Science News in Brief

Turns out that the Iron Curtain helped isolate Eastern Europe from more than the Western world.  It also blocked the import of alien bird species.  Restrictions on the movement of people and trade in Soviet bloc countries prevented invasive birds being imported, a problem which has plagued much of Western Europe.

There is a difference: An introduced, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species is one found outside its native range, having been brought their by humans through deliberate or accidental means.  Invasive species are introduced, but also have a detrimental effect on the environment.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a statement that the emails hacked from scientists’ computers did not contain information which indicated that human created greenhouse gases were not a factor in global warming.

Quirky Quote: “There is an anti-change group. There is an anti-reform group. There is an anti-science group, there is a flat Earth group, if I may say so, over the scientific evidence for climate change.” –Gordon Brown

Researchers have released a study showing that there are large variations in the amount of carbon being absorbed in the North Atlantic: as much as 10%.   They are still doing research to understand what causes these differences.  Currently, the ocean absorbs about half of carbon emissions from human activities.

Apocalypse Scenario: Here’s a nice positive feedback loop for ya: as the climate warms, the ability of liquids to absorb gases decreases (think pop cold vs pop warm), increasing global temperatures, decreasing the ability of the ocean to absorb carbon dioxide…crap.

Cool Creature: Superb Fairywren

Cute Superb Fairywren

The Superb Fairywren, Malurus cyaneus,  is a a small bird found across south-eastern Australia.  The male of the species has a bright blue head, back and tail, with a dark mask, and buff belly.  The female, however are a dull brown colour.  This example of sexual dimorphism is fairly common in the bird world.  The bird is known for its strange mating behavior.  The male wren will pluck yellow flower petals and display them to females.  Although it is socially monogamous, in that they will form fairly regular pairings, but one male will father many chicks with multiple females.  And, he will help raise most, if not all of them.  This causes a rather complex social dynamic.

Feature Story: Cellular Automata

So this is my first post where I talk about what I do as a bioengineer.  People often tell me, “So you mess with genes and stuff, right?”  First, nobody is “messing” with anything.  Second, not really.  I specifically enjoy working with complex ecological systems.  I work to better understand the causes and effects of environmental changes due to natural and human-caused events. Bioengineering allows me to have a holistic look at ecological systems.  Emergent behaviors result from nonlinear interactions between individuals in these ecological systems.  Eventually, I plan to do field research as well as computer modelling to help change the many problems our environment faces.   One of my tools as a bioengineer is cellullar automata.  Have no fear: this is not going to be a trip down molecular biology lane.  Not necessarily anyway.

Networks are built when individuals interact with their local neighborhood, their surroundings.  Thus, range and links are important in a network.  If a system is a complex system with multiple networks, nonlinear interactions among individuals can spontaneously create patterns from an initially random or uniform area. A grid model made up of many individuals represented by cells, or automata (us engineers like to make things complicated sounding), whose possible states are finite and distinct can be updated based on a function which refers to the state of each automata’s neighbors.

Perhaps a good way to explain this is to delve right into an example.  Image a 100 x 100 grid.  This represents a theater.  Each grid space represents a person in the theater.  We want to test the effects of fire on the movie goers.  Let’s say that if 4  people or more around an individual is scared, the middle person is scared.  Otherwise, the cell’s status is normal.  By using a computer program, we can quickly perform multiple iterations of these tests on each of the 10,000 individuals in the test to see if there is any emergent behavior.  Emergent behavior is such that results from nonlinear interactions between autonomous agents in a complex system. That is, it is neither completely random nor completely structured.

So how does this relate to the environment you ask.  Well, I recently completed a project to model ecological succession from bare soil.  Each individual tree species is predisposed to a certain environment.  In turn, each tree affects the environment.  For example, most climax trees are shade tolerant, that is, they grow well in light deficient conditions.  This allows them to grow where there are already a number of pioneer (fast-growing, light-loving) trees.  They in turn create more shade, helping climax trees compete against pioneer trees.  In developing my model, I decided to focus on three main variables which determine plant growth: the soil’s water content, the soil’s pH, and the amount of light in the area.  I also chose the most common trees in an Eastern deciduous forest as my possible states.  To account for the possible variables in the environment, I calculated the amount of trees surrounding a given cell.  The higher the number of trees, the higher the amount of shade, and the less sunlight will reach the trees. I also totaled the number of trees surrounding each cell to calculate water usage.  The more trees there were (as opposed to blank spaces), the less water there was for that area of land.  There are no units for the variables per se, but they can be interpreted as described above.  I then developed a function which would analyze the current state of a cell and compute what the future state of the cell will be.  So, if the current state in the cell is bare soil, then it will either continue to be bare soil or a tree will grow there.  The simulation began with a white field (all blank) as would a piece of land after a disaster leaving bare ground.  In the next time step, pioneer trees came on the scene.  Following this, a few climax trees appeared, and more pioneer trees grew, removing many more of the plots of bare ground.  In the subsequent time steps, more climax trees grew and ultimately dominated the field in the simulation.  By the tenth time step, there was some flux, but most of the trees were of the climax varieties.  There would always be some pioneer trees.  When a tree “died” and resulted in open ground, the first trees to fill the gap would often be pioneer trees, but these are quickly weeded out.  Thus, I used cellular automata to model a biological phenomenon involving emergent behavior.

