tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71264531980117556792024-03-12T23:51:43.682-04:00The BiologianBiology, religion, and even some eLearningAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.comBlogger220125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-42746443740426773032016-01-20T09:27:00.000-05:002016-01-22T07:31:47.067-05:00Adobe Connect Quiz Analyzer Excel - Free to Download<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'd like to share with you an Excel spread sheet that will help you analyze your Adobe Connect quiz reports. There are four worksheet tabs within the document: directions, question report data, answer report data, and a synthesized and processed results page. Feel free to tweak and make it even better. Undoubtedly I will be doing the same. I have included an example that can be deleted out of the document before you use it. Feedback welcomed.<br />
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Direct link for download:<br />
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4a-CcAjSGDScnJhLUhaRTNkLUU/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4a-CcAjSGDScnJhLUhaRTNkLUU/view?usp=sharing</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-26189063045654859792014-04-27T00:35:00.000-04:002014-04-27T00:37:48.319-04:00Religion Is...by Forrest Church<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NyXfM2DYoko/U1yHdGN__oI/AAAAAAAARlY/32uAolo6nRo/s1600/DSC_0152ForrestChurch+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NyXfM2DYoko/U1yHdGN__oI/AAAAAAAARlY/32uAolo6nRo/s1600/DSC_0152ForrestChurch+copy.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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Religion is our human response to the dual reality of being alive and having to die. Knowing we are going to die not only places an acknowledged limit upon our lives, it also gives a special intensity and poignancy to the time we are given to live and love. The fact that death is inevitable gives meaning to our love, for the more we love the more we risk losing. Love’s power comes in part from the courage required to give ourselves to that which is not ours to keep: our spouses, children, parents, dear and cherished friends, even life itself. It also comes from the faith required to sustain that courage, the faith that life, howsoever limited and mysterious, contains within its margins, often at their very edges, a meaning that is deceptive.<br />
— Forrest Church<br />
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Quote contexts:<br />
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http://oruuc.blogspot.com/2010/01/religion-is-our-human-response-to-dual.html<br />
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http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2009/02/27/february-27-2009-forrest-church-interview/860/</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-57286176898331094842013-08-18T21:17:00.002-04:002013-08-18T21:17:50.268-04:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uBoClwIpHtM/UhFx9idBekI/AAAAAAAAJ5w/84c6zPUI8Pk/s1600/photo_adams+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uBoClwIpHtM/UhFx9idBekI/AAAAAAAAJ5w/84c6zPUI8Pk/s320/photo_adams+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
"An unexamined faith is not worth having, for it can be true only by accident." -James Luther Adams</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-68891377409100053842013-07-21T15:41:00.003-04:002013-07-21T15:41:56.985-04:00Why are there two tides a day? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-2aa03388-02bf-60a9-ad5f-b094084b3401"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Think about it. Shouldn't there just be one tide on the side facing the Moon? Counter to what we expect, there is a high tide on the side of Earth facing the Moon -and- a high tide on the opposite side. Why is that? Well, explanations abound and many of them are rife with misconceptions. It's been said that the high tide on the opposite side of the Moon is caused by centrifugal motion since the moon is large enough and close enough that the center of mass between the two off sets the Earth's rotation (think of a binary star system--they really orbit each other). Another common explanation is that the moon pulls the Earth away from the water on the opposite side of the Earth, bunching it up together. </span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">The real explanation, as best I understand, is that almost the entirety of the effect is due to gravity (although, I imagine multiple causes are at play). The diagram illustrates. On the side closest to the moon, there are two main gravities pulling--the Earth pulling towards its center of mass, and the moon pulling towards itself. The net effect is a well of water. On the top and bottom (and right angle sides) of Earth the two gravity effects are the Earth pulling down and the Moon's gravity pulling the water towards the high tide. This effect causes low tide. On the opposite side of Earth from the Moon, the two gravity pulls of Earth and Moon are working in concert to cause the water to slightly bunch up. Add this effect to the fact that low tides exaggerate the appearance of high tides and we now have two high tides a day.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D8-qBh3uNAI/Uew5f9S6M4I/AAAAAAAAJf8/cXG8ffcDGdI/s1600/tide2-500x231.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D8-qBh3uNAI/Uew5f9S6M4I/AAAAAAAAJf8/cXG8ffcDGdI/s320/tide2-500x231.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/scenario/tides.htm</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Please send additional resources. I am open to debate and correction.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-24560559359213682882012-09-02T17:25:00.001-04:002013-07-21T15:27:25.329-04:00Bubbles Don't Float<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HBjWsUkqCC4/UEPOouGgOJI/AAAAAAAABcA/NXMjlEJRJkc/s1600/Untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HBjWsUkqCC4/UEPOouGgOJI/AAAAAAAABcA/NXMjlEJRJkc/s640/Untitled.png" width="640" /></a></div>
And the since a liquid is denser the deeper it gets, there is slightly more molecular pressure on the bottom of a bubble. This difference in pressure pushes the bubble up.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-15915564798727399972012-09-02T17:24:00.003-04:002012-09-02T17:43:14.738-04:00The More You Know, the More You Known You Don't Know<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q4gueHQGhdI/UEPOfOVxuYI/AAAAAAAABb4/Vm30VHByJSQ/s1600/The+More+you+don't+know.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="477" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q4gueHQGhdI/UEPOfOVxuYI/AAAAAAAABb4/Vm30VHByJSQ/s640/The+More+you+don't+know.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-86875794642761232902012-07-01T08:45:00.000-04:002012-07-01T08:48:47.016-04:00Evolution is Just a Theory - Theory vs. Law<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The focus should not be between whether or not evolution is a theory or a law, as in, "I'll take evolution seriously when to goes from a theory to a law." Instead the debate should be between the theory of evolution going from a theory to a disproven theory. The distinction is important and I'd like to briefly outline why.<br /><br />The usage of the word 'theory' in science is quite distinct from our normal, vernacular usage. In science, the term means 'model' or 'explanation' that incorporates a vast body of knowledge.<br /><br />Other 'theories' that demonstrate the usage of the word 'theory' in science: cell theory (that tissue is made up of cells), germ theory (diseases and colds are caused by microscopic bacteria, protists and viruses), atomic theory (matter is composed of atoms), theory of gravity (the force of gravity is the explanation for the orbit of stars, planets, galaxies and objects to the Earth), theory of heliocentrism (the Sun is the center of the solar system).<br /><br />This confusion is the source of some fun internet memes: </span><div style="background-color: transparent;">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N23MUt7Jyy0/T_BFZy17h_I/AAAAAAAABaE/Wq4-xDWyzIY/s1600/gravity-just-a-theory.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="328" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N23MUt7Jyy0/T_BFZy17h_I/AAAAAAAABaE/Wq4-xDWyzIY/s400/gravity-just-a-theory.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><br />A scientific 'law' is not an explanation or model, like a theory, it's a simple statement of this does that. Newton's laws are a go to example--"A body in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force". It offers no explanation like a 'theory' would, only a relationship--this does that. If we were to write that law as a theory we'd have to offer some explanation as to *why* it happened that way--something about mass, inertia, Higgs-Bosons, etc.<br /><br />So in conclusion, the Theory of Evolution could *never* become a law because it could never stop being an explanation as to why biology looks the way it does today. That said, it could become something else--a disproven theory. All it would take for the theory of evolution to be disproven is one fossil, one organism, one anatomical structure, one DNA sequence, one piece of evidence that could definitely disprove common ancestry of life. It shouldn't be shocking that the Theory of Evolution has never become a law, but it should be unbelievably shocking that the theory has never been disproven. The Theory of Evolution has been under constant fire from day one 150 years ago and it has never once shown a sign of weakening. It has only gotten stronger as more evidence has been produced. <br /></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-83657778458596542752012-06-24T09:37:00.001-04:002012-06-24T22:31:01.799-04:00Questions to Ask Yourself When Making Difficult Decisions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Below are a list of questions that I have found helpful when making difficult decisions. The contrast in my mind is between this, what I believe to be, helpful list and that of the unhelpful but more common list of questions that we ask our selves such as: "What will make me the happiest?", "What's the right thing to do?", "What does God want me to do?". Here's my list of helpful questions to ask yourself when making a tough decision:<br />
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What choice will I regret more not doing?</h3>
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Over the years, this question has been the most helpful. The source of its power is that it accomplishes several things. First, it gets you out the moment and into a hypothetical future scenario where you're looking back at your life from a much more objective position than you are in the present, decision-tense moment. Secondly, it attunes you to your conscience and in a way that is much more in line with how our brain actually works. Studies have shown that people regret losses and not doing things far more than they regret mistake decisions or things they've done. In a clinical setting you can set up scenarios where you give people ten bucks or you can give them forty and then take away twenty. Which do you think people would be more grateful for? A small gain or a big gain accompanied by a loss? People hate loss. We hate missed opportunities, almost successes, relationships that could have been, jobs that nearly were ours. </div>
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I read an article once written by a hospice worker that stated that when death bed patients look back on their lives they hardly ever regret things that they've done at the end of their life. They regret the things left undone. They regret not loving their family more, not smelling the roses, not taking risks, not going out on a limb, not trying new things, not giving more. So, the next time you're making a tough decision, what choice will you regret more not doing? A day may come when you're thankful you answered that question.<br />
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What choice is more adventuresome?</h3>
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Life's an adventure. Your either living an exciting adventure or a boring adventure. Get off the damn couch.<br />
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What makes me feel most alive?</h3>
Howard Thurman once said, <br />
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“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”<br />
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What will I be most proud of doing?</h3>
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I'm a firm believer that there is good pride (and certainly bad, too). Good pride says, "I deserve better than to compromise. I'm worth more than that." Good pride isn't about comparing yourself with other people. It's about comparing yourself with 'sin' and saying that you deserve better.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold;">What fits with the narrative/story I want to write with my life?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">This question, as the first did, gets you to take a healthy future reverse perspective, but it also gets you to think from an other's perspective. If a hypothetical other were to read/watch my life, would it make a good story? What would they think of my character? Did I live according to my values? Did I try and try and try and try? Did I love well? Think backwards, think outside of yourself.</span></div>
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What is the most fulfilling? </h3>
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First off, I love the world 'fulfilling'. I love its imagery--fill so full that your life is brimming over and spilling its abundance and wealth. And I love how much better it is at capturing that than other synonyms--it's such a better word than happy (sounds like a painted on smile for a photograph) or joy (a little to saccharin for me). Fulfillment is about feeling good way, way, way, way deeper than superficial happiness can ever reach. It's about living according your conscience. It's about making a difference. It's about giving and loving well. Fulfillment sleeps easy at night.</div>
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In my mind it's entirely possible to live a fulfilling life and not be happy. I think of a single parent I know. She works a ridiculous amount of hours at minimum wage; takes care of two kids and an ailing elderly mother; and pours her heart out for students at a church I used to go to. I can tell by the way she loves people, talks about her job and the way she worships her God that she finds fulfillment in what she does even though her life is often very painful and difficult. Life is tough, happiness is distant, but she is living life damn well and it's because she's living for fulfillment.</div>
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What will bring the most balance to my life? </h3>
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It's all about balance. Between work, social, romance, pastimes, being tough, being soft, working, resting, breathing in, breathing out. Answer this question and you'll be living rightly.</div>
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To which side do I err?</h3>
