Why is it so COLD?

This summer has really stunk weather wise in the UP. It has been cold. Really cold. There were three hard freezes in June. By the time people could get a garden growing there wasn't time to harvest in many cases. We did have a couple of warm days but most of the summer has been cold. I guess the idea that the hot get hotter and the cold get colder may have some merit. Given that the temperature of Lake Superior right now (end of August) is running around 56 F or 13 C according to the Michigan Sea Grant Coastwatch program I expect that a cold winter will freeze the lake over. Which means a colder winter since heat from the lake puts heat into our atmosphere and moderates the temperature near the lake. Which also means it will take longer to warm up next year so maybe another cold summer.

It would be different if this was unusual. But it seems that the past few summers have been colder than normal. I'm looking for a graph that would show how we have been deviating from the norm. I'll add that when I find it.

No science in summer? I have another life?

I haven't posted here in a long time. Why? Well, it might be that I really haven't had time although I did some really cool science stuff last summer. I promise to catch up soon. In the mean time check out Second Life, a virtual world (metaverse) with currently over 200 universities, government entities like NASA and NOAA, non-profit organizations, politicians, malls, residential areas, clubs, activist groups, and hands-on educational material. You can get more information from http://secondlife.com. Here is a picture of me in my second life temporary office.
I learned about Second Life from NASA (my next post will be about seeing the shuttle launch) and I was kind of embarrassed that a technonerd like me had never heard of it. Anyway I have now and am introducing my students to it. Over 9 million avatars have been registered (yes some of those probably represent the same person - maybe as many as 1 million of them. So that means only 8 million actual people have experienced Second Life). In the past 30 days over 1 million people have been "in world" and typically, when I check, between 35,000 and 45,000 people are there at any one given time. I am working on it as a teaching/learning tool but yes, I did get a real charge out of visiting the deck of the Enterprise.

Soon to come, a video of my experiences there. By the way, this is an adult world. Some areas are rated "mature" and others are PG. But you have to be 18 to participate. There is another world for teens called Teen Second Life (ages 13-18) and adults are restricted - they have to have a background check, a sponsoring institution like a school, and are limited to one island. Teens have to be validated by a parent. It is likely that a few creeps slip through the cracks but, since the environment is such that there are pretty good controls, apparently they tend to get reported fairly quickly. For little kids who want a virtual experience, try Club Penguin (http://www.clubpenguin.com).

Okapi again

I am posting this picture of one of my favorite animals for a special girl. I took it at the St. Louis, Missouri zoo last week.

Lack of Reality is too Unreal for me.

I wish someone could explain how the physics of subatomic particles can tell me that reality doesn't exist? Maybe this really is the Matrix! The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle has been used by radical constructivists as evidence that reality is all in our own minds. If that is true then what is the point of studying anything? If there is no ecosystem then why study it? If there is no Earth then why try to save it? If there is no fat, then why not just eat chocolate? Sounds like a deal to me (the chocolate thing that is). Now there is a new study that is supposedly backing up this idea. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/070425-reality.htm. I am a relatively bright person but I still don't get this whole idea. Just because something is unstudiable does that mean it doesn't exist? Sounds like a bit of scientific arrogance if you ask me. According to John Wheeler, "No el­e­men­ta­ry phe­nom­e­non is a phe­nom­e­non un­til it is an ob­served phe­nom­e­non". Basically, as I read it, since particle movement and velocity are random and, since position, spin or speed can be observed at a moment but cannot be predicted before or after that moment, if you aren't looking, reality doesn't exist. Little children think that, when they play peek-a-boo the person disappears (or child psychologists and learning theorists think they think this). These theories are like that. If no one is observing then it isn't real. Again, that seems really arrogant.

I can buy the randomness - Einstein apparently had problems with that. Perhaps it is the randomness that keeps it all together. Too much order might result in events of harmonics that would break the universe apart like the Tacoma Narrows bridge or other bridges that suffer due to resonance: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bridge/meetsusp.html#clips.

