Just another dent in the damage…

Hurray, my mystery flowers have been identified. As part of the What on Earth project I decided to upload a photo of these really cute flowers we grew last year. The aim is:

to get as many people across the country to go outside into their parks and gardens, to take photos of the plants and creatures they don’t recognise and to get these identified.

It’s such a great idea and I’m mega excited about the National Science and Engineering Week (NSEW) that I thought it’d be worth mentioning again! I also managed to get Phil Bradley blogging about it.

If you’re interested in hearing more about what’s happening during NSEW have a look at the events pages and check out the Librarians’ Blog for Science and Engineering as I’ll be running a mini-series on the history of going upside down!

Hurray it’s almost time for the National Science and Engineering Week again. From March 12th until March 21st the University of Sheffield has once again teamed up with Sheffield Hallam University, local schools, industry, commerce and museums throughout South Yorkshire to celebrate the best in British research and innovation.

This year’s theme is Earth in support of the International Year of Biodiversity and the What on Earth project – an initiative ‘encouraging everyone to get outside into their gardens and local parks and take photos of the wildlife they don’t recognise’. If you come across something unusual (or not so unusual) head over to www.whatonearth.org.uk armed with your image and get it identified by a team of scientific experts. If anyone can help me out with the name of this flower I’d appreciate it:

I’ve also uploaded an image of some flowers to the site, which I grew last year. I’m desperate to know the name of them. If you have any suggestions please add an identification.

The program of events for the NSEW (mostly free and open to the public) includes a David Allen-Booth Memorial Lecture entitled Shapes and Patterns: Crystals, leaves, leopards and zebras by Professor Gillian Gehring, What on Earth… will we do about energy? by staff and students from the Mechanical Engineering Subject Group (Sheffield Hallam) and the return of Rock Around the General Cemetery.

The University Library in collaboration with the National Fairground Archive will also be taking part to celebrate the engineering feats of fairgrounds and roller coasters. I’m really excited about this one because we’ve been trying to think of ways to encourage our students to make use of this amazing resource for ages. Once the display is up I’ll get more details posted up here.

I’m not much of a New Year’s Resolution type person but last year I did write a list of 25 things I wanted to do in 2009. I thought it’d be worth going over what I did and didn’t do ready to prepare a new list of 26 things I want to do in 2010. So let’s see:

1) Set up an Etsy store and start selling small crafts: Well, I got the Etsy store bit sorted but getting the stuff to sell has been harder. I thought it’d just be a case of make a load of stuff and get it listed but it turns out a lot of the patterns I’ve been using to make consumables are all copyrighted and you can’t sell the stuff you make using them. Turns out I need to start writing my own patterns if I want to sell anything I make. The only things I really have for sale are my SSCS crochet whales as it’s OK to make money you intend to donate to charity, but a store with only one item to sell would be pretty naff right? I’ll work on this one. Promise.

2) Make more use of sewing machine and create at least one skirt from scratch: Again I kinda half did this. I reorganised my craft room so I can actually get at my machine without having to carry it about everywhere and I sorted out all the stuff I need to get on with making things – I just didn’t get round to making the skirt. But, I did make a lovely cushion (and embroidered it) and ploughed through one of my sewing books so I can learn more about what my machine does. I think this coming year will be my skirt making year so watch this space!

3) Learn to dive: CHECK! I actually did this one. This year I not only got my PADI Open Water but I completed my PADI Advanced Open Water and got qualified in Enriched Air diving. I’ve got about 20 dives logged now and am super excited about getting out and seeing more of the world’s oceans. At Christmas I went to Malaysia and got to play about with my new camera, here’s Nemo:

4) Learn Photoshop basics to improve photographs: So Photoshop is harder than I thought and there is definitely a lot to learn on this… but I’ve made a start. I’ve managed to cut three people out of one image and put them in to another, I’ve rubbed out plastic bottles and lamp-posts and learnt about image size and how to crop (ya’know – the simple stuff). My cutting out skills definitely need working on though. Max also showed me how to open my eyes – i.e. cut out Claire’s open eyes and stick them over my closed eyes!

This is a photo taken of Claire and I with Todd Kowalski from Propagandhi. On the original picture we were outside a pub and my eyes were closed. Here we are in Hawaii with my eyes open (if you look very closely you’ll notice they’re very similar to Claire’s eyes).

5) Take more photos and get uploading to Flickr: My new camera has helped with this one. On my last holiday I took about 1000 photos! Can you ever imagine doing this with an old camera that needed film? Crazy! Anyway I’ve slowly been making more use of Flickr and you can go and see my photos any time – lexrigby’s Photostream.