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Instead of thinking in terms of actions (Do I do this, or do that?), think in terms of values (Which is more important?). Recent examples in my life: Question: Should I go out with friends or study more? To which direction should I err? Answer: err on the side of relationships. Question: Should I donate to this organization even though my budget is tight? Which choice is better to err on the side of caution with? Answer: err on the side of generosity and helping others.Question: Should I reach out to this estranged friend or not? Answer: err on the side of building potential relationships. Values clarify and this question can help suss them out.<br />
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I recently realized that I should do a blog on this when it struck me how often I revisit this list of questions I had put together on a Google doc. I hope they help you as much as they have helped me. Best of luck with your next difficult decision. :)<br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-74295729436761553282012-05-27T09:29:00.000-04:002012-05-27T18:53:47.186-04:00Limiting Factors - Can There Be More Than One?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Limiting factor: a resource or component that constrains a population's size.<br />
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Examples: food, water, nesting sites, predators, parasites, reproduction rates, finite chemicals (iron, phosphorous, nitrogen, potassium, etc.)<br />
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Considering all those examples, doesn't it seem like there's more than one limiting factor at a time? Don't they all affect the population at once?<br />
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Can there be more than one limiting factor at a time? <br />
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The answer, counter-intuitively, is no. Liebig's Law of the Minimum states that there can only be one limiting factor and uses an analogy of a barrel:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VGfDeXbAX94/T8IkYhgsS5I/AAAAAAAABZI/0RZrjdSNEB0/s1600/220px-Minimum-Tonne.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VGfDeXbAX94/T8IkYhgsS5I/AAAAAAAABZI/0RZrjdSNEB0/s320/220px-Minimum-Tonne.svg.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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The lowest slat prevents the water (which represents the population) from increasing any higher. If that resource were to become much more abundant then the population could rise again to create a new limiting factor. </div>
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Video illustrating this: <object height="360" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hxPeGrl_0-4?version=3&hl=en_US">
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I hear you objecting: Yes, but aren't all those factors acting at once on the organism's population? Say, aren't predators and limited food both keeping the population low? Both are acting on the organism's population, but the strongest force is the one keeping the population at the suppressed rate that it currently is. If you were to change that one most limiting factor the population would rise. Change anything else and it would stay stationary (in theory).</div>
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The below illustration is something I played with to also add time into the equation showing how that limiting factors can change and how there are secondary effects of either too much or too little of a factor. For example, too little sunlight and a plant can't photosynthesize well, too much and the plant becomes scorched; too little water and the plant desiccates, too much and it drowns. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YglS1u73Vn4/T8IohKXtwXI/AAAAAAAABZU/Z4i2zV3DjOM/s1600/Limiting+Factor.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YglS1u73Vn4/T8IohKXtwXI/AAAAAAAABZU/Z4i2zV3DjOM/s640/Limiting+Factor.png" width="585" /></a></div>
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To use a plant as the example again (because their needs are simple), an understory plant's population is limited by a lack of sunlight. Say a tree dies, falls over and opens up the canopy. The aforementioned plant's population will now rise to a new level. That level will soon be constrained by a new factor, such as limited water. If rain came, then the population would be constrained by limited space or a chemical necessary for photosynethesis such as nitrogen. The assumption is that a species will always produce more offspring than survive and that it is in a constant battle of increasing its population and then having it constrained.</div>
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There are some scientists that would like to play around with introducing iron into strategic locations in the ocean to boost marine productivity (since it's a limiting factor for phytoplankton) and possibly offset global warming by absorbing an abundance of CO2. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_fertilization" target="_blank">More here.</a> </div>
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This idea of the weakest link breaks the chain also has been used in many other systems scenarios, such as management, economics, health, government, et cetera.</div>
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Pix and vid:</div>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebig%27s_Law">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebig%27s_Law</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxPeGrl_0-4">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxPeGrl_0-4</a>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-805767142531587592012-05-20T09:09:00.001-04:002012-05-20T09:12:12.189-04:00Why Women are Chimeras and Sex Determination<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Genetically speaking, what makes a male a male and a female a female? There is no uniform answer in nature:<br />
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Mammals (and some insects), as you well know, use a XX and XY system. Essentially, if you have a Y chromosome you become a male...right?...<br />
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Reptiles/amphibians/some insects, on the other hand, use a system where if you have a different chromosome than the 'normal' you become a female. In the lingo, you're male if you have WW chromosome and you're female if you have ZW. *Note, the letter has zip to do with the shape. I was told growing up that the mammal Y chromosome gets its name from the fact that it was shaped like a Y. Not true. It's a tiny 'x' and behaves the same as every other chromsome does, by crossing over during meiosis. The 'x' terminology began because in early genetics they needed to give it a name and 'x' sounds cool. ha<br />
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Some other insects have no sex chromosome, but instead the lack of an 'X' determines the sex. They're either X or XX. <br />
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Plants, fungi, protozoans and inverts don't even use sex chromosomes altogether.<br />
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Exceptions within humans:<br />
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47 XXX - female</div>
48 XXXX - female<br />
47 XYY -- so called supermales <br />
48 XXXY - Extreme Klinefelters males (a male with partial female development, like breasts, etc.)<br />
48 XXYY - Extreme Klinefelters males<br />
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Then there's even more exceptions! You can have XX males and XY females! How's that? Well, I kind of lied earlier when I said that it was the Y chromosome that make a male. It's actually a few genes on the Y and those genes can get mutated or moved over to the X chromosome. The most important controls testes development. As embryos we're all females. Then, if you have the right genes, the sex gonads get told to turn into testes. If you don't have that gene, then you develop as a female.</div>
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It gets even more awesome!</div>
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So, how do mammals deal with the problem of females having too many X chromosomes? If they displayed both of the chromosomes there could be some pretty dangerous developmental differences between males and females. Well, they turn one off! In fact, they don't just turn it off, they glom it into a blob on the side of the nucleus wrapped up in RNA and proteins in tombed so that it doesn't express. What makes this awesome is that which X is randomly chosen. It could be the one from the father or it could be the one from the mother. </div>
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Translation: female mammals are mosaics! Some of their cells use one X chromosome and some cells use the other! Mammal males are roughly all the same genetically across their cells, but females aren't! Their cells use different DNA! In fact, you can have whole patches that use one X and other patches using the other. This is called mosaicism, for obvious reasons. In kitty cats this produces some fun fur patterns that are -only- in the females. Basically, the dad had one color X and the mother another X and the baby displays both at once, but in different patches! (Why patches? Why not a blend of different cells?...Dunno.)</div>
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Barr Body in nucleus: </div>
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Mosaicism in kitties:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vMVEdl_YQpo/T7jm94kBKrI/AAAAAAAABYQ/YtnXKdEdbps/s1600/oddie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vMVEdl_YQpo/T7jm94kBKrI/AAAAAAAABYQ/YtnXKdEdbps/s320/oddie.jpg" width="209" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This one could have happened other ways, but most likely was due to mosaicism. One hint could come from if this cat is female.</td></tr>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YdoyEBq4Lsk/T7jm-SvIWxI/AAAAAAAABYY/4RJDMlzVvkA/s1600/tortoiseshell-cat-photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YdoyEBq4Lsk/T7jm-SvIWxI/AAAAAAAABYY/4RJDMlzVvkA/s320/tortoiseshell-cat-photo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Humans still have this. For us the patches don't usually manifest as a calico/tortoiseshell appearance, but instead can have effects like ectodermal displaysia, which is the patching of working and nonfunctional sweat glands: </div>
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There are other kinds of mosaicism, like that of so called chimeras, which are the result of fraternal embryos fusing together. What makes this particularly wild is that this has been an issue with welfare genetic testing and for organ transplants. One <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=2315693&page=1#.T7jpPOvOw_g" target="_blank">mother</a> was accused of being a surrogate mother for someone and committing welfare fraud when a DNA test showed her as not being the mother of her kids (another <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa013452?query=TOC&" target="_blank">article</a>). Another instance showed that a kidney transplant couldn't go through since the relatives weren't close enough genetically.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H54NxsGAFlk/T7jsAs2OuhI/AAAAAAAABYs/4cHlLJSD57U/s1600/blaschkos_lines.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H54NxsGAFlk/T7jsAs2OuhI/AAAAAAAABYs/4cHlLJSD57U/s1600/blaschkos_lines.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chimerism</td></tr>
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Pix:</div>
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<a href="http://www.mooseyscountrygarden.com/garden-journal-03/garden-journal-2003-late-june.html">http://www.mooseyscountrygarden.com/garden-journal-03/garden-journal-2003-late-june.html</a>
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<a href="http://myitchyfingers.wordpress.com/2011/08/22/odd-encounter/">http://myitchyfingers.wordpress.com/2011/08/22/odd-encounter/</a>
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<a href="http://americantransman.com/2010/08/09/part-4-male-gender-identity-in-an-individual-with-complete-androgen-insensitivity-syndrome/">http://americantransman.com/2010/08/09/part-4-male-gender-identity-in-an-individual-with-complete-androgen-insensitivity-syndrome/</a>
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<a href="http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask443">http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask443</a>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-59358009604904078752012-05-05T13:39:00.000-04:002012-05-06T08:08:23.600-04:00What Makes Something Sticky?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Bare bones answer: electrons being attracted to protons.<br />
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Molecules are collections of atoms. Within that molecule the distribution of protons (positively charged) and electrons (negatively charge) is not even. Often, but not always, there are more negative charges on one side and more positive on another. The negative side wants to stick to another positive sided molecule and vice versa. Broadly speaking these are called <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_der_Waals_force">van der Waals forces</a> </i>or <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermolecular_force">intermolecular forces</a> </i> if the attraction does not share electrons (well, for the most part...). <br />
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Chemists and physicists further break those broad categories into dipole-dipole forces (between molecules of differing charge distribution), hydrogen bonding (also a dipole molecule, but with a higher contrast between positive/negative), and ionic interactions (between ions), London dispersion forces (temporary redistribution of electrons resulting in charge asymmetry) and others shown below.<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HWmzat5vgbo/T6VXQtug_oI/AAAAAAAABWg/5xEBV7iRgOs/s1600/interaction.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HWmzat5vgbo/T6VXQtug_oI/AAAAAAAABWg/5xEBV7iRgOs/s640/interaction.gif" width="640" /></a><br />
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You can see these forces in action with tape. Stick some tape on a substance and then pull it up and some of whatever it was stuck to will invisibly now be on the tape in the form of stolen electrons (this shows there was at least some electron sharing, but not to the level of covalent or ionic bonds).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7aFOj36_6NU/T6VjLq8YIhI/AAAAAAAABWs/vhV_mtLWdbw/s1600/220px-Static_repulsion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7aFOj36_6NU/T6VjLq8YIhI/AAAAAAAABWs/vhV_mtLWdbw/s1600/220px-Static_repulsion.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These two pieces were stuck together so that they now have the same charge and therefore repel each other</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-74KsXnszV2Y/T6VjMco2PyI/AAAAAAAABW0/4l2PLx7LLDY/s1600/800px-Static_attraction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="144" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-74KsXnszV2Y/T6VjMco2PyI/AAAAAAAABW0/4l2PLx7LLDY/s320/800px-Static_attraction.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One piece was stuck to something and then removed taking some electrons with it. It's attracting to the tape that wasn't stuck to anything and because of that didn't pick up any extra electrons and therefore has more of a positive charge.</td></tr>
