butterfly populations, glyphosate, GM crops, figurine cut-away models, bacteriophage

In brief, i was very pleased to be in attendance at a well-staged dinner party hosted by the highly talented Jeremy and lovely KateB. One of the conversational topics included the migration of monarch butterflies to their overwintering location, and subsequent population decline as measured by the amount of land they occupy in their Mexico overwintering site (45 acres in 1996, a peak year, to 1.65 acres this year). This number has dropped in the past 10 years in what amounts to a steady decrease, and reasons for the decline have been attributed mainly to sheer loss of habitat due to land conversion to agriculture, herbicide use preventing milkweed growth (milkweed being the main food for Monarch butterflies), and very detrimental weather patterns.

This lead to a complicated conversation regarding the herbicide commonly known as glyphosate, or Monsanto's Round-up. It's an analog of the amino acid glycine, and jams up the synthesis of other amino acids (phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan) by binding competitively to one of the enzymes which make a precursor to these amino acids. Only plants and micro-organisms have this pathway; mammals get these amino acids from their diets, making glyphosate a highly effective herbicide. On the other end, some bacteria (agrobacterium, in this instance, which is famous because, somewhat ironically, it's commonly used to make transgentic plants anyway), have resistance to glyphosate due to what amounts to a single mutation in that enzyme, and folks have put that gene into various crop plants to get glyphosate-resistant, "Round-up Ready" plants.
There was also discussion of the fact that apparently, there are very few genetically modified (GM) food crops (corn, sugar beets, papaya and soybean crops) grown in the US, including a lack of GM potatoes, wheat, and other vegetables (and please note, numbers are a little elusive regarding wheat). There are 2 different ways you can genetically modify something; either by introducing a gene from a different variety in the same species of that organism (for instance, between varieties of wheat), or introducing a gene from a different species (for instance, inserting a bacterial gene, bacillus thuringiensis, which produces a toxin against caterpillars, into potatoes, corn, etc). A variety of these potatoes were released and grown from 1996-2001, but consumer skepticism lead food processing companies to stop purchasing it, which effectively caused it's removal from the market despite completely safe reports and FDA approval.  This is frustrating; " There is broad scientific consensus that genetically engineered crops currently on the market are safe to eat. After 14 years of cultivation and a cumulative total of 2 billion acres planted, no adverse health or environmental effects have resulted from commercialization of genetically engineered crops ", quoted from this excellent article. Furthermore, use of GM plants would decrease the amounts of chemical pesticides and herbicides used (as illustrated with the Bt and glyphosate crops), extend the range of climates in which some crops can be grown (which is pretty important given current climate change data), and nutritionally enhance other crops. Also, given that originally, corn looked like this, humans have been genetically modifying crops via selection for millennia.

Anyway.

An artist named Jason Freely has been making really neat 'cut-away models' of various pop-culture figures (Barbie, My Little Pony, Lego figures, etc) (via this article).

This SMBC comic was sent to me this morning; please disregard the fact that the virus depicted there is one of the alien-looking bacteriophage, which only infect bacteria and do not (directly) cause humans to vomit.

And finally, because i can't resist:
You know why the cowboy purchased a dachshund? He wanted to get a long little doggie.

Carolina Shag, soap scents, and automotive starters

This is pretty cool, and a dance style that i've always really wanted to learn. One of my favorite authors is Pat Conroy, as his imagery/sense of place are among the best i've ever encountered; he feels about the American south as i feel about my own home turf, that it's pretty much a gift made for us by a generous creator. Anyhow, his books frequently reference the Southern partnered dance called the Carolina shag, and it seems to be nearly as much fun as two-stepping. Yup.