Secondary Succession: A Cellular Automata Application

Cosmic Perspective

What am I, as a bioengineer, doing with this information?  In my example, I modeled secondary succession, an already understood process.  However, there are other applications.  I know individuals who have used this technique to model forest fires based on forest density.  I have seen the effects of the surroundings on a cell’s (living cell, that is) processes modeled to test new drugs.  The future is truly limitless, but we must understand that we must also ask ourselves whether or not our methods are being applied in such a way to help, rather than harm, the world.  Science is useless without ethics.

A while back I posted about the Odjits, creatures of my invention who live in the tundra and, well, do bad things.  So this weekend at the Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Sale, I’ll be debuting these fellas.  As of January 2010, the Odjits will appear as a regular one-panel comic on my blog.

Eric Battaglia © 2009

And that’s not all that’ll be at the fair.  The full volume of the Creatures of the Arboretarium will be there, as will a few other fun surprises.  If you can’t show, I’ll be twittering the fair, so you can follow me that way, should you wish to be led astray.

Yesterday, we created these creature footprints using paper stencils and mud.  We each designed a creature and then created the footprint.  Together, the footprints looked a large creature had walked down the sidewalk outside of the Fremont Community School!

We recently developed these lamb-y creatures. They’re really cute and surreal at the same time. We use sticks for legs…seriously, we’re in love with these. They stand about  7-12″ high, 9-16″ long and are offered at $45, $60 and $75.

Brian Van't Hul. photo by Kelly Gorham

Carol Schmidt – MSU News Service

Brian Van’t Hul is an Oscar-winning master at crafting some of the movie’s most fantastical illusions, but he says the formula for success in filmmaking involves little magic.

“It’s really just an ability to network, think creatively to solve problems and have an exceptional work ethic,” said Van’t Hul while in Bozeman to visit family and speak to students in the Montana State University School of Film and Photography. He talked about his work as the visual effects supervisor on the recent film “Coraline,” which is on the long list for 2009 Academy Award nominations for animation.

“Between walking out of the door here (at MSU) and the ‘glam,’ there is a lot of hard work, long hours and not that much recognition,” said the 1987 graduate of MSU who won an Oscar in 2005 for his work on the visual effects of Peter Jackson’s “King Kong.”

During his 20-year career, Van’t Hul has helped put magic in some of the silver screen’s most inventive films. He was the visual effects supervisor for “Coraline,” the first major stop-motion animated feature to be shot in stereoscopic 3-D. In addition, Van’t Hul was part of the WETA Digital team responsible for the classic “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. He has also worked on “Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Forrest Gump,” “Master and Commander,” “I, Robot,” among others.

Van’t Hul’s journey began on the streets of Bozeman. Even as a kid he had a passion for movies, which he watched in Bozeman’s Ellen Theater. He was particularly fond of those with monsters and mythical creatures that were the work of the pioneering film special effects guru Ray Harryhausen.

“I loved movies and television and I think I was 8 years old when I realized that there were people behind those creatures,” said Van’t Hul during a recent visit to his hometown of Bozeman. “I knew then that was what I wanted to do with my life.”

Van’t Hul said he’d try to create the scenes in the basement of his Bozeman home with small plastic figures and a Super 8 camera. The basic stop-motion techniques he used to create those childhood films were, ironically, at the root of the dazzling “Coraline.” Except, on that film Van’t Hul supervised a crew of 20 that combined sophisticated stop-motion film work with computerized special effects for eye-popping effect.

Van’t Hul said he considered himself lucky to grow up in a town where there was a film school, which he began tapping while he was still in junior high. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle ran a movie trivia contest and in order to win free movie tickets (Van’t Hul was one of several winners), he called up the MSU film program and talked to a helpful Bill Neff, who is still an MSU film professor. Neff invited Van’t Hul to see the MSU film program.

“That was before the (VCB) building so the program was scattered all over campus,” Van’t Hul recalled. When it was time to go to college, Van’t Hul said he stayed home to go to MSU rather than go to the famed film school at the University of Southern California.

