, ” hastings explains. “ if you increase your distance, it draws a curve that goes uphill. if you decrease your distance, the curve goes downhill. using this, students develop an understanding of the shape of graphs — they develop a mental image of what ideas mean. and they even have fun in the process. ” and no, hastings isn ’ t only talking about mathematics majors. in fact, the workshop curriculum was designed for students who use calculus outside of the discipline — students pursuing fields in pre - medicine, economics or chemistry. “ of course, the primary goal [ of the workshop program ] is to provide students with a firm understanding of calculus concepts, ” she says. “ but a secondary goal, which to me is equally important, is to help students develop confidence in their ability to do math. if they need to use mathematics outside of the course, i want them to say, ‘ ok, i can figure this out. ’ “ my personal goal is to have students leave workshop calculus feeling that they had a positive experience in a math class, ” hastings continues. “ my hope is that in the future, if they meet a mathematician at a party, they will say, ‘ yeah, i enjoyed math. ’ or if one of their children does poorly on a math test, instead of responding, ‘ i didn ’ t do well in math, either! ’, they will say, ‘ i know you can do this. let ’ s think about how to help you understand. ’ ” so far, hastings ’ approach is working. since she started the program, she says, she has received “ volumes of positive feedback. ” enthusiastically, she recalls a letter from a recent student, a biology major who took workshop calculus as a pre - medicine requirement. the student, who had always struggled with math, “ really turned around — she worked hard, she got an ‘ a ’ and she wrote to me : ‘ i finally understand calculus. thank you! ’ ” hastings ’ program crosses borders even beyond the limestone walls. over the years, she has regularly spoken at conferences and hosted workshops to teach educators how to implement the approach at their institutions. california state university at hayward, indiana university, knox college, loyola marymount university and gettysburg high school are among those that have adopted her approach, either in calculus, precalculus or both. her reputation as a national innovator earned her yet another honor this summer. on june 21, hastings and two students — jeff goldsmith ’ 07 and carley moore ’ 06 — presented the project


, either in calculus, precalculus or both. her reputation as a national innovator earned her yet another honor this summer. on june 21, hastings and two students — jeff goldsmith ’ 07 and carley moore ’ 06 — presented the project to members of congress in washington, d. c. “ the mathematics association of america has 30, 000 members, and it asked dickinson to be its representative [ at the event ], ” hastings comments. “ it was a real compliment. ” hastings and her students spent the day meeting with congressional leaders like sen. rick santorum ( r - pa. ) and rep. ralph hall ( r - texas ) and discussing their project, along with 30 nsf - funded members of other science organizations, at a reception and poster session. “ it was great fun, ” hastings recalls of the event. “ we talked to congressional representatives about the impact of undergraduate funding on education at four - year, liberal - arts colleges. we talked about how nsf funding has enabled us to do things that we couldn ’ t otherwise do. we thanked the representatives for supporting funding for science education. ” the project has received more than $ 1 million in federal grants, says workshop mathematics project manager joanne weissman, who has worked with hastings for the last 12 years. “ these grants have enabled us to develop our innovative, activity - based curriculum materials, which help students learn, ” hastings says.


march 30, 2011 by valerie elkins the short answer is keizu. the longer answer is not so easy. there several reasons why it is difficult for those of japanese ancestry living outside of japan to trace their lineage. one of the main reasons is a lack of understanding of the language. i am not going to sugar coat it, learning japanese is hard, but learning how to pronounce it is not. there are 5 basic vowel sounds in japanese. they are always pronounced the same unlike in english! vowel lengths are all uniformly short : | a | | as in ‘ father ’ | | e | | as in ‘ bet ’ | | i | | as in ‘ beet ’ | | u | | as in ‘ boot ’ | | o | | as in ‘ boat ’ | you do not need to know everything in japanese but learning some genealogical terms is helpful. glossary of japanese genealogical terms to begin building your vocabulary. - koseki ~ household register, includes everyone in a household under the head of house ( who usually was male ) - koseki tohon ~ certified copy which recorded everything from the original record. - koseki shohon ~ certified copy which recorded only parts from the original. - joseki ~ expired register in which all persons originally entered have been removed because of death, change of residence, etc. a joseki file is ordinarily available for 80 years after its expiration. - kaisei genkoseki ~ revised koseki - honseki ~ permanent residence or registered address ( i. e. person may move to tokyo but their records remain in hometown city hall ). - genseki ~ another name for honseki - kakocho ~ buddist death register - kaimyo ~ buddist name given to deceased person and recorded in kakocho. - homyo ~ buddist name given to living converts, similar to homyo. - kuni ~ country or nation - ken ~ prefecture - shi ~ city - gun ~ county - to ~ metropolitan prefecture ( tokyo - to ). similar to ken. - do ~ urban prefecture ( hokkaido ). similar to ken. - fu ~ urban prefecture ( kyoto - fu, osaka - fu ) similar to ken. - ku ~ ward in some large cities ( sapparo, sendai, tokyo ) divided in to town ( cho ). - cho ~ town - aza ~ unorganized district - machi ~ town within a city ( cho ) or ward ( ku ), town


large cities ( sapparo, sendai, tokyo ) divided in to town ( cho ). - cho ~ town - aza ~ unorganized district - machi ~ town within a city ( cho ) or ward ( ku ), town within a county ( gun ). - chome ~ smaller division of a town ( cho ) in some neighborhoods. - mura or son ~ village within a county ( gun ). - koshu or hittousha or stainushi ~ head of household, the head of the family - zen koshu ~ former head of household - otto ~ husband - tsuma ~ wife - chichi or fu ~ father - haha or bo ~ mother - sofu ~ grandfather - sobo ~ grandmother - otoko or dan or nan ~ male, man, son - onna or jo ~ female, woman, daughter - ani or kei or kyou ~ older brother - otouto or tei ~ younger brother - ane or shi ~ older sister - imouto or mai ~ younger sister - mago or son ~ grandchild - himago or souson ~ great - grandchild - oi ~ nephew - mei ~ niece - youshi ~ adopted child or son - youjo ~ adopted daughter - muko youshi ~ a man without sons may adopt his eldest daughter ’ s husband as his own son and the young man will take his wife ’ s surname and be listed on her family ’ s koseki - seimei or shime ~ full name, family name - shussei or shusshou ~ birth - shibou ~ deceased - nen or toshi ~ year - gatsu, getsu or tsuki ~ month - hi or nichi or ka ~ day - ji or toki ~ hour, time - sai or toshi ~ age - issei ~ person born in japan and later immigrate elsewhere - nisei ~ child / generation of issei and born outside of japan - sansei ~ child / generation of nisei and born outside of japan - yonsei ~ child / generation of sansei and born outside of japan - gosei ~ child / generation of yonsei and born outside of japan there is another japanese term you really need to know. it is ganbatte which means ‘ hang in there ’ or ‘ do your best ’ and either one is will work. category uncategorized | tags :


located along the potomac river on the north side of alexandria, bellevue was home to alexandria merchant william hodgson and his wife, portia lee, beginning in 1801. the 17 - acre property had a house, kitchen, dairy, stables and other outbuildings. they raised their own vegetables and, at times, also grew cherries and collected wild blackberries. but it was under the ownership of john slater that bellevue became well known for its production of fruits, vegetables and flowers. slater, an awarding - winning horticulturist who had worked with william yeates of yeates gardens, acquired bellevue around 1840 and successfully developed greenhouses to grow flowers and other plants there. among the vegetables slater grew and sold were asparagus, lettuce, peas and tomatoes, and his vegetable production continued during the civil war. he also cultivated catawba grapevines, roses, dahlias and strawberries, which received rave reviews. in 1845, a local paper remarked that slaters were the finest strawberries we have seen this year and show his great success as a horticulturist. they are not only very large, but finely flavored, and really almost as good to look at, as they are to be eaten. bellevue remained in the slater family for multiple generations and a descendant described the house, seen to the left of the greenhouses in this photo, as having a wide main hallway and a porch with pillars. the house, which faced the river, suffered significant damage in a storm in the early 1900s. the property was later developed, and today, the eastern side of slaters lane is surrounded by a power plant and high rises. out of the attic is provided by the office of historic alexandria.


