Gleanings of the Week Ending December 28, 2013

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.

Short Cycle Efficacy Trials Key to Personalized Learning - How can the myriad of education applications and blended learning models be evaluated?  This article describes some attempts. Hopefully we finally will achieve the focus of efficacy for the individual learner rather than the technology or educational administration.

4 Frighteningly Ambitious Education Experiments for 2014 - There are lots of experiments that I’ve been reading about lately (prompted by some recent Coursera courses). These four caught my attention because they emphasize that many boundaries we one assumed have been softened or even breached by technology. So now - we have some alternatives that have never been available before. All the more reason to figure out how to do ‘short cycle efficacy trials’ (see previous gleaning).

Frogcicle - I’d heard about some frogs being able to survive freezing…this is a video that shows that happening.

A Dingo Ate Australia - The article portrays the dingo, Australia’s only native dog species, from multiple perspectives.

Petrified Life - Time lapse video of the American Southwest…well worth the 5.5 minutes to watch.

The Most Incredible Historical Discoveries of 2013 - It’s the time of year that we get a lot of ‘best of’ lists. It does seem that 2013 had quite a few rather surprising historical discoveries. History is not as well defined as we sometimes assume!

Greenland Ice Stores Liquid Water Year-Round - Water evidently stays liquid in the space around the ice particles in an aquifer that covers 27,000 square miles. A team drilling core samples in southeast Greenland was surprised when they came up with liquid water (from 33 feet in one hole and 82 feet in another). The air temperature at the time was minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit. Another article on the same topic is here.

The 100 essential websites - How many of these do you know about already? I always take a browse through lists like this - and sometimes discover a something worthwhile!

Waiting in the Wings - Mining collections (butterflies, plants and birds) to determine changes over the 19th and 20th century as individual species - and in relationship with other species. Not everything in the food web changes at the same rate.

These are the most beautiful libraries we've ever seen - I am reading more electronically these days but there is still something very appealing about rooms full of books. 

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 21, 2013

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.

Radiation Physicist Beautifully Colorizes X-Ray Images of Nature - The color adds to the images - making them much more art-like.

Important Bird Areas - An interactive US map that shows areas marked as of global, continental, or state importance. Zoom in or enter an address to see detail in a particular location.

Behind the Headline: Even Gifted Students Can’t Keep Up - A summary article prompted by a recent story in New York Times about gifted students. Follow the links to dig deeper into the story.

An Optical Illusion You'll Swear Is Moving. It Isn't. - Watch the video….and read the explanation.

23 Women CEOs Running Fortune 500 Firms - A list published by the Associated Press. I would be interesting to know how the number of women CEOs running Fortune 500 firms has changed over the past decades. In 2009, it was 15. The first woman CEO of a Fortune 500 company was Catharine Graham of the Washington Post in 1972.

Fake it ’til you become it: Amy Cuddy’s power poses, visualized - My daughter was the first to tell me about ‘power poses.’ If you haven’t heard about them before - take a look at the Infographic in the article and/or follow the links for details.

Architectural Breakthroughs that Changed the World - It’s always interesting to see what gets selected for posts like this….and the suggestions for additions in the comments section are worth a look too.

Worth a Watch: Climate Change - the state of the science - A 4 minute film produced with UN funding and based on the IPCC 5th Assessment Report.

Redefining What It Means to be a Successful School - Measuring schools through the lens of student outcomes rather than compliance models

Mapping 400,000 Hours of U.S. TV News - Which areas of the world do we hear and see on the news frequently….which areas are almost never ‘in the news.’ From an analysis of the Internet Archive’s television news research service collection.

10 Elements of Next-Generation Higher Education - It seems like the changes are coming quickly to higher education. Some are technology enabled….others are forced by the change in perspective to view outcomes rather than just the traditional examination/compliance model to determine the quality of education.

Census Bureau Introduces New Interactive Mapping Tool along with Latest American Community Survey Statistics - Take a look at the Census Explorer. It is easier to look at a county or state level rather than an address. The measures that can be selected are: total population, 65 and over, foreign born, high school graduate or more, bachelor’s degree or more, in labor force, owner occupied, and median household income.