6) Make Donna a big granny blanket: Yes yes I did this. It got completed on March 18th for her birthday. Here is a picture of me admiring the finished product:

7) Print some Moo cards: Totally failed on this one. I figured I didn’t really need any if I didn’t get the store up and going. They’ll come eventually when I’m all business like.

8) Get funding for the IATUL conference in Belgium: I failed this too but it was kinda out of my hands. I wrote my statement about why I should be awarded the funding but at the last minute one of my bosses decided to write the entire thing himself on my behalf. I don’t blame him for not getting it or anything as I was told the application was exceptional, just not exceptional enough. Life goes on.

9) Design a cross-stitch pattern to raise more funds for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society: This was another one of those half did/half didn’t ones. Whilst I didn’t get around to design the pattern I longed to do I did get all subversive after buying Subversive Cross Stitch and started writing some cross stitch patterns inspired by Propagandhi lyrics.

10) Organise another SSCS fundraiser: This one is another ’still to do’. I think time ran away with me on this one. Whilst I didn’t organise a fundraiser myself I did volunteer at a number of events this year (including the International Dive Show at the NEC) and completed the first round of volunteer training. I’m now listed as an official volunteer on the Sea Shepherd UK website, so it’s all good in the hood still.

11) Make sushi: No making but plenty of eating. I’m going to get Donna to show me how to do this, she makes amazing sushi!

12) Finish Ursula tattoo: Yep, done and dusted. This is on my back:

13) Start work on Kali tattoo: I didn’t do this but I did get a whale instead, I think Kali needs more thinking about. This one is on my left inner arm – it was pretty swollen so excuse the chubbiness, I think the photo is a bit squished too (I got it off Myspace because I couldn’t be bothered to take a photo):

14) Keep up the weekly postings on my work blog: I did this! Want proof? See Librarians’ Blog for Science and Engineering.

15) Master the art of false lashes (just because there’s got to be at least one vanity thing in here): I did this too but none of my pictures are close enough for you to see them clearly. I’ll work on getting proof of this.

16) Keep up with the personal training sessions: After a year I figured these were just getting far too expensive to continue. I went from about August 2008 to August 2009. I fully intended to restart them but really £120 a month on top of my £42 a month gym membership… really.

17) Tick off the to-do list and write up results: I guess the result of this is this blog post. I did tick items off in my book and did refer back to my list to remind me what I needed to do, I just didn’t do as much as I wanted. I had planned to do a scrap book but I definitely think a blog post is more my thing.

18) Start open uni short course on marine biology: The Open Uni course I wanted to do is a short module called Life in the Oceans: Exploring our Blue Planet. It looks like the greatest short course of all time but a las I’ve not had a spare £150 to do it yet. I will though, studying Richard Attenborough’s Blue Planet sounds like the best thing ever.

19) Prepare for Cilip (this is the professional association of librarians) chartership: I simply changed my mind on this one I’m afraid. I just don’t know if I want to charter just yet. The chartership means doing a lot of work I just don’t want to do at the moment. Career development portfolios and all that malarky… snore.

20) Cook for Max at least once a month: I managed this one I think for a few months. I mainly make him puddings like cookies and cake. This will change this year though as I’ve a new cook book and it’s amazing. I won’t tell you anything else yet as I’m working on a post for this beauty that stands alone.

21) Visit Stef in Canterbury: Sorry Stef, you just come home too much. I’ll visit her this year for sure.

22) Read Moby Dick: I didn’t do this either, but I did read a lot about other whales!

23) Cycle to work at least twice a week in the Summer: This is my main regret I think. I should have done this, but I didn’t. Curse me.

24) Watch a broadway show: For my 25th birthday Sarah got me some gift vouchers for a London show and after loads of faffing about she never got to come with me. Instead, Max and I went to see Wicked… and it was wicked. I’d already read the book (and thought it very strange) so was interested to see how it would translate to stage. I liked it, it worked well and luckily they kept all the sexy scenes out.

25) Finish decorating the kitchen: YES, YES and YES and it’s the greatest kitchen of all time.

I’ve already written this year’s list… I might put it up later but in the meantime, thanks for reading.

There seems to be a lot of stuff flying around at the moment about what the Noughties will be remembered for. What has happened in the last decade that will make it stand out from other decades? Well…

In general:

9/11?
The ‘War on Terror’ (i.e. two unjustified unending wars)?
America’s first black President?
Iran’s disputed elections?
The Large Hadron Collider?
The horrific Mumbai terror attacks?
The death of Michael Jackson?
Global warming?
Google?
The Indian Ocean tsunami?
Swine flu?

