Friday Poem

Environmental & Science Education, Poetry, Art & Environment, Biodiversity, Behavior, Wildlife

Ed Hessler

Dog Music  (Poetry August 1999) by Paul Zimmer.

Two Not So Sweet Chocolate Bars

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Biodiversity, Science & Society

Ed Hessler

 

--Machine gunner (M60) Henry Dobbins ate a tropical chocolate bar.--Company A mission Vietnam, Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried (Houghton Miflin Company)

A previous post focused on an heirloom cacao from Equador known as Nacional, the sweetest of the chocolates. Now we turn to an unsweetened "no nonsense wartime snack."

In the November issue of Smithsonian Magazine is the story of a chocolate bar that came with a directive to its creators: "Don't make it too delicious." Captain Paul Logan of the United States Army Quartermaster General's office "collaborated with Hershey's to create these rations.... for U. S. soldiers during operations."

The bar was to contain all the essential nutrients "but not so irresistible that the soldiers would eat any more than they needed." As a point of reference about not making it "too delicious," Logan told Hershey's that the bar "should 'taste a little better than a boiled potato."  Some 300 recipes were tried. The final recipe is found in the article.

Additionally there were other restrictions: weight not to exceed four ounces, must be pocket portable, must be "a strong and efficient energy source," and finally it must "remain solid at high temperatures" so that it could be used in the tropics. 

The result was Ration D presented molding problems for manufactures because of their dense and rich composition. They were molded by hand. Not all soldiers would eat this emergency ration. One who did, was former Olympic distance runner who became an Army Air Corps lieutenant. After his aircraft failed over the Pacific, he drifted "on a lifeboat for 47 days" existing on "a few" Ration D bars and "whatever few fish" he was able to catch.

Later a tastier bar (still not too tasty) was created in 1943 known as "Hershey's Tropical Chocolate Bar." These remained a staple for soldiers until 1991. The crew of  the Apollo 15 moon mission in 1971 dined on them. 

Samples are in the permanent collection of The National Museum of American History and you can see the Ration Type D Bar and a Hershey's Tropical Chocolate bar in the story about this bar by Kovie Biokola. These may be examples of being able to "judge a book by its cover."

Biokola includes a reference to the book about Louis Zamperini by Laura Hillenbrand. For more about Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption (Random House 2014) see here.

Here you will find some information about Colonel Paul Logan. The bar was also known as the "Logan Bar."

Hershey's includes additional information in its archives

This essay by Terry W. Burger from the February 2007 issue of America In WWII adds more information about the development of the Logan Bar.

Colonel Paul Parker Logan was born in Montgomery County, IA on 7 October 1889. He died on 19 December 1969 in San Joaquin County, CA.

Periodic Table of Element Scarcity

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Sustainability, Global Change, Climate Change

Ed Hessler

The European Chemical Society has published a periodic table of element scarcity.

The table is shorter than the ones you've seen in science classrooms. This one features only the 90 elements that make up everything.

Reading the short introduction below the table will help you better understand what you are viewing. Two previous workshops - nitrogen (2022) and phosphorous (2023) - are linked to videos of the presentations. These are long but you may want to move the slider to find sessions you think of interest.

Here is the table.   

Hummers

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Biodiversity, Nature, Wildlife, Biological Evolution, Global Change, Climate Change, Habitat

Ed Hessler

The short film highlighted below is both a promotion and from a course on hummingbirds from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.  

Its title, Extreme Hummingbirds (4m 58s), tells you what it is about. It is from the online course The Wonderful World of Hummingbirds, taught by Professor Alan McGowan. When he talks about characteristics of a species, lengths and weights, he uses both English and metric units.

There is information about the course at this site. There you can preview three videos and one interactive.

 

What a remarkable and splendid group of birds.

Micro-Macro Images

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Art & Environment, Scale

Ed Hessler

NASA presents nine pairs of micro-macro images and asks viewers to decide which is which.

Here they are. 

There is an introduction, a discussion of scale and color, resources and and a section where you can learn more about the pairs.

If you are interested in the idea of scale in schools see the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The seven cross cutting concepts from this document may be viewed in this handy matrix for each of them, grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. One of them is Scale, Proportion and Quantity.

May 25 Quirks & Quarks Podcast With Bob MacDonald

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Nature of Science, History of Science, Paleontology, Earth & Space Science, Earth Systems, Wildlife, Agriculture, Nature, Geology, Models, Computer Sciences, Health, Medicine

Ed Hessler

This week (ending May 25) the podcast Quirks and Quarks discusses the following in its 54 minute program with host Bob MacDonald. Each segment description includes a photograph and segment lengths are indicated.