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<span id="internal-source-marker_0.3668081224896014" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cool animation of all this: </span><a href="http://web.mst.edu/~gbert/INTERACT/intermolecular.HTM" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://web.mst.edu/~gbert/INTERACT/intermolecular.HTM</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pic from: </span><a href="http://www.science.uwaterloo.ca/~cchieh/cact/applychem/hydration.html" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.science.uwaterloo.ca/~cchieh/cact/applychem/hydration.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pic from: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Static_electricity" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Static_electricity</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*</span><a href="http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/sticky-chemistry-intermolecular-forces.html" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/sticky-chemistry-intermolecular-forces.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><a href="http://www.ccmr.cornell.edu/education/ask/index.html?quid=1118" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.ccmr.cornell.edu/education/ask/index.html?quid=1118</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12507754" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12507754</span></a></span>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-90816491025559297602012-04-28T10:52:00.000-04:002013-07-21T15:30:06.670-04:00How the Freak Does Dry Cleaning Work?!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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You've been lied to this whole time. <br />
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Dry cleaning is not really dry at all. <br />
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It just isn't water wet. In the 1855s Jean Baptiste Jolly, an industrial dyer, noticed that his table cloth became cleaner after his made spilled a kerosene lamp on it. The use of petroleum based cleaners continued until enough cleaning facilities had exploded that after WWI cholorine based cleaners were being used. By the mid-1930s, perchloroethylene, commonly called "perc," became the standard solvent. It had the advantage of not occasionally erupting into deadly and costly fires. The down side was that it was the first substance to be classified as a carcinogen by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. While it is still in use, other methods have growing popularity.<br />
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Some of the cooler new methods (but not the only, at all):<br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Liquid carbon dioxide--it doesn't explode and isn't going to give you cancer. However, it may heat up the atmosphere a little...The machines are 90k more than conventional ones because of the high pressure they need to keep the gas out so that it doesn't turn into a gas.</li>
<li>Liquid silicone (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane">decamethylcyclopentasiloxane</a>) - twice as expensive as the traditional perc, but it breaks down into silica, water and carbon dioxide.</li>
<li>More:
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_cleaning#Solvents_used">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_cleaning#Solvents_used</a></li>
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Many dry cleaning machines use huge quantities of solvents--as much as 200 gallons. Since the washing machines also function as dryers they reclaim, re-condense, filter and recycle as much as 99.99% of the solvent.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-53733866360692393182012-04-22T17:42:00.001-04:002012-04-22T17:43:16.854-04:00The Meaning of Life Personality Test and Video<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.7447609170340002" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Below is a test I made to determine what you think the meaning of life is. See <a href="http://thesymbiont.blogspot.com/2011/03/copurposes-weaving-relationships-with.html">more here.</a></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Five Meanings of Life Questionnaire</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rate yourself for each. ‘1’ is strongly disagree, ‘3’ is neutral and ‘5’ is strongly agree.</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Causes</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• I often donate time, money and talents to organizations that I believe in. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• I spend a lot of time thinking about how I can help change the world for the better. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• My biggest heroes are people that tried to change the world. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• My deepest sense of identity comes from the activities I participate in to help improve </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">humanity and the planet. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Life is about serving a cause greater than myself. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Experiences</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• I spend a lot of time planning and pursuing new experiences, adventures, interesting </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">vacations/weekends, the next thrill. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• I consider myself a connoisseur of certain items.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• It’s important that I surround myself with beauty and the finer things. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• I focus a lot of my time on hobbies. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• You only live once, experience as much as you can while you can. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Challenges</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• I spend a lot of time thinking about how I’ll accomplish the goals that are important to me.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• I can easily look back on my life and name important accomplishments I’ve reached. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• My biggest heroes are those that succeeded in achieving difficult personal objectives. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• A large portion of my identity centers around significant achievements I’ve accomplished. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Life is about reaching meaningful goals. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Personal Growth</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• I spend a lot of time thinking about how to improve myself and/or how I can model my life </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">off of exemplars. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• I often read about how to grow as a person or in a certain field. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• I care very deeply about how I’ve improved personally. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• I regularly engage in personal growth activities like prayer, meditation, exercise, reading to </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">learn, developing better habits, self- and other-directed education. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Life is all about becoming the best person you can. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Relationships</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• I spend a lot of time connecting with family and friends in person, via phone, Facebook, and email.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• I plan activities/vacations around other people.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• My deepest sense of identity is from the relationships I’m connected to. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• I experience a strong sense of loneliness when separated from others for extended periods of time. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">• Life is all about meaningful relationships. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Total for Causes: ______. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Total for Experiences: ______. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Total for Achievements:______. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Total for Personal Growth:______. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Total for Relationships: ______.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Note your dominant and next most dominant ways to find meaning. What thoughts come to mind?</span> <br />
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is a video I edited compiling people describing how they add meaning to their life through the above five methods.</span></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><object height="480" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Tt055u66ZVY?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Tt055u66ZVY?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="480" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></span></span></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-72125236871788773742012-04-22T17:35:00.004-04:002013-09-23T17:22:10.874-04:00How Do Magnets Work?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Update: This video explanation is wonderful: http://youtu.be/1TKSfAkWWN0<br />
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You're probably within 10 feet of a half dozen magnets--speakers, fans, hard drives, etc. They're everywhere, but how do they work? You've probably gotten supperficial answers before, but if we keep pushing the question a step further and a layer deeper what can we find out? Well, I wasn't satisfied with the answers I had gotten and set out to find some answers on how magnets <i>really </i>work.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QmGPJ2_yk6s/T5RtoB0kbUI/AAAAAAAABUY/eSCU5GXTRC0/s1600/220px-Magnet0873.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QmGPJ2_yk6s/T5RtoB0kbUI/AAAAAAAABUY/eSCU5GXTRC0/s1600/220px-Magnet0873.png" /></a></div>
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A piece of metal is a magnet because the atoms within the magnet are also tiny dipole magnets and their charges, since they point in the same direction, add their forces together. (This is the lame non-answer answer that we're usually force fed. Bump that. I want to really get it!)<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DiFUGH231A4/T5RumIeCW5I/AAAAAAAABUg/KSCwpY-QJBs/s1600/FerromagneticState.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DiFUGH231A4/T5RumIeCW5I/AAAAAAAABUg/KSCwpY-QJBs/s320/FerromagneticState.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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Well, why are atoms dipole magnets? Why wouldn't their charge be emitted equally in every direction? Because the electrons have a constant spin orientation. You see, electrons come in two types--up spin and down spin. As far as my understanding extends, this really is the kind of spin that we think about, like a globe spinning on its axis, but in completely alien ways--electrons are point particles that have no three dimensional structure. Weirder yet, they always spin at the same exact speed, even though they can change spin direction. <i>(Edit: I no longer am confident that magnetism is caused by the spin of electrons. It may be due to the spin of protons or an interaction between the two or something else entirely. I am not a physicist, only a curious biologist. I welcome you insight, input, and points in the right direction.)</i><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fdZ7aZMIImQ/T5RwFYthXGI/AAAAAAAABUo/BMoCoKUD2uU/s1600/Electron-Spin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fdZ7aZMIImQ/T5RwFYthXGI/AAAAAAAABUo/BMoCoKUD2uU/s320/Electron-Spin.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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So, how magnetism works is there are electrons spinning in a certain stationary direction all the while buzzing around the nucleus of the atom. So...why aren't all elements magnetic? Couple reasons. <br />
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First, not all atoms have a balanced ratio of up and down spin electrons. It turns (o, pun!) out that up spin electrons like down spin electrons (or, they don't repel like those with a similar charge do). Another seemingly arbitrary rule that physics follows is that up spin electrons move in to open orbitals within electrons subshells up spin first (it has to do with being a lower energy state). Down spin electrons get pushed to the back of the line for entrance to the electron cloud ride. It's these imbalances that create a situation that can cause a directionality to the magnetic field of the atom.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qRfSz4fhi8g/T5Rwy23ZlHI/AAAAAAAABUw/XE70z5Bc7-4/s1600/aufbauexample.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qRfSz4fhi8g/T5Rwy23ZlHI/AAAAAAAABUw/XE70z5Bc7-4/s320/aufbauexample.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We still have a problem. A very large, glaring one. There are plenty of elements that have more up spin than down spin electrons--so called paramagnetic because they are attracted to a magnetic field (their up spins want other down spins). Ferromagnetism, or the magnetism that we think of, only happens in a pitifully few amount of elements (and depends on what temp you're at)--typically we only really think of iron (hence the 'ferro' prefix), nickel and cobalt. There are others like gadolinium and dysprosium, et al, but we typically just think of three as magnetic. Think of it...just three elements out of roughly one hundred and twenty. Wth?<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x3vzhYRbNOU/T5R2QzCas7I/AAAAAAAABVA/5bp9EOb4lTU/s1600/FigureE.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x3vzhYRbNOU/T5R2QzCas7I/AAAAAAAABVA/5bp9EOb4lTU/s400/FigureE.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
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I must plead your help in finding more answers than this. I've reached the limit of my knowledge and time constraint to further research why magnetic substances can have their individual magnetic fields align when you place a magnet next to them or run a charge through them while heated. Could it have to do with a crystalline lattice structure of the atoms? Could it have to do with the way that the metallic atoms share outer valence electrons? Do they maintain their spin orientation while moving across atoms? Could it have to do with an additive effect that the various layers of shells have that work together within a Goldielocks window (Iron, cobalt and nickel all have roughly half filled d orbitals within the first row of d orbitals and the other magnetic metals have roughly half filled f orbitals within the first row of f orbitals...Coincidence? Not likely.)? My reading seems to suggest that it is stability of the way the molecules orient in a crystalline structure...And that has to do with the odd and quirky shape of orbitals, which is a whole other blog! (More like 10 blogs!)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YdGs9W8Mn8o/T5xzx6-dRSI/AAAAAAAABVs/V3KYbZdl-GY/s1600/Neodymium_Crystal_Structure_Nd2Fe14B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="159" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YdGs9W8Mn8o/T5xzx6-dRSI/AAAAAAAABVs/V3KYbZdl-GY/s320/Neodymium_Crystal_Structure_Nd2Fe14B.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm pretty sure that the red is the iron, the neodymium is blue and boron is green. Together they make the world's strongest permanent magnet.</td></tr>