This is just science according to Carolyn, of course. I am not an atomic physicist but I wonder how they justify studying anything if it isn't there at all?

SCIENCE TEACHING!!!

Hey science teachers! Do I have a deal for you!!! Seriously, we have some great programs going on here at NMU. For all K-12 science teachers, there are two classes offered during July for 2 weeks only - 4 credits in 2 weeks in the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan. What a wonderful time and place for a family vacation! One is entitled "The Effective Teaching of Science" and I promise it will be fun and exciting. The other is "Exploring your Environment". E-mail me or visit http://www-instruct.nmu.edu/education/clowe for more information.

For K-8 teachers of all types (ESPECIALLY those who don't know much about science) there is an all-online course in the fall, "The Living World" which is a 4 credit laboratory based life science course. The good thing is that you DO NOT have to know any science or anything about online classes to take it. I will walk you through every step. See the link above or contact me directly for information.

Seriously Big Bugs

Just some catching up. When I was in St. Louis for the National Science Teachers Association, I had the opportunity to handle some seriously big bugs. Both of them are types of walking sticks. These are well-camouflaged insect-eating insects. I am not sure but I wouldn't be surprised if these wouldn't eat a small lizard or other animal. The hands in the picture are not mine although I did get to hold them. I couldn't hold and take a picture at the same time. One of the pictures appeared below as well but I wanted to speak of them again. We talk a lot about how there were huge insects in older times. Well, some of the insects today aren't all that small. There are also very large spiders (tarantulas) and huge centipedes (I once saw one about 13 inches long, about 3/4 inch wide black centipede with orange legs while at girls camp in southern Oklahoma). Goliath beetles can be 4 1/2 inches long, about as long as these bugs, but much heavier thanks to their heavy bodies. There are the Io moths and some butterflies that can have wingspans of almost a foot. So, while most "bugs" are little, some are really pretty big. By the way, there is a such thing as a true bug. A true bug is an insect with a sucking mouth part and wings that make an X on their backs. Stink bugs and weevils are true bugs. And, yes, stink bugs really do stink.

More Birds and Snow

Oh please - not more birds. As my son Curt says, "Why would you want to take pictures of birds? Other people do that and you can just get the ones they took." I suppose so but still - I like taking pictures of birds....MY birds!

Our snowstorm is up to 4 feet - probably a bit more. There was one station with 52 inches of snow this week. That is a record since snow depths were recorded for April in the UP. It is still snowing but is supposed to diminish this evening after dumping another 2-4 inches.

Above is a picture of snow on our oak branches and a fir in the background. To the right are icicles outside my home office window.

Now for the birds. As I mentioned before, there have been sometimes up to 20 birds on our porch and bird feeders. As a result much competition exists. The chickadees and nuthatches seem to lose out the most. I got this humourous picture of birds competing for a spot. The two reddish birds are purple finches and the yellow birds are American goldfinches. My captions, from RIGHT to LEFT, are: "MOVE!" "NO!" "If you're going to fight I'm outta here!" and finally "These guys really annoy me." To the right is a picture of a female purple finch in flight.

To the right is a female purple finch in flight. Besides the purple and gold finches, and chickadees and nuthatches, we have had juncos, hairy woodpeckers, downy woodpeckers (on our suet), and a blue jay or two.

SNOW?????

Well, today is April 4, 2007 and we are in the midst of a blizzard. Yep, not unheard of but not common either. The record for this area was 25 ½ inches in Negaunee in 1977. We are a ways from that but we have at least a foot outside. The snow was nearly completely gone yesterday with only spots in the woods or where the plow had piled it up. It was a “snow day” at school today (which is a pretty rare occasion) and it remains to be seen whether we will have classes tomorrow. Pretty amazing for April I think.

This storm is pretty cool. It is a classic mid-latitude cyclone in which we are sitting in the “comma” and much of the moisture is being brought up from the Gulf of Mexico as you can see in the water vapor satellite image. In addition, the moisture is being augmented water vapor brought in by high winds blowing over Lake Superior.