-- This little piggy escaped and wreaked havoc on crops and the environment 8m 37s 

Wild pigs that have escaped or been released from farms have established self-sustaining populations in the prairies and Central Canada and are wreaking havoc on farms and wilderness landscapes alike. A new study, led by Ryan Brook at the University of Saskatchewan, has tracked pigs to try to understand where, and how far, this porcine invasion can go. The research was published in the journal Biological Invasions.

-- Satellites and space junk burning up in the atmosphere is a new kind of pollution 8m 35s

Scientists doing high-altitude sampling of material deposited when meteorites burn up in the atmosphere are seeing a shift in the material they've been collecting. In a recent study in the journal PNAS, scientists found that increasingly the particles contain material that could have only come from vaporized space junk, such as the upper stages of rocket boosters and re-entering satellites. Daniel Cziczo, an atmospheric scientist at Purdue University, said they're now trying to find out what kind of impact this in material in the stratosphere may have on things like the ozone layer and global warming.

-- A 200 million year old marine reptile the size of a blue whale 8m 44s

Hundreds of millions of years ago, long before dinosaurs roamed the surface of our planet, ichthyosaurs ruled the Earth's oceans. Analysis of bones found in a river basin in the U.K. suggests a new species might have been one the biggest marine animals that ever lived. Paleontologist Jimmy Waldron was part of the team, who published their research in the journal PLOS One. 

-- Fox skulls are optimized for diving into snow 7m 40s

Foxes hunt in winter by listening for rodents under deep snow and then leaping and diving into the snow, plunging down to snatch their prey. A team including Sunghwan Jung, a professor of Biological and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University, did a unique experiment to confirm that the pointed shape of the fox skull is better than any other shape they tested at penetrating deep into snow. The research was published in the journal PNAS.

-- The logic behind creating more dangerous viruses to understand them better 10m 07s

Anticipating how dangerous viruses — like avian influenza or coronaviruses — could transform from more innocuous forms into much more dangerous ones could help us prepare for future pandemics. Ron Fouchier, a molecular virologist at the Erasmus Medical Centre in Holland, says without doing "gain of function" research, like the kind he published in the journal Science in 2012, we never would have known which changes to look out for with the current global H5N1 outbreak. Gain of function research, which involves experimenting with viruses to make them more dangerous, has become increasingly controversial, but Fouchier says with Europe's strict regulations to ensure safety and oversight, the risk is worth the reward.

Minnesota Roughfish Protection: In The Works

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Biodiversity, Nature, Wildlife, Science & Society, Global Change, Climate Change, Sustainability

Ed Hessler

When I read the following headline for Greg Stanley's essay, Star Tribune December 23, 2023, "'Rough fish' in line for protection," I thought of one of Aldo Leopold's most famous quotes. I'm going to close this post with it.

Stanley's essay is protected by a paywall so to its main points.

--Stanley writes that the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) just presented state "lawmakers recommendations on how to better protect and understand 23 native species that have been considered 'rough fish' by Minnesota fishery managers for more than a century."

--Some populations are struggling (white suckers), others eat zebra mussels (e.g., freshwater drum), two have been found to be the key in "saving one of the most endangered animals in the state" --the fish: goldeye and mooneye; the endangered species: spectaclecase mussels; what the fish that no other fish are known to do: serve as hosts for this mussels juveniles.

--Rough fish have been viewed as competitors with fish considered more desirable by those who fish. In some cases some of these species have been the focus of  elimination campaigns that do not differentiate "native fish from invasive ones."

--Minnesota "prohibits 'wanton waste,' killing animals merely for sport." However, "if the dead fish are used for fertilizer, they can be taken." Stanley reported that the "DNR said it will reconsider whether fertilizer is an appropriate use for native fish."

--The report also asked lawmakers to give the DNR authority "to expedite the rulemaking process to allow the agency to quickly set bag limits and fishing seasons for any of the native species it deems necessary."

--The relevancy of Aldo Leopold's words (below) are found in this sentence in Stanley's reporting. "Each species evolved to fill a niche in Minnesota's waters." And we need to know much more about those niches. The report identified the following for "priority studies...bowfin, gar, redhorse and buffalo fish."

--“The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant, "What good is it?" If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not. If the biota, in the course of aeons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.” -- Aldo Leopold, Round River: From the Journals of Aldo Leopold (edited by Luna Leopold, Illustrations by Charles W. Schwartz, Oxford University Press 1993)

What lovely common names many of these "ruffians" have.

 

Friday Poem

Environmental & Science Education, Poetry, Art & Environment

Ed Hessler 

AND MOST OF ALL, I WANNA THANK... by John Hollander (1929 - 2013).

