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Environmental & Science Education
Culture
Society
Edward Hessler

"There is no place like home," so the saying goes. Here is a short film on the meaning of home.

NAS Daily is the work of one of the most successful of Facebook vloggers, Nuseir Yassan. As the video opens he is the guy in the middle.

And a vlog is a video log/ blog.

Bird Drummers

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Biodiversity
Biological Evolution
Behavior
Music
Edward Hessler

In this short film, palm cockatoos (Probosciger aterrimus) use tools to make a steady beat. a very novel behavior.

There is a link to the original study if you are interested in learning more.

And since Cher was a Kennedy Center 2018 honoree, The Beat Goes On!

Friday Poem

Environmental & Science Education
Poetry
Art and Environment
Edward Hessler

Today's poem is by Billy Collins.

It makes me smile.

Inventive.

Playful.

Fresh Water Supply

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Water & Watersheds
Geology
Climate Change
Edward Hessler

A KQED Quest video explores "the secrets within a raindrop in order to better understand how the availability of water resources changes as a result of human activities."

This film introduces the concept of the "Earth's 'critical zone'--where rock meets life."

The Infinte Monkey Cage: The 100th Episode

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Astronomy
Cosmology
Biological Evolution
Miscellaneous
Edward Hessler

I don't listen to the BBC comedy/science show, The Infinite Monkey Cage. The program is also on television but can only be seen in the United Kingdom. It is wildly funny and irreverent.

Comedian Robin Ince and particle physicist Brian Cox serve as the hosts and moderators of a distinguished panel which changes from program to program. Program 100 included some monkey cage alums. The topic for this celebratory show was about the biggest scientific discoveries/findings made between the first episode (November 2009) and this one. There was a guest from this side of the pond, Neil De Grasse Tyson. There is a final panel on "everything else" that occurred. The program also included an ecclesiastical corner, too.

And of course it ended with a birthday cake. Those candles may make you think about laboratory safety but at least the fire lighter--a chemist, I think--was wearing laboratory glasses. And the colors are beautiful.

This program includes a banger of a song by Eric Idle (Panel 1). It is not to be missed--lyrics to tie tongues--and may leave you breathless.

Here is Eric Idle singing the song from which the title is taken. Do you think a monkey might be able to write the complete works of Shakespeare if given an infinity of time? I think monkeys have better things to do.

Tree Sounds

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Nature
Edward Hessler

The Dogwood Alliance has worked for more than 20 years "with diverse communities, partner organizations and decision-makers to protect Southern forests across 14 states. We do this through community and grassroots organizing, holding corporations and governments accountable and working to conserve millions of acres of Southern forests."

Among the Dogwood Alliance short video series, Stories Happen in Forests is one featuring David Haskell, a professor of biology at Sewanee: The University of the South. 

Trees sing, make sounds and in this video Haskell gives us a glimpse of what he learned, experienced and heard by listening to twelve trees, over time and in different parts of the world. In the course of this project he used not only his ears but also a stethoscope, microphones, and ultrasonic sensors.

In a Yale E360 interview, Haskell describes the importance of listening to glimpsing connections in nature. The interview includes three samples of sounds he recorded: a beetle chewing the inside of an ash tree, NYC subway train sounds flowing into a pear tree, and sound of surf around the roots of a subal palm.

A Few Notes on Publishing in Science

Environmental & Science Education

STEM

History of Science

Nature of Science

Edward Hessler

Those of us who do not practice science are quite likely to have heard of peer review, part of the process that leads to the publication of a scientific paper. The traditional process is described on the webpage Scrutinizing Science—Peer Review, from the University of California Museum of Paleontology.

That peer review is being reviewed by many scientific peers may come as a surprise. It is more accurate to say that it has been under scrutiny by scientists for several years.  It is not considered to be the gold standard although it is the most common method used by journal editors. My aim is not to summarize that literature of criticism and research.  It is large and requires more expertise than I have.

In February, NPR’s Richard Harris reported on some of the problems with peer review and some solutions. Here are some of the problems:

--The process is slow, often taking months before the paper is actually published.

--The review process consists of only a few scientists, usually two to three.

--Reviewers may be biased for or against the science and may not have the technical training or experience to properly vet a paper.

--Reviewers are usually anonymous, i.e., the process is not transparent.