“It was a very hands-on program,” Van’t Hul said. “And that was important.”

In five years, Van’t Hul was trained and received degrees in both film and television (“You could do that then,” he said.) He was working at KUSM when a friend of his from MSU phoned him and told him to get down to Los Angeles because he knew of a job that was opening. The job was driving a truck for a film equipment rental company. Despite the humble beginning, Van’t Hul said it was a huge break for him. “I spent my first years learning the nuts and bolts of cameras and in the process met people who knew people who knew about visual effects.”

“One thing that experience really did was to give me training how to solve problems,” Van’t Hul said. “You can’t believe how important that is on a set that’s stalled. It’s important to know just how to get stuff done. That can give you an opportunity to step forward and say, ‘Ok. This is how we’ll do it.’” Van’t Hul said he believes a film school such as MSU’s fosters that sort of ingenuity. “Often, making a film is like a puzzle and you have to figure it out.”

Van’t Hul said networking is essential in Hollywood. “It really comes down to walking around to people on the set and asking them if they know anyone who can take that spot,” Van’t Hul.

Van’t Hul’s networking ability led to work on Peter Jackson’s horror flick “The Frighteners.” Van’t Hul hooked up with Jackson again when work began on “The Lord of the Rings.” It was considered something of a risk at that point to follow Jackson to New Zealand. It turned out well for Van’t Hul. While in New Zealand with the trilogy he met his wife, who is a special effects compositor. The two were married in the Ellen Theater, still one of Van’t Hul’s favorite places. The two now live in Portland, Ore. where Van’t Hul moved to work with LAIKA, an animation studio owned by Phil Knight, co-founder and chairman of Nike. LAIKA was the maker of “Coraline.”

Van’t Hul said he and his wife fell in love with the lifestyle in Portland, and he enjoys its proximity to his parents in Bozeman, but his career may require another move soon. He’s weighing offers for both stop-motion and computer-generated features.

In the meantime, he’s lecturing about “Coraline.” His stop in Bozeman came after a talk at the Bradford Animation Festival in England’s National Museum about visual effects. “We’ve been so happy that it’s been so well received,” Van’t Hul said.

Van’t Hul said he enjoyed the stop at MSU, where the film students “ask many of the questions that I had when I was here,” he said. Bob Arnold, director of MSU’s School of Film and Photography, said Van’t Hul’s appearance had a special effect on the students.

“For Brian, visual effects represent the integration of technology and art,” Arnold said. “It is a great opportunity for our students to meet and learn from someone who has reached the level that Brian has reached and understand that the most important thing is his passion for and dedication to the craft. It isn’t about fame or money; it is about doing what you love to do, and how that passion can take you far.”

Amazon Specials!

After a second surgery to remove the suture from the first to which she had an allergic reaction, 5 months and one really big scare when Honey was down to 18 kg, spent nights in the ICU and weeks on end at the clinic, I am happy to report that Honey has recovered and gained 7 kg! She’s packing on the pounds at a hefty 25.5 kg and eating like a champ! The solution to her EPI: raw bovine pancreas with every meal, straight from the slaughter-house from one friendly meat inspector; as well as her twice daily dose of two different types of insulin, injected intramuscular. She doing great and feeling better than ever, playing like a pup again, going on long walks and being able to hold her bladder for up to 8 hours!

As many as 15 different species of undersea worms that eat the bones of whales and other large, dead animals may reside in Monterey Bay in California, new research finds. Jorge Ribas takes a closer look at these mysterious boneworm

And on the sixth day at ~12:30 gawd decided to make some.. uhh scrap that

Yes, exactly a millennium ago.

 Then the whole Indian subcontinent was a conglomeration of small kingdoms. We belonged to a small one, may be the size of Delhi. It was independent, wedged between two powerful neighbors: the Samoothiripad in the North and some principality belonging to the area, now known as Thiruvithankur (Travancore). Our Cochin state was free from corruption. People were generally happy. One English writer described the India of those times as ‘thousands of villages’, each a republic governed by the village elders. None had money. Gold was used only for making ornaments. Wealth was measured in terms of paddy earned by each family (I am talking in terms known to me). The artisans made clothes, agricultural implements, gold ornaments; made tenements out of mud and hay or palm leaves (cobbler was unknown  as none wore foot wear). Brass and bronze works were excellent, as also wood work. Landlords enjoyed leisure and bonded laborers did the work. The latter were fed even when there was no work. All people were known to each other. Even in my childhood, thefts were limited to coconut and plantain! There was plenty of time for any leisurely activity like literature, sports and arts.

 All were happy, even though epidemics took a heavy toll of men but not animals.

