the world, I can't but think that our Earth, the smallest part almost of the Universe, was never designed to monopolize so great a blessing."
OK, last one:)
"But there are other pleasures which men enjoy, which their Soul only and Reason can relish: some airy and brisk, others grave and solid, and yet nevertheless Pleasures, as arising from the Satisfaction which we feel in Knowledge and Inventions and searches after Truth."
Much of what I read in Cosmotheoros was ridiculous, and technically untrue, but I can't deny the respect I feel for the scientist who wrote it. Christian Huygens may not have had all his facts straight, but what he wrote is still (in my humble opinion) a great work of science. He wrote a book in the 1600's hypothesising about aliens for crying out loud! AWESOME! I'll never know who he really was, but from quotes like the ones I mentioned above, I like to think that if he were living now, or if I'd been born three centuries ago (and a man I guess) we would have been kindred persons. We'd have sat having tea (or martini's depending on the century) and he would have shouted "There's got to be life elsewhere in the universe right?!? I mean how could there not be!?!" And I would have responded by raising my hand in the air, and saying "High five dude. You are awesome!"
It was pretty interesting, but more in a "history of science" kind of way than a technical one. Cosmotheoros was Huygens last book, and it wasn't even published until after he died. It was his most controversial book, which is why he probably saved it for last. In it he discusses all the reasons why he believed that life existed elsewhere in the universe (well, solar system actually, but in the late 1600's that pretty much was the universe). He laid out his arguments , and explained his reasoning quite thoroughly I thought. It was a strange mixture of accurate science, and divine interpretation. He would, for example, discuss (more or less accurately) the length of a day on Jupiter, and say something like "But in the length of their years, that is in the revolution of the Planets around the Sun, there is an exact proportion to their distance from the Sun followed. For the Cubes of their distances, so are the Squares of their Revolutions..." blah blah blah... And then further down the page he would shift gears and say something to the effect of why would God create moons around other planets if there were no people there to appreciate them?
It's weird to contemplate because in a way his reasoning is sound. Based on scientific understanding at the time, no one questioned whether or not God made the universe. People actually believed that everything was made by God for the sole benefit of man. The moon didn't just exist for no reason, it existed to light the sky at night, keep track of time, usher in the tides, and provide direction to sailors wandering the ocean at night.
It's amusing to think that Huygens had greater expectations for extra terrestrial life than our modern day scientists do. Especially because he claims he was a Christian. (I say "claims" because while reading I couldn't help but notice many of his references to God seem like they were added to appease others, not himself. It was like he was saying "OK calm down. Put your pitch fork and Bible down and give me a chance. Yes, God is awesome, and we are the best thing He ever made, but...") Anyway, that's pure conjecture on my part. It's pretty impossible to know what someone who lived 300 years ago really thought. But I'd still like to share a couple quotes with you from the book that either struck me inspirationally (or spiritually some might say) or as modern, and applicable to the world we live in today.
"There's one sort who know nothing of Geometry or Mathematicks, will laugh at it as a whimsical and ridiculous undertaking. It's mere conjecture to them to talk of measuring the Distance or Magnitude of the Stars...What should we answer to these men, but that their ignorance is the cause of their Dislike , and if they had more Sense they would have fewer Scruples?" SNAP! (Just to be clear, I added the "snap". I am pretty sure it was implied though.)
"For here we may mount from this dull Earth, and viewing it from on high, consider whether Nature has laid out all her cost and finery upon this small speck of Dirt....We shall be less apt to admire what this World calls great...when we know that there are a multitude of such Earths inhabited and adorned as well as our own."
"Certainly when I consider all these things, how great, noble, and useful they are; when I consider what an admirable providence it is that there 's such a thing as Pleasure in the world, I can't but think that our Earth, the smallest part almost of the Universe, was never designed to monopolize so great a blessing."
OK, last one:)
"But there are other pleasures which men enjoy, which their Soul only and Reason can relish: some airy and brisk, others grave and solid, and yet nevertheless Pleasures, as arising from the Satisfaction which we feel in Knowledge and Inventions and searches after Truth."