(notice a theme?)

Personally:

A whole load a shit and not so much shit.

The Nature Publishing Group has launched a new online educational resource called Scitable. Aimed at undergraduate biology students and educators the platform combines scientific information with social functionality to provide users with an authoritative resource in the Google-isation of education. So far Scitable boasts over 150 evidence based articles in the field of genetics, which includes:

• chromosomes and cytogenetics;
• evolutionary genetics;
• gene expression and regulation;
• gene inheritance and transmission;
• genes and disease;
• genetics and society;
• genomics;
• nucleic acid structure and function;
• population and quantitative genetics.

Each overview has been vetted by the Nature Publishing Group with reference to primary scentific literature and best of all it doesn’t cost a penny to use.

By registering with Scitable you can build a ‘personal portfolio’ (or profile) to store bookmarks and join in the discussion, creating groups or classrooms to host topics. There is also the opportunity to practice your networking skills by communicating directly with other users around the world. And finally with the option to contribute material and collaborate with peers there couldn’t be a better way to develop fundamental research in the public domain.

For more visit Scitable on:

• Facebook;
• Twitter;
• Myspace Videos.

Steven Chu (of The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), a remarkable Nobel Prize winning experimental physicist, is to replace Samuel Bodman by becoming Barak Obama’s new Energy Secretary.

In 1997 Chu shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and William D. Phillips for their work on cooling and trapping atoms using laser light. This technique is used in physics to alter atomic velocities by cooling temperatures in order to trap atoms in space, resulting in more precise measurements of atomic spectra and clocks.

As the new Energy Secretary Chu has been tasked with finding alternatives to fossil fuels in an attempt to ‘end US dependence on foreign oil and fight climate change’ (BBC News). As a Professor of Physics and Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California (UC), Berkeley Chu is already well known for his advocation of combating climate change and the need for carbon-neutral renewable energy sources using scientific methods. He claims:

What the world does in the coming decade will have enormous consequences that will last for centuries [and] it is imperative that we begin without further delay (BBC News).

Below is a video of ‘Growing Energy’ from the PBS series where Chu is seen discussing some early alternatives to foreign oil.

After reading Philip Pullman’s Dark Materials I’ve been interested in finding out more about trepanning, which is used in his books by the Tartars to increase consciousness by attracting the mysterious substance, Dust. According to Mo Costandi’s illustrated history of trepanation it is ‘the oldest form of neurosurgery’, involving ‘the removal of a piece of bone from the skull’ (a procedure which has been performed since the prehistoric age). The oldest skull specimen to date is over 7,000 years old and was found at a neolithic burial site of Ensisheim in France. 

But my real interest is really in finding out why such a procedure was and still is used, what effects it has and how it is performed. As with everything in life there isn’t a simple answer to these questions, mostly there’s just speculation and superstitution. Some say that historically the procedure was used to treat brain behaviour resulting in headaches, epilepsy or undiagnosable mental disorders. Others say it was performed as ritual during spiritual gatherings to enhance consciousness or provide a passage for evil demons to escape, whilst others are adamant the procedure was used to treat depressed skull fractures.  

Whatever the reason being generally trepanation has been performed by using a sharp object to make an incision deep enough to expose the skull in order to cut/scrap/saw or drill a hole through to the brain. I think the general idea is to increase the blood flow around the brain to augment activity by arousing particular senses. Nice idea, but all a bit gruesome for my liking. There are some interesting modern day examples though if you fancy reading more about the people who’ve had the pleasure: Peter Halvorson and excerpts from a ‘crazy’ man’s diary.

You might be interested in reading my interview with Heather Perry, who performed a self-trepanation, with Halvorson’s assistance, in 2000.

What a nice story to start my day! In the remote forest of the Foja Mountains, west of Papua New Guinea, Bruce Beehler has discovered a Garden of Eden.

On his month long expedition Beehler has discovered a number of new species, including 20 frogs, 4 butterflies, 5 palms and a Rhododendeon Macgregoriae. In a place untouched by man, species close to extinction were found to be breeding in harmony and completely unafraid of human contact!

There is a slide show here that includes evidence of the smoky honeyeater, a golden fronted bowerbird and a Berlepsch’s six-wired “lost” bird of paradise. Six species of tree kangaroos were also recorded including the golden-mantled tree kangaroo, a species new to Indonesia and one of the cutest things I have ever seen! While I understand this place to be an incredibe laboratory for biodiversity scientists I hope that it can be totally preserved and left free of the unintended consequences of human civilisation.