Bald Eagles in Florida - November 2013

The bald eagles at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge are birds the come back when the heat of summer is gone. They arrive earlier than many of the other winter birds. The best viewing of the eagles with their nest is actually on the bus tour of the Kennedy Space Center rather than areas accessible in the wildlife refuge although there are some favorite snags in the refuge - just barely within viewing distance from the road - where the eagles like to survey their territory.

I can remember the first time I saw a bald eagle. It was about 24 years ago and at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The bird flew overhead as I held by baby daughter as we looked up from the visitor center parking lot.

Even though there are more bald eagles in the world now than 24 years ago, it’s still a ‘little celebration’ any time I see one!

Broken Shells - Florida November 2013

My favorite beach activity is picking up shells. Most of the time they are broken pieces of a form that sheltered a life in the sea. Sometimes they are lying on top of the sand and sometimes they bring a sand in their curves when I pick them up. It was too cool to want to wash them off in the waves in November so there was more sand than usual with the shells in my bag.

I always like to image the part of the shell that is missing - to complete the curves.

Sometimes it is as easy as imagining a mirror image that could complete the half into a whole.

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 14, 2013

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.

Hummingbird Metabolism Unique in Burning Glucose, Fructose Equally - It takes a lot of energy for these small birds to live as they do!

The Use of Social Media in School - Infographic. Learn some ways Facebook, Pinterest, Blogger, and Twitter are being used in the classroom.

Estrogen: Not Just Produced by Ovaries - The brain can produce and release estrogen! So what does this mean for the hormone over the course of a lifetime?

Elephant Foster Mom: A Conversation with Daphne Sheldrick - It takes a tremendous amount of effort to raise orphaned elephant babies.

Man Walks All Day to Create Massive Snow Patterns - Art for the season!

Useful Infographic on Picking Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables - Sometimes we are so used to finding things in the grocery store all year round that we forget about the season. Cherries and pomegranates are the ones I notice that are only available during their season but almost everything has a season.

World Builder - This video was referenced in a Coursera course on Digital Culture. It is somewhat futuristic but not too far into the future….and thought provoking about technology, relationships, and cognition.

Supervolcanoes Discovered in Utah: Evidence of Some of the Largest Eruptions in Earth's History - Active 30 million years ago in southern Utah. The remains of supervolcanoes are not high cones; at their hear is a large collapse. The ‘Utah’ in this headline was what first caught my attention; I’m still gleaning items that are near our October vacation!

Incredibly Elaborate Illustrations by Victo Ngai - These illustrations are worth at least 1000 words!

Birth date popularity - An interactive data visualization of US births between 1973 and 1999. Move the cursor over the wheel to find how your birthday ranks. September 16 is ranked 1 (9 months from the end-of-year holiday season).

Sandhill Cranes in Florida - November 2013

Sometimes spectacular birds are sighted in unlikely places. About an hour after we saw wood storks near the MacDonald’s parking lot before we got to Orlando, we saw Sandhill Cranes in the cell phone lot where we pulled in to wait for my daughter’s plane to arrive.

They did not seem bothered by the cars driving slowly and parking or pulling out. There was a mother with a young child walking in the parking lot. Neither the birds or the people made any sudden move; a comfortable distance was maintained.

These are large birds and their different postures can make them appear very different. Compare the three birds in the two images below. They are the same three birds!

Bok Tower Gardens (Florida) - Part 2

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I posted about the tower at the Bok Tower Gardensyesterday. Today the focus is on the plants and a few animals. Lizards seemed to be everywhere and it was warm enough for them to be very active.

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The squirrels were acclimated to people. This one listened to the carillon concert with us - keeping his back to us as he perched on a neighboring bench.

The slide show below shows a number of other features in garden: a metal Venus flytrap sculpture among tropical vegetation, oranges glowing in the sun, bees on an agave flower, a Monarch butterfly on orange and red flowers, coral stones used for paving with moss growing in larger indentions, a pineapple type plant, a spider web, the center of a cycad.

Herons in Florida - November 2013

The two types of herons that were easiest to spot in Florida when we were there in November were the Great Blue Heron and the Tricolored Heron (formerly known as the Louisiana Heron).