Let us examine, item by item, how life was then and what we have achieved now.

1)      Life was secure then. None was worried about his future. Mostly, traditional vocations were followed, the society being caste-ridden. How will my children live after my time? The question never worried any body. Anxiety on this account was unknown then. Today, every moment we are concerned about it (of course, I am not talking about the Ambanis)

2)      All works were done manually. This kept life style diseases away. People were healthy. The rich people suffered from diabetes, B.P and heart attacks. The poor people were spared. Today, the middle class too have become rich as far as life style is concerned. We don’t exert. Remote control ensured that we need not even move. So we suffer from all diseases of the rich.

3)      The vaidyaji took care of health problems. I don’t remember ever going to a doctor. The Namboodri house stood in the middle of a spacious plot of land. We had our own well and at least one pond. No fencing, we never wounded mother Earth with the pick axe or spade. It was like a forest. Things just grew. Village people scouted for medicinal plants or mangoes in the season. They never asked us. In the month of Karkidagam (Sawan) ladies adorned the hair with “Dashapushpam” (ten flowers). After the land reforms, we too became proletariat, when our only source of earnings was taken away. The land was handed over to the tillers. Today land is fallow because none can afford to grow food. Wages are high and labour is not available in Keralam.

     I have digressed. We were discussing medicine. The vidyaji will only prescribe the medicines. If these cannot be had from the land, there is a shop selling them. Medicines, in soup form, were made at home. People may give some gift like plantain. The belief is that if vidyaji demands compensation, he will lose his ability to diagnose and treat the illness.

 When the people of the West were barbarians (say B.C1000) Ayurvedic system of medicine was well developed in India. At Rajgir in Bihar, I was shown the excavated remains of a hospital where the royal families were treated. Even today Ayurveda can hold its head high in certain fields. But the sanctity of the system was violated when it was commercialized. Now, medicinal soups are bottled and preserved, rendering them sometimes ineffective.

 Today, medical treatment is nothing but shameless exploitation of the masses. Multi speciality hospitals cater to the rich. The poor people survive by grace of God. 50% of the medicines sold in the market are absolutely useless. (It was in the newspapers.) All medicines have side effects. Fees must be deposited in advance (pity the vidyaji). As doctors are “manufactured” in thousands, who can guarantee their quality? (Merit is ignored; caste is the basis for selection of students). Each hospital should earn profit. Or else, it will be closed down. So it must be ensured that people fall ill, as frequently as possible. As soon as a baby is born it is given ten injections, to make sure that its immunity system doesn’t develop. The bird flu was unknown then. Today also desi chickens are not affected. Artificial methods have destroyed the capacity to resist diseases.

 To make people fall ill, fast food culture is deliberately encouraged. To the capitalist, a patient is also a consumer. The only aim is profit. To hell with health! We want every citizen to be in the hospital so that profit can swell.

4) Education was totally free of lucre then. I was thrilled to see rows of neatly made hostel rooms at Nalanda which was just a name until Sir Alexander Cunningham traveled in the foot steps of Huen Tsang and saw small hills covered with grass and shrubs. He suggested excavation of the area which was started in 1914. Even today, a few work men may be seen digging leisurely; it may take another hundred years at this rate, to uncover the whole township. More than four hundred years B.C, it was a beacon of learning, attracting scholars from all over the East. They did not come to get a degree and campus selection for lucrative jobs. They just wanted to learn. Among them was a young man. No body knew he was a prince. He came in tattered clothes and was emaciated like a beggar, after wandering in the forest, begging for food. His name was Gautama. He spent several years in the campus, endlessly discussing the causes of pain and misery and suffering of human beings. (At Bodh Gaya, he is depicted as  well fed and handsome- a real prince charming. His devotees want something pleasing to the eye). I admire him. I like to see Takshashila too!

 In the villages, education was the concern of guruji. There was close, personal relation- ship with Guruji and the students who stay with him. Remember the story of Krishna and Sudama who were ordered by guru patni (wife) to fetch fuel from the forest? (I am reminded of an incident I read in a memoir. An English lady accepts an assignment to teach English to the Crown Prince of Japan. She was going through some notes when she wanted the fan to be switched on. She asked the Prince and failed to understand the hesitation in her pupil’s face. Suddenly the realization came. How can anybody give orders to a Prince? Of course, the pupil obeyed.) No tuition fee.  In the end, some guru dakshina (gift) is given. That is all.

 And today? By any stretch of imagination, can you call it education? True learning should aim at liberating the brain power from the shackles of the body, so it can soar higher and higher towards the heaven, scanning the whole universe and beyond. The questions why and how should continuously and intensely torment the inquisitive mind. Learning is tapasya. (Concentrated study). Total detachment from the worldly chores is an absolute must.