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We're also still left with the problem of why having 'spin' causes this magnetic field to start on one end and then cycle around to the opposite side of the electron...I have no answers there. We've reached the frontier of knowledge.<br />
<br />
Electrons aren't the only thing with spin. Nucleuses have spin and MRI machines use the interactions of these spins to make an image. Photons do, too. That's what polarization is all about--a particular orientation of photon spin...So much to learn in this field!!<br />
<br />
<br />
Curie Point demonstration below. This is the temperature when the atoms become so hot that their bouncing around negates all magnetic domain orientation.<br />
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Pix cred:<br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.9162736020516604" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a href="http://www.tcm.phy.cam.ac.uk/~gjc29/research.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.tcm.phy.cam.ac.uk/~gjc29/research.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a href="http://www.magiccalc.net/scienceandmysteries/index.htm"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.magiccalc.net/scienceandmysteries/index.htm</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a href="http://chemistry.about.com/od/electronicstructure/ss/aufbau_3.htm"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://chemistry.about.com/od/electronicstructure/ss/aufbau_3.htm</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570002X08002085">http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570002X08002085</a></span></b> <br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Neodymium_Crystal_Structure_Nd2Fe14B.jpg">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Neodymium_Crystal_Structure_Nd2Fe14B.jpg</a>
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<b style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</b><br />
<b style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">More:</b><br />
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</b><br />
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.9162736020516604" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stern_gerlach" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stern_gerlach</span></a></span><br />
<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stern_gerlach" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_magnetic_dipole_moment" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_magnetic_dipole_moment</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><a href="http://www.doitpoms.ac.uk/tlplib/ferromagnetic/printall.php" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.doitpoms.ac.uk/tlplib/ferromagnetic/printall.php</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><a href="http://www.nature.com/milestones/milespin/index.html" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.nature.com/milestones/milespin/index.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiferromagnetism" style="font-weight: bold;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiferromagnetism</a></span> <br />
<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">http://youtu.be/E97CYWlALEs </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-3082545258106685622012-04-07T23:35:00.003-04:002013-09-02T09:36:43.419-04:00School Update - Back to Bio<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'm back to bio and I couldn't be more thrilled. It's been quite an adventure and there have been many times that I've considered changing the subheading of my blog because I haven't been in school for a bit. Now I don't have to. Let me fill you in on some details in brief.<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Fall 2008 I dropped out of seminary with no intention of returning. Life felt very dark and like I was drifting in an unknown ocean far from land. What was I going to do with my life? I had no idea.</li>
<li>Fall 2009 I joined the Peace Corps and got a commission to teach English in a Central Asian country (Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kurdistan, etc.). After research and soul searching I declined the offer. This was my experimental, feeling trapped phase where I just wanted to run away from people's disappointment and judgement for dropping out of seminary and changing my beliefs. Still working at the Christian ministry, Ligonier Ministries, that I'd worked out for 6 years, but feeling chokingly claustrophobic. (There were great times, though. And wonderful, wonderful coworkers. Sincerely some of the best people I know, but doctrinally very condemning of my beliefs.)</li>
<li>Fall 2010 I moved to Tallahassee, FL to take courses at FSU and the local community college TCC. Found out there were rules that prevented me from taking courses at both institutions at once. So, I took the maximum amount of courses I could at TCC on federal loans since my parents refused to cosign on a private loan.</li>
<li>Mid-Fall 2010 - My savings were drained and I attempt to transfer the federal loans to my bank account online. Was unable. Called the school and they said, "Let me pull up your account...O...I see...How about you come to campus to discuss this." So, I did. I talked to a low level adviser, then his boss, then her boss. Finally I was told that I should wait to get a phone call from one of the VPs. I was enrolled at the school, but the courses I was taking didn't fit within a degree at the school and couldn't count as electives for me since I had a bachelors already. I spoke the VP on the phone and he said that there was nothing that they could do and that the federal loans would not be able to go through. I had just moved to a town that I knew no one in, had no job, no money and no loans. I literally started crying on the phone with the VP. I don't think I've ever done anything like that before. I was scared. He felt so bad that, and since they were somewhat culpable for helping me get into the situation (although, I should have known better, but I've never done any of this before and had no clue what I was doing.) that they offered to refund my money. I took the offer. I had to. So, more than half way through the semester with all 'A's I dropped out. The next day I showed up at TCC with a resume in hand and asked, "Is there anything else we can work out?" Waiting to hear back on the job I remember staying in bed for several days. I was crushed. Turns out, however, that it pays to cry since I ended up getting a job working in their advising department functioning as a secretary. It ended up being one of the best jobs I've ever had. The people were so gracious and a joy to be around. I still keep up with some of them (I'm dog sitting for one of them in 2 weeks).</li>
<li>Spring 2011 - I couldn't afford any courses, so I tried for the next best thing--jobs in bio. Picked up a lab tech job at TCC because I knew the lab manager through the Unitarian church in town. I picked up two marine education jobs at FSU working with local elementary and middle schools either bringing touch tanks to the school or taking students out on boats at the FSU marine lab. I applied to UCF's science education master's program. Got accepted, but got zero financial aid since I applied past the deadlines. Decided I would apply again and meet the deadlines.</li>
<li>Summer 2011 - Got a job as a teacher's aide at a local science center's summer camps (Challenger Learning Center). Later worked my way up to being a teacher there.</li>
<li>Fall 2011 - I finally had enough money to pay for one course--chemistry. I started taking that and working as a teacher's aide in a science classroom at a school for kids with emotional and behavioral conditions. I also reapplied to UCF's sci ed master's program. I would have applied at FSU, but due to budget cuts their master's program was open only to internal students doing a double bachelor's/master's degree simultaneously. The program director said they couldn't make any exception for me.</li>
<li>Spring 2012 - Got accepted to UCF's sci ed program. Didn't want to go. In desperation I emailed the -new- director of FSU's sci ed program at the beginning of March. They said to come in to discuss the program. I did. I got accepted pretty much right then. Two weeks later they hear of an opening in a related department - The Center for Advanced Learning and Assessment - for an assistantship that would completely cover the cost of my tuition and give me a salary that would exceed anything I've ever made in a year. So, I spend hours and hours working on my resume all the while inundated in lesson plans for teaching at the Challenger Learning Center spring break camps. I send in my resume on Sunday night and get an email back Monday morning asking to set up an interview. They say they'll call me to nail down an interview time. I get a phone call the next day at the time they said they'd call. Unexpectedly, I pick up the phone at the time they set and it was a friend from swing dance, which I do weekly. I was taken aback to hear from him and, honestly, a little disappointed to be tying up the phone with social stuff when I had a phone call that I was so nervous about waiting. Anyway, he wasn't calling as a friend--he was calling as someone that was going to be interviewing me for the position!! I had an 'in'! </li>
<li>April 4th, 2012 - I got the full ride assistantship! I'll be studying what I came here to study--biology--for FREE and I'll be getting paid to do it! I'm pinching myself to believe this! I came willing to get into a small fortune of debt to pursue a career in biology, I was completely road blocked from doing it and now I get it handed to me completely free and with a handsomely paying job! I still can't believe it!</li>
<li>Summary of how I think I've gotten this far: I've been dogged about getting recommendations on LinkedIn for years, being involved in a church got me several tiny science jobs by knowing the right people, writing this silly blog shows that I can communicate and that I care deeply about science, keeping a ridiculous amount of Google doc entries of random ideas, living by a to-do list, texting to myself ideas/to-dos so I don't forget them, running a few marathons--gives me energy and respect points in an interview, being open about dropping from ministry--people want to help me make the career transition that I'm in (at first I was embarrassed as heck, but I think it's actually helped me), and knowing the right people (which means I need to know a lot of people--going to church and other social events, like swing dance).</li>
</ul>
<div>
Addendum</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Then I got the AFCEA scholarship which will help me pay for school when I'm doing my full time internship.</li>
<li>I also had my degree requirements change the first week of classes such that I could graduate a semester early and the only reason that worked out is because I HAD LEFT 1 RANDOM CLASS ON MY SCHEDULE THAT I DIDN'T NEED. No reason. Just had it on there. It was totally full with a waiting list but I had it. And now I get to graduate a semester early because of it. :)</li>
</ul>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-82207367299369367922012-03-25T18:08:00.002-04:002012-03-25T18:11:21.888-04:00Mystery Sermonette<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Sermonette delivered to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tallahassee on 3/25/12.<br />
<br />
If there's one thing that we UUs ought to do this morning to fulfill our compulsory stereotypical quota, it's find the commonalities among all religions, right? Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? So, to oblige that duty this morning I'll ask, what's fundamental to every religion? Below all the vast differences, where's the bedrock lie?<br />
<br />
Well, ask 5 Unitarians and you'll get 50 answers, but I'll add one more to the pile. A religion can't make it, can't function, can't hack it without one thing--mystery. Like some kind of perverse addiction, humans desperately seek out mystery. No where is this fascination with mystery more evident than in four fundamental aspects of the human experience: sex, stories, science and religion.<br />
<br />
First off, sex: Cognitive developmental psychology explains that one of the mechanisms that drives the formation of our sexual attractions is an affinity for difference (I’m told this is true for homosexuals as well). We look for differences and are drawn to them. We seek out mystery in romance. We want a tease. As it's said, if you want sizzle, you've gotta leave something to the imagination. Mystery lights up our brains and our romance.<br />
<br />
Stories: Have you ever thought about how weird our fascination with stories is? Why do we spend billions and billions and billions on movies, books and TV? We, "Just gotta know how it ends!" We despise and yet are addicted to cliffhangers. Good writers know this. They know that it's often what you /don't/ say, don’t show that is more important than what you do say--the monster you never see the face of, the whodunit, the love that may or may not find consummation. We're desperate to solve a mystery.<br />
<br />
Science: Some of science is solving practical problems so that we can fix everyday life problems, but a huge portion of science has been and always will be just for the sake of knowing, because we're curious--mysteries of consciousness and how the brain works, the uttermost stretches of outer space, the existence of extraterrestrial life, the inner workings of the quantum realm, the pageantry of our planet's evolutionary history. Each unanswered question draws a deep part of ourselves that doesn't just want to know, but wants to find out; to search and not just to obtain.<br />
<br />
Religion's no different: German theologian Rudolph Otto gave us the term 'mysterium tremendum' to describe the sense of 'holy' or 'god', a 'tremendous and terrible mystery' that we desperately seek out in life to worship. Our religious preoccupation with the mysterious abounds in the form or paradoxes and secret knowledge in religion--the nature of the Trinity, the path to Enlightenment, the paradox of free will, the duality of spirit and matter, prophecy, secret incantations, hidden codes, the list continues. <br />
<br />
Einstein said it best: <br />
<br />
"The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. He who knows it not and can no longer wonder, no longer feel amazement, is as good as dead, a snuffed-out candle. It was the experience of mystery--even if mixed with fear--that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which are only accessible to our reason in their most elementary forms--it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute the truly religious attitude; in this alone, I am a deeply religious man---Enough for me the mystery of the eternity of life, and the inkling of the marvelous structure of reality, together with the single-hearted endeavor to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the reason that manifests itself in nature." --Einstein<br />
<br />
Mystery inspires, inflames, enlivens, seduces, captivates, fascinates, terrifies and brings us to tearful awe. Mystery is religion at its deepest core because mystery is the fundamental response of the universe to our most basic questions. As the songwriter Iris Dement put it, <br />
<br />
"Everybody's wonderin' what and where they all came from.<br />
Everybody's worryin' 'bout where they're gonna go when the whole thing's done.<br />
But no one knows for certain and so it's all the same to me.<br />