“One way forward, “according to Harris’ report, “is to encourage scientists to make their work publicly available on the Internet before it has been peer-reviewed or accepted in a journal” in pre-print journals. I’ve made use of some of these, notably in the physical sciences where the practice has been long established. I want to emphasize that most of my use of pre-print journals in the physical sciences is when I’ve been directed to specific papers. I do not scan them on any regular basis. Harris mentioned a new one for the biological sciences.

I include the links for the two archives so that you can scan them if you like. On the physical side is arXiv, pronounced “archive.” It is operated by the Cornell University Library and includes sections for physics, mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology, quantitative finance, statistics, electrical engineering, systems science, and economics.  arXiv makes use of moderators to review the submissions.  For more information see the arXiv Wiki entry.

On the biological side is bioRxiv (pronounced bioarchive) the preprint server for biology. It is operated by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.  Articles are screened before being posted and there are more than 30 subject areas. For more information about this archive click on any of the subject area categories and when you are directed to that page there are tabs at the top which answer frequently asked questions.

Harris includes a link to ASAPbio which describes a new system under development by molecular and cell biologist, Michael Eisen, University of California--Berkeley.  Harris quotes Eisen as follows. "What we want to see happen next is to allow the scientists who are reading papers [as part of their normal work] ... to review them. You post a work, people comment on it, you update it, and if it gets better through the process, that's great--now you've produced something good. If, through the process of review and assessment, you and the community realize the work wasn't right, it just sorts of fades and you mark it as such. And I think we'll all be better off if that happens."

Fruit Fly Brain on View

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Brain
Nature of Science
Medicine
Edward Hessler

An equation for seeing the structure of a brain: Two high-speed electron microscopes. 7,062 brain slices. 21 million images.

In the end, for a team of scientists at the Howard Huges Medical Institute's Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia the numbers added up to a technical first: a high resolution-digital snapshot of the adult fruit fly brain.

The research report is hot off the press, July 19, 2018 and is found in the journal Cell.**

The press release which explains the research includes three videos, one is about the work and the other two are more technical. What is missing from the equation above are the calalysts that made this happen. Scores and scores of talented women and men.

It reminds me of the history of medicine: structure to be followed by function (biochemistry, neurophysiology and disciplines of which I am unaware).

** Zhihao Zheng*, J. Scott Lauritzen*, Eric Perlman, Camenzind G. Robinson, Matthew Nichols, Daniel Milkie, Omar Torrens, John Price, Corey B. Fisher, Nadiya Sharifi, Steven A. Calle-Schuler, Lucia Kmecova, Iqbal J. Ali, Bill Karsh, Eric T. Trautman, John A. Bogovic, Philipp Hanslovsky, Gregory S. X. E. Jefferis, Michael Kazhdan, Khaled Khairy, Stephan Saalfeld, Richard D. Fetter, Davi D. Bock, “A complete electron microscopy volume of the brain of adult Drosophila melanogaster,” Cell. Published online July 19, 2018. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.06.019 

* These authors contributed equally to this manuscript.

Friday Poem

Environmental & Science Education
Poetry
Art and Environment
Edward Hessler

A poem for a wedding by Marge Piercy.

President Obama Era Wetlands Protection Rule Under Review

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Water & Watersheds
Edward Hessler

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are proposing to repeal the Clean Water Rule. The basis of the repeal is that the Obama administration's wetlands rule placed "too much emphasis on science" and not enough on statutory text and legal history.

Science republished an article from E&E News by Ariel Wittenberg explaining this argument. The Clean Water Act applies to "navigable waters of the United States." This phrase has been the subject of three U.S. Supreme Court cases. Wittenberg notes that the most recent case (2006) ended in an unusual 4-1-4 split decision. Interestingly, the stand alone opinion was written by recently resigned Justice,Anthony Kennedy.

The Obama administration made use of Kennedy's opinion in their so-called Connectivity Report. In his opinion, Kennedy wrote that wetlands deserved protection if they, "alone or in combination with similarly situated lands in the region, significantly affect the chemical, physical and biological integrity of other covered words." He referred to this as a "significant nexus." These are the five major conclusions of the "Connectivity Report.".

--The scientific literature unequivocally demonstrates that streams, regardless of their size or frequency of flow, are connected to downstream waters and strongly influence their function. 

--The scientific literature clearly shows that wetlands and open waters in riparian areas (transitional areas between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems) and floodplains are physically, chemically, and biologically integrated with rivers via functions that improve downstream water quality. These systems act as effective buffers to protect downstream waters from pollution and are essential components of river food webs. 