The Biology of the Strawberry

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Biodiversity, Science & Society, Biological Evolution, Culture

Ed Hessler

Strawberries have a biology, too, one most of us don't consider.

 

Where I grew up, they were not too far from the back door: cultivated and wild. I have always found then lovely plants to look at even when not bearing fruit.

In the Readers' Wildlife Photos section of Why Evolution is True, frequent contributor Athayde Tonhasca Júnior leads a lesson on strawberries titled Red Treasures.

WEIT host Jerry Coyne adds a note at the end about a famous jam. It is his favorite.

Thanks to University of Chicago Emeritus Professor Jerry Coyne for this website and to photojounalist Athayde Tonhasca Junior for the work he puts into these entries.

Annals of Dentistry: New Product Claim

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Health, Medicine, Science & Society, Nature of Science

Ed Hessler

 

Internet was down due to the heavy rain last night and it just returned at about 12:15 pm.

What is the most chronic disease in children?  I'd never have guessed OSS writer Jonathan Jarry's answer. 

 

He states that it is dental caries and makes an interesting observation about a possible reason--"the separation between medicine and dentistry." 

Jarry's essay is about a product, "a bacterium that you paint onto your teeth. It superinfects your mouth, taking over for the bacteria responsible for caries. A single application lasts a lifetime," specifically, the probiotic Lumina. I urge you to visit their site.

Jarry reviews

--the difference between the term "cavity" and "dental caries"

--how a particular bacterium was identified as the cause of dental caries

--a chance event that led to the idea of replacing the "cause" with a harmless relative

--requirements that this new strain must meet

--the search for the new strain

--a filing with the FDA for a new drug application -- I appreciated learning more about the process and reasons for the "red tape"

--a new filing to get around the strict requirements of a new drug using another pathway

--safety concerns, studies

--what we know that works and why it works including the dynamics of what goes on in the mouth's environment

And, of course, Jarry includes 3 take home messages

Read Jarry's essay and about OSS.

Porcelain

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Science & Society

Ed Hessler

In this Show & Tell, Dr. Joe Schwarz, Director of the Office for Science and Society at the University of Montreal  shows a porcelain piece, Jack the British Bulldog, as a way of telling us about the ceramic material porcelain. 

The video is 4m 30s long.

Quirks & Quarks, May 18, 2024

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Nature of Science, Earth & Space Science, Earth Systems, Biodiversity, Biological Evolution, Wildlife, Nature, Behavior

Ed Hessler

This week on CBC's Quirks & Quarks Podcast with Bob McDonald. Podcasts are 54:00 minutes. Topics discussed include a photograph, an overview/summary and segment length. You can listen to the full show or return to listen to segments.

--The recent solar storm scrambled undersea sensors

--Robots are stronger, and faster, and better – but still lose to animals

--How European brown rats took over North America

--Decoding whale talk and primate calls 

--Eavesdropping on nature sounds to save ecosystems in US National parks

Horned Marsupial Frog

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Biodiversity, Nature, Wildlife, Sustainability, Global Change, Science & Society

Ed Hessler

--In that moment, I was incredibly excited.--Herpetologist Stanley Salazar

You may have seen a report on the rediscovery of a rare frog, the horned marsupial frog, which lives in the canopy of trees of Central and South America.

Donna Staaf, Smithsonian Magazine (December 2023) has a profile with a portrait by photographer Javier Asnar Conzales de Rueda. Well named, the "horns" are found on the eyelids.

What do you think of when you hear the word marsupial? Probably pouched animals, notably the kangaroo, but Staaf tells us that "a surprising variety of creatures have evolved this unusual means of parental care, including crustaceans, seahorses--and frogs". Horned marsupial frog females produce, at most 10 eggs, that are whoppers, the largest amphibian eggs in the world, measuring "one centimeter in diameter" (~ 0.40 inches).

The eggs are fertilized and then the male places them in pouches on the female's back. There the necessary structures to "deliver oxygen, water, and possibly nutrients There they develop into "forest ready froglets, skipping the tadpole stage."

It is thought that their life in the canopy which is humid-rich prevents their skin from drying. These frogs will never know life in a water pond but an atmospheric one.

Now we come to the "however," in such stories. It is one of habitat change, "logging and plantation clearing" plus the global non-human pandemic, caused by Chytrid fungus. It was feared extinct in both Panama and Costa Rica. Stanley Salazur, a Costa Rican biologist, rediscovered them in 2013. In 2018 researchers in Equador also rediscovered them. 

Another story showing the importance of conservation efforts including the protection of "remote, vulnerable habitats".

Essay and Photograph are here.

Anti-Twilight Bands: Observed & Explained

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Earth & Space Science, Earth Systems

Ed Hessler

The anti-twilight bands overhead before sunrise or after sunset are the subject of Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) for February 9, 2024.

