Wifi on the Moon!

NASA and MIT have joined forces in making this happen, wifi on the moon! Yep, even when you are visiting the surface of earth’s only naturally occurring satellite you will be able to connect with all your loved ones (and everybody else basically) on the internet. The plan is to create gateway nodes through which wifi will be implemented. The wifi on the moon will be even faster (hence better) than the stuff we have here because there is no atmosphere on the moon to prevent wifi signals traveling with ease. Four telescopes in New Mexico are already set up to send the signal to the moon and plans are on the drawing board to connect the rest of our solar system to the internet. The internet has already made our planet seem smaller by bridging the distance between all of its inhabitants, now it’s poised to make the universe a smaller more accessible place too… 

Next time I hear my grandson holler out, “Grandma! Reset the wifi!” from his fixed position in front of his PlayStation on the other side of the house, I’m going to consider sending him to the moon!

Glamping

This might seem a bit contradictory (alright, I’ll admit maybe even downright hypocritical) considering all my usual off the grid type blogs, but the next time I go out into the wild I want to try glamping (instead of plain old camping). I’m pretty sure the word glamping is a combination of glamour and camping and from what I've read it’s a fairly new term. The idea of glamping isn't new to me though. I once went to a math conference at Rock Eagle in north GA with a bunch of teacher friends that included one serious glamper named Mitzie. We shared a cabin with bunch of bunks (the rather lumpy striped mattress variety) that are also used by the 4H campers each summer and the one bright spot, not including the beautiful fall colors and crispness outdoors was Mitzie’s bunk. This girl really knew how to glamp from the fluffy pillows, sleep mask, snacks, personal playlist, and comfy coordinated linens and matching duvet to everything needed for a mani/pedi. That’s the kind of glamping I’m talking about! Granted I might need my own team of personal movers to accomplish this even a really nice blowup mattress (that has enough air and no leaks to keep my behind off the ground all night) in an air-conditioned tent might be enough to turn camping into glamping for me. My other requirement for any kind of camping is indoor plumbing, preferably with hot and cold running water. And visiting an exotic location is also nice... Maybe I should just forget about going glamping and go on a cruise! 

GA’s New ‘Slowpoke’ Law

Yikes! I've been accused (by my grandkids mostly) of driving like an old lady and now Georgia has a new ‘Slowpoke’ Law. When (and if) my husband reads about this he’ll probably get a laugh out of the thought of me slowpoking along on the interstate. Despite the fact that my motto in the past has been 95 on 95, my little old 4 cylinder engine car doesn't actually have enough umph for that so thinking you can go as fast as the numbers on the speedometer indicates is basically a lie. Therefore, I have no idea why the numbers go that high, because even if I say this and you may conclude I've tried, my car won’t go that fast. So maybe if the name, in my case, slowpoke fits I may as well own it. The GA State Patrol have been pulling slowpokes in the Atlanta area over and giving them warnings. I figure slowpokes might be safer for all concerned to catch than drivers that opt for high speed chases. Maybe the GA State Patrol figures they can cut back road rage incidents by ticketing the slowpokes that ragers find so aggravating. Wonder when they’ll start issuing warnings down here since most of my driving occurs in the southeastern most corner of the state. Speaking as a possible slowpoke, I will say that I have been given ‘the finger’ (not the pointer used for indicating a direction either) a few times by other drivers and even though a couple of my grandkids have encouraged me to return the favor I've preferred not to do so.

Molecular Gastronomy

This is my topic today after just finishing off a lovely sandwich for lunch in the time honored traditional way-for me that’s turkey between 2 slices of whole wheat slathered with mustard. By molecular gastronomy I mean chemical foods the polar opposite of clean eating (meaning eating foods with the least possible or no processing) which I am trying very hard to do. Clean eating is difficult because it seems other than growing my own food there is very little out there untouched by chemicals in some way, either through processing or by pesticides or other chemicals during the growing. That said molecular gastronomy involves using chemical reactions to produce meals from chemical compounds and cooking alone, compounds like maltodextrine, citric acid, or allyl isothiocyanate. Simply put, the idea is food doesn't have to be grown, an alternative to home grown food with the same nutrients and constituent parts can be made completely out of chemicals in a lab. Hampton Creek’s food scientists are working to perfect a perfect egg (without the hen) and their first product, an egg free mayonnaise called Just Mayo is already being sold at Whole Foods in the US and in Europe. Bill Gates recently endorsed them and his foundation also funds another company called Beyond Meat in California that is experimenting with new technologies to turn plants into new foods that taste like beef or chicken. There is even a company called Nu-Tek Food Science in Minnesota that’s producing salt with only a fraction of the sodium in regular salt. I am not sure about all the worry over sustainability in the future for our planet’s burgeoning population, maybe these scientists should focus more on the present with the threat of global warming and the dangers from chemicals we are adding and have already added to our soil, water, and hence our food supply that is supposed to sustain us right now. I don’t think the chemical cuisine of the future sounds very appetizing at all. 