--There is ample evidence that many wetlands and open waters located outside of riparian areas and floodplains, even when lacking surface water connections, provide physical, chemical, and biological functions that could affect the integrity of downstream waters. Some potential benefits of these wetlands are due to their isolation rather than their connectivity. Evaluations of the connectivity and effects of individual wetlands or groups of wetlands are possible through case-by-case analysis. 

--Variations in the degree of connectivity are determined by the physical, chemical and biological environment, and by human activities. These variations support a range of stream and wetland functions that affect the integrity and sustainability of downstream waters. 

--The literature strongly supports the conclusion that the incremental contributions of individual streams and wetlands are cumulative across entire watersheds, and their effects on downstream waters should be evaluated within the context of other streams and wetlands in that watershed.

The current agencies, according to Wittenberg's report, believe that the Obama administration's approach was "an expansive reading" of the Kennedy opinion, that the regulation "does not give sufficient effect to the term 'navigable'," and that not enough attention was paid to a part of the Clean Water Act that "says states and tribes should retain authority over their land and water resources."

Wittenberg ends with a discussion of the "continuum of connectivity" and the issue that Justice Kennedy raised in his opinion, one that the Trump administration has not addressed, namely the balance of science and law.

Please read Wittenberg's report on this complicated issue here.

Pigeons

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Biodiversity
Culture
Society
Edward Hessler

Do you think pigeons are beautiful or not?

Take a look at these photographs from The New York Pigeon: Behind the Feathers by Andrew Gam, Emily Rueb, and Rita McMahon.

The authors are biased in favor of their beauty and with reason, I think.

Dust Analysis for Household Hazardous Contaminants

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Health
Miscellaneous
Solid Waste
Edward Hessler

If you are interested in an analysis of possible hazardous contaminants found in the dust in your home, then you may be interested in the 360 Dust Analysis Project at IUPUI. The project's main focus is on lead and chromium but will look for a few other contaminants.

This press release explains the details as well as how to participate. It includes a video in which the director of the IUPUI Center for Urban Health Gabriel Filippeli explains.

The researchers will run an analysis on each sample and send back a report that includes suggestions on how to handle any contaminants found in the dust.

IUPUI = Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

An Origami T. Rex

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Earth Science
Paleontology
Art and Environment
Edward Hessler

The Natural History Museum, London provides instructions on how to make an origami Tyrannosaurus rex.

"It even has those famous tiny arms."

There are PDFs for the patterned paper used in the original.

Bear Cam

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Biodiversity
Behavior
Nature
Edward Hessler

I hope you have looked at the Brooks Falls brown bear camera (Katmai National Park, Alaska) this season. There is a short list of facts about the park, the salmon and the bears, e.g., there are about 2000 brown bears in Katmai, 80 to 100 bears in the vicinity of the falls, and on a good day, all 24 hours of it, a bear can catch about 40 salmon (~100 pounds,100,000 calories).

This is the time of the salmon run and the featured fishers are skilled brown bears who use a variety of techniques (and occasionally you will see some humans fishing, too). Young bears practice and also are adept at snarfing up left overs. They also do a fair amount of play wrestling. The site offers several viewing options, including an underwater camera. More than once I have seen the legs and lower body of a paddling bear. The rangers also provide talks about the biology of the bears from time-to-time. These are announced in advance

I've seen a Mama with young charge a male who was way too interested in the cubs and also seen cubs swept over the falls and rescued by their Mother.  They, all three of them, bobbed like corks with one going over the falls backwards. I once watched a sleeping bear who slept for nearly a day.

A couple of weeks ago a male killed one of two cubs (not recorded but heard and witnessed by park visitors. It was near the river cameras). The second cub rushed up a tree as the mother ran off and remained there for about two hours, expressing considerable discomfort throughout, before reuniting with its mother. Cub killing by males has a basis in evolution for it brings the lactating female into breeding condition. If she is impregnated by a male, his genes are forwarded to the next generation.

The death of the cub and the behavior of the mother were the subject of an extensive report on the Brooks Falls blog (very active with many of the commenters who have watched enough to identify individuals) Ranger Mike closed his report by noting,  "Brown bears live in a fierce and competitive world, and spring cubs are the most vulnerable of all bears. Through luck, skill, and the guidance of their mothers, cubs can grow into healthy independent bears. It’s a risky and challenging world though, one in which cubs, their mothers, and the river’s most dominant bears all compete to survive within."

Friday Poem

Environmental & Science Education
Poetry
Art and Environment
Edward Hessler

Today's poem, My Standard Response, is by Karenne Wood.