Each band is identified and discussed.

For more of the photographer's wonderful images, hit the link to his website (at the bottom of the page). I think you will find it worth taking a look and make you aware of more things to observe overhead or know about.

Friday Poem

Environmental & Science Education, Poetry, Art & Environment

Ed Hessler

The Perfect Life by John Koethe.

Publication information and biography are included at the link.

Vaccinations Worldwide

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Health, Medicine, Science & Society, Data

Ed Hessler

"Every ten seconds, one child is saved by a vaccine against a fatal disease."--Hannah Ritchie, Our World in Data, May 6, 2024

Our World in Data specializes in charts and graphs followed by discussion.The original source of the data are documented. The endnotes include some useful information about the article, e.g.,estimated reading time. Below are the topics.

On May 6. Ritchie's entry examines data on vaccines for the world, most are for 50 years. These are the headings.

--Number of lives saved by vaccinations from 1974

--Cumulative number of lives saved from vaccination since 1974

--Global infant mortality rate, with and without vaccines, 1974 - 2024

--Share of one-year-olds vaccinated against diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus

--Deaths caused by vaccine-preventable diseases, world

Read it here.

What Role Does AG Play in Cancer Rates? Iowa

 Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Agriculture, Science & Society, Health, Medicine, Pollution, Sustainability, Global Change, Climate Change

Ed Hessler

On April 28, the StarTribune republished a long essay by Erin Jordan of the (Cedar Rapids)  Gazette. I recommend you read "What Role Does Ag Play in Cancer Rates?" It was published under "Agriculture," the page appears to be sponsored by Bremer Banks.

As you know by now, the StarTribune article is behind a subscription paywall but The Gazette's original story is available on-line.

Some of what the reporting covers:

--"Iowa is the No. 1 corn-producing state. It also leads the nation in the production of pork, eggs and ethanol."

--Oncologist, Dr. Richard Deming described the state as "'a bath of ag chemicals: herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers, nitrates'."  No one knows whether every one of them gets into water supplies or on our skin, causes cancer but Deming suspects '"that we'll find (when compared to other states)  that might also be one of the contributing factors'."

--The experience of farmer (small scale vegetable and poultry) didn't use pesticides -his neighbors die - who was '"doused by a crop duster'." He asks, "'Who knows which of those things provided the tipping point?'." He works with the Pesticide Action Network since 2020.

--I didn't know that "farmers, in general, are healthier than the average public" and Jordan lists some possibilities. This was another surprise, "farmers have a lower rate of cancer overall" but "for some types of cancer "have higher rates (listed)."

--Jordan includes a bullet point list of ag risks.

--Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Missouri, Minnesota and Wisconsin "used more than 20 million tons (40,000,000,000 pounds or 18,143,694,800 kg) of synthetic fertilizer." Jordan discusses, at some length, the phenomenon of one of them: "'excess nitrogen washing'."

--There is a discussion of the link to certainty which includes remarks by Senator Ken Rosenboom. When is there is "enough evidence to take action?'."  David Cwiertny, director of the University of Iowa's Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination (CHEEC) is critical of the delays - talk, need for more studies and hints at what he thinks is sufficient evidence.

Thanks to the StarTribune, The Gazette and Bremer Banks if it sponsors this page in the StarTribune, for publishing this timely article.

The Mozart Effect: An Explanation

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Brain, Society, Culture, Miscellaneous

Ed Hessler

The creation of a myth: the Mozart Effect.

You remember the hype about playing Mozart to a baby will make them smart.

Jonathan Jarry of the Office for Science & Society, McGill University, Montreal, Canada explains 

 

--the creation of a myth: the Mozart effect, 

 

--the tension between the media and scientists, 

 

--its beginning with the publication of a paper in the journal Nature, 

 

--replication studies,

 

--the role of a Georgia governor in promoting the idea in a state funded program (Jarry's summary "a mutation into borderline lunacy"), 

 

--how journalists covered this story over time (early promotion),

 

--the difficulty in putting a legend to rest, 

 

 --the role of some scientists in promoting it in spite of evidence, 

 

 --the use of a composer's music in opposition to Mozart's where "it was denounced as “nonenhancing” and “predictable,” too repetitive, even unpleasant." Early in the essay, Jarry states that  "most importantly, (this story is) about how minimalist composer Philip Glass’ music was unfairly demonized in an attempt to prove a theory."

Jarry closes with the obvious observation that you can play music for your baby and cites several examples from the classical repertoire but that "None of this will turn your progeny into geniuses. But music for the sake of music is good for the spirit."

Jarry includes a box of three take-home messages.

The essay may be read here.

About the history of the OfS&S.