 In the present system, children are being hypnotized to believe that every thing written in the text book is absolutely true. The only aim is to secure maximum marks in the examination, by hook or by crook. Whether you like a subject is immaterial. Money is the supreme god. (Lakshmi is worshiped by all, everywhere. Is there a single temple of Saraswati? I think there is one in Keralam) The best brains are hijacked by capitalism and enslaved to make more and more profit. Is there any wonder that educational standards are going down every year?

 In Russia, when capitalism was abolished in 1917, education became free. Science was made number one priority. (Here MBA is made much of because capitalists want them to work for profit).The results are there, for all to see. From the most backward state in Europe, Russia overtook the US in space research. The first man to go up in space was

a Russian. Production of electricity was taken up as the most urgent task. Heavy industry almost outpaced consumer industry. (Indian students who went to study in Moscow found soaps and blades stolen frequently).The all powerful Germans were defeated by Russians in second world war.Without heavy industry backed by S & T, this would have been impossible.

After 1956, the first science city was established in Siberia. From wilderness intended for exiling undesirable characters, Siberia became a treasure of coal, minerals etc. and fully industrialised, an achievement impossible under capitalism. Science is the instrument of this of this revolution.

 Today here we find education being converted into a lucrative industry, in which millions are invested to reap huge profits. Government schools are for the poor- no equipments, no teachers, and no books.

Order of preference of students seeking higher education is somewhat as given below:

 MBA

IIT

Medicine

Info technology

Commerce

Economics

Geology

Pure science

Geography

 Those who fail to get admission for the coveted courses, go for pure sciences. In communist Russia scientists were given maximum salary. They commanded great influence in decision making. Here in Delhi we do not have a science centre where those interested may gather together for a chitchat. Easy access to science literature is a must.

Many of you may think that modern science originated in the west. This is a total misconception .Some of the things our forefathers have recorded in so many words, are stunningly dazzling.

1) That the earth is a globe

2) Earth attracts objects towards itself

3) Earth is rotating: the sun and stars are stationary

4) Shadow of the earth is cause of lunar eclipse

5) Dalton’s atomic theory

6) that the foetus in the womb recognizes sounds and starts learning mother tongue, much before it comes out of the woumb.(Abhimanyu learned strategy of warfare, while still in Uthara’s woumb, according to Mahabharatam.I first read about it in Bhagawat puran.By sheer coincidence, actual scientific confirmation was reported in the newspapers at that period some 8 years back).

These are just a few instances. As all this is written in Samskrutam. People do not even know about it. It is a pity that we have to learn about such things from foreign sources.

Astronomy originated in India at least 5000 years ago. In Egypt too studies in this field progressed at that time. The Malayalam calendar came into existence 1184 years ago. It is based on the movement of the Sun around the equator .The number of days of each month is calculated every year, so that we are not aware of the leap year.

So, before the Malayalam era came into existence, how did they know their age? Each year was given a name. Only 60 years were given names; thereafter the names are repeated.

Each one  must remember the name of the month and Nakshatra (the name given to the group of stars where the Moon appears each day) and also the name of the year of birth , so that his age can be counted. (Like the week. If I am born on Wednesday my age will be the fourth day.) That is why sixtieth birthday is celebrated. The names of the years are repeated, after 60 years.

Two thousand years ago, an European was unable to tell his age. Intellectually, we were far ahead. The Nalanda Vishvavidyala and library were ransacked and burnt by Muslim invaders sometime in fifteenth century. That was the end of a civilization. Knowledge got fossilized in Samskrutam texts to be explored by European Indologists. If these books were available in Hindi or Dravidian languages, history would have been different.

5) Production of food grains, cloths, agricultural implements, kitchen utensils etc. was regulated according to the needs of the village.Transportation was restricted to the bare

minimum. I am not a historian. Perhaps conveyance was restricted to movement of goods.Today production is chaotic. In any society based on rational lines, the requirements will be calculated and production regulated according to the needs. In a market controlled economy, waste is inevitable. Any number of factories are producing cars. Think of the brain power used in designing. If all this is centalised (in this age it is easy) we can have the best model of cars, buses etc. Expenses on advertisement and sales can be saved. Cars will become cheap. Similarly food and other agricultural products can be produced according to requirement.There will be no shortages nor glut. Why can’t we do it? (See my article: Man is the most foolish animal in the world).

6) For sheer joy and entertainment people were engaged in cultural and sports activities. Competition was healthy and without rancour.

Today, what we saw in the cricket world is the influence of money. Before future historians, we will have to hang our head in shame!

Local festivals, drama , music etc were meant for healthy entertainment and people were not glued to their TV sets !