Many birds have begun arriving from the south and are not adapted to this weather. It is, however, not that cold with current temperatures around 18 degrees F. We have filled both bird feeders in the past 24 hours and one is already empty. In addition, I have been throwing seed out on the ground for the juncos (snow birds). I have seen a white throated sparrow, several purple finches, a lot of gold finches and juncos and, of course, my regular customers, the chickadees and nuthatches.

Traveling Show

I was only home for 13 days in the month of March. I left for Oklahoma on March 1 and returned on March 11 – our “winter” break (there really is no spring here). I went to visit my Mom, three sons, two daughters-in-law, and, most of all, my two grandkids, one of whom was just born in January. But enough of the personal stuff. For more of that you can go to my family blog http://hownowlowe.blogspot.com/.

While in Oklahoma I visited the egret rookery (shared with a few herons) that I visited last summer. The birds were not yet back from their winter vacation down south but I noticed that the land was for sale. I was concerned so I contacted the Nature Conservancy, my favorite conservation organization. They told me that they do not work with urban land but to contact the Audubon society. I did and they said they would monitor it but likely couldn’t do anything to prevent the sale. However, they said that the birds would likely find the nearest available appropriate area and move there. If I can’s find them next summer when I return, I will contact the Audubon Society to see if they know where they have moved.

I was back in the UP for three days then left for the Michigan Science Teachers Association Convention in Grand Rapids. While there I stayed at the very plush Amway Grand Hotel. I made four presentations, one on Project Globe with my NMU colleagues Mitch Klett and Greg Coverdale, and one on ways to incorporate active participation in lecture settings. The other presentation I made was about teaching vocabulary in science (“What Does ‘Vocabulary’ Mean; Better Ways to Teach Terminology”). This session was scheduled twice and, amazing to me, was completely full both times. In fact, the first time I presented the room was full with standing-room only and some had to leave. I guess a lot of people need this help. If you are interested in the presentation, it is available on my NMU Instruct Server account: http://www-instruct.nmu.edu/education/clowe.

Back home for 10 days and then off again to the National Science Teachers Association Convention in St. Louis, MO. I was part of the NASA team presenting a full-day seminar for NSTA on “Living and Working in Space: Habitat”. The current NSTA website (how long it will remain I don’t know) is http://institute.nsta.org/stlouis/habitat/symposium.asp and there are upcoming webinars (web seminars) scheduled. Participants built habitats to take home including seeds, plants, and (unexpectedly) “bugs” which were found in the plants.

I also had the opportunity to hear Susan Solomon of NOAA – one of the world’s specialists in climate change. She originally focused on Ozone and was instrumental in working toward the elimination of CFC production globally. Her research now is in the area of global warming and atmospheric changes leading to it. She was pretty convincing that CO2 is, in fact, the primary anthropogenic contributor to global warming, something I have had issues with. However, she seemed very much entrenched in her own views and, as Kuhn said in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, that could prevent her from seeing or acknowledging truths. Something to be studied and seen in the future. Regardless, we need to find alternatives to fossil fuels for a variety of reasons.

I asked the question about wavelength absorption. She indicated that it is true that many of the infrared wavelengths that carbon dioxide could absorb are already absorbed and that other molecules such as methane, and particularly SF6 (a byproduct of catalytic converters) had more “bang for the buck”, that is that they absorbed more infrared radiation than carbon dioxide per atom. However there are much fewer of these molecules in the atmosphere. Her comment was that there is still a big enough wavelength window that carbon dioxide is, in fact, the forcing mechanism. However, she became somewhat irate at my question and commented that this was an argument nay-sayers use which makes me wonder. Hmmmm.

While in St. Louis, I was able to go about in short sleeves, eat outside, hold some seriously big insects (walking sticks) and visit with a couple of penguins. I am exhausted from all the travel – I’m not twenty something any more – but it was a lot of fun.

pond scum nematode (roundworm)

POND SCUM!

