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Tuesday, November 28, 2000
Looking for Madam Tetrachromat
A tetrachromat is a person, always female, who has 4 types of color receptors in her eyes instead of the usual 3. They can apparently see subtleties of shades that ordinary Trichromats cannot. It is hard to imagine.
Redherring.com - Looking for Madam Tetrachromat- From the December 04, 2000 issue
"Oh, everyone knows my color vision is different," chuckles Mrs. M, a 57-year-old English social worker. "People will think things match, but I can see they don't." What you wouldn't give to see the world through her deep blue-gray eyes, if only for five minutes."
"Preliminary evidence gathered at Cambridge University in 1993 suggests that this woman is a tetrachromat, perhaps the most remarkable human mutant ever identified. Most of us have color vision based on three channels; a tetrachromat has four."
via Slashdot
posted at 11/28/2000 04:43:15 PM
Sunday, November 26, 2000
This is an interesting piece of hardware that basically lets you hear bat echolocation sounds by doing frequency shifting. The site includes a sound file of the results. It's a good thing we can't hear these sounds, in the 25khz to 100khz range, since they can be as loud as 100db - as loud as a smoke detector alarm.
Bat Detectors
"A Bat Detector is a simple, handheld device that listens to the frequencies that bats use to hunt and find their way at night. It converts these frequencies to tones and clicks that humans can hear. Think of it as translator. Most Bat Detectors are the size of a pack of cigarettes and have a special microphone that picks up the echolocation calls of bats."
via Bird on a Wire
posted at 11/26/2000 01:01:30 PM
Saturday, November 25, 2000
This site covers the entire construction process, including the process of obtaining FAA certification.
Balloon Construction
"These pages detail my saga in constructing a hot air balloon. The links on the left will help navigate you through the site. The "Balloon Construction" section has my narrative of the process, along with lots of pictures. The "Construction Log Book" holds scans of my log book that keeps track of when I did what and how long it took. The "Government Paperwork" section contains copies of the forms I filed in getting the balloon registered with the FAA."
posted at 11/25/2000 01:26:06 PM
This site has detailed plans, discussions and photos of many interesting and unusual kites. Check out the Circoflex and Rotor kite designs. I haven't seen the circoflex design before, and the rotor kite looks very eye catching.
Anthony's Kite Workshop
posted at 11/25/2000 01:06:58 PM
Friday, November 24, 2000
This is an in-depth look at Sable Island, a thin crescent shaped sandspit far off the coast of Nova Scotia. It has been home to a few hundred wild horses for centuries. It always amazes me how they survive the harsh north atlantic winter in such an exposed location. The island has also been the scene of well over 300 shipwrecks. In 1598 a group of 50 French convicts were abandoned there and 5 years later only 11 survivors were found. The island is now protected, and access is restricted.
Sable Island: A story of survival
"Sable Island, 300 km south-east of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, is renowned for its wild horses and shipwrecks. It is also an island with a fascinating geology and natural history that reflect the challenge of surviving wind, waves and isolation."
posted at 11/24/2000 10:57:13 AM
Wednesday, November 22, 2000
This site has a short description of Culturally Modified Trees (CMTs), and a downloadable handbook. I have never heard of this term before. The handbook describes several different types of CMTs that can be observed, and how to indentify and report them. The downloadable handbook is in Adobe Acrobat format.
Culturally Modified Trees of British Columbia
"Definition of CMT: A CMT is a tree that has been altered by native people as part of their traditional use of the forest. Non-native people also have altered trees, and it is sometimes difficult to determine if an alteration (modification) is of native or non-native origin. There are no reasons why the term "CMT" could not be applied to a tree altered by non-native people. However, the term is commonly used to refer to trees modified by native people in the course of traditional tree utilization, and is used as such in this Handbook."
posted at 11/22/2000 05:41:08 PM
Tuesday, November 21, 2000
Here is a good explanation of how the American electoral college system works, and why and how it is better than a straight popular vote system of election.
Will Hively, Math Against Tyranny, Discover Magazine, November, 1996
"When you cast your vote this month, you're not directly electing the president--you're electing members of the electoral college. They elect the president. An archaic, unnecessary system? Mathematics shows, says one concerned American, that by giving your vote to another, you're ensuring the future of our democracy."
via Peterme
posted at 11/21/2000 05:12:27 PM
This is an interesting collaborative effort to monitor the movement and abundance of birds thoughout North America. You can find maps and graphs of different bird species, some animated, for the past several years.