I don’t want to go back to AD 1008. At the same time, I want to change the system to be reorganized along rational lines. Are we not intelligent creatures?

Sorry about the long wait, but work comes first.  Anyway, I am getting back in the swing of things for a little while.

Science News in Brief

The Large Haldron Collider has resumed operation and set a new world record for energy.  Its particle beams were accelerated at over one trillion volts.  This was just a precursor to the Collider’s primary scientific tests set for the year 2010.

Still No Black Hole: Just to give you a sense of the energy involved here: a lightning strike hits with about 1 billion volts.

A cross-disciplinary team of researchers from universities across America have released a study which indicates that climate change could increase the likelihood of civil war in sub-Saharan African countries by as much as 50% in the by 2050.  These wars would be fueled by decreased water supplies, fewer food sources, and increased poverty rates.

Talking World War III Blues: Already, 5.4 million people have died from civil war the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, making it the deadliest conflict since World War II.

Scientists seem to have discovered the reason for the hammerhead shark’s strange head shape.  The shape allows sharks to see almost in 360 degrees in binocular vision.

Weird Animal Fact: The mantis shrimp has the best eyesight in the animal world.  It is the only animal to to have hyperspectral colour vision.  That is, it can see across the electromagnetic spectrum.  We can only see visible light.

Cool Creature

I already covered the kakapo, but I have been dying to post this video.

Feature Story: Remember Me

Are some animal species more important than others?  A recent study which examined 222 carnivore species around the world points to the fact that certain carnivores should be more protected than others due to their ecological importance and individuality.

Even though carnivores are probably the most studied animal group, their taxonomic connections are not well understood.  Thanks to genetic testing, scientists are now able to construct much more accurate taxonomic maps.

The study supports the theory that describes the split of carnivores into two main evolutionary groups: dog-like carnivores (Caniforms) and cat-like carnivores (Heliforms).  The same study also revealed some so-called Confused carnivores which do not fit neatly into the aforementioned classification.

Researchers performing the study also isolated a number of carnivores which are unique in the ecological services they perform and the way they evolved.  They suggest that these species, including monk seals, red pandas, and walruses, should be more protected than others because they are so unique.  Because they are evolutionarily distinct, they have genes and evolutionary history not found in any other species.  This makes it important with regards to biodiversity: by increasing genetic variability.

The Cosmic Perspective

All people value equality: the right to be treated with equal respect and dignity as any other human being.  Those who value the environment tend to extend that to the animal world.  We do not like to show preferential treatment to certain animals just because they are cute and cuddly.  So, this study which claims that certain animals are more important from an evolutionary perspective comes as a bit of a shock.  Why should a walrus be more important than a snow leopard?

I look at this from two points of view: that of a scientist and that of an environmentalist, because I consider myself to be both.  As a scientist, I definitely see the merit of protecting certain species.  Different animals perform different tasks in an ecosystem.  Certain animals’ roles are more critical to the functioning of the system as a whole than others.  It is a principle of network systems thinking that  nodes (animals) in a system (ecosystem) can be ranked based on the number of nodes which connect to them and the importance of those nodes.  So, the more important connections an animal has, the more important it is in an ecosystem.  However, even a few important links can prove to elevate a species to a higher status than one with many relatively commonplace connections.

That being said, all animals play an important role in biodiversity.  Biodiversity provides for the astounding variety of different organisms, genes, ecosystems in which they exist, and biological services these organisms provide for life to adapt to changing environmental conditions throughout history.  It would be foolish not to save as much as we can of the already dwindling amount of biological diversity we have on this planet.  We often do not know how important something is before it is gone altogether.

• I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love.  For me they are the role model for being alive.
• When a dog barks at the moon, then it is religion; but when he barks at strangers, it is patriotism!
• Dogs laugh, but they laugh with their tails
• Beauty without Vanity, Strength without Insolence, Courage without Ferocity, and all the Virtues of Man, without his Vices.  This Praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery if inscribed over human ashes, is but a just tribute to the Memory of Boatswain, a dog
• The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too.
• The dog is the only animal that has seen his god.
• I am not your dog, but if every time you saw me, you gave me a backrub, I would run to greet you, too.

When you think about Maui Ocean Center, what do you think of first? Which aspects of Maui Ocean Center are important, which are essential, and which ones can you take or leave? You be the judge.

Located on the south side of Maui is Ma’alaea Bay, home to the Maui Ocean Center. The center is the largest tropical aquarium in not only the state of Hawaii, but in the United States altogether. If visiting the island of Maui, this spectator spot should not be missed. The ocean center has a huge aquarium that has water filtered into it from the Bay. This aquarium is as real as it gets. This tank has a tunnel that you can actually walk through. This makes for great pictures. You can get a picture of yourself standing face to face with a sand shark. While walking through the tunnel, you will see sharks and rays, and tons of different types of fish.

