From the Woods

These pictures were taken at Fig Leaf Farm.

The habits of mammals are science. Whatever did this to this small tree must have really enjoyed it. The tree was in the west Jefferson County of Alabama area, close to, but not adjacent to a pond.

Unfortunately this photo is a little blurry, but from it you can see that the damage goes from the ground up to eight feet or higher.

Here's a close up.

I need your help. What did this? Email me or leave a comment if you know.

Trilliums are science. Trilliums are one of my favorite wildflowers. These could be Red Trillium or Toadshade (Trillium sessile) or Sweet Betsy (Trillium cuneatum). In either case, the flower is sessile, or stalkless, as opposed to many other trilliums which have their flowers on a short stem.

Can't you just imagine a little toad sitting under one?

Robins and Recycling

Egg laying physiology is science.

Ms. Robin laid another egg yesterday. She is probably laying another one this morning. Robins are said to wait until mid-morning to lay their eggs, having spent the early morning eating worms and such. Some other species of birds lay their eggs in the early morning, and eat afterward.

Female Robins have just one ovary. This helps to reduce their weight for flight. The ovary consists of multiple ova, one of which develops as a yolky egg each day, and "drops" into the funnel like opening of the oviduct. It is fertilized and moves down the oviduct where layers of albumin and finally the blue shell are laid down covering the yolk.

In this diagram, it seems that the item labelled "ovary" is actually the ovum ready for shedding, and the ovary is the whole conglomeration of ova, but finding a diagram to display was not easy. Maybe I should have drawn one myself, but...

Picture credit: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Anatomy_and_Physiology_of_Animals/Reproductive_System

Recycling is Science (update).

As Jo pointed out the other day, at Publix we can recycle plastic bags, foam trays and egg cartons, and paper bags. These are the containers in front of the Publix at Tannehill.

We have really reduced the amount of garbage that the city has to pick up. Three things contributed to this. 1) My daughter moved away. Twenty something year old females produce a lot of trash. 2) Composting with the Nature Mill Indoor Composter. The Nature Mill composter accepts lots of things you don't put in the compost pile, like meat scraps, along with veggies, peanut shells, egg shells, coffee grounds and everything else but liquids and bones. Your scraps are made into compost in just a few days .

3) Increased recycling efforts.

We have gone from having two trash cans at the curb twice a week to one trash can every other or every third pick up. That's the "Reduce" part of "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle."

Climate Change

Climate Change is Science.

Susan Solomon, senior scientist at NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and former co-chair of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (the one that won the Nobel Peace Price along with Al Gore) will give the 2009 Ireland Distinguished Visiting Scholar Lecture at UAB. The lecture will be free to the public and is Wednesday at 5:30 pm at the Alys Stephens Center.



From the video:

“We have to think about it much more like nuclear waste than, like say, smog or acid rain. What we're doing with carbon dioxide is forever.”

She says her job is to do good science, not to convince people to adopt any particular political agenda, as reported here, in the Birmingham News.


Flowers are Science

Eleven days ago I took a picture of a flower and it was featured on this blogs initial posting.

Yesterday it was still hanging in there, and looks like this. Beauty is fleeting, I guess.




But other tulips have opened their blooms, and the focus shifts to the fresh perfection of the new.

Isn't that the way life is? For instance...oh, wait, I was about to go on a philosophical journey of sorts. That's not what I do here.

Robin Update

Egg laying is science.

Ms. Robin is spending more time on her nest, but she is not there full time. That led me to suspect egg laying had begun.



Two eggs. I would expect one or two more. Then she will get down to the business of setting for sure. After that 14 days until hatching.

Reduce

Recycling and Reducing Waste is Science. And those plastic bags just pile up. Sure they can be used as trash can liners or dog poop bags, but I bet you throw away more of them than you use.

But did you know they are in the High Density Polyethylene category of plastics and can be recycled? A lot of the plastic bottles we use are in that category also. (You can find these symbols on the bottoms of plastic bottles and learn what they mean here).

So there, problem solved, right? No more plastic bags hanging in the trees, or blowing along the roadway (looking like a cat out of the corner of your eye) or ending up in the bellies of sea turtles.

