Clik here to view.
Sequencing data
The New York Times recently posted a piece on problem solving which asked readers to first solve a problem:"We’ve chosen a rule that some sequences of three numbers obey — and some do not. Your job is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bryology Foray in California
Want to experience the wonders of bryophytes in California? Consider attending SO BE FREE 21 (details below). I attended last year when we explored the mosses of the San Bernardino Mountains and the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bicycle camping trailer for 2
Oh, doesn't this look like fun! It's the Wide Path camper. It cleverly unfolds (the back half, left, folds over the front) and is light enough that 2 people can carry it, and of course a bicycle can...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mid-summer garden tidbits
It's July, and tonight's low temperature will be 52 F, cat's on the bed, close kitchen windows, and have a blanket available kind of weather. On Monday the high humidity and high 80s temperature...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bethe's Dictum: "Always work on problems for which you possess an unfair...
Hans Bethe in his young daysLast week (July 2) marked the birthday of the physicist Hans Bethe. Bethe has long been a big hero of mine, not only because he was one of the greatest scientists of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Who will identify plants?
Today's news included an article sent to TPP about the closing of the University of Missouri herbarium, a collection some 3 to 4 times larger than the collection here. The specimens will end up at the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
FieldNotes: Poisonous and grieving quail, reclusive rail, and giants!
Poisonous Birds Prove That Nature Wants You Dead by Megan Cartwright at Slate: Here’s a forensic riddle: Ten people eat an autumn dinner of roasted quail in Turkey. Hours later, four diners start to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The old man is snoring
It rained last night after breaking the low temperature record for the date, 8 July, by 12 degrees F! This morning was like early morning in the Costa Rican rainforest, warmish, relative humidity maxed...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Professional Website Update
I finally got around to revising my professional website. It was way out of date and could use some sprucing up. I originally had some large ambitions to switch to a Wordpress site with a sharp theme,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Tim Hunt affair is destroying our community from within. We need to not...
So much ink has been – and continues to be – spilt over the Tim Hunt affair that I have nothing to add to it. The only thing that’s clear by this point is that the episode is more complicated than what...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How Volcanic Eruptions Inspired Artists
As diplomat in France, from 1776-1785, Benjamin Franklin noted in 1783 a strange, grey-bluish mist covering the sky above Europe. Franklin speculated that the cloud was some sort of volcanic dust, may...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lending millions for bad education
Would you pay the same tuition for a Harvard degree as for a second-rate school that you've never heard of? Probably not. But thanks to the federal government’s help, that’s exactly what we are all...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Genetics of Resurrection Plants
A great article from KQED Science about resurrection mosses. Scientists are learning more about these tough plants with the goal of using their genes to improve crop plants, so that they can better...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Double whammy weekend
Every year TPP gets the double whammy; this year it fell on a weekend. Yes, the anniversary-birthday bam-bam double whammy, so it greatly behooves TPP to remember this appropriately each year. It may...
View ArticleClik here to view.
First woman in 'space'
I keep checking to see how far away New Horizons is from Pluto (459,770 km at 0235 GMT) even though I know there's nothing to see at the moment, but I am a space junkie.The first space launch I can...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Friday fabulous flower - water lily sort of
Not a water lily but a lily in a light rain. Couldn't resist this. Neighbor has this planted right by the sidewalk and it was head high. Of course TPP has ruined several shirts with lily pollen stains....
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Acrotretids: Micro-brachiopods from the Dawn of... Brachiopods
Ventral valve of Acrotreta sp., copyright Ivo Paalits / TÜ geoloogiamuuseum.When brachiopods have been featured on this site before, they have generally been representatives of the group known as the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Stupidity and ignorance in Lincolnland
Stupidity and ignorance is now more or less politics as usual here in Lincolnland. Bobcats are dangerous vermin and so numerous that a hunting season is needed to control their burgeoning population...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Iran nuke deal reveals true nature of GnOPe
The GOP reaction to the nuke deal with Iran reveals their true political nature. As regular readers know, TPP generally refers to them as the GnOPe, wherein the G is silent. Their very predictable...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lovecraft and the discovery of Pluto
about #Lovecraft, #Pluto, #Lowell and #Tombaugh The story of the Pluto's discovery started with Urban Le Verrier, a French mathematician that he was interested in celestial mechanics: performing some...
View Article