The Great Blue Heron is a bird we see in Maryland as well and I’ve posted pictures of it before. They look the same everywhere. Some of these pictures include mangroves - a sure indication that these birds are much further south than Maryland.

The Tricolored Herons were new to me. Their range is much further south than Maryland; they thrive throughout Florida. These herons run in the water as they pursue their prey - very different behavior than the patient stalking style of the Great Blue Heron.

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 7, 2013

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 Snowman - Our family’s favorite holiday video - now available on YouTube.

Goldenrod Seeds - Chris Helzer’s photos posted to his ‘The Prairie Ecologist’ site

Khan Academy - I’m taking two Coursera courses about education (E-learning and Digital Cultures from The University of Edinburgh and Emerging Trends & Technologies in the Virtual K-12 Classroom from University of California, Irvine). The number of resources I’m discovering on the web through these courses is staggering. This is one of them.

Psychedelic Images of Terrifying Viruses - The colorization of microscopic images of viruses is done to make it easier to study the structure. You can look at them from that perspective or enjoy them as art! Be sure to look at the comments section for Luke Jerram’s glass sculptures of microbes (other images of the glass here).

Cherry Basil Crumble Bars - I am intrigued by the idea of using beans in the crust/topping and pairing cherries with basil

Are MOOCs the Future of Online Education - Infographic about Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that includes currents statistics and some pros and cons about taking a MOOC.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #55 - I couldn’t resist including this one. My favorite, of course, is the peacock.

Ye Old Parasites - A study of decomposed feces from one of a castle’s latrines has shown high concentration of roundworm and whipworm parasites that plagued crusaders around 1200. Aside from being an interesting footnote to history on its own, it helps explain why so many crusaders died of malnutrition. The detailed genetic information of the parasites from 1200 compared to their modern forms can also guide treatment development to parts of the genome that are less likely to evolve (and become resistant).

What it’s like to grow old, in different parts of the world - Jared Diamond at TED.

Photos of Tiny Animals on Fingers - Enjoy!

Roseate Spoonbills in Florida - November 2013

Roseate Spoonbills are easy to spot because of their color and size - and then fascinate with their unusual bill and the way they feed. In November at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge they gathered with other birds to feed in the pools where there lower water level concentrated the small animals and the spoonbill sifts through the mud to find them. The pools are so rich that the spoonbills were with egrets and ibis.

Alligators in Florida - November 2013

Alligators were easy to spot when we were in Florida in November. The biggest ones were at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. They loll on the banks of the waterways. It’s easy to image that they are smiling to lull their prey into a fall sense of security. In reality they have eaten recently and are not likely to move much from their comfortable spot.

In a small ditch next to the parking lot of the Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor Complex, there was a small alligator. At first his eyes were closed but as more people walked by his place, his eyes slowly opened. These animals have an ancient look about them…and the eyes fit with the rest of their appearance. There is an emptiness about the eyes; how is alligator consciousness different (or similar) to our own?

Sometimes an alligator looks particularly well feed. Doesn’t the middle of the large one above look particularly rounded? I wonder what he ate.

Brown Pelicans in Florida

The Manatee Observation Deck at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge was a great place to see pelicans; there were a lot of them all three times we were there in mid-November. The birds have large wingspans and, with photography, it is easy to capture the way the long feathers at the end curl in flight.

Their heads are up above the plane of their wings when they fly - like herons and egrets. The head looks very large with the length of the bill and the pouch. They look ancient.

At the observation deck there were adults with distinctive coloring

And more ‘brown’ mono-colored juveniles.

Unfortunately - we only saw a manatee once during our week in Florida and it was at Bair Cove boat ramp on the other side of the Haulover Canal from the Manatee Observation Deck. It was a ‘blob’ just under the water….so I didn’t get a picture good enough to share.

Enjoying the Birds at Florida Beaches

The weather was too cool and windy to swim, so we enjoyed watching birds on the beach instead….at Canaveral National Seashore, Cocoa Beach and the beaches near Melbourne.

The wind made for some ruffled feathers. The terns would quickly turn into the wind and preen to resume their usual sleek look.

Or sometimes they just tolerated their ‘punkish’ look.

