The Settlers of Catan on a custom board

Far too much time has elapsed since my last post.  It’s a consequence of life inserting its priorities over my own, but fortunately I’m quite happy. That, despite writing far less, working a great deal more, and cutting back on almost anything remotely entertaining.

Notice I said, “almost.”

Because if one has children and limited childcare, part of getting through summer involves dropping all non-essential activities and turning attention onto them. And the best way to shower attention is through…games, right?

Well, just like all scientists, the only way to find out is through experimentation. Hence, the segway into TinySci – I wanted to see if a 6 year old could learn to play a challenging game of The Settlers of Catan.  And have fun.

This post isn’t about the game play itself, of which there’s a significant chunk of literature out and about the Internet. Suffice it to say, all you’ve read is correct:

• Settlers of Catan  is fun, novel, balanced, and well deserving of its many awards;
• It’s easy to learn and excellent  for many people;
• Despite the rumors, its can be tuned for a nice game for 2; and,
• The 4th edition board pretty much sucks.

Rather than reiterate all the praise extolled onto The Settlers of Catan, I’m focusing on the last point – the board. And the fact that it sucks. And what I did to remedy it.

But in case you were wondering, the 6 year old and I had a blast playing it.

When laid out according to the instructions, the 4th edition “board” is one comprised of 15 hexagonal land tiles surrounded by interlocking shoreline tiles.  In theory, this implementation is a dream come true, as the shoreline tiles keep the interior hexagonal land tiles in place.  In practice, this implementation is a minor nightmare resulting from hexagonal tiles that are ever-so-slightly too large to fit into an interior space that’s ever-so-slightly too small.

To be exact, each hexagonal tile is about 79 mm wide.  Five of them, end to end, form the longest stretch of land requiring 395 mm of width within the shore tiles. And now, the distance between the shore tiles? About 393 mm. Yup, 2 mm short.

Oops.

But wait – you’re thinking, how could 2 mm over the span of almost 400 mm make a difference?  We’re talking about a factor of about 1/2 of 1%.  The problem is, the stiff tile boards are about 1 mm thin, which means they can give and take under pressure. It also means if you push and shove, you can fit the hexagonal tiles within the shoreline tiles.  BUT, since some pressure is required to fit the land tiles within the sea tiles, the inevitable happens: Warping.  Warping in a bad way.

My son and I learned and played the game together one late afternoon, we had a blast, but we didn’t put it away when we finished.  We left it in the land-tile-within-shore-tile configuration until the next morning. And that’s when I saw it – the previously flat board had turned into a warped mess.  The land tiles had warped slightly, but the sea tiles warped to the point where using them again made the game altogether unplayable.  I took the sea tiles and had them sit under a stack of heavy textbooks for 24 hours, but that only helped marginally.  I read about how one guy ironed his flat (using low heat and a towel on top), but it wasn’t until I saw the warping with my own eyes did I believe it.

Warp happens.

So, how does one rationally reconcile buying a very expensive board game with these results? Well, returning the game wasn’t an option – it’s too fun. Which meant, going for the gold: Doing something, custom, home-built…but what?

Others have gone this route to varying degrees of success and effort.  I liked the solution that involved ditching the board altogether and creating an entire one, a three dimensional one from scratch using a clay mold and tons of time.  Wow, the result is amazing.  Unfortunately, as I mentioned earlier, I didn’t have the time.

I opted for quicker, cheaper, and a smidgen less nice. The result, still incomplete, is wonderful. It consists of a backing made from artist’s board, foam board to replace the exterior sea tiles, and rubber cement. As you can see from the picture above, everything sits flush, without pressure, without any bend or warping.  The cost of materials?  Approximately $12.

Custom Setters of Catan Board, Top View

In a nutshell, I cut out the land tile form from the foam board and glued the remaining frame to the stiff artist’s board which serves as the backing. I also cut out rectangles from the bottom to hold the cards. The result? Carefree enjoyment of the game!

I said I was almost done. The remaining work will occur on the backside where I will create a similar form that will fit the extended 5-6 person game.  This isn’t the highest priority though, as we’re not expecting any company soon.  Still, it’s great because the same board will serve both versions of the game.

Also, I ordered some cheap hexagonal 79 mm wide 3 mm thick tiles onto which I’m going to adhere the land tiles.  Why? Because the ones that come with the set are so thin. After paying so much for the game, I want it to last. Gluing them to engineered fiberboard should do the trick. These tiles should arrive in a week – more about that when they arrive.