The best thing about the tunnel is that you can see the underside of the creatures as they swim above you. The tanks also boast a coral and tropical fish display that will amaze anyone. The coral itself is breathtaking. In fact this coral collection is the largest of any aquarium in the world.

Another amazing display inside the aquarium is the giant cylinder columns of jelly fish. They are several feet wide, and you can watch the jellyfish float above you. The sight of these creatures is both terrifying and mesmerizing at the same time.

Next you move along through the aquarium to the sea turtles tanks. These sea turtles have been injured at some point in their lives and their stay at the aquarium is only a temporary one. They will be reintroduced back into their natural habitat once they have recovered. This is my favorite exhibit in the aquarium. If you happen to visit during feeding time you can actually feed the turtles. It’s great to watch these huge docile creatures chomping happily on their lunch.

The ocean center also has an interactive display on whales, where visitors can learn about these giant mammals. Whale watching is a big hobby in Hawaii. There are several whale watching tours available. Turtle bay resort located on the north shore of Oahu boasts that during the winter you can actually see whales from your balcony.

So far, we’ve uncovered some interesting facts about Maui Ocean Center. You may decide that the following information is even more interesting.

The Maui Ocean Center is a perfect place for families to visit. They offer a wide variety of exhibits for children that are both informative and exciting. There is also a touch pond, where children can pick up some of the creatures and actually handle them. They can see sea stars and sea urchins, as well as skates and rays. Be careful when stroking rays, however, you should always stroke them from head to tail in order to avoid being stung by there tails.

No kid friendly aquarium would be complete without food. The ocean center offers a cafe where you can grab lunch. They have light fare such as salads and sandwiches, and of course, ice cream. Also don’t miss the great picture taking opportunities that the center has to offer. Along the backside of the aquarium there are some spectacular views of Ma’alaea Bay, and there is a dolphin statue located in the very front of the center that also makes for a great souvenir photo.

If you’ve picked some pointers about Maui Ocean Center that you can put into action, then by all means, do so. You won’t really be able to gain any benefits from your new knowledge if you don’t use it.

Yep, they’ve release a new colorful picture of the previously blogged about Squid concept. A very vibrant red squid with bright yellow eyes in a colorful setting. Very exciting!

Why? Well, it looks like the Creation Lab needs some inspiration for new “creatures”. Want to help? Then visit here! Whether the monster scare minifigures or make them fall in love. You choose.

Since Americans eat an astonishing amount of turkey the last week in November, do you think the chickens are doing celebratory dances like this?

(Ugh…now I’m lamenting the conditions under which chickens are typically raised in this country…no room for dancing at all).

Source

petal by petal, we sheave our lies into the wind like falling cherry blossoms
or plane crashes while the insects and the frogs vette our plans for signs of
the inaccuracy and doubt which is the hallmark of our species
the infamy of humanity will eventually also fade
like kites caught in tree branches,
forgotten by the moonlit hawks and dreary beetles

*Vivi Yip Art Room, 28 May 2009

Oversized doll heads of little girls dominate the canvas, surrounded by vertical and horizontal lines, and graphic shapes that seep and melt around them. Whimsical creatures who seem to stem from childhood fairytales, peer out of the crowded background, inhabiting the frame. The palette is subdued, with regular sweeps of muted brick reds and matte mustard greens. Part comical, with strains of anime, Badruzzaman’s creations deconstruct human interactions and personalities, always with the slightest dash of discomfort for the onlooker.

On canvas is where Badru plays with elements to adorn his paintings, such as foliage and snaking lines, creating a more tangible impression of space. Extensions of the artist’s graphic design background is apparent in the cubic shapes, hexagons and squares, and tiled spatial details of his pieces. The 27-year-old Yogyakarta-based artist, with his clean and defined lines, is inclined to provide the two-dimensional impression of a sleek graphic novel rather than a work of brushed acrylic upon canvas. But Badru, a native of Lampung, was never predisposed towards comic books or the like, his main influence being the street art that run rampant on the walls of Yogyakarta.
“Our attitude, our instinct,” he said, “was just to paint.”
The artist rarely displays his works, this being only his third exhibition. Though when he does, he prefers to express himself on a larger scale, saying “It seems such a waste to place my themes on a small canvas.”
His paintings veer more towards female characters, whose visages he bases on young women who enter his reality. While his male figures, possessing clown-like features, originate from the playful experimentation of his imagination. But these are not pictures of mirth. There is a sense of melancholy behind the children’s faces and, though resembling jesters in a royal court, Badru’s men hold something sinister behind their smiles.
“People have their own characters, I paint them accordingly,” Badru said.
Though the characters who appear to menace his central characters and invade the background change with each new canvas, one makes a routine debut – a bile-green rotund shaped critter with sharp, eager little dentures. Badru has no name for his creature, simply calling it is a symbol of egoism.
“I feel free to criticize people on canvas,” he said,” without them understanding that I have criticized them.”
His themes, Badru explains, all stem from personal experiences. Life’s daily fluctuations, minor joys, tediums, aches and interactions all play a part in Badru’s final pieces. He dips into his past and uses the memories to actualize his canvas. “I find more satisfaction with personal themes of love, friendship and day-to-day life,” Badru said.

