Gleanings of the Week Ending July 5, 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.

How Did This Ancient Civilization Avoid War for 2,000 Years? - This article linked well to the Paradoxes of War course I am taking right now….one of those little serendipities of life. There are hints of other cultural norms that were so different from our own that we can’t quite fathom how they worked.

Oklahoma earthquakes induced by wastewater injection by disposal wells, study finds - I saw a story about the Oklahoma earthquakes on the evening news that featured a home owner from Prague, OK whose house had been badly damaged. I have a family connection to the area: my great-grandparents farmed in the area and my one of my grandmother’s first memories was of their house blowing away. They worried about tornadoes rather than earthquakes. I’m glad there are studies being done to understand why the dramatic increase in earthquakes is happening….and help us make better decisions about wastewater disposal.  On the positive side for Oklahoma, at least they had data available that could be used to determine the problem. Now the question is - what action will result? And what about China’s Dirty Pollution Secret: The Boom Poisoned Its Soil and Crops? Both of these instances seem to be cases where the price of ‘development’ is becoming unexpectedly high - and maybe it is going to get higher over time.

Chemist with Visual Flair Answers Burning Food Science Questions - A high school chemistry teach in the UK has a flare for chemistry info graphics. The ones collected in the NPR post are about food but he has others at his open web site: Compound Interest.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #69 - I have to include one of these periodically. Which is your favorite? Two near the end are mine: the egret and peacock (and I can't resist including one on my own peacock pictures with this post).

Why Online School? Why Full Time? - A survey to find out why parents and student use online schools full time. The two reasons are “want a change from their local school” and “require or want greater flexibility.”  The survey was of parents of students of Connections Academy, an online school.

Slow media - Sometimes the alternative to ‘fast’ is what we need!

Ancient baby boom holds a lesson in over-population - A case study from the American southwest: farming and food storage resulting in high birth rate until there was a drought which caused the crash.

4 New Energy Maps Show A Lot about Renewables - Wind, solar, biomass and geothermal…the US has a lot of potential.

New study from population and development review finds flaws in mortality projections - There is good news and bad news: The good news is that the decline in cigarette smoking will almost certainly result in longer-living older populations. The bad news is that current public policy around the world has not included that change in mortality projections (i.e. governments are underestimating the number of older people for the next decades…and were already struggling with the shifting demographics).

50 States, 50 Spots Natural Wonders - From CNN. There are a lot of natural wonders is virtually every state I’ve visited….too hard to pick just one…but fun to think about.

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 25, 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.

All of these outbreaks could have been prevented with vaccines - The US has taken a backward step when it comes to outbreaks of diseases like measles and whooping cough. It’s very sad that the downturn has been so abrupt in the past 4-5 years….and that we know why; when will the toll of these diseases reach a tipping point toward increasing mandates for vaccination. All my vaccinations are up to date (and I may ask for a whooping cough booster at my next annual physical since some if my volunteer work is with children).

Wellcome Images - Digital images from the many historical sources made available under Creative Commons licensing by the Wellcome Library, London. All low resolution images are freely available for download for personal, academic teaching or study use. The image at the right is a Mark Catesby illustration of a magnolia blossom and pod.

Top 20 Metropolitan Areas in the U.S.A., 1790-2010 - A very busy chart…but worth look at for a bit. Expand it and take a look. Some cities peaked early (like Baltimore); some didn’t get started until much later (like Dallas and Houston). New York has stayed at the top since it surpassed Philadelphia in the early 1800s.

An earthquake threat is building up in the central U.S. - Lots more people living in the area than there were in the early 1800s (when the last big earthquake occurred there.

Designing Your School of Choice: mySchool - An essay by Adam Renfro about his vision for ‘school.’ There are so many options for future schools….the big challenge will be to choose those options wisely. The balance between needs of the student and society will become more nuanced. It is interesting to observe the uniformity implied by core curriculum, testing, and building structures with the explosion of easily available learning environments that are anything but uniform.

How a Versatile Gut Bacterium Helps Us Get Our Daily Dietary Fiber - Another bit of evidence that our bodies are complex ecosystems with many organisms interacting…..organisms that we need to be healthy!

What's the best place to see or visit in your area? - This is a post where the comments are the main content.  I know in my area I have favorites - and the ones I recommend depend on the interests of the person asking!

To MOOC or Not To MOOC - Infographic. I learned a new acronym: SPOCs is (Small Private Online Courses)

NASA Finds 2013 Sustained Long-Term Climate Warming Trend - The Earth’s temperature has risen about 1.4 degrees F since 1880. The average temperature in 2013 was 1.1 degrees F since the mid-20th century. There is a video showing the temperature changes over the past 6 decades.

Roasted Chickpeas - A recipe I’m going to try this week.