i have addressed my bar soap junkie tendencies on this blog before, and i assure you that this remains a strong personal interest. While traveling, i stopped by a market and brought home soaps as souvenirs for myself. One of the more common ones used in Kolkata was Dettol, which has a remarkably strong antiseptic scent, so i picked up one of those, as well as a seemingly popular sandalwood-scented one. Also common were rose-scented varieties, but rose scents aren't quite my thing. This lead to the question; are various soap scents more popular in some places than others, due to local preferences? And exactly what does 'American' soap smell like? i couldn't find any hard data on soap scent preferences sorted by country. There are articles out there attempting to tie scent to that which underscores a person's own unique MHC signature, okay, and as others have pointed out, it's less science and more subjective/context dependent. There are a lot of articles out there looking at the scents of household cleansers, and how those have gone from relying on ammonia, pine tar and lemon for odor (and subsequent indication of effectiveness) to, as " New surfactants and solvents that have boosted cleaning efficacy over the years also tend to have less odor than older formulas that used bleach and ammonia. Consumers have gradually accepted that cleaning products work even without a chemical smell. ", from this well researched Wall Street Journal article, which goes on to cite fashion, food and even popular color fads as current inspirations for cleanser scents. Googling to determine the most popular soap purchased anywhere is super annoying, as google wants to direct you to soap operas, but carefully refined search terms indicate that Palmolive soap is the most popular brand of soap purchased in the US (please note; i don't necessarily trust this data, as it's produced by the Colgate company, and can't really seem to find any actual quantization to support it.) Given that the main bar soap produced by Palmolive is Irish Spring, the smell of America, then, might be that. Another popular soap is Dial's Gold, apparently having a " non-medicinal clover-like smell" (and wth is "a fragrance as fresh as a new morning"? seriously.), and Dove, which claims to be " named the most popular soap bar in the world, according to a major survey ", but those numbers eluded me tonight, as well. Dove's white soap bar apparently smells 'clean and fresh', and gets a lot of compares to Clean's Shower Fresh, with "quintessential soapy, fresh-from-the-shower clean scent is a soft and sexy musky floral". If you know of or come across any actual data, or any studies regarding soap scent preferences by location, please let me know.
Interesting articles kicked up while researching this is a huff post article regarding bar v/s liquid soap (bar soap being both cheaper and with an estimated 25% less carbon footprint), and a NYTimes article concerning facial bar soap.

i have had two very interesting technological issues lately. i had taken my laptop home one night carefully ensconced in my backpack, slipped on some ice and landed directly on my pack. The laptop still works, thankfully, but the sound system developed a massively annoying high pitched whine. Happily, the computer specialist in the building in which i work helped me remove the case and use an exacto knife to remove the left speaker. There's still a slight whistle when using headphones, but the high pitched whine is gone, so i feel it was a worthy sacrifice. Secondly, my truck refused to start on Wednesday morning. i'd driven it the night before, for good 20 miles, and the lights/radio/air all still worked, but turning a key in the ignition only resulted in a 'click', and nothing more. Took it in (the dude who showed up in a tow truck managed to jiggle around the key enough for the starter to work), and it turns out that there's apparently a dead zone in my starter (and check out this coolness). There are supposedly several causes, including a burned spot on the armature or starter relay windings, or issues with the fly-wheel. In my truck's case, it's not quite bad enough to replace just yet, but if it ever happens again, i'm supposed to attempt to shift the vehicle (the car repair shop said to jump up and down in the truck bed, and my dad suggested putting it in neutral and rocking it, but i don't think i can shift it to neutral without starting it) and try it again. Man, i wish i knew more about automotive repair and could just fix it myself.  Maybe future goals?

University of Winterfell, snow flamethrower, curling fashion, hulk the pooh, analog clocks

Sorry about the brief intermission; the holidays happened, then i did a little traveling to celebrate the marriage of two dear friends.

First and foremost, it's pretty cold here. The high today is 1 degree Fahrenheit, which is at least positive. A friend commented that we attend the University of Winterfell (which is strangely appropriate). i came across this (satirical) article whereby a man supposedly tries to clear snow via flamethrower, and it's certainly worth a read. A google image search for 'snow flamethrower' is also appropriately hilarious.

A recent NYTimes article featured the Norwegian curling team's fashion sense in respect to uniforms. i sent this around, and it elicited various responses from friends. KateB pointed out that some of the patterns available from the company who makes those pants are quite pretty. Bryan opinioned that they look like clown pants, a view shared with other internet users (based on this google image search as well as a few corresponding articles).

Some close friends are having children, and i would love to frame these prints, entitled 'Hulk the Pooh', for all their nurseries.

i had lunch with a friend in the break room today, wherein there is a remotely controlled analog clock that is rarely set to the correct time. He mentioned that once while touring a power plant, the tour guide mentioned that the intensity of the electrical current could cause clocks to run either fast (more/too much power) or slow (less/not enough power). We had a brief discussion regarding this, and the internet semi-confirms it, as well as here, "In an analog clock the hands of an electric clock are driven by a synchronous electric motor supplied with alternating current of a stable frequency.  ".

The delightful 'What If' section of xkcd addressed bulk virus volume today: Pile of Viruses.

David Bowie LV ad, UW photos, ski jumping and flying, and Warm Bodies

i was youtubing songs to remind Jack of The Punch Brothers, and the brief commercial that queued up before the song featured, rather astonishingly, David Bowie playing the harpiscord while serenading/attending what appears to be a Venetian Masquerade. i was, again, astonished, and had to track down the ad: please watch this. Further backtracking indicates that it made Adweek's Ad Of The Day last week, and it's by a director better known for music videos. Hmm. Anyway, i think it would be epic to arrive somewhere by hot air balloon, despite the commentary that they're difficult to actually steer.