The last 2 weeks have been my favorite in biology - survey of pond scum. Yep, I love those little critters. Today we hooked up the Proscopes - digital USB microscopes. Here is a a ciliate. Ciliates are unicellular organisms from the Kingdom Protista. They are among the most complex single cells in the world - much more complicated than any one cell in your body!

Coyote Love

OK - so most of you won't have a clue about Coyote Love. This was a song by Joe Walsh (of the Eagles and one of the geekiest rock stars - he's even scientifically literate - he's a HAM operator - WB6ACU). Anyway, this is about my friend the coyote. A couple of days ago Amber, my golden retriever mix (pictured with Melvin, our old, overweight tabby) began barking strangely. Actually she doesn't bark that often and when she does there is something to bark at. It was dusk and I went to the window to see what was the matter (OK - Santa wasn't there). There, only a few feet from the window, was a coyote looking toward the house to see who was barking. I had plenty of time to get the camera, focus as best I could through the screen, and hold it as still as possible during the long exposure time (thus the blurry nature of the photo). I thought seriously about throwing out the bones from the left over barbecue ribs I had eaten that night but realized that could create serious problems especially if the coyote began to see Amber as a competitor for it's food. I remember seeing what, I thought at the time was a very large fox, leading my large lab (since passed on) in a slow trot. They were obviously familiar with each other and even friends. I now realize it was a small coyote, perhaps the same one. I hope it finds Amber to be just another friend, not a competitor. Last night I saw fresh prints in the snow where the coyote had been the previous night. Amber was "babysitting" our daughter's dog so wasn't home - I know my friend was back.

Herman Crabtree

I guess this is not an unusual occurrence but it was strange for me. We spent early January in Clearwater, Florida where I attended a conference (yes, I did go to the meetings) and we spent a couple of extra days. One of the first days we were there, I picked up a few shells. I put them in the floor of the back seat and left them. On our last full day there, about 4 days later, we went to a new (to us) beach and picked up a lot of shells which I packed into my favorite Fossil canvas purse (I hope it survived). When we got back to the hotel I picked up the few shells still in the back and put them in a plastic bag with trash in it.

In the hotel, while Kevin slept, I washed shells and sponges for the long trip home. After about an hour I needed a break. So that I wouldn't awaken K I sat in the floor with a Coke and chilled for a few minutes. In the quiet, I heard a noise. Yes, it was the Wal Mart bag in the bathroom. Well, I hadn't set it down particularly well and the bottles of pop were shifting. Nope, it was still moving. I opened it up and poured out the contents. Out came about half a dozen shells and some empty pop bottles. One shell would not come out. I grabbed it and began to pull and that is when I noticed the claw coming out of the shell clinging onto the bag. "Please let me live in a Wal Mart bag!" it seemed to be saying.

You probably figured out that a hermit crab had been living in the shell. Actually, I think he probably had been living in a smaller one and took advantage of the bigger one so close. The amazing thing was that he survived four days in 80+ degree heat in a car with no water or food (unless, of course, the shells had munchies in them). I put the shell into a glass on the countertop. It didn't really fit - sitting at an angle. It would roll depending on whether the crab was in or peeking out of the shell. When I finished cleaning the shells and putting them into baggies, I went to bed.

After laying in bed and almost dozing off, I suddenly became concerned that the crab would reach up and pull himself out of the glass. Then he would walk off the vanity top and his shell would break into a million pieces on the bathroom floor - possibly injuring him or even causing his demise. So I got up and put the glass on the floor. I dozed off. I awoke to the awful thought that a hermit crab suspended in a small glass was pretty cruel. Besides, he might crawl out and one of us would get up and step on him so I got up (again - it is now about 3 am) and put the shell in the bathtub. As I lay in bed that night I could hear him going scrape-scrape-scrape bump bump as he crawled around the perimeter of the tub.