Project FeederWatch
"Project FeederWatch is a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales in North America. FeederWatchers periodically count the highest numbers of each species they see at their feeders from November through April. The longest running of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology citizen-science projects, FeederWatch helps scientists track broadscale movements of winter bird populations and long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance."
posted at 11/21/2000 03:15:17 PM
Friday, November 17, 2000
Finally, after 50 years, it turns out that the emperor has no clothes. An apple designed for eye appeal and transportability instead of taste has lost favor with the buying public. The US government is bailing out apple growers who have orchards full of this visually appealing but thick skinned, mealy and flavorless apple. Try a JonaGold, Fuji or a Russett to see what you have been missing.
'Perfect' Apple Pushed Growers Into Debt
"In trying to create the perfect apple for major supermarket chains, these farmers say, they may have sacrificed taste to cosmetics. The growers say their story is like a fable with lessons for how the nation produces its fresh food."
"For almost 50 years, we've been cramming down the consumer's throat a red apple with ever thicker skin, sometimes mushy, sometimes very good if done right, but a product that was bred for color and size and not for taste."
via Simple Cooking
posted at 11/17/2000 12:13:42 AM
Thursday, November 16, 2000
This site has a discussion on the subject of raising butterflies, which can be done indoors using an aquarium. Attention must be paid to the specific food plant for a given species of butterfly. There are also some links to other butterfly raising sites. It covers raising the butterflies from eggs or from the caterpillar stage.
Raising Butterflies As A Hobby Part 1 - Suite101.com
"I am really glad you are here to visit my column today. We're going to listen in on a conversation between four people that share the fascinating hobby of raising butterflies for release into their gardens."
Also see Caterpillars of Eastern Forests, which has more info on raising caterpillars.
posted at 11/16/2000 10:57:28 PM
Here are some links about Rogue Waves off NOAA's Perfect Storm page.
About Rogue Waves
Fishing Vessel in Heavy Seas
Rogue Wave off of Charleston, SC
The last link shows a "Rogue wave estimated at 60 feet moving away from ship after crashing into it a short time earlier. In the Gulf Stream off of Charleston, South Carolina, withlight winds of 15 knots ."
posted at 11/16/2000 04:32:19 PM
Monday, November 13, 2000
How has life changed for the people in Punta Arenas, Chile? On an orange alert day, not quite as bad as a red alert day, a fair skinned person will begin to acquire a sunburn in 7 minutes. How long till our northern ozone hole stretches to more populated areas ?
Salon.com Health | Life under the hole in the sky
"The citizens of Punta Arenas, Chile, are the subjects of a potentially deadly experiment: What happens to people who live under the widening ozone hole?"
"Paredes looks older than his 48 years. His face is blotchy, like a ragged quilt with interlocking patches of natural coffee-colored skin and big, white scars. He explains that one sunny day last October, he attended a sports event and stood outside for four hours. That night he could feel "despidir" -- fire -- on his face. "I was surprised because that night I couldn't open my eyes, they were so inflamed," he says. "Nothing like this ever happened before"."
posted at 11/13/2000 05:08:24 PM
This site covers step by step hardcover book repair techniques for three common types of damage. With the price of books these days, these techniques could be quite useful. It looks like they could also be applied to softcover books.
A Few Basic Book Repair Techniques
"In libraries large and small, minor repair is a critical component in overall efforts to care for collections of books and journals. Bound volumes mended as soon as they show signs of damage may never require more complex repair or binding. A book with tightened hinges is sometimes more sturdy after treatment than it was at the time of purchase."
posted at 11/13/2000 02:22:39 PM
Saturday, November 11, 2000
This is the first I have read of solar storms threatening airline passengers. Nothing to worry about, really. Just everyone on the plane getting the equivalent radiation exposure they would get from 10 chest x-rays all at once. I know I haven't gotten that many chest x-rays in my life.
Severe Solar Storm Threatens Airline, Space Travelers
A severe space weather storm began pounding Earth late Wednesday and is expected to threaten communications, satellite operations and possibly astronauts and airline passengers -- especially pregnant women -- through Sunday."
"But NOAA says an airline passenger can experience as much radiation as 10 chest X-rays, though this figure is debated. Experts do agree, however, that anyone on a high-altitude jet or in space is exposed to more radiation than someone on the ground."
See www.SpaceWeather.com for the latest info.
posted at 11/11/2000 10:32:46 PM
Here is Gary Grays winter storm discussion for the northeast US. Get out the shovels you put away 3 years ago. Keep in mind that "normal" is quite a bit different than what we have experianced over the past few winters, and that above normal snow and somewhat below normal temperatures are being predicted.