Came across this 'Ultimate Guide to Biking and cycling' today. There's actually quite a bit of information there.

This picture of a cow photography shoot on the university's website today. Unlike pictured Brown Swiss, my family's Brahman cattle are so darn curious that they will track you down and be in your picture, just to see what you're doing. (This can be terrifying when they're across the pasture and they decide, as a herd, that they need to be in your immediate vicinity. The result is an entire herd basically stampeding at you. Eesh.)

Highly interestingly; i knew there was once a ski jump on campus, built on what is now John Muir knoll. However, i saw a picture today taken from the top of the jump, looking down it. Terrifying. The accompanying article reports the original one was built in the 1910s by Norwegian students over the Christmas break. i gchatted the article to Bryan, who responded that ski jumps ARE terrifying, as he'd seen one in Oslo. Holey Smokes. And the he went on to look up the k-spot, or critical point of the hill, and determined that the record for that ski jump is over the hill size, meaning that people attempting to break the record might also break their legs. That lead us to looking up the world record jumps, and finally on to ski flying. Ladies and gentlemen, we have finally found a sport which i will probably refuse to attempt: sky flying (also, only two wipe-outs in that video. Personally, i think that's remarkable. Also, the music loops. You've been warned. )

Another thing i saw recently was the movie Warm Bodies. i realized, halfway through with the help of a balcony scene, that it's a version of Romeo and Juliet, set in a post-apocalyptic zombie situation, and it turns out, i'm not crazy (at least about the reference). However, it's cute and certainly has moments of cleverness. Also, Jack, it put me in mind of Josh Ritter's The Curse; can you share that with Leslie? Earlier that evening, Leslie was very kindly preparing dinner and asked Jack to get something out of the cabinet, which sounded like poison (turned out, it was hoison sauce. not it), and we joked about Leslie only serving poison to her favorite guests. i referenced Better Than Ezra's lovely/creepy song Porcelain as precedent for wanting to destroy a favorite thing so no one else can have it, so here's a link to that song, too.

Miss Universe National Costume commentary, mascara, blood donations

The Miss Universe beauty pageant recently occurred, and it was brought to my attention via NPR that the National Costume portion of the contest is really something to see (all of the costumes found here, and a youtube 'highlights' clip format). Bryan and i were reviewing these, and he picked Sweden as the winner, mostly because with her sword, she might just resort to force. Neither of us understood Germany or Belgium, and i speculated that Denmark's was in homage to their mermaid statue. Quite a few of the ladies relied on large feather headdresses/props; man, weight training might be a good idea just wearing those things. America's is a little odd.

This article regarding advertising and the claims made by mascara ads popped up on the NYTimes. i recently bought a tube of mascara (my prior tube was used up in drawing a mustache on a female impersonating the lead character of Breaking Bad), and was a little overwhelmed with the choices (even just those present at Target), so it was interesting to read that some companies have been forced to change their claims, as eyelash inserts or photoshop had been used in some circumstances/models. Hmm.


Another NYTimes article recently featured selfies taken by Franz Ferdinand bassist Bob Hardy, of himself, face obscured by a book, in every hotel room he's visited. i find this fascinating, because despite all being hotel rooms, one can get pretty close to guessing the general location (city/country) by the furnishings.

Some friends and i had dinner this evening, and on the way back we saw ads for a campus blood drive. Someone made the comment that the blood just gets sold, and i took exception to that; the blood is not called a donation for nothing. According to the Red Cross FAQs for blood donations, "There is never a fee for the blood itself. The Red Cross charges for expenses incurred in recruiting and educating donors, keeping accurate donor records, collecting blood by trained staff, processing and testing blood in a state of the art laboratory, and storing and distributing blood ". Further investigation turned up a Slate article reporting that blood is sold, indeed, and can vary from region to region based on overhead costs as well as general supply. That article also included the anecdote that " Until the 1970s, a major portion of the nation's blood supply came from paid donors. But a government study found that volunteered blood was much less prone to hepatitis contamination. From then on, blood banks had to label their packages "paid" or "volunteer," which had the effect of eliminating paid-donor blood from the national supply. (Pharmaceutical companies still purchase blood plasma from for-profit firms that hire paid donors. The nonprofits also sell off surplus plasma to the drug companies at market rate.) ", which i had heard before. Interesting. Anyhow, we still do not artificially generate blood (no matter what the Southern Vampire Mysteries would have you think), and i'd rather there be blood available for those who need it than not. Also, i would probably not participate if they paid me.