Of a painting entitled “Girlfriend: Saving My Dog”, Badru had drawn on his experience with a former lover, depicting a beautiful woman-child with crimson pillow lips and sad bedroom eyes. In a larger  ontext, Badru does touch on universal themes, such as the desire to be accepted. “Hi…”, one of his earlier works, is a painting of a red-headed girl-child with an unadorned background and Badru’s personal favourite.
“She is a person who is lonely at heart, not accepted by the society around her,” Badru explained.
“I see myself as this newcomer, in a strange place, looking for someone to befriend,” he continued. He offers hope for his protagonist in the shape of a little bird that flies above her, playing with a strand of the little girl’s tresses between its beak. Although there remains some paintings that Badru considers too personal to be displayed for the public to scrutinize or enjoy.
“There are pieces which I’d prefer to keep for myself,” Badru said. “It is similar to how some people keep diaries, except mine is on canvas.”

Badru’s pieces can take up to 2 weeks to complete. Concepts, colours and timing are all swayed by the artist’s moods.
“Emotion plays a factor,” Badru said. “If I am feeling emotional, I tend to use warmer colours.”
With each piece, Badru begins with a rough sketch on paper before spilling his images on to canvas.
“I feel the power [on the canvas] to be more creative. I can add and embellish,” said Badru, who never limits himself to adhere to the original sketches he draws.
Badru has simple ambitions – to introduce his art to the public as he utilizes the canvas to release his past experiences and emotions. What he strives is to maintain a style that is unique to him.
“It is hard to accept comparisons to other artists because I try so hard to create my own style,” said the artist.
Badru, who has no formal training in fine arts, continues to develop his art, finding new techniques, adding and playing with dimensions to add to his eccentric tableaux. When he first started painting, his works were plainer, focusing only on the main characters. His backgrounds were rarely garnished with the detailed landscape and cacophony of critters as they are now.
“I feel I want to try something new, to change the composition, the layouts,” Badru said of his newer pieces. He surrenders to the process of creation, unburdened by style trends or themes that are popular in the art market.
“What is important is to be as creative as possible,” Badru stated. “As for the art being good or bad, that is up to the public to judge for themselves.”

Happy Friday!

Up until this week, I had never read it, Wodwo – neither the collection or the poem itself that gives the book its title.   Here’s the ending of the poem:

……..I suppose I am the exact centre

but there’s all this what is it roots

roots roots roots roots and here’s the water

again very queer but I’ll go on looking

Ted Hughes, Wodwo, 1967, Faber & Faber, p. 183.

I love it.  The lack of conventional punctuation.  The repetition – that childlike, comic roots / roots roots roots roots.

The throwaway, still-searching ending.  Wodwonderful.

Ok, here are two strange things:

1.  I saw a whole flock of long-tailed tits in Gordon Square Gardens.  These little birds are supposed to reside mostly in forests, and conifer forests at that, though – my bird guide says – they will venture into suburban gardens at times.  Excuse me?  Since when is Bloomsbury a suburban garden or a conifer forest?

I then heard what sounded like a parakeet – not the full-on squawk they do, but something more like that wittering you might hear from them if they’re a bit bothered.  I looked up to see a crow attacking a bird with a long, sharply squared-off tail.  Only saw the underside, which was pale.  Could’ve been a kestrel, maybe, or some other raptor – there have been sightings around Senate House, I think – so, was hard to be sure. 

Anyway, how delightfully ridiculous.  The Wild invading the City.

2.  Not so delightful.  A young woman handing out leaflets, the gusset of her shiny tights halfway down her thighs, which wouldn’t matter, except that she was wearing a t-shirt that ended mid-hip length a la Lady Ga Ga.  Oh dear.  Ga ga indeed.

I was having my morning coffee and feeding the koi when I noticed the brown water snake. He lives in a hole by the pond and swims under water. The fish are quite scared of him as are the frogs which is what he eats.