Much of what I read in Cosmotheoros was ridiculous, and technically untrue, but I can't deny the respect I feel for the scientist who wrote it. Christian Huygens may not have had all his facts straight, but what he wrote is still (in my humble opinion) a great work of science. He wrote a book in the 1600's hypothesising about aliens for crying out loud! AWESOME! I'll never know who he really was, but from quotes like the ones I mentioned above, I like to think that if he were living now, or if I'd been born three centuries ago (and a man I guess) we would have been kindred persons. We'd have sat having tea (or martini's depending on the century) and he would have shouted "There's got to be life elsewhere in the universe right?!? I mean how could there not be!?!" And I would have responded by raising my hand in the air, and saying "High five dude. You are awesome!"
Thursday, February 17, 2011
The Perfect Storm
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| Rainbow over my house. |
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
What a Bee Sees
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| Dandelion |
Pollinating insects, like bees, see colors differently than we humans do. They are able to see beyond what we call the visible spectrum, into the shorter ultraviolet wavelengths. While that's interesting it's not really all that fascinating until you couple that fact with the next one I am going to pass along.
It turns out that beyond the "normal" colors we humans see, many flowers have patterns and colors that are only visible in the ultraviolet. And most of the color in the ultraviolet creates a "bulls eye" around the center of the flower where the reproductive parts and pollen are located.
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| Crocus |
I am not sure whether flowers evolved this coloration to attract pollinators or whether the pollinators developed the ability to see the color to find food, but either way one influenced the other to the point of shaping it's evolutionary history! The discovery of such relationships are like finding two pieces of a puzzle and putting them together. It's not the whole picture of evolution, but you still get that "Ah ha!" feeling when the two pieces fit perfectly together. Insights like these are amazing examples of the often weird interconnectedness that all living things have with each other. Life is something isn't it? And knowing that I am a part of this puzzle, that I exist in a world that has such things as invisible colors, it just makes me feel....freaking awesome!
(all photos borrowed from www.naturfotograf.com)
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| Primrose |
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Quote of the Day
"Not only are we in the universe, but the universe is within us. I don't know any deeper spiritual feeling than what that brings upon me." Neil deGrasse Tyson
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
3-D Printers, FACT! Not Fiction
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| Printed motorcycle by AutoDesk using AutoCAD 3-D |
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| Printed flute |
Isn't that just about the craziest thing you ever heard?!? Can you imagine? Soon (hopefully) we will be able to replicate kidneys and toes for people who need them! And one day we might actually be able to say "Tea, Earl Grey. Hot." into a speaker in a wall and pull out a printed cup filled with printed tea!
I was feeling kind of bummed about the fact that we haven't invented hover cars yet, but this incredible machine is kind of making me feel better. We haven't mastered Back to the Future technology yet, but we're on on right path to Star Trek transporters, and warp speed!Yesssss!
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| Printed parts and machine gears. |
Monday, February 7, 2011
Green Bay Packers Super Bowl XLV Champions!
I'd like to start by saying to all of those cocky Steelers fans I encountered along the way, and rude fans of other teams that didn't win the Super Bowl (OH SNAP!) "Ha ha you loose!" (That was extremely satisfying:) But moving on. The Packers really made it all the way! The whole thing is all so unreal...like a dream....Yep, like a green and gold dream filled with all my favorite (albeit exhausted and sweaty) football players! Nice work boys!
The two weeks between the Championship game and the Super Bowl however seemed to take FOREVER and were very un-dream like. But then all of the sudden I was sitting on the couch and the last play of the game was happening. And when it was over my exact thoughts were and I quote (from my brain):
"There are no penalty flags right? Right? Please tell me there are no penalty flags. That was 4th down right? No flags? No flags! No flags!! No flags!!!! HOLY SH*T!?!?! Time? TIME? 49 seconds...Time outs...where the hell are the time outs? Oh, there! We have two left...wait that means...we...Why is Jennings jumping up and down like that? Why are people shouting? What? WHATS HAPPENING? What do you mean we won? We won? WE WON?!? OH MY GOD....WE WON!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!WE WON! WE WON THE FREAKING SUPER BOWL! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"
And there was confetti flying everywhere (well, on the TV anyway) and everyone at our little Packer Party was wearing the same goofy ear to ear grin that Rodgers, Woodson, Driver, Kuhn, Mathsay and all the other Packers had plastered on their faces.
And just like that The Green Bay Packers became the World Champions of football.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
On the Road to Rio Vista
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| Highway 4 near Antioch |
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| Draw Bridge at Rio Vista |
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| The Delta land Highway 160 |
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| In Rio Vista |
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| Draw Bridge on Highway 12 |
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| Windmills and Water Highway 12 |
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| East Bay hills in spring green Highway 680 |
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
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