Because i have been living under a rock, i did not realize John Mayer has a new album out. It's decent (and yeah, i'm a fan).

oven temperatures, space animals, Harrison Ford and earrings, organisms named for famous people

Oh, gosh; where to begin?

A dear friend has started a tumblr account featuring recipes prepared from a cookbook from 1903. i was recently accused of making a 'wild guess' regarding oven temperature equivalents: the recipe called for a 'slow oven', and i recommended 300 degrees Fahrenheit; this was not a wild guess. One of my favorite cookie recipes is for tea cakes (basically sugar cookies) from a 1910s cookbook that belonged to my great-grandmother (my dad's mom's mom), and i once looked up what a 'very hot oven' is (450-500 degrees F, which ranks up there with Dobos tortes as being the hottest oven requirement i've used). Anyhow, here is a listing of oven equivalencies, and, somewhat surprisingly, a poem.


My labmate linked this picture of a dog seemingly floating in space today; my immediate response was, 'Is that photoshopped?' Looking around, there were quite a number of Soviet space dogs, but the most recent space animals have not included canines. The picture at the very start of the wikipedia article features a small monkey ( known as Miss Baker, who, interestingly, became the longest lived squirrel monkey at 27) sitting on a small rocket. It seems possible but unlikely that the rocket was the size featured in the picture, as the monkey would be crammed in there ('screaming monkey tube in space!'), but it turns out, the actual rocket was big enough for multiple monkeys.

Jack delightfully linked this collection of photographs of women painted as skeletons. Yes!

Which brings us to ear piercings and Harrison Ford. The ever-excellent Jimmy Fallon recently had his ear pierced on set by Harrison Ford (who was probably there promoting Ender's Game? Then the ear thing just... happened?) Anyhow, within that clip, Jimmy states that Mr. Ford has had his ear pierced for a long time now, and i had to google that to confirm. Yup (and apparently he DOES have a stance on tattoos). As recounted in a few different places, supposedly Mr. Ford was out at a birthday lunch in 1997 with Jimmy Buffet and Ed Bradley, both of whom have their ear(s) pierced, and was so inspired to dash by the girls' accessory store Claire's after lunch to have his own done.

Also from Mr. Ford's wikipedia page, he has two organisms named for him (a spider and an ant, due to his work in conservation). Splashing over to the wikipedia page List of Organisms Named for Famous People is highly amusing due to the side-by-side pictures of famous humans and their namesakes. That page arced over to a very detailed compilation of organisms-named-for-humans page, which has some fascinating entries and is arranged by the occupation of the famous person, though the best entries might be found in the 'other' category.

Goodnight Dune, bats, etc; fried food centrifugation degreasing, flyting

Stumbled across this smashup called Goodnight Dune via facebook the other day. Awesome and creepy.

i've had a brain full of bats lately (things have been a little batty?); i came across these impossibly cute collections of bat gifs. Part one, and part two (mostly baby bats). Also awesome is this winged lizard.

Bryan was kind enough to prepare fried chicken for a large group of people on Halloween. It was delicious. In his honor, i present this insightful review of a paper (from The Annals of Improbable Research) wherein a centrifuge is used to remove grease from schnitzel. Best line? " Two freshly deep-fried schnitzels were purchased from the cafeteria at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. The schnitzels weighed 128.46 and 129.67 grams, suggesting that a highly precise manufacturing process produces these schnitzels. "

i'm certain you saw this on various other media platforms, but some folks synched up their Halloween-decorated house to Ylvis' tune, What Does The Fox Say. Apparently, most of the lights are LED-based and they estimate their electric bill for the Halloween season to be $25-35 for the display. No word on what the neighbors say.

(sigh.)

Turns out, mostly between the 5th and 16th centuries there were ritual poetic insult matches termed 'flyting' (not to be confused with 'flirting, 4th grade style'), with plenty of references in Norse and Anglo-Saxon literature. Additionally, wikipedia states that , "The Flyting of Dumbar and Kennedie records a contest between William Dunbar and Walter Kennedy in front of James IV, which includes the earliest recorded use of the word shit as a personal insult".

Moreover, a 'thing' can officially refer to a governing assembly in Germanic societies, both in per-Christianity as well as today. i'm pretty amused by the idea of a 'legislative thing' being it's proper title.

from Jack, regarding the helmet-cam mountain biking video i blogged about a week or two ago:

J:  I think I just crapped my pants watching that mt bike video

I am 99% sure that individuals up to the intense of experiences that often have that D4DR mutation thing

The mutation to which she refers is the Dopamine receptor D4, and mutations to this receptor can be insertions/repetitions, amino acid mutations, and other mutations of sections, though perhaps the "novelty-seeking behavior is probably mediated by several genes, and the variance attributable to DRD4 by itself is not particularly large". Interesting.