I think I'll just let the mystery be."</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-7943650315766881252012-02-27T21:17:00.001-05:002012-02-27T23:14:27.269-05:00Unitarian Universalist - What People Think Meme<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My first attempt at a meme:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DzHqdexExJ4/T0w407Gw7DI/AAAAAAAABSo/-eAev9HDXOI/s1600/UUWhatWeDo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="467" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DzHqdexExJ4/T0w407Gw7DI/AAAAAAAABSo/-eAev9HDXOI/s640/UUWhatWeDo.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-18199946968334078192012-02-26T15:34:00.003-05:002012-02-27T07:40:38.721-05:00A Convenient Truth - Another Perspective on Global Warming<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">One of the ways that the global warming prevention advocates lose some credibility among skeptics and conservative young Earth creationists is that they exaggerate, slant, spin or fear monger. A little balance about alternative views and information, in my opinion, builds credibility. Yes, putting 10 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide_in_Earth's_atmosphere">gigatonnes </a>of CO2 in the atmosphere every year is going to affect our climate, but that isn't the full story. Things might not be so awful after all.<br />
<div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Yes, we're warming up, but historically we are on a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age#Major_ice_ages">warming trend</a>. Ice ages are cyclical and have happened every 40-100 thousand years for the last few million years. We're just coming out of one of the worst about 20k years ago and we should expect that things would continue to warm for a while.</li>
<li>Fossil fuels may be putting an unusual amount of CO2 into the atmosphere within a geological blink of an eye, but we aren't the only contributing factor. Of all the CO2 that entered our atmosphere last year, how much do you think was man made from mostly fossil fuels? About 2%. The other 98% comes from natural processes such as the decomposition of organic material. (source: Super <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Super-Freakonomics-Patriotic-Prostitutes-Insurance/dp/0060889578">Freakonomics</a>)</li>
<li>The worst <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPCC_Fourth_Assessment_Report#Temperature_and_sea_level_rise_in_the_various_scenarios">predictions </a>of our future, if we burn every last drop of oil, gas and coal is a global average temperature increase of 6 degrees Celsius. This would cause our sea level to rise about 2 feet. Historically that's not so bad. During the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesozoic">Cretaceous </a>period temperatures were 10 degrees Celsius and deep water temperatures were as much as 20 degrees warmer with sea levels <a href="http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0306-sea_levels.html">550 ft higher</a>.</li>
<li>Prior to industrialization <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide_in_Earth's_atmosphere">CO2 </a>occupied 280 parts per million and now, largely due to our actions have increased that to 380 parts per million. That seems like a lot, and it is, but 80 million years ago the CO2 levels were at a 1,000 parts per million.</li>
<li>Carbon dioxide is not all bad. Plants love the stuff. Wood is made mostly of carbon and that carbon comes from our atmosphere. Studies have shown that if you double the amount of CO2 in a greenhouse you can increase the growth of plant by<a href="http://www.geocrisis.com/Impact%20of%20Geoengineering%20on%20Earth.pdf"> 70%</a>.</li>
<li>What's the strongest greenhouse gas? Before you say methane, which is 20 times more potent than CO2 as a green house gas, the real winner is water vapor. There is an enormous amount of water in our atmosphere and it does a marvelous job of both trapping infrared radiation (the cause of much of the greenhouse warming), but also as a very white, fluffy reflector of solar radiation. How, in the end, an increase in temperature and possibly increased water vapor and cloud cover could affect our future climate remains to be seen. </li>
<li>Trees are darker and therefore absorb more solar radiation than do desert and grasslands (but not necessarily city scapes). Less trees, oddly enough, might make a very minuscule global cooling.</li>
<li>There are ways of defanging the worst case scenarios:</li>
<ul><li>We might be able to bust hurricanes by using wave motion to pump hot surface water down and cold water up. <object height="360" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VdH0-JrUlqY?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VdH0-JrUlqY?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></li>
<li>Agricultural advancements are making famine less and less of a concern (though still important in certain areas).</li>
<li>CO2 scrubbers exist that can absorb the gas from the atmosphere. No, there not cheap, but nevertheless what we're doing is reverse-able. Or, we could just plant a bunch of trees...</li>
<li>The largest fixer of CO2 is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_sink">algae</a>, not trees. Some have considered putting iron fertilizer (a limiting reagent for algae) into the ocean to create blooms that would capture CO2 from our atmosphere and, eventually, sequester it to the bottom of the ocean once they die.</li>
<li>As for ocean levels inundating coastal cities, don't forget that places like the Netherlands are as much as 23 ft below sea level. We just may have to construct more levees. They're not a perfect solution, but flooding isn't the end of the world, that's all.</li>
<li>Sulfur dioxide: It's long been known that there are global cooling events after large volcanic eruptions. One such eruption, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_catastrophe_theory">Mt. Toba,</a> very likely played a pivotal role in our human evolution. Some 70k years ago this super eruption significantly cooled the Earth changing weather patterns so as to cause severe famine and drought in our home, Africa. Based on genetic data it's been hypothesized that the diversity of humanity all came from perhaps as few as 10,000 individuals during this period. Around the same time there was a veritable explosion of human culture. Put the two together and it'd make sense that maybe only the smartest survived this cooling drought--hence us. Anyway, the reason the Earth cooled so much was because of all the ash that soared into the stratosphere, particularly sulfur dioxide. It's kind of like dimming the lights basically since it reflects back into space a considerable amount of solar radiation. And fortunately, other than cooling the atmosphere it doesn't do a whole lot of other negative things. That being the case, there's nothing stopping us from replicating the same event--pump sulfur dioxide into the air and cool the Earth back to a manageable temperature (the book Super Freakonomics says this could be down with helium floating tubes with as little cost as 10 million dollar a year with a 20 million dollar initial infrastructure cost).</li>
</ul></ul><div>However, as it's been said, this isn't our world, we're borrowing it from our children. That being the case, take care of her. We just have one. Reasons to take heed of the global warming warnings:</div></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>What we do might be irreversible.</li>
<li>It might cause a cascade effect--for just one examples: heat up the northern permafrost and we may release a frightening amount of methane. The scales may tip in a huge way.</li>
<li>We just don't know the effects. We're essentially running a massive experiment with the one and only planet we have.</li>
<li>Yes, global temperatures fluctuate cyclically, but never this fast. If we change weather patterns and temperatures, ecological catastrophes are quite likely.</li>
</ul><div>Be wise, be cautious, act long-sightedly, but also be informed. Things might not be so awful after all.</div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-33051791741674441662012-02-19T16:38:00.001-05:002012-02-19T16:40:28.532-05:00The Human Scrapbook<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>I wanted to put into pictures the idea <a href="http://thesymbiont.blogspot.com/2010/04/what-we-really-are.html">birthed here. </a> When we look in the mirror a myriad of generations and strange ancestral creatures peer back, if only we have the eyes to see it. It's fun to think this way! Examples abound and I post it now quite incomplete in hopes that I'll come back to it here and there and continue to amass great examples.<br />
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<b style="font-style: italic; text-decoration: underline;">Teeth - </b> Possibly from small dermal plates<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qMlgic5wjp8/T0FiXV6iMuI/AAAAAAAABQg/OiFSfUbQSRw/s1600/by-the-skin-of-my-teeth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qMlgic5wjp8/T0FiXV6iMuI/AAAAAAAABQg/OiFSfUbQSRw/s320/by-the-skin-of-my-teeth.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5lWMp0awaK0/T0FiYJxTf7I/AAAAAAAABQo/3Nqjjh8w9k8/s1600/denticles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5lWMp0awaK0/T0FiYJxTf7I/AAAAAAAABQo/3Nqjjh8w9k8/s320/denticles.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b style="font-style: italic; text-decoration: underline;">Jaw</b> - You chew with a rib.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2zYxfq28qLs/T0Fj3eMcmqI/AAAAAAAABQw/jMEuK6CDUWg/s1600/34-10-VertebrateJawEvol-L.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="107" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2zYxfq28qLs/T0Fj3eMcmqI/AAAAAAAABQw/jMEuK6CDUWg/s320/34-10-VertebrateJawEvol-L.gif" width="320" /></a> </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LH1mCbZGD1I/T0FkNhsricI/AAAAAAAABQ4/a4Ut0BOWHRU/s1600/MAD-507-Leno-JAW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LH1mCbZGD1I/T0FkNhsricI/AAAAAAAABQ4/a4Ut0BOWHRU/s320/MAD-507-Leno-JAW.jpg" width="260" /></a></div><b style="font-style: italic; text-decoration: underline;">Hair</b> - Well, hair had to come from somewhere. Reckon it was modified scales.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wnvv9cr1kpA/T0FkU9ikGfI/AAAAAAAABRA/NyxKurheiLE/s1600/layers.s600x600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wnvv9cr1kpA/T0FkU9ikGfI/AAAAAAAABRA/NyxKurheiLE/s320/layers.s600x600.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rPmKrapX6pE/T0FkV5xOF4I/AAAAAAAABRI/MBQD807wpbg/s1600/2729064938_b1e01e6753.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="294" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rPmKrapX6pE/T0FkV5xOF4I/AAAAAAAABRI/MBQD807wpbg/s320/2729064938_b1e01e6753.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b style="font-style: italic; text-decoration: underline;">Fingernails</b> - More modified scales.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QN6PldW3oIo/T0Fkb_NV3uI/AAAAAAAABRQ/2crwUNQq2FY/s1600/pb-090903-fingernails-seida.photoblog900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QN6PldW3oIo/T0Fkb_NV3uI/AAAAAAAABRQ/2crwUNQq2FY/s320/pb-090903-fingernails-seida.photoblog900.jpg" width="237" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UghsfV76hok/T0FlFe3BUTI/AAAAAAAABRY/e9N5m1W08ZU/s1600/5100695994_90b0c2aae4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UghsfV76hok/T0FlFe3BUTI/AAAAAAAABRY/e9N5m1W08ZU/s320/5100695994_90b0c2aae4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b style="font-style: italic; text-decoration: underline;">Arms and Legs</b> - It's a different way to look at gymnastics as dancing on fins...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bzzn1twHjS0/T0FmCpDMHNI/AAAAAAAABRg/WgyECOLYoRs/s1600/73.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bzzn1twHjS0/T0FmCpDMHNI/AAAAAAAABRg/WgyECOLYoRs/s320/73.jpg" width="210" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This dude's 73. </td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dO-uL7hCUls/T0FmD4Dr_5I/AAAAAAAABRo/eg2qMU5KuOM/s1600/Australian_Lungfish____ID___diag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="121" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dO-uL7hCUls/T0FmD4Dr_5I/AAAAAAAABRo/eg2qMU5KuOM/s320/Australian_Lungfish____ID___diag.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><u style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Tail</u> - I sit where my ancestors swam.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OBicCH4SbQg/T0Fna9bHAvI/AAAAAAAABRw/0R60KnEcHq8/s1600/coccyx_Diagram.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OBicCH4SbQg/T0Fna9bHAvI/AAAAAAAABRw/0R60KnEcHq8/s320/coccyx_Diagram.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0SmZggOp4go/T0FnctNAvdI/AAAAAAAABR4/4IeNC7BbbVk/s1600/dsc_0037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0SmZggOp4go/T0FnctNAvdI/AAAAAAAABR4/4IeNC7BbbVk/s320/dsc_0037.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b><i><u><br />
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<u style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Ears</u> - It should be a little weird to think that my ancestors breathed through the equivalent of my Eustachian tubes coming from my ears.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BRBHXPSjjYk/T0Foa5ax2MI/AAAAAAAABSA/PgBqRlRsD6M/s1600/ear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BRBHXPSjjYk/T0Foa5ax2MI/AAAAAAAABSA/PgBqRlRsD6M/s320/ear.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3AK5fQspVhU/T0FocqTj48I/AAAAAAAABSI/8_lSL9Uq9ug/s1600/eargillfishcousin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3AK5fQspVhU/T0FocqTj48I/AAAAAAAABSI/8_lSL9Uq9ug/s320/eargillfishcousin.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><u style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Nose</u> - Fish have noses; they just don't go anywhere. Amphibian evolution involved those pits deepening and finally opening to the palate.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1x_XDBU96JM/T0FpscpbF-I/AAAAAAAABSQ/CN1baWG7wgs/s1600/jackonose-wenn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1x_XDBU96JM/T0FpscpbF-I/AAAAAAAABSQ/CN1baWG7wgs/s1600/jackonose-wenn.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VAPwwuzHIQI/T0FpuKVUUQI/AAAAAAAABSY/A-rZ_NhQqvQ/s1600/indonesdiving005-67.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VAPwwuzHIQI/T0FpuKVUUQI/AAAAAAAABSY/A-rZ_NhQqvQ/s320/indonesdiving005-67.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div><b><br />
</b></div><div><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9745337176136672">Pix picked:<br />