Lionfish Update

Three things…Capt. Jim was recently stung by one of these and suffices to say they have a painful sting. Their venom is located in their spiny spines and they have a lot of them. I spent a good bit of time in the water on my most recent visit to Andros and happily, I didn’t come across any lionfish and as far as I know (or could see actually) none crossed my path either. As I have mentioned in past posts the lionfish is an invasive species, as if being venomous isn't bad enough, and there are hunts, some with prizes, for these (no bag limit) throughout the year.

Thing two…The aggressive invasive lionfish, in addition to painfully stinging Capt. Jim is edible as long as you don’t eat the venomous spines. The meat of a properly (and carefully) fileted and cooked lionfish is white, flaky, and considered quite tasty. And have I mentioned that there are lots of lionfish out there? They've been found in the Caribbean, off the Florida Keys, and along the Atlantic as far north as Massachusetts and they multiply fast as the females produce 2 million eggs each year and they are causing the demise of 56 native fish species even as I type.

Thing three… A 12-year-old science fair entrant Lauren Arrington found out that lionfish can also survive in nearly fresh water (rivers and estuaries beware!). In her science fair experiment using only six fish and six tanks, she found the lionfish could live in water with a salinity level as low as 6 parts per million. Regular ocean water has a salinity of 35 parts per million. Since she didn’t want to be disqualified by killing the lionfish she didn’t go lower than 6 parts per million. Scientists followed up on her idea and found the lionfish limit is 5 parts per million and this puts more native species at risk since the lionfish, which has no known predators, is poised to enter and disrupt freshwater ecosystems.

A possible moral for this update? If you can’t beat ‘em…catch, kill, and eat ‘em!

Aussies on AUTEC

My son, granddaughter, an Aussie, and I were joking around about the difference between leaving and old person (me specifically) in a locked hot car versus leaving kids and dogs, that being passersby would probably not break me out. Something like the oldie was at the end of her ride anyway had us chuckling. All this small talk occurred while we were waiting for the shuttle to take us to our plane and our new found Aussie friend gave us some pretty cool collectible coins (pictured here). One thing I like about going over to the Bahamas is that there are always new people to meet and interesting things going on and this trip was no different. I came to learn that the Australians have purchased a bunch of new helicopters (at quite a price tag but that may be for another blog) and have been practicing on the range with MK54 torpedoes and MH60-HR sensors (basically a bunch of anti-submarine warfare training). That’s the work side of this blog. I also overheard in the chow hall (a comment that I’m paraphrasing here), someone say they thought Aussies were born with a beer in their hand after talk of a ‘borrowed’ golf cart joyride and subsequent crash. The Aussies were however successful after only seven months of operating the MH-60R ‘Romeo’ Maritime Combat Helicopter, and NUSQN 725 achieved successful Mk 54 torpedo firings during the current deployment to the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Centre (AUTEC). I still like their motto, Be Aggressive and I’m glad they did better with the helicopters!

 

Diclofenac, Another DDT?