Winter Storm Discussion by Gary Gray
"The last two paragraphs about say it all for the expected winter conditions in the Northeast this season... roughly 10" above normal snowfall across the board (with some exception for the extreme regions) and temperatures expected to hover near or slightly below normal. The snowfall forecast is of higher confidence than the temperature forecast. Nonetheless, at least compared to the past two seasons, the temperatures this winter should seem quite cold."
posted at 11/11/2000 12:08:42 PM
Friday, November 10, 2000
Make your own iron at home, smelted from locally scrounged iron ore. Pictures, plans and step by step instructions are all here.
The Rockbridge Bloomery
"In January of 1998, inspired by accounts of traditional iron smelting in Africa, I decided to see if I could make some iron myself. I enlisted my curious friend Skip, and together we've built two furnaces, and sweated through many trials. Although we've almost always managed to make some iron, it wasn't until the spring of 1999 that we began to smelt wrought iron blooms of reasonable quality and size. In March and April of 1999, in three consecutive smelts, we produced dense, forgeable blooms of 40, 20 and 25 lbs."
For more on this subject see The Riddle of Steel.
You will also have to read Making Your Own Charcoal At Home (indirect or retort method) and/or Making Your Own Charcoal (direct method).
posted at 11/10/2000 03:05:32 PM
Wednesday, November 08, 2000
Here's how to build a very simple Stirling engine that runs on the heat of a small candle.
Let's Build A Can Stirling Engine -English-
The Can Stirling engine can rotate using a candle as the heat source. This engine is constructed with very simple materials. There are a can, a balloon, a wood board and others.
Also see the Stirling Prayer Engine, based on the plans in the previous site. This site also includes a short movie of a running engine.
posted at 11/8/2000 10:35:56 PM
Tuesday, November 07, 2000
This fascinating site has a huge number of pages on all facets of geometry, including crop circles, tilings, origami, fractals - if it's geometric it's here.
The Geometry Junkyard
"These pages contain usenet clippings, web pointers, lecture notes, research excerpts, papers, abstracts, programs, problems, and other stuff related to discrete and computational geometry. Some of it is quite serious, but I hope much of it is also entertaining."
An example: "Tom Holroyd describes hyperbolic surfaces occurring in nature, and explains how to make a paper model of a hyperbolic surface based on a tiling by heptagons."
posted at 11/7/2000 02:33:05 PM
An Axolotl is a large central american salamander. The name comes from an ancient Aztec language and means "water dog". This site details the history, and raising of these interesting pets. Unfortunately, since they are an endangered species, they are hard to get.
Axolotls: The Fascinating Mexican Axolotl
"Welcome! This web site is devoted to the Axolotl (pronounced Axe-oh-lot-ul), Ambystoma mexicanum, and describes its background, biology and care."
posted at 11/7/2000 10:57:49 AM
Monday, November 06, 2000
Triops are a freshwater shrimp analogous to the salt water Sea Monkeys. They look something like tiny horseshoe crabs. It looks like they would probably eat Sea Monkeys.
Our Triops ( There are links to the Totally Triops Web Ring at this site )
Triops
"What are Triops? Triops langicauddatus are crustaceans that are also called Dinosaur shrimp or Tadpole shrimp that look like miniature horseshoe crabs. They have a short life-cycle of 20 to 90 days - growing very quickly in this time to about 2 inches in length !"
posted at 11/6/2000 08:40:26 PM
This site has lots of tips on raising Sea Monkeys, a detailed history of Sea Monkeys as a product, and movies of the little creatures in action. Sea Monkeys are really a species of brine shrimp.
The Sea Monkeys Owners Page
"Over 25 years of experience raising Sea-MonkeysŪ"
Also see the Sea Monkeys Web Ring, Tips for Raising Sea Monkeys. and Sea Monkeys' Immortality.
posted at 11/6/2000 08:22:03 PM
Thursday, November 02, 2000
This site has the details of a home built full motion flight simulator that interfaces to your favorite pc flight sim. A book containing the full plans can be ordered for about US$30, and apparently the whole thing can be built for around US$350. It looks like a very interesting project.
The JoyRider Virtual Flyer - How-to built a flight simulator motion cockpit
"If you want to experience true virtual flight then you need motion. The following how-to articles represent my efforts into perfecting the least expensive, easiest to build, most versatile motion simulator for home use."
"The JoyRider is a two axis flight motion simulator you can build without the use of expensive hardware. It's VERY fast, and SMOOTH and best of all it can be affordably constructed from readily available supplies with simple hand tools."
posted at 11/2/2000 11:45:58 AM