<a href="http://kingsenglish.info/2011/04/17/escaped-by-the-skin-of-my-teeth/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://kingsenglish.info/2011/04/17/escaped-by-the-skin-of-my-teeth/</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a href="http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/bellyscales/Interesting"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/bellyscales/Interesting</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a href="http://wildwhales.org/2011/02/offshore-killer-whales-a-diet-discovery/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://wildwhales.org/2011/02/offshore-killer-whales-a-diet-discovery/</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a href="http://www.life123.com/beauty/hairstyles-hair-care/layered-hairstyles/layered-hairstyles-for-long-hair.shtml"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.life123.com/beauty/hairstyles-hair-care/layered-hairstyles/layered-hairstyles-for-long-hair.shtml</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a href="http://www.tattooingtattoo.com/cross-tattoos-2/back-tattoos-for-men/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.tattooingtattoo.com/cross-tattoos-2/back-tattoos-for-men/</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a href="http://enb150-2011f-thb.blogspot.com/2011/11/amphioxus.html?z"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://enb150-2011f-</span></a><a href="http://thb.blogspot.com/2011/11/amphioxus.html?z"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">thb.blogspot.com/2011/11/amphioxus.html?z</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a href="http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2009/09/03/4352115-"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2009/09/03/4352115-</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a href="http://outlier.deviantart.com/art/Australian-Lungfish-3886569"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://outlier.deviantart.com/art/Australian-Lungfish-3886569</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a href="http://onefatfish.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/22/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://onefatfish.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/22/</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a href="http://mad.blog.dccomics.com/tag/jay-leno/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://mad.blog.dccomics.com/tag/jay-leno/</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a href="http://www.muscleandstrength.com/forum/general-chat/64462-random-bodybuilding-thread-2.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.muscleandstrength.com/forum/general-chat/64462-random-bodybuilding-thread-2.ht</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a href="http://www.muscleandstrength.com/forum/general-chat/64462-random-bodybuilding-thread-2.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ml</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a href="http://www.managemylife.com/mmh/questions/247358-broke-tail-bone-several-years"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.managemylife.com/mmh/questions/247358-broke-tail-bone-several-years</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a href="http://www.chicagoparent.com/magazines/web-only/october-2010/when-it's-time-to-see-an-ent"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.chicagoparent.com/magazines/web-only/october-2010/when-it's-time-to-see-an-ent</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a href="http://wonderaday.com/blog/The_Underwater_World_Of_Indonesia/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://wonderaday.com/blog/The_Underwater_World_Of_Indonesia/</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a href="http://www.gigwise.com/news/49325/Michael-Jacksons-Nose-Could-Collapse-From-MRSA-Superbug"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.gigwise.com/news/49325/Michael-Jacksons-Nose-Could-Collapse-From-MRSA-Superbug</span></a></b></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-10262979855376352252012-02-12T22:56:00.005-05:002012-02-15T23:19:33.307-05:00Humility and the Tao Te Ching<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Having just finished the Bhagavad-Gita and the Tao Te Ching I wanted to for each be able to condense my biggest thematic take-aways from those pieces. The themes I've chosen aren't necessarily the most prevalent or the most important, but are, however, those that stuck out to me the most. The Tao Te Ching took me aback by its repetitious admonitions toward humility, meekness and strength through weakness. I've included a compendium below of such verses.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">"My mind is that of a fool -- how blank! Vulgar people are clear. I alone am drowsy. Vulgar people are alert. I alone am muddled. Calm like the sea; like a high wind that never ceases. The multitude all have a purpose. I alone am foolish and uncouth." XX</blockquote>I think the above verses are an interesting contrast with that of Proverbs in the Bible. There the 'fool' is someone else who is always messing up and receiving life's/God's punishment for it: "Fools proclaim folly...fools will suffer harm...a fool is arrogant and careless...the mouth of fools spout folly..." etc. Not humility a huge theme within the Tao Te Ching, but it's even written humbly--the author makes fun of himself!!<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">"Therefore the sage embraces the One and is a model the empire. He does not show himself, and so is conspicuous; he does not consider himself right and so is illustrious; he does not brag, and so has merit; he does not boast, and so endures." XXII</blockquote><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">"Know honour but keep to the role of the disgraced." XXVII</blockquote><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">Humility in war/victory: </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">"There is no glory in victory, and to glorify it despite this is to exult in the killing of men. One who exults in the killing of men will never have his way in the empire...When great numbers of people are killed, one should weep over them with sorrow. When victorious in war, one should observe the rites of mourning." XXXI</blockquote><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">"It [the tao, the way] is because it never attempts itself to be great that it succeeds in becoming great." XXXIV</blockquote><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">"The submissive and weak will overcome the hard and strong." XXXVI</blockquote><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">"Weakness is the means the way employ." XL</blockquote><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">"Therefore it is because the sage never attempts to be great that he succeeds in becoming great." LXIII</blockquote><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">"The reason why the River and the Sea are able to be king of the hundred valleys is that they exxcell in taking the lower position. Hence they are able to be king of the hundred valleys. Therefore, desiring to rule over the people, one must in one's words humble oneself before them; and, desiring to lead the people one must, in one's person, follow behind them." LXVI </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">"One who excels in employing others bumbles himself before them...This is known as matching the sublimity of heaven." LXVIII</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">To know yet to think that one does not know is best. LXXI </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Hence the sage knows himself but does not display himself, loves himself but does not exalt himself. LXXII </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Therefore a weapon that is strong will not vanquish; a tree that is strong will suffer the axe. The strong and big takes the lower position, the supple and weak takes the higher position, the supple and weak takes the higher position. LXXVI </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">"In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it. This is because there is nothing can take its palce. That the weak overcomes the strong and the submissive overcomes the hard, everyone in the world knows yet no one can put this knowledge into practice." LXXVII </blockquote></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-52118353026882417922012-02-05T06:26:00.000-05:002013-10-18T08:07:31.551-04:00How Police Radar Works<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The Doppler effect.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T56sh0pGhgs/Ty5d4GdGjzI/AAAAAAAABQE/uNjDaLTnPwg/s1600/u10l3d3.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="174" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T56sh0pGhgs/Ty5d4GdGjzI/AAAAAAAABQE/uNjDaLTnPwg/s320/u10l3d3.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/waves/u10l3d.cfm">http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/waves/u10l3d.cfm</a><br />
That little dude is about to get nailed.</td></tr>
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Radio waves are sent from a antennae, be it a stationary one on the front and back of a police vehicle or from a gun, at certain frequency in <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">one of 13 channels from 33.4 to 36.0 GHz </span> range. (Aside: Many garage door openers are in the 300-400 MHz range. 18–24 GHz is strongly absorbed by water vapor because of the natural resonance of that molecule. It is, therefore, used in meteorology. This used to be the frequency often used by the police, but it was abandoned because of the interference during high humidity days.) The beam strikes the vehicle and the reflection speed of the vehicle causes the wave length to increase (or decrease if it's driving away). Measure the slight difference in wavelength and you can calculate the speed of the vehicle. Now, an indirect bounce off the vehicle might skew the reading, but that would only cause it to appear slower.<br />
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This same Doppler effect is how we know the universe is expanding--everything is shifted to a slower, redder frequency. Meaning, it's pretty much all moving away from us. If you project the speed of the expansion based on that red shift and then project backwards how long the universe has been expanding you get a rough estimate of the age of the universe since the Big Bang (requiring adjustment for dark energy).</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HG2vmFxTdcE/Ty5kmEFOSCI/AAAAAAAABQM/kr1kOfXddGM/s1600/170px-Redshift.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HG2vmFxTdcE/Ty5kmEFOSCI/AAAAAAAABQM/kr1kOfXddGM/s1600/170px-Redshift.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshift">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshift</a> <span style="text-align: left;"> </span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xvnJh3cGcWw/Ty5knTd7DGI/AAAAAAAABQU/EkRKG3ZD4aA/s1600/800px-redshift_blueshift-svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xvnJh3cGcWw/Ty5knTd7DGI/AAAAAAAABQU/EkRKG3ZD4aA/s320/800px-redshift_blueshift-svg.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.psychedelicporcupine.co.uk/2010/02/doppler-effect-and-red-shift/">http://www.psychedelicporcupine.co.uk/2010/02/doppler-effect-and-red-shift/</a> </td></tr>
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This all sounds simple enough...but don't forget that light isn't like sound. In sound the compression and rarefaction waves are just sent further or closer together. No big deal. That makes sense. Molecules just get closer or further apart. What about light is 'compressed' or 'stretched'??? It ought not sit so easily with you if you think about it. Light is a particle. No it's not. It's a wave. Well, what exactly is 'waving'?...<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-47018789675279314612012-01-28T09:46:00.001-05:002012-01-28T09:49:46.306-05:00Nose Hairs in Humans - An Idle Evolutionary Speculation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>If you think about it, noses are funny looking. What do you think an alien or other species would think of our schnozes? They come in all different shapes for different reasons.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4RdKWTGefzw/TyP_T8Ld5WI/AAAAAAAABOE/zJmHe_jAMWg/s1600/1010108bw3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="167" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4RdKWTGefzw/TyP_T8Ld5WI/AAAAAAAABOE/zJmHe_jAMWg/s640/1010108bw3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jX86bF0KgxE/TyP_aMd7GAI/AAAAAAAABOM/ScS4cs5tVqY/s1600/10noses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="322" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jX86bF0KgxE/TyP_aMd7GAI/AAAAAAAABOM/ScS4cs5tVqY/s640/10noses.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://anthrocivitas.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7262&page=2">http://anthrocivitas.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7262&page=2</a> </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dc4Yr30RDLA/TyP_np7d_-I/AAAAAAAABOU/NtsehZjUjsY/s1600/p08+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="160" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dc4Yr30RDLA/TyP_np7d_-I/AAAAAAAABOU/NtsehZjUjsY/s320/p08+(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.drawspace.com/lessons/p08/adult-noses-in-profile">http://www.drawspace.com/lessons/p08/adult-noses-in-profile</a> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>They're quite different from other primate noses:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BuyhVSW6Mmc/TyQAPL3nLJI/AAAAAAAABOc/WCsBaDyrIdI/s1600/_blogger_761_1659_1600_proboscis-monkey-3_spluch-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BuyhVSW6Mmc/TyQAPL3nLJI/AAAAAAAABOc/WCsBaDyrIdI/s1600/_blogger_761_1659_1600_proboscis-monkey-3_spluch-2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.itsnature.org/trees/mammals-trees/proboscis-monkey/">http://www.itsnature.org/trees/mammals-trees/proboscis-monkey/</a><br />
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</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X1Ax3dADt7M/TyQA02KrUmI/AAAAAAAABOs/5O2zvA-sPcA/s1600/pic-nose-prints.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X1Ax3dADt7M/TyQA02KrUmI/AAAAAAAABOs/5O2zvA-sPcA/s1600/pic-nose-prints.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/gorilla/physical-characteristics.htm">http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/gorilla/physical-characteristics.htm</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-foSuuTVSy6w/TyQBdJhzegI/AAAAAAAABO8/r4nfrWds8aM/s1600/230med+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-foSuuTVSy6w/TyQBdJhzegI/AAAAAAAABO8/r4nfrWds8aM/s1600/230med+(1).jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/golden_snub-nosed_monkey">http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/golden_snub-nosed_monkey</a> </td></tr>
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There's something else that's different. The inside:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3gW0vyLJd3E/TyQB9lmaTKI/AAAAAAAABPE/JZGlyq640CM/s1600/hair-trimmer-nose-hair-trimmer-small-35787.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3gW0vyLJd3E/TyQB9lmaTKI/AAAAAAAABPE/JZGlyq640CM/s320/hair-trimmer-nose-hair-trimmer-small-35787.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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What does having a lot of nose hairs say about our evolution? Let's consider some possibilities<br />
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Do other mammals have similar amounts of nose hairs to humans? Certainly they may, but I feel like I've typically seen nary a nose hair in another animal's nose by picture, pet, zoo. Might we be special in this regard? Frankly, I wish I knew more about this, but I'll offer some speculation (because I enjoy thinking about these things).<br />