For those who are interested, here are step-by-step instructions:

The Ingredients:

1. Go to Aaron Brothers and buy a pre-primed engineered guaranteed-not-to-warp artist’s board. I got one that’s 18 inches by 24 inches for about $8.  This will serve as the backing of your custom board.  You could go larger if you wish.  Smaller, I wouldn’t recommend, as you’d have a tough time to squeeze in the outer sea chips.
2. While you’re there, also buy rubber cement (or other glue of your choice), and foam board. I purchased two pieces of foam board for about $5 each.  I also went with black, but you could go for a more “realistic” blue to simulate the ocean.
3. You’ll need either an Exacto-knife or a box cutter (I used a box cutter with a new blade).
4. Tracing paper helps but is not necessary. A ruler and a pencil is required!  Tape helps.
5. Sand paper.

The Build:

1. Smooth out the edges and especially the corners of the artist’s board.  They’re sharp.  And, this is optional, you may want to smooth out the edges of the land tiles to remove the “hanging chad” (You’ll know what I mean when you see it.  I did, but be careful and don’t sand away too much of your tile!).
2. Cut the foam board to the size of the artist’s board. Start by tracing the artist’s board over the foam board and use a ruler to help make your cuts.  BE CAREFUL AND DON’T CUT YOURSELF.  Having access to a cutting board helps.
3. If you have tracing paper, lay the land tiles on it and trace its circumference with a pencil.  It helps to place a weight over each tile so it doesn’t move once you set it down (I used empty water glasses, though, room temperature cans of soda work too).  Make sure you lay the tiles adjacent to each other, but not snugly. Give yourself an iota of wiggle-room so that everything lays down perfectly flat without bunching up.  Once you have your trace, superimpose it over the foam board and center it as you see fit.  I centered mine width-wise but off centered it length-wise.  Once you have your tracing paper positioned, tape it in place.
4. If you don’t have tracing paper do step 3 but directly on top of the foam board.  Be sure to center the tiles (or, in my case, off-center them) as you see fit.  Trace the circumference of these tiles with a pencil, then remove the tiles.
5. Cut out the land section from the foam board. If you have tracing paper, just cut through the paper. It helps to start your cuts on the outside and to work your way into the piece to be discarded.  It also helps to use a ruler.  And, again, BE CAREFUL AND DON’T CUT YOURSELF.
6. If you want, cut out rectangle slots for the cards, but BE CAREFUL AND DON’T CUT YOURSELF.  You’ll need six slots for the 5 different resource card and the development cards.  I spaced my cuts as such (starting at the edge): 0.75 inches, 2.25 inches, 0.6 inches, 2.25 inches, 0.6 inches, 2.25 inches, 0.6 inches, 2.25 inches, 0.6 inches, 2.25 inches, 0.6 inches, 2.25 inches, 0.75 inches for total of 18 inches.  While the cards are 2.125 inches wide, I added the extra 1/8th inch to avoid putting pressure on the cards.
7. Glue your masterpiece to the artist’s board.  I used rubber cement because I thought it would make things easy. In retrospect, I may have opted for Elmer’s glue, as the rubber cement dried a bit too fast for my tastes. In the end, it worked.  Be sure to place a few text books over the foam board for at least an hour to help the glue set. The nice thing about rubber cement is that if you make a mistake, it’s very easy to remove the glue and start over.
8. That’s it – go and play!

As I said, I’m waiting for some sturdy 3mm hex boards to arrive, upon which I’m gluing the land hex tiles.  I purchased them from http://www.gf9.com/ – I ordered a “quart”-worth (I know, odd, but hey, that’s how they roll) and I’ll let you know how many I get, if it’s worth it, and if it works within the frame I built.  All signs point to an optimistic outcome. Still, even without that, this modified board works like a dream.  It’s a shame that something similar doesn’t come with the purchased product.

And, I’m confident that if anything, we’ll get more mileage out of the game. Which, in the end, hopefully implies a more entertaining summer for me and my son.

Amazon's Kindle 2

This past Saturday, Apple started selling their WiFi version of the iPad, describe by others as being akin to a large iPhone minus the phone. Along with it came an astounding degree of vitriol, messages pronouncing an upcoming period of doom and gloom, all intermixed with declarations promoting Steve Jobs to sainthood. Then came the inevitable comparisons between it and Amazon’s Kindle, the pros, the cons, why you should buy one and not the other, and  why you’re foolish if you don’t follow what they say.