can you imagine eating grasshoppers " more savoury than shrimp? " it ' s easy if you try. costa rican scientists at the national biodiversity institute are researching insect farming for purposes of food production. it makes sense : insects are high in protein, low in carbs, and produce very high quality fats including omega 3s. and insects can learn to eat a wide range of cheap feed - - even algal carcases left over from the production of algal biofuels! at the institute, costa rican scientists mingle with bhutan mycology expert ugyen yangchen and elisabeth zannou, an entomologist from benin. costa rica and benin share historical ties, as many slaves were taken from the western african country to central america during the colonial era. “ benin knows a lot about insect consumption and bhutan about eating mushrooms, while costa rica is bringing its experience in managing biodiversity, ” marianella feoli, who manages the foundation coordinating the research program, told afp. in benin, termites, grasshoppers and crickets, as well as butterfly and moth larvae are a common part of people ’ s diet, explained zumbado, who traveled with his colleagues to explore the phenomenon in the coastal country. “ in other countries, gourmet restaurants serve insects, ” he noted. _ impactlab if obama is us president for much longer, humans will have to learn to eat lower on the food chain. elections have consequences. labels : eating bugs, food, food production


an army mutiny that began in the eastern drc last april has now become extremely serious with the creation of thousands of refugees and much controversy over who is behind the continued violence. a united nations panel of experts has accused the government of rwanda of supporting mutinous congolese army units with arms, money, training and new recruits. the government of rwanda has vehemently denied the charges. the united states government has sent a hostile signal to rwanda by canceling a small military assistance program. us - rwanda relations are cooling. to put the current conflict into perspective, it is important to note that what happens in the eastern congolese provinces of north and south kivu is of vital importance to rwanda ' s economic and political security. the 1994 genocide that resulted in the deaths of as many as 800, 000 rwandan tutsis, the country ' s minority ethnic group, tied the security of the eastern congo and rwanda inexorably together. the 1994 genocide ended when the rwanda patriotic army, a group of exiled tutsi invaders from uganda, defeated the rwandan military. over a million hutu civilians ran away across the border into refugee camps in kivu. the ecaping perpetrators of genocide went into the refugee camps as well, and began plotting to regain power in rwanda through guerrilla warfare. in 1996, the rwandan army crossed the border into kivu and broke up the hutu refugee camps. most of the refugees returned to rwanda. approximately 100, 000 ran westward more deeply into the congo, along with the genocidal perpetrators. the rwandan army pursued them, and captured most of them near the major city of kisangani at the headwaters of the congo river. these civilians, men, women and children, were murdered because their refusal to return to rwanda apparently made them accomplices to genocide. in addition to perpetrating this second genocide in the great lakes region in a matter of two years, the rwandan army also created a surrogate army of congolese dissidents, and supported them in a campaign to capture the capital city of kinshasa, driving the sitting president, mobutu sese seku, into exile, and installing a new head of state, laurent - desiree kabila, a long time congolese dissident in exile. between their first armed entry into kivu in 1996, and their formal departure in 2002, after six years of multinational military conflict, the rwandan army controlled eastern drc under military occupation. it is not hard to imagine that during those


in exile. between their first armed entry into kivu in 1996, and their formal departure in 2002, after six years of multinational military conflict, the rwandan army controlled eastern drc under military occupation. it is not hard to imagine that during those six years, the rwandan government developed very strong economic, political and security ties to the two kivu provinces. indeed, even after the formal departure of rwandan forces in 2002, local congolese militias, and some congolese army units, remained under rwandan influence and control. north and south kivu are rich in mineral resources, some of which are vital to telecommunications, and are imported in massive quantities by american and european equipment makers. during their military control of the kivus, the rwandans established strong commercial links with the mineral producers. these links developed to such an extent that a substantial percentage of rwanda ' s gross domestic product comes from the non - legal mineral trade originating in the eastern congo. at present, the government of the democratic republic of the congo, after the completion of its 2011 election, is trying to regain control of its own territory and natural resources. several units of the congolese army, stationed in the kivu provinces, have effectively been under the control and influence of the rwandan government. these units have been protecting rwanda ' s commercial supply lines that deliver the valuable minerals. the congolese government wants to retake control of these units, and either disarm them, or transfer them to other regions of this vast country. the economic stakes are too high for rwanda, and it is virtually impossible for rwanda to acquiesce in this attempted reversal of the military balance in the eastern congo. the current fighting may however be the end of the line for rwanda ' s illegitimate exploitation of the eastern congo ' s mineral resources. the fact that the un peacekeeping mission in the congo ( monusco ) is fighting on the side of the official army is an indication that the international community has had enough. rwanda may consequently be entering a period of difficulty. herman j. " hank " cohen served as the united states assistant secretary of state for african affairs from 1989 to 1993.


addis ababa — every single day, 452 women in sub - saharan africa die from pregnancy - related causes ; that ' s 18 women every hour. against this backdrop, heads of state gathered in ethiopia ' s capital addis ababa for the african union summit met at a side event on sunday, jan. 27 to renew their commitment to reducing the maternal mortality rate on the continent. back in may 2009, the african union and the united nations population fund ( unfpa ) launched carmma, the campaign for accelerated reduction of maternal mortality in africa, with the aim of expanding the availability of reproductive health services and moving africa closer to achieving millennium development goal ( mdg ) 5 : reducing the maternal mortality rate by three - quarters and ensuring universal access to reproductive health care by 2015. ahead of the carmma meeting, united nations secretary - general ban ki - moon urged african heads of state to commit to the mdgs. but although pledges and promises have been made, the continent still has a long way to go before it reaches the 2015 target - so far, sub - saharan africa has seen an average reduction rate of just 41 percent. unfpa executive director dr. babatunde osotimehin believes that, while sub - saharan africa has made significant progress, this high - level meeting with african heads of state is urgently needed. " africa knows what to do and how to do it, " he told ips, " but there are still challenges. " african union commissioner of social affairs, dr. mustapha kaloko, is not convinced africa will reach the set goal by 2015 but he does believes carmma has the capacity to accelerate the reduction. " the unique nature of this campaign is that it is not asking for anything new, " kaloko told ips. " we are not developing new plans, but improving the instruments we already have. " he added that most maternal deaths in africa could have been prevented by using already existing practices and interventions. a recent study by the renowned medical journal ' the lancet ' shows that a woman in sub - saharan africa is almost 100 times more likely to die because of pregnancy and childbirth complications than a woman in a wealthy country. the same study also states that eight out of ten countries with the highest numbers of maternal deaths are in africa with nigeria and the democratic republic of congo topping the list. another major challenge, according to osotimehin, is the level of political commitment from nations to reduce the rate of maternal mortality on the continent. he stressed, "


deaths are in africa with nigeria and the democratic republic of congo topping the list. another major challenge, according to osotimehin, is the level of political commitment from nations to reduce the rate of maternal mortality on the continent. he stressed, " this event is not about money but about commitment. we are here to ensure that no women dies giving life. " a vast majority of maternal deaths - roughly 57 percent - occur on the continent of africa, giving it the world ' s highest maternal mortality ratio. and the mortality rate is not the only thing of concern to development experts and local medical practitioners - - for every pregnancy - related death, there are about 20 women who suffer complications before, during and after childbirth, leaving mothers and children alike with lifelong disabilities or medical conditions. severe bleeding after childbirth, infections, high blood pressure during pregnancy and unsafe abortions are the most common causes for pregnancy - related complications and deaths according to the unfpa. according to dorothee kinde gazard, benin ' s health minister, these numbers are exorbitant : " all levels of society, notably on the communal level, have to be involved and committed to making sure no woman dies or becomes handicapped unnecessarily. " benin has taken steps towards reducing pregnancy - related deaths by improving data collection services in clinics and hospitals. gazard told ips, " every death is now registered so we can learn why women die and how we can prevent ( unnecessary deaths ). " the increased use of family planning services has been successful in several countries such as malawi, tanzania and zambia. another solution is to reduce the maternal mortality rate by preventing child marriages, osotimehin said. " early child marriages create a situation where children are bearing children, when they are physically and psychologically not ready. " in niger, over three - quarters of women get married in their teens. pregnant girls between the ages of 10 and 14 are five times as likely to die during pregnancy than women in their twenties, according to a unicef rapport, while pregnant girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are twice as likely to die during pregnancy than women in their twenties. though carmma is primarily focused on women ' s health, men do play an important role in this campaign. osotimehin says everybody needs to realise that the high rates of maternal mortality are not acceptable. " so we must talk to men because they are the ones who are causing all these problems, " he stressed. minister gazard agreed that men ' s participation is crucial. "


q. my daughter is allergic to several tree nuts, and is just starting kindergarten. her school restricts peanuts, but not tree nuts. can you give me any advice on how to keep her safe at school? dr. pistiner : passing the responsibility of caring for children with food allergies to others can be tricky and anxiety - provoking. increasingly, schools have been establishing and implementing well - thought - out policies that take the safety and emotional well - being of the child with food allergies into account. to be effective, each food allergy policy needs to consider the school ’ s characteristics ( range of ages and developmental levels ) and resources, which will guide school - wide policy. in your case, your school has decided that universally restricting peanuts, but not tree nuts is what makes the most sense at this time. having a working relationship with your school will be key. alert your school to your daughter ’ s specific allergies, past reactions, and emotional and developmental needs. the easiest way for her to avoid tree nuts would be to not allow food containing tree nuts in the classroom. young children frequently put their hands in their mouths and can be messy eaters. if, after discussion with your daughter ’ s teacher and principal, this is not possible, then it will be necessary to implement strategies to avoid cross - contact with allergens in classroom. the specifics of where food is allowed to be eaten and where activities are conducted will need to be taken into account. your daughter should always wash her hands prior to eating, and ideally, the other children ’ s hands should be washed after eating, especially those eating meals with tree nuts. provide the school with an up - to - date allergy action plan that has been signed by your health - care provider along with an up - to - date epinephrine auto - injector. also be sure to teach your child age - appropriate self - management skills, such as how to properly wash her hands, and how to tell others if she ’ s experiencing symptoms. dr. michael pistiner is an allergist in massachusetts and clinical instructor at children ’ s hospital boston, harvard medical school. his 7 - year old son is allergic to tree nuts.