Diclofenac, a pain killer not a pesticide, found in the carcasses of scavenge cattle is a threat to Europe and Asia’s eagles much like DDT was to the eagles of North America. Scavenge cattle was the phrase that piqued my interest when I was scanning some reading material. So I looked them up and found that scavenge cattle are free ranging cattle (like my chickens I thought) and in actuality they’re the sacred cows of India. I don’t have it in me to eat my backyard chickens (though the eggs make tasty omelets) but I don’t consider them sacred either, more like pets. Back to India’s free range or scavenge cattle, Orthodox Hindus there would rather starve than eat them, so strong is their abhorrence of the idea of killing a sacred cow. (I’m thinking of googling McDonalds in India next) And they go to the extremes of seeing that the cows are fed regardless of their own personal food insecurity. I am figuring the same goes for the comfort levels of these sacred beasts as they have managed to ingest or be fed this pain killer that we don’t give our cattle (PETA may weigh in on this) called diclofenac. Vultures (in India almost completely wiped out) and perhaps soon to follow eagles and other birds of prey close genetically to the vultures are dying off because of the diclofenac in their food chain (scavenge cattle carcasses). Now the Vulture Conservation Foundation wants the diclofenac banned in Europe. It was registered for use in Spain and Italy in 2013. Officials are so far only willing to put a warning about its toxicity on the label. I hope they don’t have to learn the lesson there the DDT way. Eagles have sharp vision but even I know they aren't going to read the labels. 

Bahamian ‘Spider’ without a Web

Maggie, I thought of you (and all arachnophobes) when I started writing this. On my way into the laundry with a big, full basket of dirty laundry under one arm and a bottle of Tide in my other hand I was feeling grateful that the designers of the laundry room had the presence of mind to put in motion sensor lights that would pop on as I stepped in and they did. None of the three washers or dryers available to the residents of my husband’s block of concrete block houses (each set of CBHs have their own laundry set up) were in use so I had my pick of the newer water conserving washers or the last old faithful one, all top loaders. I was tossing in a couple of loads when I heard something, a non-mechanical clicking noise that gave me cause to look up. Much to my surprise perched near the ceiling by a high dryer vent was this laundry room ‘spider’ a Bahamian land crab and apparently I disturbed his daytime sleep by inadvertently turning on the lights. I knew that these guys could climb fences and I've seen them peeking out from behind flower pots and the rims drainage culverts before but this one caught me by surprise. I figure he’s too big to be fought off with a flip flop or a fly swatter too, so I just hope he’s still up there (in plain sight) when I go back to move the clothes from the washer to the dryer. Maybe I’ll take my husband’s trusty companion, Sailor, with me to be on the safe side, just in case…

School Snack Loophole in GA

For the record, I am a retired teacher from GA and after church this morning I joked about how eating school lunch was a big part of the 50 pounds I have recently shed. The truth is I rarely ate school lunches but school fundraiser food, specifically Krispy Kreme donuts, is another story all together. The donut fundraiser was my all-time favorite for a couple of reasons. Lots of money was raised this way, $1,000 each time was my goal and most times it was easily met. Along with buying a donut for each of my students on the day the donuts were delivered, I also bought and brought a couple dozen home. Now getting to the point on this blog, school lunches have been getting healthier. There have always been standards but with childhood obesity (and maybe in my case, teacher obesity) being considered a major heath issue the standards are getting even more strict. I think this is a good thing because I have come to like healthier foods yet I know kids when presented with a choice between salad, veggies, and fruit or fries and nuggets are probably not going to make the healthier choice. I am for the standards for healthier school lunches. Snacks are another story, because in my elementary school students did not have access to snack machines. If they did I think prohibiting soft drinks, candy, and chips, isn't a bad idea. However, the GA state school board has created a loophole in what has been dubbed the School Snack Law that allows GA schools an exemption for up to 30 fundraisers each school year. Krispy Kreme can rest easy and keep the light on!

Sea Glass

My search for sea glass began again last night just before the sunset. The Caribbean Sea breeze and clouds off shore beautifully underlined in pinks and silver with an occasional flash of distant lightning was the perfect backdrop for it. Sea glass is sometimes called a reverse gem because after smooth glass bottles etc. become broken, discarded, and find their way to the ocean they are tumbled, smoothed, frosted, and repurposed into pieces that can be made into jewelry. I like to find pieces and reimagine them into light softening window whimsies and wrapped pendants. The colors are special too. Most of the sea glass pieces I find were at one time part of some brown beer bottles. Other colors are rarer. Most commonly found sea glass is brown, green, or clear, but some sea glass (depending on the source, bottle or windshield) comes in purples, reds, and blues less common. The rarest color is orange (my favorite color) found only once in every 10,000 pieces, hence today I plan to venture out on some of my favorite beaches with my husband, (old navy), and his pup, Sailor, in search of more gifts from the bountiful sea.    

