Here’s a shot of some wind power generators along I-84 in eastern Oregon. I’ve been traveling out there on and off for a few years doing science in rural elementary schools. Every time a make the drive there are more and more turbines. They seem to be gaining popularity on the Oregon side (the Washington side has had them for some time). I hear they are good cash for the farmers who provide land and all the way down here in Eugene we run on 100% wind power so maybe this is a long term setup (I hope).
Lowest Energy State?
Well nature is at it again. Goldbogen and friends recently published an article on whale feeding that really captures the importance of scaling in biology, or more accurately zoology. This blog post on fin whale feeding mechanics seems to me to be a fresh and physical approach to an interesting question. Lunge feeding whales need to be big to pull in a lot of water and hence food. But the bigger the whale the more food it needs to pull in.
You can see where this is going. Nature has obviously settled on a finite size for the whale species. This begs the questions, does the current whale size represent the most efficient configuration given the food density the whale normally experiences (not really straightforward given the difference in scaling laws based on size according to Goldbogen et al)? If yes, can the whale’s size be controlled by controlling the food density? If not, why is the whale and inefficient size to begin with? Given current over fishing problems and our continued assault on marine life in general, I think a shrinking food density will begin to take a toll on these whales soon. So that experiment may just perform itself.
Parenting advice
I don’t have kids yet and I’m not too close to having them but there’s no time like the present to start thinking about how to raise kids. Having spent a lot of time with the NSF GK-12 program and being married to a school teacher, I’ve had a diverse exposure to many different children, parents, and teaching styles. Trying to formulate your own parenting persona out of all those inputs is challenging but useful.
Having said that, Terrance Tao (prominent mathematician) pointed me to one of the most important elements of parenting via his blog archive:
one should praise one’s children for their efforts and achievements (which they can control), and not for their innate talents (which they cannot).
The statement is a summary of an article written in New York Magazine by Po Bronson. I think it nicely drives home the point that applauding (or conversely scolding) a child for innate talents (or drawbacks) is often counter productive as the child often has no ability to alter their proficiency. In a more classic sense, the statement may imply that praising a child for something they possess through no initiative of their own may lead to a lack of drive or desire for a sense of achievement. Missing out on this quality will almost certainly hurt the child later in life.
Changing things up
Wow, I should dust off this blog and shake out all of those weird feelings about the election. Anyway, I took this photo on a bike ride around Eugene when I first got my camera. The sky is blown but it’s still pretty dramatic for me. I just got a new circular polarizer so hopefully I’ve some nice shots in the near future.
Posted in News
McCain-Palin = fear and riot rally
In what can only be described as a “whatthehellisgoingoninthiscountry” moment, TV crews picked up Sarah Palin (you know, of the maverick duo) inciting a crowd in Florida shout “Kill Him!” in reference to Barack Obama. Since this kind of hateful speech is not often heard from a crowd of citizens I’d like to take this opportunity to remind people thinking about doing this that is it border line illegal. It is not legal to threaten the life of the President and case histories of threats against other government representatives also show that such actions do not generally fall under the First Amendment right.
Anyway, the secret service is looking into the matter. But that’s really not the most important part. In a rally shortly before the Florida incident, McCain asked the audience “Who is Barak Obama?” and someone in the audience shouted “Terroist!” McCain said nothing and the audience laughed…they laughed (watch the videos and hang your head in shame). You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m not too surprised though considering the only people left in the US that are die hard McCain-Palin supporters usually fall into the extreme, right-wing camp. Not all of them but certainly the only thing McCain-Palin has going for them right now is that they want to cure gay people and want to strip away any choice you may have in giving birth to a child, typically the two major issues for the far right.
Posted in News