something for the weekend. give us a flag, the unofficial anthem of the united states colored troops during the civil war, written by a private serving in the 54th massachusetts. today is the 150th anniversary of the issuance of the notice by lincoln of the emancipation proclamation, to take effect on january 1, 1863, lincoln doing so after the union victory at antietam on september 17, 1862. reaction was, to say the least, mixed. in the north the abolitionists were enraptured. most northern opinion was favorable, although there was a substantial minority, embodied almost entirely in the democrat party, that completely opposed this move. opinion in the border states was resoundingly negative. in the confederacy the confederate government denounced the proposed emancipation proclamation as a call for a race war. today, almost all americans view the emancipation proclamation as a long overdue ending of slavery. at the time it was very much a step into the unknown, and the consequences impossible to determine. lincoln had converted the war for the union into a war for the union and against slavery. it remained to be seen as to whether the war, whatever its objectives, could be won. here is the text of lincoln ’ s announcement of the emancipation proclamation : by the president of the united states of america. i, abraham lincoln, president of the united states of america, and commander - in - chief of the army and navy thereof, do hereby proclaim and declare that hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for the object of practically restoring the constitutional relation between the united states, and each of the states, and the people thereof, in which states that relation is, or may be, suspended or disturbed. that it is my purpose, upon the next meeting of congress to again recommend the adoption of a practical measure tendering pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or rejection of all slave states, so called, the people whereof may not then be in rebellion against the united states and which states may then have voluntarily adopted, or thereafter may voluntarily adopt, immediate or gradual abolishment of slavery within their respective limits ; and that the effort to colonize persons of african descent, with their consent, upon this continent, or elsewhere, with the previously obtained consent of the governments existing there, will be continued. that on the first day of january in the year of our lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty - three, all persons held as slaves within any state, or designated part of a state, the people where


governments existing there, will be continued. that on the first day of january in the year of our lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty - three, all persons held as slaves within any state, or designated part of a state, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the united states shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free ; and the executive government of the united states, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. that the executive will, on the first day of january aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the states, and part of states, if any, in which the people thereof respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the united states ; and the fact that any state, or the people thereof shall, on that day be, in good faith represented in the congress of the united states, by members chosen thereto, at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such state shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such state and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the united states. that attention is hereby called to an act of congress entitled “ an act to make an additional article of war ” approved march 13, 1862, and which act is in the words and figure following : “ be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the united states of america in congress assembled, that hereafter the following shall be promulgated as an additional article of war for the government of the army of the united states, and shall be obeyed and observed as such : “ article - all officers or persons in the military or naval service of the united states are prohibited from employing any of the forces under their respective commands for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor, who may have escaped from any persons to whom such service or labor is claimed to be due, and any officer who shall be found guilty by a court martial of violating this article shall be dismissed from the service. “ sec. 2. and be it further enacted, that this act shall take effect from and after its passage. ” also to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled “ an act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate property of rebels, and for other purposes, ” approved july 17,


after its passage. ” also to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled “ an act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate property of rebels, and for other purposes, ” approved july 17, 1862, and which sections are in the words and figures following : “ sec. 9. and be it further enacted, that all slaves of persons who shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the government of the united states, or who shall in any way give aid or comfort thereto, escaping from such persons and taking refuge within the lines of the army ; and all slaves captured from such persons or deserted by them and coming under the control of the government of the united states ; and all slaves of such persons found on ( or ) being within any place occupied by rebel forces and afterwards occupied by the forces of the united states, shall be deemed captives of war, and shall be forever free of their servitude and not again held as slaves. “ sec. 10. and be it further enacted, that no slave escaping into any state, territory, or the district of columbia, from any other state, shall be delivered up, or in any way impeded or hindered of his liberty, except for crime, or some offence against the laws, unless the person claiming said fugitive shall first make oath that the person to whom the labor or service of such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner, and has not borne arms against the united states in the present rebellion, nor in any way given aid and comfort thereto ; and no person engaged in the military or naval service of the united states shall, under any pretence whatever, assume to decide on the validity of the claim of any person to the service or labor of any other person, or surrender up any such person to the claimant, on pain of being dismissed from the service. ” and i do hereby enjoin upon and order all persons engaged in the military and naval service of the united states to observe, obey, and enforce, within their respective spheres of service, the act, and sections above recited. and the executive will in due time recommend that all citizens of the united states who shall have remained loyal thereto throughout the rebellion, shall ( upon the restoration of the constitutional relation between the united states, and their respective states, and people, if that relation shall have been suspended or disturbed ) be compensated for all losses by acts of the united states, including the loss of slaves. in witness where


some scientists say it ' s an exciting " start ". we take a boat to see the results. at the moment, we ' re whizzing down a channel about a few miles downstream from caernarvon. denise reed spends a lot of her life in these wetlands : she studies them for louisiana state university. reed would make a great scout leadershe ' s got no - nonsense hair, an infectious smile, and she forges through the grasses on this wetland like she ' s leading an expedition. " we ' re going to go over to see some marsh over thereby those trees. " reed says. " and that ' s where we ' re going to see how the freshwater, the nutrients and the sediments coming out of the diversion structure are revitalizing the marsh. so we ' re gonna go see. it ' s right over on the other side there... look at all this wonderful green, you know, there ' s nice big growth on these plants. " tracing the effects of the canaervon. photo : william brangham / now with bill moyers reed says if we had walked here before they started the caernarvon project, it would have felt completely different. this wetland was sick back then, and when wetlands are sick, the soil gets all mushy and turns into open water. but now we ' re walking on solid ground. " you look at those ponds over there in the distance, " reed explains, " you see how the grass is gradually moving in and filling in. you can see that just here, you can see that grass growing out into the middle of this area. this would have all been bare. what is land loss? land loss is marsh turning to open water. here we ' ve got open water in ponds filling in and becoming marsh. a lot of people think it ' s hopeless down here in coastal louisiana, but just coming down here and looking at this makes us believe that we can do this. " but these changes have disrupted some people ' s lives. the problem is, the minute you put your finger on a map and say, ' let ' s tinker with nature here, let ' s mimic the old floods there, ' chances are that you might flood somebody ' s backyard. or you ' ll disrupt the bays and inlets where george barisich does his fishing. next : a plague of killer mussells


the artifacts, called clovis spear points, are only part of a much larger collection of american indian artifacts the museum received from a private donor last week. william a. sims, an orthopedic surgeon in decatur, donated between 700 and 1, 000 items to the museum. sims and his father, the late william finley sims, began collecting the items in the 1930s from farm land and creek banks in southeastern tennessee during the 1930s. by the time he handed the collection over to the museum it included hundreds of arrowheads, several pieces of pottery, ceremonial pendants, rolling pins, grinding stones and several miscellaneous items. “ i would like for them to be enjoyed by the public, ” sims said. “ it ’ s just a very interesting collection. ” the clovis arrowheads are the earliest spear points found in north america. the clovis points look like flint domes with sharp points at the tip, making them distinctly different from later arrowheads, which are often triangular in shape, said archeologist harry holstein, a professor at jacksonville state university. archeologists believe the clovis points were used by the earliest american indians, a group called paleo - indians. clovis points have been found embedded in the remains of woolly mammoths, mastodons and giant bison. according to holstein, people of the paleo - indian period would have speared the animals in the belly and approached them to pull the spear heads from the animals ’ bodies. “ talk about brave guys, ” holstein said. sims found one of the clovis heads himself, at a cave entrance. he still looks for and finds artifacts today in the northern part of the state. “ the arrowheads sometimes almost stick up at you, ” sims said. “ you quickly learn to see them when otherwise they might just look like an ordinary rock. ” museum curator tim moon and about a dozen volunteers went to retrieve the items from sims late last week. using cardboard boxes, bubble wrap and newspaper, they packaged the items and brought them back to ohatchee on two trailers. moon and 12 - year - old kory sparks, a local pre - teen with an interest in museum work, have been unpacking and sorting the items ever since. unpacked boxes, tables full of arrowheads, axe heads and pieces of artifacts litter the museum ' s back room. moon and sparks are in the earliest phase of sorting and cleaning the items, some of which have not been cleaned since they were placed in sims ’ father ’


full of arrowheads, axe heads and pieces of artifacts litter the museum ' s back room. moon and sparks are in the earliest phase of sorting and cleaning the items, some of which have not been cleaned since they were placed in sims ’ father ’ s collection in the 1930s. once the pair is finished unpacking, sorting and cleaning the items, they ’ ll be placed in wood - framed glass cases. the collection makes up about one - third of the museums ’ indian artifact collection, moon said. resting in rows on a black folding table in the back room are more than a dozen axe heads. moon said they were likely connected to wood handles by strings of raw hides. their once - sharp edges are now rounded and worn. not far away, hundreds of arrowheads that range in color from charcoal grey to alabama clay red are lined up on the tops of glass cases. in a corner rest more than a dozen cracked clay pots, some of them holding beaded necklaces moon believes to be more than 1, 000 years old. eventually they ’ ll be placed behind glass and kept in the back room where the schoolchildren and visitors who frequent the museum are likely to see the items. holstein, who conducts archeological digs in search of american indian artifacts, said he ’ s glad to know that the collection is being held in a public museum. “ the significance of it is that it will be preserved and the whole public will be able to enjoy the ingenuity of the indians, ” holstein said. “ now you have thousands of people who will be able to enjoy this. ” staff writer laura johnson : 256 - 235 - 3544. on twitter @ ljohnson _ star.