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-We have the same amount it's just that humans have them closer to the exit of the nose. Possibly because we have dextrous fingers? :)<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h62UTfjv5zg/TyQDnFlcu2I/AAAAAAAABPM/Z_njoE6gN7U/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h62UTfjv5zg/TyQDnFlcu2I/AAAAAAAABPM/Z_njoE6gN7U/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/prints/hair-trimmer-nose-hair-trimmer-6003005/">http://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/prints/hair-trimmer-nose-hair-trimmer-6003005/</a> </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bCDwhfQtXV4/TyQDxVvaLNI/AAAAAAAABPU/o6os7xE0UUQ/s1600/picking-nose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bCDwhfQtXV4/TyQDxVvaLNI/AAAAAAAABPU/o6os7xE0UUQ/s320/picking-nose.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://mybeautifulstrange.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/london-zoo%E2%80%99s-nose-picking-gorilla/">http://mybeautifulstrange.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/london-zoo%E2%80%99s-nose-picking-gorilla/</a> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>-We have more nose hairs because we have little in the way of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasal_concha">turbinates</a>--cilia filtering, warming, moisturizing nasal corrugations. And why is that? Our ancestors needed to distance walk/run and therefore hyperventalate? What does that say about our evolutionary climate? Moister? Warmer? Less focus on smell?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SnJ6Z9iJHTo/TyQFY5EIzjI/AAAAAAAABPc/fijuLkszmIo/s1600/IMG_1071.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SnJ6Z9iJHTo/TyQFY5EIzjI/AAAAAAAABPc/fijuLkszmIo/s640/IMG_1071.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turbinates are drastically more complex and corrugated in other animals. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><a href="http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/showthread.php/77199-Kodiak-hunters-want-a-quality-Skull-mount">http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/showthread.php/77199-Kodiak-hunters-want-a-quality-Skull-mount</a><br />
Human:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--p67aCKw-Kg/TyQGA5ra82I/AAAAAAAABPk/0pcBstZFh8A/s1600/skull_anterior_conchae.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--p67aCKw-Kg/TyQGA5ra82I/AAAAAAAABPk/0pcBstZFh8A/s320/skull_anterior_conchae.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://chambermusictoday.blogspot.com/2008/01/humidifying-captive-singers-breathing.html">http://chambermusictoday.blogspot.com/2008/01/humidifying-captive-singers-breathing.html</a> </td></tr>
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-Does it say anything about the specific evolutionary environment from which we come? High dust desert? High bug zone?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W13Z47XquFw/TyQHkg4IsUI/AAAAAAAABP0/GPL9ARUsQEk/s1600/394626_2375579065736_1138372149_31970649_27454017_n1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W13Z47XquFw/TyQHkg4IsUI/AAAAAAAABP0/GPL9ARUsQEk/s320/394626_2375579065736_1138372149_31970649_27454017_n1.jpg" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://pippasperegrinations.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized/">http://pippasperegrinations.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized/</a> </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OcTgQRopyjw/TyQHy9C-ctI/AAAAAAAABP8/KrjARlE9N4Y/s1600/draft_lens4888762module37632672photo_1244111373NOSE_Compare.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OcTgQRopyjw/TyQHy9C-ctI/AAAAAAAABP8/KrjARlE9N4Y/s320/draft_lens4888762module37632672photo_1244111373NOSE_Compare.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7282379162497818" style="color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px;"><a href="http://www.askabiologist.org.uk/answers/viewtopic.php?pid=17088#p17088">http://www.askabiologist.org.uk/answers/viewtopic.php?pid=17088#p17088</a></b><br />
<div><b><br />
</b></div><div><b>The response I received: </b><img alt="Photo" height="53px" src="http://www.askabiologist.org.uk/sites/default/files/imagecache/expert_photo_small/experts/pictures/picture-78.jpg" style="background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; color: white; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="53px" /></div><div class="posthead" id="p17131" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ebe6db; background-image: url(http://www.askabiologist.org.uk/sites/all/themes/aab/images/architecture/post-reply-heading-background.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: 0% 0%; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; color: white; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 12px; padding-right: 12px; padding-top: 6px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="post-author post-author-with-expert-photo" style="background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 66px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><ul class="author-ident" style="background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li class="username" style="background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: MyriadProSB, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 4px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.askabiologist.org.uk/experts/joedaniel" style="background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; color: white; margin: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Go to Joe Daniel's profile">Joe Daniel</a></li>
</ul><ul class="author-info" style="background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 2px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences</span></li>
<li style="background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 2px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Posts: <strong style="background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">143</strong></span></li>
</ul></div><div class="clear" style="background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; margin: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div><div class="postbody" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ebe6db; background-image: url(http://www.askabiologist.org.uk/sites/all/themes/aab/images/architecture/breadcrumbs-background.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: 0% 100%; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="post-entry" style="background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="entry-content" style="background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 12px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Other animals have nose hairs, we are not special in that regard. The amount varies, but I couldn't say anything about how much exactly.</div><div style="background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 12px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We don't lack turbinates. We have three sets, an inferior, middle, and superior. They are not as well developed as in some others, like say dogs and seals, but we have them and they are very important in helpig us to limit water loss through our nasal passages and to a small degree in helping to cool the brain (ok, only by about half to one degree, but still).</div><div style="background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 12px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Most people think we evolved in a more open, drier climate, which was probably dusty, so it is possible we were selected for bushier noses than our more forest-bred ape relatives, but I don't know of any real studies on that.</div></div></div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-86322859853079181902012-01-16T22:59:00.013-05:002012-03-08T00:25:34.278-05:00Detachment in the Bhagavad-Gita<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<div><b id="internal-source-marker_0.8452958676498383"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>“When he [, the virtuous person,] renounces all desires and acts without craving, possessiveness, or individuality, he finds peace.”</i> Bhagavad-Gita 2:71</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>“Always perform with detachment any action you must do; performing action with detachment, one achieves supreme good.”</i> Bhagavad-Gita 3:19</span></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"If you cannot take to this practice, then engage yourself in the cultivation of knowledge. Better than knowledge, however, is meditation, and better than meditation is renunciation of the fruits of action, for by such renunciation one can attain peace of mind."</i> 12:12<br />
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<i>"Disinterested, pure, skilled, indifferent, untroubled, relinquishing all involvements, devoted to me, he is dear to me. He does not rejoice or hate, grieve or feel desire; relinquishing fortune and misfortune, the man of devotion is dear to me. Impartial to foe and friend, honor and contempt, cold and heat, joy and suffering, he is free from attachment. Neutral to blame and praise, silent, content with his fate, unsheltered, firm in thought, the man of devotion is dear to me. Even more dear to me are devotees who cherish this elixir of sacred duty as I have taught it, intent on me in their faith"</i> 12: 16-20</span> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*I’m writing this blog because, in many ways, I don’t get it. Why is detachment and dispassion such a focus in Hindu and Buddhist teachings? Raised in a Christian, Western culture I was told to believe the opposite. The central mindset and call to action is to worship and love--two very emotional, attached actions. As I’m currently reading through the Bhagavad-Gita I’m forced wrestle with what ‘detachment’ means and how it can be helpful to our every day lives.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Broadly and summarily, religion are sets of ideas that help us navigate life and reality as we understand it. Some of the worst maelstroms in life to avoid are:</span><br />
<ul><li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.8452958676498383"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><u>Regret/Guilt/Shame</u></i>--negative feelings about the past</span></b></li>
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<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><u>Disappointment/Anger</u></i>**--negative feelings about the present</span></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><u>Fear/Dread</u></i>--negative feelings about the future</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Christianity and many other religions tend to deal with these emotions through doctrines on:</span></b><br />
<ul><li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.8452958676498383"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><u>Forgiveness</u></i>-- “What’s wrong has been dealt with.”</span></b></li>
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<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><u>Providence/Predestination</u></i>-- “It was meant to be.” “It will all work out.”</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One way of looking at it is that Hinduism/Buddhism tends to take a much more personal role in dealing with negative emotions. It isn’t God that is the one that will fix everything nor is reinterpretation of the problem. We must be separating ourselves from the cause of the pain--desire. On some level we’ll always be disappointed by reality, however you can’t be disappointed if you never wanted anything in the first place. This is the Eastern solution--don’t desire, be detached and you can’t be hurt.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In many ways, I’m resistant to this thinking. I want to feel deeply. I want to love. I want to be attached. And I should. But, I also need to learn from the wisdom of the ancients. There is truth and power in detachment by:</span></b><br />
<ul><li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.8452958676498383"><span style="text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Realizing that </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u><i>emotions </i></u></span><span style="text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">are both involuntary and a </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u><i>choice</i></u></span><span style="text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. They’re a choice in so far as we have the ability to reinterpret and refocus our minds.</span></b></li>
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<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gain </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u><i>perspective</i></u></span><span style="text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Are we going to care 10 minutes, 1 month, 1 year, 10 years down the line? What would this situation look like from someone else’s perspective? From an aliens? From a deity’s?</span></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Strive towards </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u><i>objectivity</i></u></span><span style="text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Our emotions aren’t reality. They’re but one possible interpretation of reality<span style="font-weight: normal;">. </span></span></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pain and loss are inevitable. Life is in Buddhist terms '</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u><i>dukkha</i></u></span><span style="text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">', often translated as suffering. Everyone you love will die, your material wealth is transient, life is disappointing. Spiritual maturity is making a transition from the dependence on the ephemeral outside world for happiness--relationships, material wealth, comfort--to an unshakeable internal state of blessed felicity. That requires one to disconnect one's self on some level from the pain and disappointment of life to make it through.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is interesting, though, that even in the very first verse above, and other context verses, might be paraphrased as something like, “Don’t feel because it feels good to not feel.” Or, “Don’t desire anything...Except desiring to not desire.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, I know I have much to learn about Eastern philosophy and I’m sure there are solid apologetic explanations of the above objections, but even without having figured it all out I know that practicing detachment from negative emotions has improved my life. I shall continue and hope to both grow in understanding and in constitutional fortitude to be able to.</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Your feedback is welcomed.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Online version of Bhagavad-Gita: </span></span> <a href="http://www.bhagavad-gita.us/">http://www.bhagavad-gita.us/</a> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Please be fully aware that I’m a complete greenhorn concerning Eastern religions. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">**Anger can be towards the past or future, too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Categories of things that one could be detached from, written to consider what contexts detachment might be helpful:</span><br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><b>Relationships </b></i>- As Shakespeare put it, "Tis better to have loved and lost [your mind through suffering a ridiculous amount of emotional pain and anguish] than to have never loved at all." Relationships are worth it. People are worth it. The pain is worth it. Don't detach.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><b>Emotions </b></i>- See above. What a shame and a loss if we can't fully experience all the fullness of the possible emotions that humans are capable. Tis a blessing even to sorrow. A friend, Sara, recently shared this quote with me by Antonio Porchia, "Man, when he does not grieve, hardly exists."</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><b>Reality </b></i>- I'm going to go a head and say that life is better lived in reality. Perhaps that's debatable, but not for me (most of the time ha).</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><i>Th</i></b><b><i>e experience of the moment</i></b> - Detach from experiencing fully the moment? Living every breath? Every heart beat? Thought? Experience? NEVER!!</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><b>"Fruits of actions"</b></i> - Much of what the Bhagavad-Gita refers to as needing to be detached from is the consequences of our actions. The author(s) are not the first I've heard this from. Bill Bright, a conservative Christian and founder of Campus Crusade for Christ put it like this, "Act in the power of the Holy Spirit and leave the results up to God." Things will <u>not</u> <u>ever</u> work out like we think they will. Those kinds of expectations are a sure fire recipe for disappointment. The Bhagavad-Gita advises us to not worry about that. Just worry about doing the right thing--our "sacred duty" or dharma. Beyond that things, by faith, just have a way of working out. :)</span></span></li>