You may learn more about her as well as link to an interview with her here.

Aging

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Behavior
Biological Evolution
Edward Hessler

Lifespans vary with smaller critters living shorter lives (on average) and bigger critters living longer (on average). NPR's Robert Krulwich did a nice report more than a decade ago on the matter of size and longevity. A technical account published in 2005 may be found here.

Take domesticated cats and dogs. Cats are generally smaller and dogs generally larger but moggies tend to live longer than doggies. So what's up?

This Science (AAAS) video discusses this difference.

How to Measure a Foot

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Mathematics Education
History of Science
Edward Hessler

The time when it took a village to measure a foot.

Here is a great book by Rolf Myller on another solution to this problem.

And here is an animation of the story by Rolf Myller.

h/t Aeon

Anatomical Knowledge: A Research Project

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Health
Medicine
Literacy
Edward Hessler

What do you know about the location of organs and structures in the human body?

Zooniverse's aim is to undertake the largest project to date to understand the anatomical knowledge of the general public, we have a number of specific questions that we are looking to answer:

• What is the extent of anatomical knowledge of the global population?
• Are there any observable differences between the ages and gender of the respondents?
• Will individuals that work in a health care facility/profession perform well?
• Will individuals that recently (within a week) went for a consultation with a healthcare professional perform well?
• Is there geographic/regional differences in performances?

If you would like more information and also participate in this study check it out. This is not a quiz but a request for what humans know about their bodies. There are a couple of reports on the site, information about Zooniverse and a FAQ.

The Art of Fighting Climate Change: Miami, Florida

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Climate Change
Sustainability
Edward Hessler

In Miami there is a culture around murals that are found everywhere. 

Linda, an artist in Miami, believes that "climate change requires an injection of empathy and inspiration." So she and other artists make murals, drawings, and augmented-reality piecess to raise awareness of the imminent threat that climate change poses to the habitability of Miami.

This 5 minute video from the New Yorker shows some of the work she and others are doing.

Women in Science and Engineering

Environmental & Science Education
Women in Science
STEM
Society
Culture
Nature of Science
History of Science
Edward Hessler

A few days ago I received my weekly notice on new publications and news from the National Academies Press. At the top of the list was the report Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

It is a large report and not inexpensive ($59) although certainly in line with the cost of books but like all NAP publications it is available as a PDF. It can be read on-line and also downloaded.

Meredith Wadman wrote a summary for Science and notes that "the report describes persistent and damaging 'gender harassment'--behavior that belittles women and makes them feel they don't belong, including sexist jokes and demeaning jokes." Here are two numbers that made my eyes snap to attention: "Between 17% and 50% of female science and medical students reported this kind of harassment in large surveys conducted by two major university systems across 36 campuses."

You will find a link to the full report in Wadman's column.

Friday Poem

Environmental & Science Education
Poetry
Art and Environment
Edward Hessler

Today's poem is by Kenneth Rexroth.

Young Minds at Work

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Early Childhood
Medicine
Health
Edward Hessler

I've watched and listened to the reactions of quite a few young children, infants or toddlers to Elmo and the Italian opera singer/songwriter Andrea Bocelli, singing a rendition of Con te partero (Time to Say Goodbye).  Perhaps you have as well.

Each one is deeply moving and make my heart sing.

All of the clips I've watched quickly become favorites but the one I've viewed most is infant Abriel. There is so much to see and hear as he watches and listens as well as to wonder about. All of the videos make me think that there must be many building blocks in place for infant knowing, feeling and expressiveness.

I'm slow on the uptake and had never heard of the "Still Face Experiment," a classic as it turns out. It was first presented by Edward Tronick at a professional meeting in 1975! What Tronick and colleagues did was have a mother and her infant interact and then have the mother turn away and then turn her face back to the infant but this time her face is non-responsive and expressionless.

The infant is at first sober-sided and confused, trying hard to figure out what is going on but soon attempts in a variety of ways to restore the obviously satisfying interaction with the mother. Ultimately all attempts fail and the infant withdraws emotionally and also physically, turning away from the mother and becoming angry as well as screams loudly in frustration and pain.

This response has been replicated many times to explore differences such as gender, culture, infants who are deaf or have been exposed to drugs, etc. It may be viewed here. Dr. Tronick discusses it here.

Tronick directs the Child Development Unit, University of Massachusetts. Its work includes child development, parenting research and infant-parent therapeutic programs.