just ask antoine! - a substance which is not normally found in a living thing. - xenon. xe. - element 54, a colorless, inert gas used to fill cathode ray tubes. - a very high energy form of electromagnetic radiation ( though not as high energy as gamma rays ). x - rays typically have wavelengths from a few picometers up to 20 nanometers. x - rays easily penetrate soft tissue, which makes them useful in medical imaging and in radiation therapy. - x - ray crystallography. - determination of three dimensional arrangement of atoms in a crystal by analysis of x - ray diffraction patterns. - x - ray diffraction pattern. - interference patterns created by x - rays as they pass through a solid material. studying x - ray diffraction patterns gives detailed information on the three - dimensional structure of crystals, surfaces, and atoms. - x - ray spectrum. x - ray spectra. - a set of characteristic x - ray frequencies or wavelengths produced by a substance used as a target in an x - ray tube. each element has a characteristic x - ray spectrum, and there is a strong correlation between atomic number and the frequencies of certain lines in the x - ray spectrum. - x - ray tube. - a cathode ray tube that focuses energetic streams of electrons on a metal target, causing the metal to emit x - rays.


the pull - out map traces global population trends and the rise of cities and technology focusing on agriculture. it predicts what we all know but seldom see in the mainstream press : that the gap between those who have and those who don ' t will widen. on the other hand, great strides to decrease hunger have been achieved in the past 30 years though politics still gets in the way of feeding everyone in the world : " about 20 percent of the developing world ' s population is chronically undernourished ; 30 years ago the percentage was twice that high... " still, 19, 000 children * per day * die of causes related to malnutrition. the article on feeding the planet traces the history of agriculture and is successful in pointing out that increases in production aren ' t what ' s needed to end world hunger, political change is. it also makes the " bottom of the food chain " argument for vegetarianism without describing it as such. also, the article on lewis and clark features some of our nebraska ranchers, the masons, who raise buffalo and give tours of their " living prairie. " university of nebraska - lincoln alternative crops research technician nebraska sustainable agriculture society western organizer high plains ag lab 3257 rd. 109 sidney, ne 69162 to unsubscribe : email firstname. lastname @ example. org with " unsubscribe sanet - mg ". to subscribe to digest : email email @ example. com with the command


ever see a monarch butterfly? they have bright orange and black wings, and every year they fly from canada to mexico and then back again. each individual butterfly doesn ’ t make the trip, but females lay eggs along the way and their offspring continue on. what a trip! some people think monarch butterflies are in danger because they eat milkweed plants, and milkweed plants are getting harder to find. the problem is that an insect called the milkweed stem weevil also likes to eat milkweed plants, and it eats a lot of them. but an agricultural research service ( ars ) scientist made a discovery that could help save milkweed plants and monarchs. the scientist, charles suh, was working on a new boll weevil trap when he made his discovery. boll weevils are a problem for farmers because they attack cotton plants, so farmers in texas asked suh to find out why their boll weevil traps weren ’ t working. suh asked the trap manufacturer to make a trap with the exact mix of natural compounds that boll weevils use to sniff out each other. suh placed the new traps in cotton fields and found that they didn ’ t catch any more boll weevils, but they did catch a lot of the milkweed stem weevils that eat milkweed plants. with a little more work, the discovery could lead to traps that control milkweed stem weevils. that would mean enough milkweed plants for monarch butterflies to keep making those long distance trips. by dennis o ' brien, agricultural research service, information staff


a researcher has devised a method that attackers with control over a victim ' s computer can use to clone the secret software token that rsa ' s securid uses to generate one - time passwords. the technique, described on thursday by a senior security analyst at a firm called sensepost, has important implications for the safekeeping of the tokens. an estimated 40 million people use various securid tokens to access confidential data belonging to government agencies, military contractors, and corporations. scrutiny of the widely used two - factor authentication system has grown since last year, when rsa revealed that intruders on its networks stole sensitive securid information that could be used to reduce its security. defense contractor lockheed martin later confirmed that a separate attack on its systems was aided by the theft of the rsa data. last week ' s blog post by sensepost ' s behrang fouladi demonstrated another way determined attackers could in certain cases circumvent protections built into securid. by reverse engineering software used to manage the cryptographic software tokens on computers running microsoft ' s windows operating system, he found that the secret " seed " was easy for people with control over the machines to locate and copy. he provided step - by - step instructions for others to follow in order to demonstrate how easy it is to create clones that mimic verbatim the output of a targeted securid token. " when the above has been performed, you should have successfully cloned the victim ' s software token and if they run the securid software token program on your computer, it will generate the exact same random numbers that are displayed on the victim ' s token, " fouladi wrote. he arrived at that conclusion by reverse engineering the windows software that allows securid users to make one - time passwords appear on their pcs, rather than on match - case - sized hardware tokens rsa provides. the cryptographic seed values at the heart of the securid system make it mathematically infeasible for others to predict the output that changes every 90 seconds or so, but only if the values remain secret. rsa spokesman kevin kempskie told ars : " it ' s not uncommon for a large software company like ours to see security researchers demonstrate theoretical attacks on a product. we have a really experienced product security team and we take these things very seriously and we ' re going to have them take a closer look at it. " fouladi discovered that the rsa seed value is easy to obtain and copy by anyone with access to


have a really experienced product security team and we take these things very seriously and we ' re going to have them take a closer look at it. " fouladi discovered that the rsa seed value is easy to obtain and copy by anyone with access to a computer that ' s lost, stolen, or has been compromised with a backdoor trojan. by reading chunks of data returned by a proprietary microsoft security interface known as the data protection application programming interface ( dpapi ), an attacker can obtain and copy the encrypted value. even when an optional copy protection known as a token binding is in place, it can be bypassed because the required serial number is determined by a combination of the host name and current user ' s windows security identifier stored on the computer. he told ars that smartphones that are lost or stolen might be susceptible to similar attacks, although he stressed he has no reason to believe that the values can be remotely retrieved from smartphones infected with malware, as long as the devices haven ' t been jailbroken or rooted. " should people stop using the securid software tokens? " he wrote in an e - mail. " it depends. it is dependent on the probability of the device being stolen or malicious applications installed from a dubious source. personally, for high - risk situations, for example government agency laptops for staff that travel and frequently have to connect back to secure networks, using the token, i wouldn ' t recommend it. " fouladi noted that both rsa and its customers have been targeted by highly motivated hackers, so attack scenarios in which pcs are infected or stolen aren ' t unrealistic. he suggested the sensitive rsa data should be managed by a industry - wide specification known as the tpm, or trusted platform module. post updated to clarify securid ' s user base and to make clear the attack doesn ' t deduce seed values.


home arthriving ideasarthritis awareness in the month of may arthritis awareness in the month of may may 22, 2012 may is arthritis awareness month, and while there are over 100 types of arthritis, the most common type is osteoarthritis, also known as oa. it is typically referred to as just " arthritis. " so, how can you spread awareness about osteoarthritis during the month of may? first, you should be able to describe the condition. osteoarthritis is a form of a€œwear - and - teara€a€ ” or degenerativea€ ” arthritis and describes the wearing down of the protective cartilage on the ends of your bones over time. oa can damage any joint in the body and commonly affects the hands, knees, hips, neck, and back. you should also be aware of some of the arthritis a€œmythsa€ out there. first, some people think osteoarthritis is inevitable with age. ita€™s not. and while many arthritis patients swear by their ability to a€œpredict the weather, a€ therea€™s no scientific evidence to back this up. the ability levels of people with arthritis are varying. whereas one person may be debilitated by arthritis, another may be able to run a marathona€ ” but we can all make adaptations to make others more aware of the condition and its effects. what else can you share about arthritis? osteoarthritis is what most folks think of when they hear the word a€œarthritis. a€ it should not be confused with other kinds of arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis or psoriatic arthritis. these conditions and their treatments are very different, although sometimes a person can have more than one type of arthritis. osteoarthritis most commonly affects athletes and older people. a very common condition, it affects 1 in 5 americans and 50 % of people over the age of 65. in fact, 1 in 2 people may develop osteoarthritis of the knee by age 85. obesity and other lifestyle factors can increase your risk for arthritis. in the spirit of arthritis awareness month, you should also use this time of year to inform those around you about your condition. you never know when you may need help with something like renovating your kitchen, moving into a new home, planting your garden, or walking your dog. you can also


the auto industry last month beat back another attempt to raise fuel - economy standards for light trucks, but environmentalists say the fight is far from over, and time and consumers are on their side. congress has voted down efforts to raise the fuel standard for trucks five years in a row, prohibiting the department of transportation from spending money to even study the issue. federal corporate average fuel economy ( cafe ) standards require that each manufacturer ' s passenger cars average 27. 5 miles per gallon and its trucks ( sport - utility vehicles, pickups and vans ) 20. 7 m. p. g. manufacturers that fall below those levels face fines that can cost millions of dollars. congress created cafe in 1975 during the opec oil embargo, when trucks accounted for less than 25 percent of the market and were mainly work vehicles. now, trucks account for nearly half of sales, and most are used for personal transportation. environmental groups such as the sierra club contend the growing popularity of trucks has dragged overall fuel economy to its lowest level since 1980. they accuse car companies of promoting gas - guzzling suvs and other trucks with v - 8 engines over fuel - efficient cars because they generate higher profits. " a lot of people want a more efficient truck, but the car companies won ' t give them that choice, " said daniel becker, director of the sierra club ' s global warming and energy program. the sierra club wants truck cafe raised to the same level as cars and believes it can be done over a five - year period. becker cites a study by the union of concerned scientists that concludes ford, for example, could boost fuel economy on the explorer, the top - selling suv, to 28 m. p. g. from 19 with a smaller v - 6 engine with variable - valve technology, a more efficient automatic transmission, low rolling - resistance tires, improved aerodynamics and a 620 - pound weight reduction. the cost to consumers would be $ 750, but they would save more than $ 2, 300 over the life of the vehicle by using less gas, according to the study, which says a smaller engine and more - advanced transmission would add another $ 220 to the cost but yield 34 m. p. g. and save another $ 800. " the technology exists now to increase fuel economy through better aerodynamics, more efficient engines and better transmissions. that technology is less expensive than the gas it saves, " becker said. gloria bergquist, a spokeswoman for the alliance of automobile manufacturers, an industry group that represents major car companies and led the