In the morning we decided to let him go back into his natural habitat. Kevin took him to the beach where a photographer was taking pictures. He left Herman with the photographer so he could take some pictures then let him go into into the wild once again.

The Ants go Marching One by One

Another very interesting TV show I saw on HD Discovery channel. It is entitled "Ants - Nature's Secret Power" and well worth watching if you get a chance. I read that it is an award winning documentary (I can see why) and that "Ants II" is coming out in 2008 - I can hardly wait!

I grew up with numerous ant farms in mayonnaise jars with hose (not panty hose - they didn't make them back then - but old fashioned hose) over the top held on with a rubber band. Sometimes I am truly amazed at what my mother let me do in my bedroom. I have always been fascinated with ants. This just fueled the fire. It even crossed my mind to quit my job and apply for a postdoc with some ant researcher. Seriously. So I am now determined to start an ant farm for my classroom. I am going to see if I can find some ants in Florida in January when I go there for my conference, baggie them up and tenderly put them in my luggage and transport them home. If that doesn't work I am going to order some from a science catalog. I want an ant farm. Ant farms are so cool. If you want to make an ant farm, here is a diagram. Of course you can buy those fancy ones, but if you are not interested in investing in such a worthwhile luxury, you can build one easily. The reason for the small jar or bottle is to keep the ants from digging their tunnels so far into the middle that you can't see any of them. To encourage them to go toward the outside, wrap dark paper or cloth around the outside at the level of the sand. You can use pop bottles that have been cut as well as more fancy things. If you are using a big jar with a lid, punch holes in the lid then put it over the panty hose. If you don't, ants can crawl through any but the tiniest holes and you will welcome critters into your home.

Don't tranport reproductive ants - queens. That is not only illegal but not smart - we don't need any more exotic species introduced. Enjoy these amazing little creatures. They truly are wonders to be seen.

Coolest Woodpecker Story to date!

Yesterday I was working at my desk in my home office. I heard tapping to my right, where the window is. It was time for Kevin to get home so I thought he might be tapping on the window. After finishing what I was typing I turned my head and there was a pileated woodpecker right there on the window sill pecking lightly at the window as if to get my attention. The window is only about 4 feet from where I sit so he was really close. I looked at him and he looked at me. I think he is my friend now. It was an awesome moment. I didn't want to move at first. When he went to a nearby tree I went for the camera but when I got back he was gone. Here is a picture of a pileated woodpecker. They are very large - about raven size.

I will never forget being visited by my woodpecker friend.

Krakatoa and chaos

I recently saw a show on the PBS series Secrets of the Dead. "Catastrophe" used a variety of scientific and historic data to demonstrate that there was a huge climactic change about the year 535 AD. For more information on the series or show go to http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/flash/flash.html They began looking at the cause. It appears to have been caused by a volcanic eruption and some scientists believe it was an earlier eruption of Krakatoa. If you aren't familar with the 1883 eruption, I suggest you Google it. Basically this volcano located in Indonesia (do you know of any other significant geologic event in this area????) blew and the island essentially disappeared, leaving instead some new, smaller islands around where the old island existed. It caused global climate change as well. But not as severe as the change in the 6th century.

The reason I liked this show so much was that it tied together so many different areas of learning such as biology (tree ring analysis), geology (that's obvious), and history (historical records from Europe and Java). One scientist extrapolated that this eruption influenced a number of historical events including the emersion of the plague and the abandonment of Teotihuacan in Mexico (again, a good thing to Google if you don't know about this).

We so often teach biology separate from chemistry which is REALLY separate from history and heaven forbid we talk about language arts! But the universe is not in compartments. Everything affects everything else. Chaos theory postulates that a butterfly's fluttering on one part of the globe affects weather on the other side. That may be somewhat of an exaggeration but a volcanoe - hey, it has to affect everything. For a lot of great examples of this, read James Burke's Connections or see if you can find the video series. Next time you are eating ice cream think about the fact that a doctor trying to cure malaria (mal = bad, aria = air) invented a cooler (air conditioner) which evolved into the refrigerator, freezer and ice cream maker. Didn't cure malaria though - it wasn't caused by hot, bad air as thought but by a parasite carried by another parasite - mosquitoes, the most deadly animal on the planet.

