Gleanings of the Week Ending August 23, 2014

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

In Old Blood - Looking at the changing that happen as we age…starting with the blood of a 115 year old woman from the Netherlands that donated her body to science.

Food Preservation - As this post comes out, I am hearing the author talk about the topic! I am always looking for new ideas on processing the surplus of food during the summer to enjoy in the winter.

Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Compare - This is an interface to visual epidemiological trends and levels worldwide from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (an independent global health research center at the University of Washington. There are lots of ways to look at the data. In the snapshot below I set the Bottom Chart to ‘Map’ and then clicked on ‘Migraine’ in the Top Chart.

Would you live in a shipping container? - A collection of websites curated by Marcelle Sussman Fischler on this top on Learnist. Some still look like shipping containers….others are transformed.

Most of What You Need To Know About Planet Earth, in Seven Minutes - A short animation from Kurzgesagt.

Profiles in Xeriscaping: The Chocolate Flower - Something to think about for next summer’s garden.

10 Tips for Eating Healthy on a Budget - Good ideas! I would add: 1) keep in mind that there are other sources of protein than meat (and almost all of them are less expensive for the nutritional content) and 2) be mindful of lower cost veggies that are high in nutritional value (sweet potatoes are an example).

Why Did Plants Evolve These Weird and Horrific Flowers? - I can’t resist the botanicals.

Providing futile treatment prevents other patients from receiving the critical care they need - Futile treatment (i.e. unbeneficial medical care) in ICUs is not good for the patient….and this study shows that it is hurting others. Perhaps a tangential take away from this article is that patients and their families need to be in a position to decline unbeneficial medical care.

Exploring the Waterworks Deep inside the Inner Gorge of Grand Canyon National Park - A video about the springs in the Grand Canyon. 10 of the 12 spring types are found within the Grand Canyon (see the 10 here).

Gleanings of the Week Ending June 21, 2014

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Historic Agreement Aims to Restore, Protect Chesapeake Bay Watershed - Good news and close to my home! The bay is a long way from recovery --- but this is progress in the right direction. There is so much of what is special about Maryland that relies on the bay!

The Location of Every Tornado Touchdown in America, Graphed - Crunching the tornado stats (strength and latitude/longitude in the US) from 1950-2013….and show it on a map.

Infographic: Schooling around the World - A collection of factoids about education. Did you know that Mexico is the country with the highest public expenditure on education (as a percentage of total public expenditure)?

Liver dangers from herbal supplements, OTC and RX drugs, new guidelines warn - Too many people assume that herbal supplements and over the counter medications are either always good - or at least not bad - for them. Drug-induced Liver Injury (DILI) is pretty scary….and the incidence is increasing.

On The Road to Three National Park Jewels in the Pacific Northwest - This is probably the direction I’ll go for my next vacation…so I am noticing all the articles coming in by feeds about the area. If you headed near the Grand Canyon, here’s recent post about what do in 4 hours!

Local Foods: From Fad to Force and What It Means - Food doesn’t always have to be the least expensive….quality and taste are important too. I am enjoying the Community Supported Agriculture veggies grown less than a mile from my house tremendously!

Spain & Portugal Could Survive Just On Geothermal Energy - Another energy producing technology to explore…and develop in a way that won’t cause other problems (like earthquakes).

If Only Modern Infographs Were As Stunning As These 19th-Century Ones - John Philipps Emslie worked over 100 years ago and packed a lot of information into his illustrations. Few of today’s infographs are as densely packed with relevant data.

This Isn't a Utopian Vision -- It's Actually What London Is Like Today - Wow! London has a lot of green space. I wonder how other cities would compare.

Omega-3 inhibits blood vessel growth in age-related macular degeneration - All the more reason to make sure you get some Omega-3 fatty acids through your diet (or through supplements if you can get it from the food you eat).

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 29, 2014

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

The Garbage Man - Thinking beyond the recycle bin…closed loop recycling.

25+ Digital Wildlife and Nature Maps - Lots of perspectives. I particularly like the Journey North (under Migration and Tracker Maps) because of the time of year….check out robins and monarchs migration.

The 7 Rules of the New Food Revolution - Common sense from Prevention magazine….with links to more information about each one.

Things you should be able to do in your local library - Many communities have library infrastructure originally developed for print media. As more moves toward digital formats - there is opportunity for the library to evolve into something quite different to make the most of the location, building, and engagement capacity. Some of the things on Richard Watson’s list are already part of my library....and others may become the next wave of enhancements.

Google cameras take rafting trip at Grand Canyon - If you can’t make the raft trip through the Grand Canyon physically, take a virtual trip! The Google Colorado River Site is here (there is an ‘Explore the Colorado River’ video toward the bottom of the page that is a short intro to what is available on the site).

What are anonymous companies? An infographic - From TED. “My wish is for us to know who owns and controls companies, so that they can no longer be used anonymously against the public good.” - Charmian Gooch, 2014 TED Prize Winner

Married and working together to solve inequality - Except from an interview with Bill and Melinda Gates

How the Container Store Uses Wearable Tech to Think Outside the Box - Replacing walkie-talkie technology with smaller wearable devices with more functionality.

The $1 Origami Microscope - What a great idea! One of the STEM Fair participants from a few weeks ago lamented that she did not have a microscope easily available for her project. I hope this kind of minimalist design (and low cost) can make microscopes very common around the world - for students (and that virtually everyone is a ‘student’ in some aspect of their life).

Gorgeous Papercut Light Boxes - From two Denver based artists.