path of the solar eclipse … click for animation. ( credit : a. t. sinclair / nasa ). this year ’ s big ticket astronomical event occurs over a sparsely populated but beautiful track of our planet ; we ’ re talking about july 11th ’ s total solar eclipse. of course, it isn ’ t often that an eclipse doesn ’ t occur over the windswept arctic or a war - torn banana republic … the sun and sand of an island eclipse may just be the perfect combo. if you haven ’ t already made plans to catch one of the numerous cruises headed that way you may have to enjoy it vicariously with the rest of us via the internet ; this eclipse graces only a smattering of islands before making a brief landfall in south america across the chilean - argentine border at sunset. the path of solar totality will not grace our planet again until november 2012 in another south pacific eclipse that intersects this month ’ s path! its maximum length of 5 minutes and 20 seconds occurs over open ocean. two very interesting sites for viewing include easter island and just off of the coast of french polynesia and tahiti ; the more adventurous may want to head for the cook islands site of mangaia, which lies right along the centerline. weather prospects may favor the northern hump of the path, with a mean cloudiness of less than 50 % … but for sheer beauty and landscape photo ops, easter island will be your best bet. no doubt most of humanity will experience this one vicariously via the web ; follow @ astroguyz via twitter, as we ’ ll post where online to watch this extra - ordinary event in the days leading up to the eclipse! the astro - term for this week is metonic series. a metonic series of eclipses arises from the fact that the period of 19 tropical solar years is very nearly equal to 235 synodic months. this was first recognized by the astronomer meton of athens in the year 432 b. c. the error of difference is 2 hours per 19 years, and this accumulates to a full calendar day every 219 years. a metonic cycle of eclipses will share the same calendar date in groupings of 4 to 5 per series … for example, the first eclipse related to this month ’ s was on july 11th, 1953 and the last will be 19 years from now, on july 11, 2029. do not confuse metonic series with saros cycle, which is independent of the solar calendar and based on a period of 223 synodic months. so what


what moral standards should we use? the category of normative ethics is also relatively easy to understand - it involves creating or evaluating moral standards. thus, it is an attempt to figure out what people should do or whether their current moral behavior is reasonable. traditionally, most of the field of moral philosophy has involved normative ethics - there are few philosophers out there who haven ' t tried their hand at explaining what they think people should do and why. this process involves examining the moral standards people currently use in order to determine if they are justifiable, as well as attempting to construct new moral standards which might be better. in either case, the philosopher is critically investigating the nature and grounds of moral standards, moral principles, moral rules, and moral conduct. the category of normative ethics also includes the entire field of applied ethics. this field is the attempt to take insights from the work of philosophers and theologians and apply them to real - world situations. for example, bioethics is an important and growing aspect of applied ethics which involves people working out the most moral decisions regarding issues like organ transplants, genetic engineering, cloning, etc. an issue falls under the category of applied ethics whenever : 1. there is general disagreement about the correct course of action. 2. the choice involved is a specifically moral choice. the first characteristic means that there must be some actual debate in which different groups take opposing positions for what they consider good reasons. thus, abortion is a question of applied ethics in which people can analyze the facts and values involved and arrive at some sort of conclusion backed by arguments. on the other hand, deliberately placing a poison in the water supply is not a question of applied ethics because there is no general debate over whether or not such an action is wrong. the second characteristic requires, obviously, that applied ethics only be involved when we are facing moral choices. not every controversial issue is also a moral issue - for example, traffic laws and zoning codes may be the basis for heated debate, but they rarely turn on questions of fundamental moral values. the ultimate goal of all of this is to show how it might be possible to develop a consistent and reasonable system of moral rules which are valid for all " moral agents. " philosophers often speak of " moral agents " : a moral agent is any being capable of understanding and acting upon some moral rule. thus, it isn ' t simply enough to answer a moral question, like " is abortion wrong? " - instead, normative ethics is involved with demonstrating that this and other questions can be answered with


posted : 2 / 15 / 12 | updated : 2 / 16 / 12 the modern lifestyle of super - sized french fries and couch potatoes often takes the blame for the rising rates of obesity and diabetes in the u. s. - - perhaps rightly so. but growing evidence suggests another factor in the dual epidemics : modern chemicals. exposure to even minuscule amounts of synthesized substances - - used in everything from pesticides to water bottles - - can scramble hormone signals, scientists say. this interference can trick fat cells into taking in more fat or mislead the pancreas into secreting excess insulin, a hormone that regulates the breakdown of fat and carbohydrates. among the most ubiquitous and scrutinized of these so - called endocrine disruptors is bisphenol a, better known as bpa. the chemical is a common ingredient in plastics and food - can linings. " when you eat something with bpa, it ' s like telling your organs that you are eating more than you are really eating, " says angel nadal, a bpa expert at the miguel hernandez university in spain. nadal ' s latest research, published last week in plos one, finds that the chemical triggers the release of almost double the insulin actually needed to break down food. high insulin levels can desensitize the body to the hormone over time, which in some people may then lead to weight gain and type 2 diabetes. huffington for the rest. 1 instituto bioingenieria and ciber de diabetes y enfermedades metabolicas asociadas ( ciberdem ), universidad miguel hernandez de elche, elche, alicante, spain, 2 institut d ' investigacions biomediques august pi i sunyer ( idibaps ) and ciberdem, barcelona, spain, 3 department of clinical sciences, lund university, malmo, sweden, 4 department of cell biology and biochemistry, center for nuclear receptors and cell signaling, university of houston, houston, texas, united states of america bisphenol - a ( bpa ) is a widespread endocrine - disrupting chemical ( edc ) used as the base compound in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics. it alters pancreatic β - cell function and can be considered a risk factor for type 2 diabetes in rodents. here we used erβ− / − mice to study whether erβ is involved in the rapid regulation of katp channel activity, calcium signals and insulin release elicited


cell function and can be considered a risk factor for type 2 diabetes in rodents. here we used erβ− / − mice to study whether erβ is involved in the rapid regulation of katp channel activity, calcium signals and insulin release elicited by environmentally relevant doses of bpa ( 1 nm ). we also investigated these effects of bpa in β - cells and whole islets of langerhans from humans. 1 nm bpa rapidly decreased katp channel activity, increased glucose - induced [ ca2 + ] i signals and insulin release in β - cells from wt mice but not in cells from erβ− / − mice. the rapid reduction in the katp channel activity and the insulinotropic effect was seen in human cells and islets. bpa actions were stronger in human islets compared to mouse islets when the same bpa concentration was used. our findings suggest that bpa behaves as a strong estrogen via nuclear erβ and indicate that results obtained with bpa in mouse β - cells may be extrapolated to humans. this supports that bpa should be considered as a risk factor for metabolic disorders in humans. damn. i do not understand some of that. = ) glad someone ' s keeping tabs on what i don ' t.


i am fortunate to be spending the day in a workshop in canberra with lee crockett, global educational leader and author of " literacy is not enough ". davey crovckett - no relation his model of 21st century fluencies considers the following 5 fluencies : so, we were considering solution fluency, which lee has divided into 6 steps, or phases, in a cycle : then we were presented with the task - build the tallest tower you can using newspaper and tape. you ' ve probably done this with kids before. immediately, we grabbed for the paper and tape, totally forgot about the 6 d ' s, and built a tower. i did try to suggest to the gathered 30 or so teachers that maybe we could all collaborate, to produce one big tower, rather than several small ones. got a few laughs - and 3 people came and joined their group to ours. our group very cleverly headed up the stairs to get a height advantage, defining " tallest " as meaning " height above sea level ". here ' s out final tower - something went wrong at the top. here ' s another finished product - not a bad effort. in the final " debrief ", it was interesting to see how quickly a group of educated teachers had abandoned a framework that they had been presented only minutes before. little effort had been made to define, discover or dream, some design had happened but most of the time was spent on the " deliver ". what does that mean for my classroom?


just because a car says “ hybrid ” on its side panel, is it really any easier on the environment than its gas - burning counterparts? green technology strives to lessen our impact on the environment, but how can you really be certain how much your car is impacting the planet? “ green ” vehicles are becoming more accessible and more prevalent, but just how do they compare to other cars — and to each other? new labels to navigate by one way that the federal government is assisting us in toeing the green line is with new standards and regulations. beginning with model year 2013, vehicles we will see mandatory new epa labels like the one above attached to window stickers. these are designed to give the consumer a clearer picture on just how green his new set of wheels is ( or isn ’ t ). while the labels do provide some good insight on usage, they do not consider environmental impact during the production process but on a vehicle - to - vehicle scale the differences would be negligible – at this point anyway. one could make the argument that vehicles produced in countries with less stringent manufacturing regulations are not as green as those produced here in the states, and i am sure critics can sit here and make a great argument for plants run on electricity provided by cleaner energy sources. but since most a car ’ s environmental impact comes from its use — not it ’ s manufacture — the former is a better indication of eco - impact.