Look for how everything affects everything else. What did Hurricane Katrina have to do with car manufacturers? And what does that mean for importation of foreign vehicles. And how does that affect the economy in those countries? What does that have to do with politics? I'd love to see other ideas you come up with.

Woodpeckers

Our home seems to have turned into a haven for woodpeckers. I saw a flicker flying through last week. We have had both downy's and hairy's on our suet on the porch. And yesterday I saw a pileated woodpecker out my window. I tried to get a photo but he kept going around the tree. The photo here is from the USGS. They are very large birds and very interesting. They make oblong holes in trees instead of the round ones other woodpeckers make.

Woodpeckers peck for 3 reasons. First of all they peck for food. They don't peck healthy wood - only wood that is dead or dying and has bugs in it - they eat the bugs. They make their homes in the same kind of wood - why make a home where there isn't any food? The third reason they peck is called "drumming". In the spring the males have to show off their ability to peck to the females. This is an important characteristic because it tells the female that they can make a home and find food. They like to drum on things that make a lot of noise. Every spring a hairy woodpecker uses our metal woodstove chimney. Drumming causes lots of noise but little or no damage. I'm glad I learned the term drumming because once, when teaching high school, I told the students that the males were making all that noise to show off their _____ (you get the picture). It came out completely wrong and caused a lot of laughter. Now I am careful not to say it that way.

Basically, If you have woodpeckers pecking on your house regularly you better have it checked for termites or carpenter ants!

Woodpeckers don't migrate so, if you live in a cold climate and you put out suet you will likely have woodpeckers visit you.

Nature's Sense of Humor

I have to believe that there is a sense of humor in the universe - after all we have the okapi and the duckbill platypus. Most people have heard of the platypus but did you know they don't have nipples? The milk kind of oozes out and the babies have to lap it up. They just lay there on their backs and the babies lick up the milk. Another interesting thing is that male platypus have a hollow claw that injects venom. It theoretically could kill a small dog.


The okapi was obviously created by kindergarteners. The okapi is most closely related to the giraffe but looks like someone stuck zebra upper legs on goat lower legs. Then they took a big horse front and stuck it to a smaller horse backside and put on the legs. They topped it off with a giraffe head complete with knobs. They have a prehensile tongue. That means it is very, very long and they can wrap it around things. That is impressive.

Entropy

Entropy is the concept that all things tend toward disorder unless there is an input of energy. Tonight I am inputting a lot of energy to reduce the entropy of my office. Fun, fun, fun.

Nutrition?????

Today in class we discussed nutrition. Then I went to Hardees! I did eat a roast beef with no fries - felt too guilty to go for the 1/2 pound thick burger with large fries. What are we busy people to do? We could bring lunch but bringing leftovers would mean cooking in order to have leftovers. TV dinners (especially the ones designed for losing weight) are much healthier than in the past and they work.

There are a few good nutritious choices at the fast food places. Sandwiches and salads are great but some of us want something hot - especially in the winter. Besides them, there are bean burritos (which you can get al Fresco at Taco Bell instead of with cheese), and Wendy's chili or baked potato (or both). I wish Hardees or Wendys had steamed broccoli or baked sweet potatoes.

Of course, there is the vending-machine food pyramid. You have to have one of each food group - yellow package, red package, brown package and green package. Pick clear or green bottle to go with.

If you were not aware, there is a new food pyramid. My students last year created a nutrition website. You can access it at http://www-instruct.nmu.edu/education/clowe and click on "Nutrition for Teens" at the bottom of the page. The new food pyramid is discussed and compared to the old one on the page labeled "food pyramid" and it contains a link to the USDA official food pyramid site. There is even a place for kids on the USDA site.