A willet and sanderling fed side by side on the goodies left from the waves rolling in. 

And the best of the rest are in the slide show below!

Road Trip to Florida

Our destination was Melbourne FL and we did the calculation between flying/car rental and driving - deciding that for two people without significant time constraints, it was less expensive to drive. The drive from Maryland to Florida is a trek on I-95. One passes around Washington DC and Richmond VA and then I-95 becomes a highway that misses any major city. I had thought we might see some fall color as we traveled southward; there was a little in Virginia but by the time we got to North Carolina, the pines dominated the roadway. There were miles of them. Sometimes there was a cotton field visible along the highway. Once past the Roanoke Rapids, there were more swamps and broad rivers. It was still sweat shirt weather all the way from Maryland to South Carolina where we stopped the first night.

By the time we got to Florida, it was warm and wet. I enjoyed the dolphin sculpture at the welcome center. Since it was raining, we stopped for lunch at MacDonald’s rather than picnic.

As we got out of the car the rain slowed down and I noticed two wood storks on a grassy area next to the parking lot. What a great way to start out our week in Florida! I’ll be posting more about our time in Florida over the next few weeks.

The road trip to Florida included a return trip too. On the way back I captured the sunrise in Georgia. We were up early for a long day of driving to get back to Maryland.

Great Blue Heron Reflections and a Turtle Lunch

Several weeks ago, I photographed a Great Blue Heron in the pool beside the bridge on the north side of the Centennial Lake in Maryland.

The bird was very still at first but then started moving around the edge of the pool - reflected in the water. After plunging into the water, the wings were arched to fling water off the feathers.

And then I noticed that the bird had caught something. It wasn’t until I got home and looked at the pictures that I realized it was a turtle!

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 23, 2013

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.

Bob and Evelyn’s Seven Decade Dance - A short biography of a couple that met and married during World War II

Monday macrobug: milkweed bugs on milkweed pods - Milkweeds are probably my favorite wild plant.

The Future of Travel - It’s not about destination as much as it is about purpose. The larger version (easier to stare at) is here. From Richard Watson.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #52 - I can’t resist including these in my gleanings. My favorite of this batch is the macro shot of the Indian peacock’s head….although the spotted owlets are a close second.

Oklahoma vs. Texas (Water, Not Football) - Oklahoma has set its target to recognize the limitations of its water supplies, and the adaptability of its people, Texas has defined its dwindling water supplies as a problem in need of money. It’s good that the governments of both states are recognizing the challenge rather than ignoring it.

America’s First Amphetamine Epidemic 1929–1971 - This article is from the American Journal of Public Health in 2007...but I just found it recently. The author writes that “consumption of prescribed amphetamines has also reached the same absolute levels today as at the original epidemic’s peak.” Scary observation.

6 trashy exercises: Robin Nagle on thinking more creatively about garbage - How many of these have you tried? I’ve done 1, 2 and 4…but they are exercises that are easily repeated.

Increase in U.S. State Government Expenditures for Research and Development - Usually articles about R&D funding are grim…but the trend is upward for state governments. As our economy improves maybe there is more strategic thinking at the state level - at least in some of the states.

Stunning Portraits of Colorful Siamese Fighting Fish - In lieu of visiting an aquarium…a fishy feast for the eyes

Is Solar Worth It? - The answer is ‘it depends.’ This article identifies a way to figure out the answer for your situation.

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 16, 2013

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.

Researchers Regrow Hair, Cartilage, Bone, Soft Tissues: Enhancing Cell Metabolism Was an Unexpected Key to Tissue Repair - The key finding: enhancing mitochondrial metabolism can boost tissue repair and regeneration. This may become a foundational strategy for helping our bodies stay healthy as we age. It is appealing to think of treatments that address the root cause of age related issues ---- reducing or eliminating the need for medications that address the symptoms.

Purring Monkey? Flamboyant Lizard? New Amazonian Species Are Totally Wild - The variety of life on this planet….always fills me with wonder. Hopefully - we are not on a path of our own construction to be the last large species standing.

Gorgeous Turquoise Pools of Pamukkale, Turkey - I found an old tourist book about Pamukkale at a used book sale several years ago. It was from a time when people were still allowed to move all over the pools (there was not a single picture without people in it). I’m glad the access is more controlled these days and that the beauty of the pools is preserved.