roget ' s int ' l thesaurus fowler ' s king ' s english the king james bible brewer ' s phrase & fable frazer ' s golden bough shelf of fiction ulysses s. grant > chapter xviii. ulysses s. grant appointed colonel of the 21st illinoispersonnel of the regimentgeneral loganmarch to missourimovement against harris at florida, mo. general pope in commandstationed at mexico, mo. i was absent from the state capital on this occasion the presidents second call for troops was issued. this time it was for 300, 000 men, for three years or the war. this brought into the united states service all the regiments then in the state service. these had elected their officers from highest to lowest and were accepted with their organizations as they were, except in two instances. a chicago regiment, the 19th infantry, had elected a very young man to the colonelcy. when it came to taking the field the regiment asked to have another appointed colonel and the one they had previously chosen made lieutenant - colonel. the 21st regiment of infantry, mustered in by me at mattoon, refused to go into the service with the colonel of their selection in any position. while i was still absent governor yates appointed me colonel of this latter regiment. a few days after i was in charge of it and in camp on the fair grounds near springfield. my regiment was composed in large part of young men of as good social position as any in their section of the state. it embraced the sons of farmers, lawyers, physicians, politicians, merchants, bankers and ministers, and some men of maturer years who had filled such positions themselves. there were also men in it who could be led astray ; and the colonel, elected by the votes of the regiment, had proved to be fully capable of developing all there was in his men of recklessness. it was said that he even went so far at times as to take the guard from their posts and go with them to the village near by and make a night of it. when there came a prospect of battle the regiment wanted to have some one else to lead them. i found it very hard work for a few days to bring all the men into anything like subordination ; but the great majority favored discipline, and by the application of a little regular army punishment all were reduced to as good discipline as one could ask. the ten regiments which had volunteered in the state service for thirty days, it will be remembered, had done so with a pledge to go into the national service if


of a little regular army punishment all were reduced to as good discipline as one could ask. the ten regiments which had volunteered in the state service for thirty days, it will be remembered, had done so with a pledge to go into the national service if called upon within that time. when they volunteered the government had only called for ninety days enlistments. men were called now for three years or the war. they felt that this change of period released them from the obligation of re - volunteering. when i was appointed colonel, the 21st regiment was still in the state service. about the time they were to be mustered into the united states service, such of them as would go, two members of congress from the state, mcclernand and logan, appeared at the capital and i was introduced to them. i had never seen either of them before, but i had read a great deal about them, and particularly about logan, in the newspapers. both were democratic members of congress, and logan had been elected from the southern district of the state, where he had a majority of eighteen thousand over his republican competitor. his district had been settled originally by people from the southern states, and at the breaking out of secession they sympathized with the south. at the first outbreak of war some of them joined the southern army ; many others were preparing to do so ; others rode over the country at night denouncing the union, and made it as necessary to guard railroad bridges over which national troops had to pass in southern illinois, as it was in kentucky or any of the border slave states. logans popularity in this district was unbounded. he knew almost enough of the people in it by their christian names, to form an ordinary congressional district. as he went in politics, so his district was sure to go. the republican papers had been demanding that he should announce where he stood on the questions which at that time engrossed the whole of public thought. some were very bitter in their denunciations of his silence. logan was not a man to be coerced into an utterance by threats. he did, however, come out in a speech before the adjournment of the special session of congress which was convened by the president soon after his inauguration, and announced his undying loyalty and devotion to the union. but i had not happened to see that speech, so that when i first met logan my impressions were those formed from reading denunciations of him. mcclernand, on the other hand, had early


for the troops to march there. we had no transportation for our camp and garrison equipage, so wagons were hired for the occasion and on the 3d of july we started. there was no hurry, but fair marches were made every day until the illinois river was crossed. there i was overtaken by a dispatch saying that the destination of the regiment had been changed to ironton, missouri, and ordering me to halt where i was and await the arrival of a steamer which had been dispatched up the illinois river to take the regiment to st. louis. the boat, when it did come, grounded on a sand - bar a few miles below where we were in camp. we remained there several days waiting to have the boat get off the bar, but before this occurred news came that an illinois regiment was surrounded by rebels at a point on the hannibal and st. joe railroad some miles west of palmyra, in missouri, and i was ordered to proceed with all dispatch to their relief. we took the cars and reached quincy in a few hours. when i left galena for the last time to take command of the 21st regiment i took with me my oldest son, frederick d. grant, then a lad of eleven years of age. on receiving the order to take rail for quincy i wrote to mrs. grant, to relieve what i supposed would be her great anxiety for one so young going into danger, that i would send fred home from quincy by river. i received a prompt letter in reply decidedly disapproving my proposition, and urging that the lad should be allowed to accompany me. it came too late. fred was already on his way up the mississippi bound for dubuque, iowa, from which place there was a railroad to galena. my sensations as we approached what i supposed might be a field of battle were anything but agreeable. i had been in all the engagements in mexico that it was possible for one person to be in ; but not in command. if some one else had been colonel and i had been lieutenant - colonel i do not think i would have felt any trepidation. before we were prepared to cross the mississippi river at quincy my anxiety was relieved ; for the men of the besieged regiment came straggling into town. i am inclined to think both sides got frightened and ran away. i took my regiment to palmyra and remained there for a few days, until relieved by the 19th illinois infantry. from palmyra i proceeded to salt river, the railroad bridge over which had been destroyed by the enemy.


got frightened and ran away. i took my regiment to palmyra and remained there for a few days, until relieved by the 19th illinois infantry. from palmyra i proceeded to salt river, the railroad bridge over which had been destroyed by the enemy. colonel john m. palmer at that time commanded the 13th illinois, which was acting as a guard to workmen who were engaged in rebuilding this bridge. palmer was my senior and commanded the two regiments as long as we remained together. the bridge was finished in about two weeks, and i received orders to move against colonel thomas harris, who was said to be encamped at the little town of florida, some twenty - five miles south of where we then were. at the time of which i now write we had no transportation and the country about salt river was sparsely settled, so that it took some days to collect teams and drivers enough to move the camp and garrison equipage of a regiment nearly a thousand strong, together with a weeks supply of provision and some ammunition. while preparations for the move were going on i felt quite comfortable ; but when we got on the road and found every house deserted i was anything but easy. in the twenty - five miles we had to march we did not see a person, old or young, male or female, except two horsemen who were on a road that crossed ours. as soon as they saw us they decamped as fast as their horses could carry them. i kept my men in the ranks and forbade their entering any of the deserted houses or taking anything from them. we halted at night on the road and proceeded the next morning at an early hour. harris had been encamped in a creek bottom for the sake of being near water. the hills on either side of the creek extend to a considerable height, possibly more than a hundred feet. as we approached the brow of the hill from which it was expected we could see harris camp, and possibly find his men ready formed to meet us, my heart kept getting higher and higher until it felt to me as though it was in my throat. i would have given anything then to have been back in illinois, but i had not the moral courage to halt and consider what to do ; i kept right on. when we reached a point from which the valley below was in full view i halted. the place where harris had been encamped a few days before was still there and the marks of a recent encampment were plainly visible, but the troops were gone. my heart resumed its place. it


below was in full view i halted. the place where harris had been encamped a few days before was still there and the marks of a recent encampment were plainly visible, but the troops were gone. my heart resumed its place. it occurred to me at once that harris had been as much afraid of me as i had been of him. this was a view of the question i had never taken before ; but it was one i never forgot afterwards. from that event to the close of the war, i never experienced trepidation upon confronting an enemy, though i always felt more or less anxiety. i never forgot that he had as much reason to fear my forces as i had his. the lesson was valuable. inquiries at the village of florida divulged the fact that colonel harris, learning of my intended movement, while my transportation was being collected took time by the forelock and left florida before i had started from salt river. he had increased the distance between us by forty miles. the next day i started back to my old camp at salt river bridge. the citizens living on the line of our march had returned to their houses after we passed, and finding everything in good order, nothing carried away, they were at their front doors ready to greet us now. they had evidently been led to believe that the national troops carried death and devastation with them wherever they went. in a short time after our return to salt river bridge i was ordered with my regiment to the town of mexico. general pope was then commanding the district embracing all of the state of missouri between the mississippi and missouri rivers, with his headquarters in the village of mexico. i was assigned to the command of a sub - district embracing the troops in the immediate neighborhood, some three regiments of infantry and a section of artillery. there was one regiment encamped by the side of mine. i assumed command of the whole and the first night sent the commander of the other regiment the parole and countersign. not wishing to be outdone in courtesy, he immediately sent me the countersign for his regiment for the night. when he was informed that the countersign sent to him was for use with his regiment as well as mine, it was difficult to make him understand that this was not an unwarranted interference of one colonel over another. no doubt he attributed it for the time to the presumption of a graduate of west point over a volunteer pure and simple. but the question was soon settled and we had no further trouble. my arrival in mexico had been