Let me be blunt. Don’t listen to any of them.

But, come on, you want to know. Is the iPad going to change the world? The simple answer? Nobody knows, and don’t believe those who say they do. Because the only certainty involved with predicting the future is this: Eventually, you’re going to be wrong.

So which, if any, should you buy? If you have money to burn, the answer is easy: Both!

While there is overlap in functionality, such as the ability to read e-books from Amazon.com, each has strengths that simply aren’t met by the other.  For example, the Kindle excels when it comes to reading in broad daylight, at the park, or outdoor seating at a coffee shop. There’s absolutely no glare from any angle, and unlike the iPad, reading improves with more ambient light. Not to mention, the Kindle also works well in dim lighting, but because it does not emit any light of it’s own, it will not operate in the dark.

The Kindle also comes with free 3G wireless access.  Get that? FREE. Granted the browser it comes with is severely limited, but in a crunch, it can call up information from nearly anywhere on the planet, for free.  To get wireless access in the iPad, you’ll either need a WiFi connection, or a paid 3G subscription.

And when it comes to reading, the Kindle does this job very well. It’s very light, as opposed to the 1.5 pound iPad, and it can be easily held with one hand for extended periods of time. Which makes it great for reading on the beach, lying down, you know, relaxing.  And, it helps that the Kindle has access to more premium ebooks than any other ebook store on the planet. Which is important if you want to maximize your chances of getting the latest book from your favorite author.

Apple's iPad

For those who are traveling, these days it helps to pack light. The Kindle wins in this department – with the ability keep it’s charge for two weeks or longer with 3G turned off, one could read several novels over a vacation without worrying about bringing along the USB charging cable.  Yes, the iPad’s 10 hour battery life is impressive, but most good reads take substantially longer!

Having said all that, the iPad is an extraordinary and beautiful machine. To deny that is to deny the obvious. It’s speedy and responsive, well featured, it has an excellent battery, there are many applications and games ready for it, and it’s a cinch to use. So much so it makes one wonder why computers in general aren’t as simple to utilize.  The screen is gorgeous and the interface is very intuitive, it plays HD movies with a breeze, it makes full-page web browsing portable, and you can watch streaming Netflix movies from just about anywhere.  Seriously – what’s not to like?

Oh, and have you checked out the games on the iPad? One word: WOW (and by that, I don’ t mean, World of Warcraft). Just do a search for “iPad games” on YouTube if you don’t know what I’m talking about.

Yes, the iPad does also work as an ebook reader, but that’s not it’s strength.  Instead, it’s strength is in practically everything else.  While it can double as an ebook reader, I wouldn’t use it as a primary one, just as I wouldn’t use my laptop or desktop computer as one. It’s simply not as light and easy to read in daylight. But that’s where the Kindle shines. It’s an awesome ebook reader, perhaps the best around today. But it doesn’t do much else.

Does this mean you should get one vs. the other? Well, I hope it’s obvious from this article that a comparison between the two is like comparing mangos to kiwis – the attempt makes no sense. You’ll have to figure how what your priorities are, how much extra money you have lying around, and spend appropriately. What I wouldn’t do is listen to those who openly mock one device or the other with arguments that don’t relate at all to what these devices can do for you, as only you know that answer to that.

After all, that’s what’s important, right?

Facebook and Privacy, or Lack Thereof

The biggest piece of news to hit 350 million Internet users this week was the introduction of new “privacy” controls in Facebook. I use the term “privacy” loosely because if you bothered to dig into your Facebook privacy settings, you would have been somewhat shocked to see that many of the default privacy settings magically reverted to an open-free-for-everyone state. It happened to me and a few others. And, apparently, it happened to many millions of others. The bottom line? Very few of us were happy.

Here are the reasons why Facebook has it all wrong. Actually, there’s only one big reason. And, if Facebook is paying attention, this critique can eventually lead to Facebook privacy a model that’ll be a standard for the Internet.  Ready?

It’s Way Too Complicated
Oh.  My.  Goodness.  Have you ever bothered to count how many screens and how many tabs on each screen you have to visit before you’ve fully examined all your Facebook privacy settings?  Rather than looking, I’m trying to figure it out in my head and I’ve concluded that I’d much rather attempt mental long division.  Or cube roots.