The Improbability Principle

Coincidences, miracles, and rare events happen every day and author and renowned statistician, David J. Hand, has taken a statistical approach to explaining these phenomena. He has written a book (The Improbability Principle) and in it even goes so far as to say that these occurrences are actually quite common place and expectable. He has divided The Improbability Principle (and its explanation) into 5 Laws, like Newton did with his 3 Laws of Motion. I am not sure that I understand the math behind this principle but I do agree that miracles, seemingly unexplainable coincidences, and rare events do happen every day. Some of these coincidences are tragic. For example, Malaysian Airlines losing a second plane filled with commuters not that long after losing the first, even though the second plane’s whereabouts have been accounted for unlike the first. On the flip side you have the positive opposite of tragedy that renews our spirits and faith. The possibility of miracles and rare occurrences that celebrate the goodness and compassion of humanity or beauty and wonder that is our world all around us sustains my optimism. Before the book and without the proof verifying math,as I live and breathe in a complex improbable world I believe in the improbability principle.

Where’s My Water?

The answer to this question yesterday was everywhere starting early with the summer storms, or so it seemed. My current grand in residence had the question emblazoned on his t shirt and he played a game with the same name on his tablet while in my hall bathroom (now renamed the ‘public’ bathroom…he always comes up with interesting renames, like renaming my fat cat from Honey to Tubby…but that’s for another blog post). Then it took 3 buckets of water after plunging to send the epic, you can guess, on its way and according to the same grand this isn't an everyday occurrence. I am thankful that he’s been accurate on that so far for this visit!

I have also been thinking about water in general (and drinking lots of it too) and read some interesting things about our world’s coming water crisis. I knew and know about how chlorine's use for disinfecting water is pretty universal and kills a wide range of stomach bugs and pathogens, but I did not know that the byproducts created can cause cancer. Adding activated carbon to water so it can remove the carcinogens created when substances react with chlorine makes water safer. Apparently the monopolistic, somewhat secretive water utility industry that insists that our drinking water is safe and healthy might be holding back in some things, namely the carcinogenic byproducts that may be present in our water. Maybe a there is more to be contemplated on this subject than the simple question, Where’s my water?

Beware! Evolutionary Traps

Evolutionary traps, sometimes called ecological traps, created inadvertently by changes to the environment that humans make, plague the animal world. Animals are trapped because these changes happen too fast for their evolution to keep up with. These human made traps are everywhere and affect mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. When lured into an evolutionary trap many animals reach an evolutionary dead end. Sea turtle hatchlings mistake the lights of beachside hotels for the horizon and crawl away from the sea to die and others that do make it to the sea mistake small pieces of plastic for food and die full but starved. The sea turtle population hasn't crashed completely yet but may be on a collision course yet because of other things that humans do, like leaving the light on. The other big thing humans do is introducing invasive species to unfamiliar environments with disastrous results, think pythons in the Everglades. Lastly, like the animals that humans catch in these evolutionary traps, we often find ourselves caught in traps of our own making. Fast food, gambling, and drugs are just some traps (created by humans) that have hijacked behaviors that evolved to aid human survival. So be mindful and look out for evolutionary traps!

Shields Up Protect Spaceship Earth from Solar Storms

Our planet has its own protective shields and I had no idea. Our planet doesn't just sit there and take whatever solar wind gives it, instead it fights back! The Earth can and does bring up a plasma shield to protect itself! Most solar wind, streams of high energy particles flowing from the sun, is blocked by a bubble of magnetism called the magnetosphere that surrounds our planet. When the sun’s magnetic field lines up with our magnetic field, however, cracks appear in the magnetosphere and charged particles get in. These result in auroras and geomagnetic storms that mess with navigation systems and power grids. The Earth’s magnetic field also traps gases as they escape from the upper atmosphere and when those gases are ionized by the ultraviolet rays of the sun plasma forms. This plasma is what makes up the plasmasphere and the plasmasphere is another shield that can send plumes to create a buffer zone that makes it harder for the Earth and sun’s magnetic fields to line up and reconnect, hence keeping solar storms from slamming us. NASA’s THEMIS spacecraft (3 of them) that study solar storms monitored one of these plumes so even though we don’t know when they’re likely to form, we have evidence that they do. So next time danger appears on our planet’s horizon, I guess, it’s time for, “Shields up, Sulu!”