one colonel over another. no doubt he attributed it for the time to the presumption of a graduate of west point over a volunteer pure and simple. but the question was soon settled and we had no further trouble. my arrival in mexico had been preceded by that of two or three regiments in which proper discipline had not been maintained, and the men had been in the habit of visiting houses without invitation and helping themselves to food and drink, or demanding them from the occupants. they carried their muskets while out of camp and made every man they found take the oath of allegiance to the government. i at once published orders prohibiting the soldiers from going into private houses unless invited by the inhabitants, and from appropriating private property to their own or to government uses. the people were no longer molested or made afraid. i received the most marked courtesy from the citizens of mexico as long as i remained there. up to this time my regiment had not been carried in the school of the soldier beyond the company drill, except that it had received some training on the march from springfield to the illinois river. there was now a good opportunity of exercising it in the battalion drill. while i was at west point the tactics used in the army had been scotts and the musket the flint lock. i had never looked at a copy of tactics from the time of my graduation. my standing in that branch of studies had been near the foot of the class. in the mexican war in the summer of 1846, i had been appointed regimental quartermaster and commissary and had not been at a battalion drill since. the arms had been changed since then and hardees tactics had been adopted. i got a copy of tactics and studied one lesson, intending to confine the exercise of the first day to the commands i had thus learned. by pursuing this course from day to day i thought i would soon get through the volume. we were encamped just outside of town on the common, among scattering suburban houses with enclosed gardens, and when i got my regiment in line and rode to the front i soon saw that if i attempted to follow the lesson i had studied i would have to clear away some of the houses and garden fences to make room. i perceived at once, however, that hardees tacticsa mere translation from the french with hardees name attachedwas nothing more than common sense and the progress of the age applied to scotts system. the commands were abbreviated and the movement expedited. under the old tactics almost every change in the order


why are barn owls dying on the road? a captive barn owl. creative commons photo by tony tea. q : driving on interstate 5 last fall, i saw at least 10 dead barn owls, apparently killed when they were blinded by headlights. is this amount of roadkill alarming? [ rich, albany ] a : it seems counterintuitive, but i would be more worried about barn owls if you saw no roadkill. the dead birds indicate owl abundance. owls do hunt along roads, but mostly they cruise over fields, and sometimes over highways. with their extraordinary hearing, they fly low, listening for rodents. for millions of years this was beneficial, but the owls are not so well adapted to i - 5! barn owls are the most widespread not only of all owls, but maybe of all birds. they have managed to get to most of the planet, even remote islands like the galapagos, madagascar, and borneo ( and hawaii, where they were introduced by people ). the owls ’ success is tied very closely to that of their rodent prey. like most birds of prey, owls begin incubating eggs as soon as they ’ re laid, so chicks hatch over a period of days. in times of abundance, there ’ s enough food for all young, and the owls often have two broods. but when food is short, older chicks may outcompete smaller siblings. owl lore also abounds – including, in our culture, that owls are wise. perhaps it ’ s their large heads and eyes ( like a certain primate we think wise ). and i think barn owls may be the original ghosts. church belfries are perfect nesting spots, often located next to cemeteries. if you have the good fortune to see barn owls flying low and silently across a cemetery, with white underwing, it ’ s easy to imagine mistaking them for ghosts. by the way, it ’ s illegal to possess any birds, even roadkill, without a permit. email your questions to email @ example. com.


note : this calculation makes many assumptions, so it ' s only useful in an ' average use case ', not some sort of exact measurement. if you find better information, please post it and i ' ll update the answer. how many pumps you would need to fill up a tire depends on many variables. first, the volume of your inner tube, which can be approximated as a torus ( doughnut - shape ) atop the rim size of a given diameter. you can find yours approximated on this graph. - 26 " mountain bike, 2. 1 " tire width = 4. 8l - 29 " mountain bike, 2. 1 " tire width = 5. 2l - 700c road bike, 35mm tire width = 2l - 20 " bmx bike, 1. 85 " tire width = 3l i ' m finding pump specifications quite difficult to find ( i need piston diameter and stroke length ), but here ' s a comparison of some shock pumps on an empty shock cylinder of a 2007 fox 36 rlc 160mm fork. - average accu - gage pressure reading after 100 strokes : 77. 2 psi - my best guess at rc2 air chamber specifications : 1 " ( 25. 4mm ) diameter, 160mm length ( max travel ). if someone can find accurate specs or the true volume, i ' d appreciate it. - fox rc2 air volume ( estimated ) : vcylinder = pi * r ^ 2 * h = 81 ml so then, if pumping air into different volumes is linearly proportional ( it ' s not, but somewhere in the ball park ), and you wanted to inflate the tires listed above to ~ 77. 2psi, it ' d take about this number of pumps with the ' average ' shock pump : tire volume ratio of tire to air shock number of pumps to ~ 77. 2 psi 26 " mountain bike, 2. 1 " tire width 4. 8l 59 : 1 5, 900 29 " mountain bike, 2. 1 " tire width 5. 2l 64 : 1 6, 400 700c road bike, 35mm tire width 2l 25 : 1 2, 500 20 " bmx bike, 1. 85 " tire width 3l 37 : 1 3, 700 so, perhaps if it was a life or death situation, you have a lot of time on your hands, or you just can ' t afford that gym membership, you might want to pump a few thousand times to fill your tire. you probably don '


matching 1 tags hominids lived millions of years ago, but how can we tell? ( videocast ) this biologos videocast addresses the age of recently discovered hominid fossils and how scientists are able to obtain those dates. dead bones with a living message in this video, paabo covers a lot of ground, noting several lines of genetic evidence for the evolution of modern humans from earlier hominids in africa, as well as for the interbreeding between early humans and neanderthals. what does it mean to be human? for the christian, the answer is complex. in part, it is a reflection of being created in the image of god. but does the science of human evolution pose a threat to that uniqueness? recovering the doctrine of creation : a theological view of science philosopher robert bishop explores the biblical doctrine of creation, which he describes as " perhaps one of the most helpful pieces of theology for thinking about science ", and describes why the doctrine needs to be recovered from narrower, contemporary interpretations of creation. how does a biologos model need to address the theological issues science and religion scholar denis alexander presents two models for relating adam and eve with the findings of contemporary anthropology. this essay was presented at the november 2010 theology of celebration workshop america ’ s culture wars : a different perspective in this video conversation, rev. n. t. wright responds to the controversy in evangelicalism about evolution. is this a “ culture war ” issue? science, scripture, and the creation narrative in these two brief video conversations, john walton discusses the problem of trying to integrate ancient scripture with our modern worldview. on genesis 2 and 3 in this video conversation, n. t. wright explores how the ancient jewish audience read genesis before and up to the time that jesus arrived. he asserts that readers of genesis today who focus simply on the number of days of creation and whether there is evidence in the text pointing to an old or new earth — are in effect not reading the complete text. an evangelical geneticist ' s critique of reasons to believe ' s testable creation model biologist and biologos senior fellow denis venema examines the interaction between rtb literature and several lines of genetics - based evidence for common ancestry. in so doing, he also addresses the scientific robustness and reliability of the rtb model.


one of the purest and most fascinating examples of the “ wisdom of crowds ” in action comes courtesy of a unique online contest called probabilitysports run by mathematician brian galebach. in the contest, each participant states how likely she thinks it is that a team will win a particular sporting event. for example, one contestant may give the steelers a 62 % chance of defeating the seahawks on a given day ; another may say that the steelers have only a 44 % chance of winning. thousands of contestants give probability judgments for hundreds of events : for example, in 2004, 2, 231 probabilityfootball participants each recorded probabilities for 267 us nfl football games ( 15 - 16 games a week for 17 weeks ). an important aspect of the contest is that participants earn points according to the quadratic scoring rule, a scoring method designed to reward accurate probability judgments ( participants maximize their expected score by reporting their best probability judgments ). this makes probabilitysports one of the largest collections of incentivized1 probability judgments, an extremely interesting and valuable dataset from a research perspective. the first striking aspect of this dataset is that most individual participants are very poor predictors. in 2004, the best score was 3747. yet the average score was an abysmal - 944 points, and the median score was - 275. in fact, 1, 298 out of 2, 231 participants scored below zero. to put this in perspective, a hypothetical participant who does no work and always records the default prediction of “ 50 % chance ” for every team receives a score of 0. almost 60 % of the participants actually did worse than this by trying to be clever. participants are also poorly calibrated. to the right is a histogram dividing participants ’ predictions into five regions : 0 - 20 %, 20 - 40 %, 40 - 60 %, 60 - 80 %, and 80 - 100 %. the y - axis shows the actual winning percentages of nfl teams within each region. calibrated predictions would fall roughly along the x = y diagonal line, shown in red. as you can see, participants tended to voice much more extreme predictions than they should have : teams that they said had a less than 20 % chance of winning actually won almost 30 % of the time, and teams that they said had a greater than 80 % chance of winning actually won only about 60 % of the time. yet something astonishing happens when we average together all of these participants ’ poor and miscalibrated predictions. the “ average predictor ”,


that they said had a greater than 80 % chance of winning actually won only about 60 % of the time. yet something astonishing happens when we average together all of these participants ’ poor and miscalibrated predictions. the “ average predictor ”, who simply reports the average of everyone else ’ s predictions as its own prediction, scores 3371 points, good enough to finish in 7th place out of 2, 231 participants! ( a similar effect can be seen in the 2003 probabilityfootball dataset as reported by chen et al. and servan - schreiber et al. ) even when we average together the very worst participants — those participants who actually scored below zero in the contest — the resulting predictions are amazingly good. this “ average of bad predictors ” scores an incredible 2717 points ( ranking in 62nd place overall ), far outstripping any of the individuals contributing to the average ( the best of whom finished in 934th place ), prompting someone in this audience to call the effect the “ wisdom of fools ”. the only explanation is that, although all these individuals are clearly prone to error, somehow their errors are roughly independent and so cancel each other out when averaged together. daniel reeves and i follow up with a companion post on robin hanson ’ s overcomingbias forum with some advice on how predictors can improve their probability judgments by averaging their own estimates with one or more others ’ estimates. in a related paper, dani et al. search for an aggregation algorithm that reliably outperforms the simple average, with modest success. | 1actually the incentives aren ’ t quite ideal even in the probabilitysports contest, because only the top few competitors at the end of each week and each season win prizes. participants ’ optimal strategy in this all - or - nothing type of contest is not to maximize their expected score, but rather to maximize their expected prize money, a subtle but real difference that tends to induce greater risk taking, as steven levitt describes well. ( it doesn ’ t matter whether participants finish in last place or just behind the winners, so anyone within striking distance might as well risk a huge drop in score for a small chance of vaulting into one of the winning positions. ) nonetheless, wolfers and zitzewitz show that, given the probabilitysports contest setup, maximizing expected prize money instead of expected score leads to only about a 1 % difference in participants ’ optimal probability reports. |