</ul><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps the best summary (for me) is to be detached from expectations. Is there something you must have in order to be happy? Some thing? Some person? Some event? Then you're a slave to it. Detachment, of a certain kind, is freedom. If things go well, then all the more reason to be grateful and blessed. If they go poorly, how can we be disappointed if we had no expectation of how they'd go in the first place?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Post post script:</span></span><br />
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A Christian friend objected, "How is hope or faith different from expectations?" Where's the room for hope? Must we be divorced from hope to not have any attachment to the fruit of actions?<br />
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Post post post script:<br />
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I like the word 'independence' better than 'detachment'. It implies the ability to love and enjoy without being controlled and at the whim of life, which can be full of negativity and suffering.</div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-13803462675223554042012-01-09T17:02:00.000-05:002012-01-09T17:02:30.624-05:00"The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments" Book Summary<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Mix serendipity, with just the right historic context, with army of prior scientific geniuses to build on, with strokes of insight, with creativity, with gruelingly boring repetition, with unflagging tenacity, with an insatiable curiosity and you have the makings of the ten men that this book is about. I recommend this book highly if you find scientific inquiry, creativity and empirical experiments interesting on any level. I shall give brief sketches to hopeful wet appetites either for the book or to further investigate yourself or to simply bask in the glow that is these luminaries.<br />
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What you get from the book, as opposed to this blog, is fascinating details about the historical context these experiments arose from, an abundance of other related experiments that these scientists fiddled with and biographical details that bring these stories to life.<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"></div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b><i><u>Galileo</u></i></b> - There are some more snobbish scientists who look down upon the more observational sciences like biology and astronomy because it's rare or difficult to be able to actually preform experiments. Most of the science is simply "sitting back" and making careful observations. Galileo, of course, was most well known for his work on confirming Copernicus's assertion that, no, the Earth was not the center of the solar system--there were moons that even revolved around other planets. (Aside: the term 'revolutionary' was popularized after Copernicus publication of his work "revolutionizing" our understanding of space and the revolution of the heavenly bodies.) Galileo insightfully wanted to understand the principles underlying the movement of Jupiter's moon's or that of Earth's. He wanted to understand motion and gravity. For this, he completed his well known (and likely apocryphal) drop of two different weights off the Leaning Tower of Pisa giving support to gravity's equal attraction of the two different weights. He did, however, likely complete something very similar to that leading him to attempt to slow down the experiment in order to make more accurate measurements. What he did was this, roll objects of various weights down inclines timing them with drops of water coming from a hole in the bottom of a bucket. There's hardly a variable he didn't tinker with: weight of the objects, incline, method of timing, use of bells to be hit by the rolling objects, etc. What's more is his deft analyse of the math. By dividing the time elapsed by the distance covered he quickly realized that the acceleration was exponential and, as a bonus, that exponents are the sum of the odd integers proceeding it. <object height="480" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WOvwwO-l4ps?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WOvwwO-l4ps?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="480" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></li>
<li><u style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">William Harvey</u> - Hard to believe, but during the 1600s there was much confusion and debate about what the function and mechanics of the heart were. With many a vivisection, pinching veins and arteries off and on, by considering valve construction, location and function he discovered that blood flowed one direction by the systolic push of the heart.</li>
<li><u style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Isaac Newton</u> - The Presocratics believed that we saw by beams emanating from our eyes. Others thought that light could be 'stained' by bouncing off colored objects. How, indeed, did light work? And how could we test it? One man, cloistered away for fear of the plague ravaging Europe, set out to find out. He experimented by taking a blunt probe and pushing on his eye and making careful recordings and sketches of the colors and shapes that action produced. He separated the colors of the rainbow by the use of a prism. And, insightfully, he recombined the broken colors with a lens showing that they weren't a product of the prism, colors were fundamental and the constituents of white light.</li>
<li><u style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier</u> - How does fire work? What are the main components of the atmosphere? Lavoisier completed a number of experiments to help answer these questions, one of which was using lens as wide as eight feet to focus light and burn such things as diamonds (they are, after all, carbon). He also completed experiments burning mercury compounds thereby consuming oxygen from the air. By preforming other reactions he could then release that oxygen back into the air. </li>
<li><u style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Luigi Galvani</u> - How does electricity work? How does the body use electricity for muscle contraction? A charge, it was previously known, could make frog legs twitch. Galvani hooked frog legs up to wires outside during thunder storms, he poked and proded while touching/not touching the metal of the probe, he contacted experiments near rudimentary generators/far from/hooked up/not hooked up, with the same kind of metal/with two different kinds of metals making a simple battery.</li>
<li><u style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Michael Faraday</u> - Could there be a connection between light and electricity? Among many other experiments one of the more illustrative used a candle, a relective surface, Nicol prism (polarized lens) and an electromagnet. He bounced the image of the candle light off the surface and through a piece of glass and then made his observations through the polarized lens. Moving the the lens such that the polarized light disappeared from sight he then turned on the electromagnet running adjacent to the glass that the image went through. He could then see the image. A magnetic field changed the polarization of the light.</li>
<li><u style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">James Joule </u> - What is heat? How is it related to work? He vigorously stirred water to show that heat wasn't an ethereal substance spoken of as 'caloric' that caused objects to heat; it was work (friction). He devised a way to measure the amount of work done (mass moved) and temperature of water stirred. <object height="480" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/h72njPR_P2Q?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/h72njPR_P2Q?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="480" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></li>
<li><u style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">A. A. Michelson</u> - Was able to calculate the speed of light by bouncing light off a spinning mirror. The light would return to bounce again off the mirror, but in the time elapsed the mirror has moved causing the reflection to move. How did he know the speed of the spinning mirror? By attaching a mirror to a electric tuning fork. The reflected image of the spinning mirror would stroboscopicly freeze at an equal speed. He also disproved that Earth was moving through an ether realm by bouncing light at right angles and showing that light was reacted the same both in the direction of the Earth's movement through a theoretical ether and at right angles to it. <object height="480" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/etmIA9klXpo?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/etmIA9klXpo?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="480" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></li>
<li><u style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Ivan Pavlov</u> - He preformed minor surgery on dogs to move a salivary gland from the inside to the outside of the mouth. This could then be used to measure the physiological response to various stimuli such as sand in the mouth, dry bread, and classical conditioning, or pairing reward with reward cue. Even though the reward is removed the cue still triggers the response.<object height="480" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CpoLxEN54ho?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CpoLxEN54ho?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="480" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></li>
<li><i style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;">Robert Millikan</i> - <object height="480" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/91E6KvCvRf0?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/91E6KvCvRf0?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="480" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></li>
</ol></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7126453198011755679.post-31816885993116980842012-01-01T15:24:00.002-05:002012-01-01T15:27:39.397-05:00The Palate - Yet Another Difference Between Mammals and Other Vertebrates<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">You wanna know one of the biggest reason that mammals are special? We chew.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>In fact, only mammals chew. (Pretty much. It's hard to make absolute statements in biology.)</div><div><br />
</div><div><a href="http://thesymbiont.blogspot.com/2010/08/only-mammals-chew.html">More on this here.</a><br />
<div><br />
</div><div>The gist: We mammals have evolved warm bloodedness because it helps us move quickly and with sustained energy (reptiles have to bask in the sun, etc. to get warm). Hot bodies are costly, though--they burn something like 10 times more energy than being cold blooded. Not only do warm blooded animals have to eat way more (big snakes can go months without eating--try that sometime!), but we have to get every possible calorie out of the food we eat--and fast! Thus, we chew. So, what does it take to chew? Proper teeth, of course. And...the ability to breath and chew. Not choking to death is nice, too.</div></div><div><br />
</div><div>Therefore, the palate was born. The palate is the bone/flesh separating you nasal passage from your mouth. I never would have realized this, other than through reading about evolution, but other critters like birds and most reptiles (with the exception of crocodilians who hold their food underwater to drown it without, hopefully, drowning themselves) don't have palates. They breath through their mouth.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Birdy mouth nasal passages entering mouth (it's the thin slits in the middle of the roof of the mouth):</div><div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IghgpYAZjCc/TwC-biT1z5I/AAAAAAAABKA/RsBNyyACAJ8/s1600/vent-top-palate-150x150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IghgpYAZjCc/TwC-biT1z5I/AAAAAAAABKA/RsBNyyACAJ8/s1600/vent-top-palate-150x150.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://yourownvet.com/?tag=how-to-warm-baby-birds">http://yourownvet.com/?tag=how-to-warm-baby-birds</a> </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gByiHEgmWrs/TwC-n7n220I/AAAAAAAABKM/tT9OHH8gxIY/s1600/250px-Illu01_head_neck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gByiHEgmWrs/TwC-n7n220I/AAAAAAAABKM/tT9OHH8gxIY/s1600/250px-Illu01_head_neck.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palate">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palate</a> </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tc1Rn_-auho/TwC_wFwVhGI/AAAAAAAABNI/JdPV78VsZFg/s1600/turbinate1100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="287" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tc1Rn_-auho/TwC_wFwVhGI/AAAAAAAABNI/JdPV78VsZFg/s320/turbinate1100.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinos were mostly mouth breathers.<br />
<a href="http://faculty.plattsburgh.edu/thomas.wolosz/turbinates.htm">http://faculty.plattsburgh.edu/thomas.wolosz/turbinates.htm</a> (And images below.)<span style="text-align: left;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LxIf8_473ag/TwC_wmD85sI/AAAAAAAABNQ/RbK9AZxzo0g/s1600/turbinate2100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="229" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LxIf8_473ag/TwC_wmD85sI/AAAAAAAABNQ/RbK9AZxzo0g/s320/turbinate2100.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mouth Breather</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dasg77b6t-4/TwC_xJOn5UI/AAAAAAAABNU/PAsGL-vhwLM/s1600/turbinate3100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dasg77b6t-4/TwC_xJOn5UI/AAAAAAAABNU/PAsGL-vhwLM/s320/turbinate3100.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not Mouth Breather</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ybPS8ZgUa70/TwC_xsEAPLI/AAAAAAAABNc/kIXtzkkSFpo/s1600/turbinate4100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="160" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ybPS8ZgUa70/TwC_xsEAPLI/AAAAAAAABNc/kIXtzkkSFpo/s320/turbinate4100.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Also Not (they're exceptions to the rule)</td></tr>
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</div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11598465333109506030noreply@blogger.com0