Facebook could argue that they would like to give users a high degree of granularity when it comes to exactly who can seen what.  That’s understandable.  After all, who would want their mom to catch a photo of them passed out on the toilet after a night out with the old gang?  Because you know your buddies are going to post the photo.  Then tag you.  And before you know it, you’re paying own way through college.

My response?  You have several options.  First, don’t invite your mom.  Or second, get new buddies.  Or third, don’t invite anybody you don’t trust.  Personally, I favor both the second and third options.  And I’d think most others would as well.

Ultimately, what Facebook fails to realize is that these extreme levels of granularity are completely and entirely unnecessary.  Because if you “friend” a bunch of jerks who plaster your wall with vulgarities, is Facebook really to blame? Obviously not. And, what Facebook doesn’t realize is that the only reason why people feel okay with posting status updates and pictures is not because there’s a sense of trust within the underlying computer code.

Instead, it’s much more simple.  People post because they trust those they’ve “friended.”

Once a user has made a commitment to “friend” someone, they inherit all the risks and rewards that go along with that decision.  I honestly doubt that a significant percentage of Facebook users have used any of the privacy options that prevent one group of friends from seeing things that another group can’t.  And why should they?  Because they’re your friends.

So, Facebook, cut it out with privacy controls to the extreme. Come 2010 all I want to see is this:

Facebook Privacy Settings

Please select one of the options below which will dictate how all of the content generated and provided by you will be seen by others.  Show what I create to:

• Just me.
• All my friends.
• All friends of friends.
• Everybody.

Please select who can search for you:

• Just me.
• All my friends.
• All friends of friends.
• Everybody.

Yes, it’s that easy.  I’m willing to wager that about 99.5% of all Facebook users would be thrilled with the above.  But for reasons that go beyond the scope of this article, I don’t believe Facebook shares the sentiment.  Why?  In a nutshell: Ads.

Getting back, Facebook, ok, I realize I may be wrong.  But I doubt it.  If you think I’m wrong, I challenge you to share with the public what percentage of your users actually take advantage of the granular per-friend privacy settings. My guess is something around 0.01%.  If that.

In the end, does any of this matter?  Because if history is an indicator, Facebook may be the “it” thing now, but won’t be forever.  Who knows what will eventually surpass Facebook as the “it” social networking phenomenon?  Whatever it is, my money’s on the one that’s more user-friendly, more transparent, easier to use, and customizable.

For now, Facebook ol’ buddy, you’ll just have to do.  And consequently, I’ll have to be on my guard and make do.

Author’s aside: You can try but for very obvious reasons you won’t find me on Facebook.  Instead, try my twitter account: @daveoei.

Geminid Meteor Shower, Source: NASA

The Geminid Meteor Shower doesn’t usually get the full-court press offered to the two other notables, namely the Leonids and the Perseids.  However, recent studies point to an expected increase in meteor shower activity from the Geminids that will continue for the next few decades.  Why? Jupiter’s gravitational influence is going to steadily push more of the stream of ejected material from the extinct comet Phaeton our way over this course of time. Fortunately, we don’t have to worry about Phaeton slamming into us, which is now technically just an asteroid.

At worse, about 100 streaks an hour can be expected starting around midnight local time in North America.  Start by finding Orion, look at his arrow-wielding arm, follow it “up” until you reach the constellation Gemini.  That’ll be where it appears the shower is coming from.

What of the prediction of increased shower activity? At they high end, you’re looking at possibly 200 streaks an hour.  Wow!

Source: NASA

Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo (SS2). I'll wait for version NCC-1701.

Perhaps sometime later in my lifetime I will have mustered the gumption, not to mention the cash required to jump onto Virgin Galactic’s tour of outer space.  But for those of you who not only have enough of both but have been one of the first to reserve your seat into one of the first of such rides for the paying public, aside from those willing to fork over $1M for a jouney on the ISS, here’s what your ride will look like.

The rest of us will just have to sit back and drool.

Honestly, the day job has been very busy, something had to give, and lately that has meant fewer science posts.  But, in an effort to stay current, we’re going to try something new: Very condensed posts about more things we find very interesting provided a little less often.  Hopefully, at least weekly.  We’ll see if this works.  And in the mean time let us know what you think.  The best way is to send a tweet to: @daveoei or post a comment on the site.  Enjoy!