should one want a comprehensive view of the family structure and unit, it would be best to look at both in their historical context. initially, most families were polygamous. typically, there would be one husband with several wives generating a substantial number of children to continue the paternal line. obviously, the male served as a strong authoritarian figure, while his female counterparts tended to be submissive. in certain locales, male children eventually gained authority over their mothers far before the age of what is currently held as legal adulthood. collectivist moral codes, and the ethics derived from them, served as guiding lights for all family members with the happiness of any one individual rendered irrelevant ; though perhaps exceptions would be made for the dominant male. in contemporary america, family matters are unimaginably complicated as they are relative toward the family at hand. statistics, thankfully, are able to draw a fairly sketchy, but serviceable estimation of the facts on the ground. roughly half of children reside in single parent households, while one third are born to parents who are not married. the number of unmarried mothers is headed well north of 10, 000, 000, and a total of 2, 000, 000 children are now being raised by non heterosexuals. over 1, 600, 000 minors live with adopted parents, and the number adopted each year is climbing above 100, 000. one in three lesbian households have children, and one in five male gay households are in the same boat. additionally, one in twenty five children do not even live with their parents. maybe father and mother alike do not know best. here ' s hoping that grandma, or grandpa, does. whether society at large accepts these tough but truthful facts is an immensely interesting question. as the subject of family impacts all segments of society, if it opts against doing so, one of the grandest acts of mass delusion and hypocrisy would take place. unfortunately, any given society is not immune to such foolishness. in the united states, much of the electorate chooses to brush over or ignore and deny what are simple realities. this is reflected in the so - called family values movement, which rams tinseltown ’ s aforementioned content across the airwaves, through the mail service, and into voting booths during election season. despite this, there are millions upon millions of others who acknowledge things as they are and continue moving forward. such a great variance of opinion is what keeps the american political pendulum swinging back and forth year after year, with no end visible on the horizon.


since mercury and venus are the only planets that lie inside the earth ’ s orbit they are the only planets that can pass between earth and the sun to produce a transit. the orbital plane of venus is not exactly aligned with that of earth, such that transits occur very rarely, in pairs eight years apart but separated by more than a century. the last was in 2004, but after next week ’ s event there won ’ t be another until 2117 – so make the most of this twice - in - a - lifetime event! there are more chances to see transits of mercury, however, with an average of 13 transits of mercury per century. mercury has a highly eccentric orbit, varying in distance from the sun from 46 - 70 million kilometres. in addition, its orbit is inclined by 7 degrees to that of earth. mercury ' s orbit crosses earth ' s orbital plane in early may and early november each year, but only if it passes between earth and the sun will a transit be seen. because of mercury ’ s eccentric orbit, for transits occurring in may mercury appears 158 times smaller than the diameter of the sun, while for november transits it appears 194 times smaller. for comparison, venus ’ diameter is approximately 32 times smaller than that of the sun, which is right at the limit of good human eyesight. the small size means you need telescopic equipment to see a mercury transit but remember – never look directly at the sun with unprotected eyes, and never look through a telescope or binoculars at the sun as this will cause permanent blindness. mercury ’ s eccentric and inclined orbit also means that transits do not occur every year. so, some dates for your diary for the remainder of this century : 09 may 2016 11 november 2019 13 november 2032 07 november 2039 07 may 2049 09 november 2052 10 may 2062 11 november 2065 14 november 2078 07 november 2085 08 may 2095 10 november 2098 in the meantime, don ’ t forget the last transit of venus of the 21st century, occurring next week, on 5 - 6 june.


somewhere off the west coast of british columbia wanders a whale — at least, his voice can be heard there. he appears to be alone. simply by eavesdropping, scientists have deduced a few details about this whale. he swims the cold waters of the north pacific, probably in pursuit of food and love. in all likelihood, he is a baleen whale : a long, grey tanker with a pointed head and generous lower jaw. for food, he would chase clouds of plankton and tiny shrimp - like creatures called krill, gulping gallons of water into his mouth and pushing it all out through two long furry - looking plates sprouting from the roof of his mouth where one would expect teeth. these plates, called baleen, filter krill and other crustaceans out of the expelled water. miraculously, these tiny creatures are all the sustenance this giant mammal needs to survive. for love, he calls out in long, low moans. each intonation lasts anywhere from five to fifteen seconds, and he waits up to thirty seconds between each cry, taking ten minute breaks between each song. he will sing like this for hours. his voice carries for miles, and any females nearby would surely take note of his voice ’ s strength and range, the variety of his repertoire, the duration of his song. in the murky dark where a whale can barely see its own tail, the quality of these musical elements should prove that he is a worthy mate. despite his efforts, he receives no reply. meet 52 hertz : the loneliest whale in the world. it was 1989. at the woods hole oceanographic institute in massachusetts, william “ bill ” watkins, the man who invented the first underwater recording system, was in charge of categorizing the mysterious moans and groans resonating through the ocean. his team had begun cataloguing whale mating calls, specifically tracking males because they vocalize so frequently. one day, watkins noticed a high, unique voice easy to hear and identify over other background noises : the call of that lonely whale wandering the north pacific alone. there was something strange about this whale. the harmonic intervals — the rise and fall of his calls — resembled those of baleen whales, but these patterns were unlike any the team had heard so far. even more notably, certain kinds of vocalizations, typically too low for humans to hear unaided, averaged to about 52 hertz. in acoustics, increasing the number of hertz shifts the sound ’ s frequency higher, towards mosquito


so far. even more notably, certain kinds of vocalizations, typically too low for humans to hear unaided, averaged to about 52 hertz. in acoustics, increasing the number of hertz shifts the sound ’ s frequency higher, towards mosquitoes and cartoon characters and away from timpani drums and james earl jones. the corresponding vocalizations for a regular blue or fin whale falls somewhere around 15 - 20 hertz, the kind of frequency that you can feel in your bones when a car blasting a deep bass drives by but can barely register hearing ( the human hearing range falls between 20 to 20, 000 hertz ). so transposing a regular whale ’ s call from 20 to 52 hertz means that a sound that usually registers as a marrow - deep mumble suddenly takes form as a recognizable note : still low by human standards, 52 hertz is on par with a lowest toot on a tuba. why was this whale ’ s call comparatively so high? was he deformed? did he represent a previously undiscovered species? was he a hybrid? did the strange frequency of his voice isolate him from other whales? at the time, watkins had no answers ; marine bioacoustics was still a young field, and watkins and his team were not quite sure just how rare or important this anomaly was in the grand scheme of things. they did not linger on it much before returning to their research. but something strange happened in the coming years. the whale continued swimming up and down the north pacific alone, regularly passing within range of the navy ’ s hydrophone system. in 1992, the navy declassified more data that they had gathered, allowing watkins and his colleagues to begin tracking this odd, tuba - sounding whale more closely. and for the next dozen years, they tracked it, assembling remarkably detailed maps of its migratory patterns. then, on september 24, 2004, just as the resulting paper was being prepared for publication in deep sea research, watkins succumbed to cancer. mary ann daher, a marine biologist and colleague of his, became the corresponding author for the woods hole team ’ s work, which was published later that year. then, on december 8, reuters published a short article focusing on two key details from the research paper : the whale ’ s migratory patterns had seemed “ unrelated to the presence or movements of other whale species ” and its calls “ did not match those from any other species. ” news articles multiplied in national and local papers, shifting focus from the whale ’ s research significance to its


migratory patterns had seemed “ unrelated to the presence or movements of other whale species ” and its calls “ did not match those from any other species. ” news articles multiplied in national and local papers, shifting focus from the whale ’ s research significance to its status as a lone whale with a unique voice. among the journalists who followed up was andrew revkin at the new york times, who wrote two articles about the case. the first focused on the research itself. the second examined the flood of empathy and sympathy for a creature that nobody had even laid eyes on, a reaction that continues to this day. since the research paper ’ s release, 52 hertz, as the mystery mammal came to be called, has become associated with loneliness and isolation, inspiring a number of artistic works. alternative rock band dalmatian rex and the eigentones features “ the loneliest whale in the world ” on their psychedelic monsters album. comedian kate micucci wrote a humorous song “ doreen the whale, ” while musician laura ann bates performed a more somber “ the loneliest creature on earth. ” artist mike ambs runs an audio project called the loneliest mix, designed to share blue whale calls one mix - tape at a time. german author agnieszka jurek put together a book, 52 hertz wal, illustrated by thies schwarz. and, perhaps most ambitiously, director / writer joshua zeman is in the process of filming a full - length documentary on 52 hertz ’ s discovery and people ’ s desire to connect and communicate with the lonely creature. the the search for the loneliest whale in the world ( pt. 1 ) by plos blogs network, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a creative commons attribution - noncommercial 3. 0 unported license.