Hellbenders

So it’s Sunday morning and while getting ready to go to church I have hellbenders on my mind? Hellbenders are the largest North American salamander species, and by that I am talking pretty large, up to two feet in length. That’s a good sized amphibian! Their habitats are North American freshwater streams and rivers and because they prefer clean streams and rivers, hellbenders serve as indicators of stream health. The presence of young and adults is synonymous with good water quality. These big guys breathe through their skin and any toxic substance in the water can have quite a negative impact on their health and lifespan which in the wild can be from 30 to 50 years. The other usual culprits like lawn chemical runoff and pollution are also factors in the hellbender population decline. Some hellbenders are being raised in captivity for release in the wild and scientists recommend planting trees and grasses alongside rivers to improve their chances for survival. The hellbenders and our rivers are depending on us.

Zeer Pot

Nope, I’m not slurring my words on or about this zeer legalized pot biz in this post! The zeer pot I am writing about is an evaporative cooler, basically a non-electrical refrigerator designed and popularized in rural northern Nigeria in the 1990s by Mohamed Bah Abba. This type of pot in pot refrigerator was created for use in places where electricity is scarce to keep veggies fresher longer (from days to weeks) past the day they’re picked. In the under-developed parts of Africa and the Middle East, zeer pots users use custom made pots prepared by local potters. Here they can be put together using terracotta pots and other items found in your local hardware store. Basically they consist of two pots nestled together with sand and water in between. The veggies go into the inner pot and condensation does the cooling. They are not efficient in direct sunlight but when placed in a shaded, breezy location, the evaporation of water off the outer surface chills the pot (as low as 40 degrees). If I built one could use a solar powered fan to provide a breeze when nature doesn’t cooperate. (I did have a solar powered dorm sized fridge when I taught elementary school science, but that’s a topic for another post.) My interest in this nonelectric stuff stems from my general interest in ideas for living off the grid. One of these zeer pots would coordinate nicely with my Wonderbag (a non-electric crock pot of sorts). You can easily search my blog and see previous blogs on that! 

7-Eleven

Besides being today’s date and the address of a favorite person of mine, today is the day to get a free Slurpee from one of the oldest franchise companies around, 7-Eleven. There are more than 50,000 7-Eleven convenience stores worldwide (in 16 different countries) and that’s a lot of Slurpees. 7-Eleven in the USA is headquartered in Dallas, Texas where the company originated in 1927 when an employee of Southland Ice Company, John Jefferson Green, started selling milk, eggs, and bread from an improvised storefront in one of the company's ice houses. Apparently the ice kept the milk fresh and they were closer to customers than the nearest small grocery and soon figured they were in to something. The infamous and often imitated, Slurpee, a partially frozen soft drink was introduced in 1967 and today is the day to get a free one from your local 7-Eleven. I love everything about them except the brain freeze! 

Robots Write the News (but I still write this blog!)

Robots write the news and this isn't anything new, even though it was new to me. 3 minutes after an earthquake strikes in California, the LA Times can break the story written by an earthquake algorithm nicknamed Quakebot. Apparently a bunch of machines write the news, not just Quakebot, Forbes magazine uses a company called Narrative Science to robotically report corporate earnings. Narrative Science also created ProPublica to write summaries of 52,000 schools in a database. Other bots write homicide reports and still others write sports articles. Real live reporters need not worry about being replaced...yet. So far robots are used mainly for boring data aggregating stories because when it comes to crunching numbers and using pure computer power these robots can’t be beat. Automated Insights builds robot reporters that look for interesting trends and in 2013 they churned out 300 million pieces. Sound mind boggling? It does to me too, but I still write this blog!      

Little Free Library in the News

In Leawood, Kansas the fate of Little Free Libraries, a small library shaped box on stilts, rather than a repurposed newspaper box like the one in my photo will soon be determined. The library (hosted by a nine year old boy and his family) garnered some complaints by neighbors and is being scrutinized in relation to the city ordinance prohibiting structures in front yards. I think the ordinance was intended to prevent sheds and storage type buildings from being set up in front yards and the Collins family hopes the Leawood City Council will make an exception for the Little Free Libraries. There are 30 Little Fee Libraries in the Kansas City area, 15,000 registered Little Free Libraries in 62 countries, and one I sponsor in my town. The movement started on 2009 in Wisconsin and by Todd Bol as a tribute to his mother, a former schoolteacher who loved to read. I think it’s a great way to share a love for reading and get books into the hands of children. My confession here is that I have one more old newspaper box and need to finish repurposing it for use as a Little Free Library soon. I sure hope the Leawood City Council finds it in their hearts to make an exception for these because they are a great way to create a sense of community and support literacy.