A Mesmerizing Interactive History of the High-Rise - Take a different perspective on history - via interactive media….through a narrow lens. Think about how much the elevator changed thinking about how many floors a building could have.

Flower Research Shows Gardens Can Be a Feast for the Eyes – And the Bees - Tuck this idea away for your our planning your garden for next year: planting pollinator-friendly flowers is a no-cost, win-win solution to help the bees. The plants attractive to bees are just as cheap, easy to grow, and as pretty as those that are less attractive to insects.

Discovery of a 2,700-Year-Old Portico in Greece - A long, open structure that often housed shops and delineated public squares from the city…deserted after the area was conquered by Philip II in 357 BC. Over 450 students from University of Montreal have learned excavation techniques and analysis of archaeological material from this site….and the excavation is ongoing.

Amazing Hand-Tinted Photos of Egypt from the late 19th century - The annotations provide an indication of which ones were moved before the Aswan High Dam was completed in the 1960s. There is an image of sand up to the shoulders of an Abu Simbel statue.

Spectacular Lightning Show Over the Grand Canyon - Sometimes catching an image is about being in the right place at the right time….and having the skill to capture what is happening.

High Dietary Intake of Polyphenols Are Associated With Longevity - The headline was typical of many nutrition research articles. What I found more interesting was that this study used a biomarker (total urinary polyphenol concentration) rather than relying on study participants logging their food intake….a positive trend toward making nutrition related research more objective.

Civilizations Rise and Fall On the Quality of Their Soil - About 1% of global land is degraded each year. That can’t be a good thing if we want to feed all the people in the world.

The three waves of disruptive trends - Emerging…differentiating…business value - the waves just keep coming!

Zooming - November 2013

The ‘zooming’ post for November includes things seen on a fall hike: leaves, milkweed seeds, and a mushroom cap. Enjoy!

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 9, 2013

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.

Cool Plants for Kids: 8 that Explode, Eat Bugs, or Stick to You -  Cool plants for more than just kids: puffballs, jewelweed, beaked hazelnut, pitcher plants (below), sundew, burdock, beggarticks, Norway maples.

London’s Wasted Heat - It’s intriguing to realize that there are places in London - and probably most cities - where heat could be used rather than vented. The trend should be toward ‘less waste’ and this is certainly one area that could be worth pursuing.

US Preterm Birth Rate Drops to 15-Year Low - But the US still gets a ‘C’ grade when it comes to preterm birth rates. It’s very sad for the individual children fighting to overcome the impact of preterm birth and preterm births cost about 12 times more than an uncomplicated healthy birth. For the report card for each state - see the March of Dimes site.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #51 - I always like the collections of bird photographs. My favorite in this batch is the common kingfisher with outspread wings….but I also enjoyed how many of the birds in this set were finding something to eat.

Norwegian Vikings Purchased Silk from Persia - Trade has been going on for a long time….sometimes longer than our ‘history’ has realized.

9 ways mushrooms could drastically improve the world - From a TED talk by Mohamed Hijri

Breathtaking Autumn Colors Viewed Atop Oberg Mountain - These image from Minnesota were posted in early October….I just got around to taking a look at them.

Saharan Star Dunes - These dunes are formed when the wind changes directions…swirling.

US Cities In Which The Fewest People Drive To Work - Biking…walking…mass transit - is it a surprise that New York, Washington DC, Boston and San Francisco are at the top of the list?

Gartner's dark vision for tech, jobs - The upcoming wave of machines replacing people now is entering into Gartner’s projections….it is within the near term rather than outside the span of our lifetimes. 

La Sal Mountains - Utah - October 2013

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It was cold the morning we drove up into the La Sal Mountains in southeastern Utah. The peaks had snow and the edge of the pond was icy.

The grass and seed pods around the pond were coated with thick frost.

But the lower slopes were covered with colors of aspens and pines.

We watched cattle being herded by men on horseback; it was the time of year to move to lower pastures. And over it all - we heard birds (and sometimes saw) birds enjoying the forest before the big freeze of winter.