Actually, no. First of all, most of the bags are not recycled. Second of all, many of the bags that are recycled end up in China or India where a lot of our recyclables are dumped. Third of all, the cost to recycle the bags far outweighs what the return is in dollars, so who's going to do it?

Some are proposing a tax on up to 20 cents per bag to cut down on their use. In County Cork in Ireland such a tax reduced the usage of plastic bags by 95%. (National Geographic). But that would never happen here, and analysts say the loss of jobs and such would have to be considered, and that the return to paper bags would actually use more energy and create more waste.

The best idea is to just quit using them.

Almost every store now sells (and some give away) these reusable bags. For me, the hardest thing to remember is to put the bags back in my car so I will have them next time I go to the store. But it's just a matter of changing behavior, never an easy thing to do, behaviorists will assure you.

Notice too that the cokes are not even in bags. The bag-girl asked me if I wanted them bagged, and I said no. But the buyer can take the initiative and request "no bag" for large items like drinks and laundry detergent and bathroom paper.

And using these bags makes it much easier to carry the groceries into the house. I estimate that what used to take 6-10 plastic bags now ends up in just 2 reusable bags.

Even using those bags I still end up with plastic bags from some stores or if I forget the reusables. So, for the past two weeks I have saved my recyclable plastics (Number 1 and 2 are accepted here in Bessemer). This would occupy a good bit of landfill space, don't you think?

Bessemer Recycling is located on First Avenue North across from Bessemer Utilities and is open Monday - Saturday from 7:00 to 3:30. They take Plastics 1 and 2, Newspaper, Cardboard (both the cereal box kind and the big corrugated kind) and used motor oil (no cooking oil). I wonder what happens to Bessemer Recyclables from there? I aim to find out.

I will be looking into other aspects of recycling in Bessemer over the next few weeks as we approach Earth Day.

We're Moving

Plate Tectonics is Science.

Slowly but surely, the earth below us is moving. Of course, this movement takes place over millions of years, and is undetectable (most of the time).





This bridge in Iceland joins the Eurasian and the North American tectonic plates.

Photo credit wiki commons

The Leif the Lucky Bridge spans between continents in Reykjanes peninsula in southwest Iceland across the Alfagja rift valley. "Rift" means the valley is being created by the land being pulled apart, in this case by the movement of the plates.

Gives a whole new meaning to the term "expansion bridge," doesn't it?

In addition to answering questions, good science often asks questions. Mine is, how fast are the plates moving apart, and how long will the bridge last? I just want to be sure I get there before the thing falls into the valley below. Walking from North America to Europe would be pretty neat.

Evolution

Evolution is Science.
Some of you have already seen this when I posted it elsewhere, but it is worth posting here on Bessemer Science and Nature. This sixty second video shows the timescale for the formation of the earth to the present. I especially like the sound of the big bang.



You may have seen this on one of my other posts also. The National Academy of Sciences published a book in 2008 titled Science, Evolution and Creationism that you can buy, or read online for free here. The book is written in easy to understand language.



How did life evolve on Earth? The answer to this question can help us understand our past and prepare for our future. Although evolution provides credible and reliable answers, polls show that many people turn away from science, seeking other explanations with which they are more comfortable.

In the book Science, Evolution, and Creationism, a group of experts assembled by the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine explain the fundamental methods of science, document the overwhelming evidence in support of biological evolution, and evaluate the alternative perspectives offered by advocates of various kinds of creationism, including "intelligent design." The book explores the many fascinating inquiries being pursued that put the science of evolution to work in preventing and treating human disease, developing new agricultural products, and fostering industrial innovations. The book also presents the scientific and legal reasons for not teaching creationist ideas in public school science classes.

Mindful of school board battles and recent court decisions, Science, Evolution, and Creationism shows that science and religion should be viewed as different ways of understanding the world rather than as frameworks that are in conflict with each other and that the evidence for evolution can be fully compatible with religious faith. For educators, students, teachers, community leaders, legislators, policy makers, and parents who seek to understand the basis of evolutionary science, this publication will be an essential resource.

Picture credit http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11876&page=R2