Tour de Jo, I Mean France

Okay now that the true poop is out and old news about Lance Armstrong (stripped of 7 years-worth of Tour de France titles for doping) I am finally ready to admit I am a little intrigued by the actual Tour de France. I also got an email on my phone about mapping my own bike rides and a contest having to do with logging 100 miles by bike too (another nudge), but I knew the official Tour is much longer than that. Maybe part of my interest stems from a visit to Paris my husband and I took in 1999. We were there in July but not for the race. I remember Wimbledon (we went to England too) and the French Open (my Mom loved tennis) but there wasn't any hype about the Tour while we were there then. Needless to say though, the Tour de France in a nutshell is a multiple stage bicycle race held mostly in France and some neighboring countries each July. The first of these prestigious events (considered by many to be the most prestigious in the cycling world) was held in 1903. The race takes place over 23 days and is a series of 21 day long segments totaling 2,200 miles. (After doing the math it appears to me that the racers cycle about 100 miles each day.) The route changes every year with lots of laps around France including rides through the Pyrenees and the Alps and a finish on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. Teams compete for the fastest times and the actual race leader gets to don the coveted yellow jersey. I don’t have an actual yellow jersey or t-shirt but I do have a neon green singlet (better day-glo than dead for when I’m out and about jogging, my husband always says) and I’m planning to put it on, hop on my bike, and begin my very own Tour de Jo right after I post this! 

The Return of the Nocturnal Mr. O-The Face in the …Chicken Coop

“The face in the window!” is one of my husband’s favorite quotes from Sherlock Holmes, especially shouted with trepidation in a bad English accent and last night (early this morning in the wee hours, actually) we had one of those moments. The face actually appeared in the chicken coop after the squawking rose to a wake the teen-aged grandson level. Basically after 1:30 am I am figuring in order to wake up Ethan that would be loud enough to wake the dead (and in the dead of night, no less). Chickens sleep at night (and I like to also, but alas, last night that wasn't happening) because my entire household convened in my bedroom to wake me up so I could deal with the situation. Let’s face it, I do love my girls (and an omelet for breakfast) so I got up, went to the back door, and turned on the back porch light. Sure enough I saw Extra Crispy and Peaches (two Orpingtons) nervously heading for the high bushes and I heard the loud squawking coming from the coop. Nobody lays an egg at this time of night so this wasn't a “proud of my accomplishment” kind of squawk either. Then I saw the face… in the chicken coop! I slipped my feet into my chicken flops (an old pair of flips kept at the back door and only worn outside to preclude the accidental tracking in of chicken poop), armed myself with my broom (no, not to fly away on either), and called my trusty four legged companion, Fred to ‘Go get him!” and out we went. The white faced Mr. O’Possum took off for the fence behind the coop with Fred snapping at his heels and poor Gimpy (my oldest hen with a limp-another story for another day) was left terrorized on top of the nest box in the corner of the coop protesting at the top of her lungs. I picked her up and got her calmed down. From the other side of the yard Original Recipe appeared heading back to the coop with the others, all my girls alive and clucking. If I could I’d cue some old timey radio show mystery theater music here and add, “Who knows what evil lurks (or may be lurking around my chicken coop) tonight!” I figure a nap is in order for me today!

Aging and Dementia

There has been a big shift change in how medicine deals with some of our biggest health woes these days. The shift I am blogging about is from cure to prevention or from cure to management. The big health woes I’m talking about are cancer, diabetes, HIV, obesity, and addiction. Now from an anthropological point of view we can add late onset dementia. The progression of the rare, early onset form of Alzheimer’s and the amyloid cascade hypothesis are well documented despite the hypothesis’ age (20 years old). Researchers are not so sure that it applies to late onset dementia. It seems more likely that dementia (after age 75) is part of the unavoidable process of aging and when compounded by cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes we may be better off considering it in a preventative light rather than by trying to find a drug or cure for it. The anthropological view recognizes that becoming demented is a lifelong process. (That should explain my husband’s behavior-inside joke, in case he reads this.) Becoming demented is an accumulation of environment and behavior affecting our biology. So an aging brain is part and parcel of the rest of our aging bodies, and as a care giver for elderly parents I definitely know that some parts tire out quicker than others. Hence the shift to education and preventative measures, if you’re waiting till dementia’s onset you’re starting too late. The time to stop taking your health for granted is today. 

Smart Clothes-Batteries Included!

So here’s my next best crochet project idea….something made with a yarn-like lithium-ion battery that could power my personal electronics! The cool thing about this battery is that it doesn't

 have any metal components and it’s stretchy so it would be perfect as part of a bunny or Ninja Turtle hat. The thread like batteries are made of tiny wires nestled in carbon nanotubes, one coated with lithium oxide nanoparticles and the other with lithium manganese oxide (for negative and positive). The wires are then twisted together with a gel electrolyte and a thin strip of non-conducting material separating them. A battery of this sort less than a foot long can light up a whole string of LED lights for up to a minute, so I’m just imagining how much power a hat crocheted with this material could have. The battery was also coiled around a piece of elastic and stretched hundreds of times without loss of performance. Smart phones move over because wearable technology…smart clothes (and possibly smart crocheted hats) are set to take off and will be coming to consumers like you and me, soon!

Eating in Space

You’d think eating in space would've come a long way since the days of Tang and dehydrated ice cream (I remember getting some of this when we visited Cape Canaveral) but I wonder? Recently I read a couple of things about food in space.

Apparently red lettuce is being grown on the International Space Station. NASA announced that the veggie growth system with special lighting and seeds has been activated. Temperature control, carbon dioxide, and water come from the cabin conditions and the astronauts themselves. The catch (in my humble opinion) is that the romaine lettuce grown and harvested on the ISS will be frozen and returned to Earth so scientists can determine if the space-grown food is safe, nutritious, and tasty. The hope is that eventually the veggie growing system will be used to grow fresh vegetables for the astronauts aboard ISS.

Next I read about 3 volunteers in China that have just spent 3 months eating beetle larvae (mealworms) as part of a project testing life support systems for deep space travel. During their time in the artificial biosphere at Beijing University the volunteers grew and harvested grain, veggies, and fruit and fed the inedible parts of their harvest to mealworms. Along with some meat the volunteers ate dozens of mealworms each day cooked with different cooking styles and seasonings.

Too bad the astronauts on board the ISS won’t get a chance to enjoy a nice romaine salad. I don’t think the scientists back here will fine the frozen lettuce tasty either. I can also assure you that no amount of seasonings would make mealworms appetizing to me. Give me the good old days as far as eating in space goes, I’m sticking with Tang and dehydrated ice cream!

Governor’s Veterans Service Award

First off, my husband got involved with this because he wanted to do something nice for his brother, surprise him, and see him get some appreciation and recognition for his service to our country. They are the last of the “Mount-hicans” (at least of their generation with both parents and their sister gone) and seem to both wish they were closer as over time they have gone pretty much their separate ways as happens in many families. So we showed up at the American Legion hall for this ceremony and watched the crowd roll in. There were lots of veterans of all ages and many wars. The crowd was predominantly male but there were women vets there too. I saw lots of uniforms, some military and many American Legion blazers and pin covered caps. My grandsons had questions about the many flags that decorated the Legion Hall. The people watching was excellent and I was struck by the fact that these men and women being honored this day were pretty ordinary folks that if not for this gathering would be like people you see every day. Their service to our country that affords the freedoms we enjoy is what they were gathered to be honored for but for the most part they carried no signs saying they were veterans, though there was a row of folks in wheelchairs and maybe more with prosthetic limbs like Uncle Mart. They were a humble group and after the governor’s remarks and the spotlight veterans (my husband and his brother) received their medals the rest of the vets cued like a church crowd, or group of grads, to the front of the hall for theirs. The photos with the governor (Rick Scott) and the mayor of Tampa was the finale. Pretty low key as far as ceremonies go, no cap throwing or dancing, but nice, sincere, and richly deserved. Congratulations to all awardees.