Earth

• As stolen emails makes headlines, the climate continues to warm.  Scientific American
• Is that a seismometers in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?  Caltech via Pasadena News
• Acidification of ocean waters from high CO2 levels may yield larger shells and thus not necessarily spell doom-and-gloom for all shelled creatures, though, it is certainly bad for some.  Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute

Space

• A good guide to beginning astrophotography. Space.com
• A more advanced astrophotography guide, this is a newer edition to the one I currently have. Amazon.com
• Not sure if this is the largest picture ever, but 800,000 digital photos stitched together form a 120 ft long view of just 50% of our galaxy. NASA JPL
• Solar tsunami.  What could go wrong?  NASA

Health

• New mathematical model points to at least two stable weights per individual, does not offer suggestion on hitting the lower of the two. Harvard
• Very early intervention certainly isn’t a cure for autism, but the apparent marked effectiveness of therapies starting at 18 months certainly makes the effort worthwhile.  University of Washington

Stellarium (courtesy of Stellarium.org)

Ever wonder what is that third star from the right?  Could that planet be Jupiter or possibly Venus?  Or, are you just planning a stargazing trip to someplace distant sometime in the far off  future and are wondering what you can expect to see?

Then, Stellarium is just for you.

While the free downloadable software (Windows, Mac, Linux) has been around for a while, it still hasn’t hit version 1.0.  As of this article, it’s on version 0.10.2.  Still, despite my best efforts, I could not get the program to crash, and I run an old P4 1.73Ghz PC.  I can only imagine how it will work on a newer computer.

As you can see from the screen shot, Stellarium will give you a view of the night sky, as if you walked outside your home on a clear, dark night.  But, that’s just the beginning.

Aside from helping identify any planetary, nebular, galactic, or stellar object in the night sky, it will draw out the constellations, attach names to objects, and, if desired, sketch the path of the planets as they travel across the elliptic.

Though the benefits are immediate for any amateur astronomer, Stellarium makes for a great learning tool for children and teens.  For example, one concept that can be difficult to fathom involves the relative movement of the planets, stars, and moon with respect to us, and that’s simply because few of us are out at night, every night, observing.

Stellarium makes that easy.  Just launch the program, configure your location (F6 key) and enter the current date/time.  Now turn on planet trails (F4 key).  Then fast forward to midnight, using your mouse to click on the right-most arrow on the bottom menu.  Once you get to around midnight, pause.  Now, to see what the night sky looks like tomorrow, hit the “=” key(equal sign).  Or, keep the button down and watch Stellarium zoom from midnight today to midnight tomorrow to all the midnights from now until when you take your finger off the “=” key.

It’s hard to see everything at once.  But if you’re interested in observing the direct vs. retrograde movement of planets over the course of days, keep your eye on Mars.  Although this movement makes a certain amount of sense in textbooks, there’s nothing quite like taking control of the helm and seeing it happen for yourself.

Stellarium is perfect for amateur or professional astronomers, even those who have telescopes with built-in star maps.  But for those without a telescope, you can consider Stellarium a fine substitute.  Don’t know what I mean?  Power it up, use the arrow keys to navigate to someplace interesting, and hit the page-up button.  You’ll see detail that will rival some of the best amateur telescopes today, allowing you to stargaze from comfort of your living room…or computer lab.

Galileo never had it so good!

Get Stellarium here for free!

Ben and Jerrys...warm?

Many Gen-Y’ers have no memory of seeded watermelons.  In fact, you would have to look long and hard to relive the glory days of spitting out those small black slippery suckers on hot summer afternoons.  I suppose we all owe a debt to those scientists who relieved us from the need to eat nimbly while devouring a watermelon, scientists who, per Jerry Seinfeld, somehow decided to give up careers looking for the cure to cancer to instead fight the war on pt-tooing out seeds.

But I digress.

Unilever, owner of Ben and Jerry’s (Surprised? It happened 9 years ago) is looking to sell you warm ice cream.  It has a team of scientists looking into the prospect.  Why?  To help reduce or eliminate the need for keeping their very expensive ice cream frozen before you buy it.  Why? Because keeping things frozen for long periods of time not only costs energy, but ultimately yields a high carbon footprint.  Unilever figures, if they can sell you warm ice cream that you freeze when you get home, the environment wins.  Big.

Though the scientific work required to make this happen won’t likely earn anybody a Nobel, it may, someday, earn some gratitude from a polar bear or two.

Source: TimesOnline

Arctic Ice Flow (courtesty of NOAA)

Scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research will publish in tomorrow’s edition of the journal Science that the last 10 years have been the warmest 10-year period in the arctic compared to any withing the last 2000 years.  The main culprit?  Greenhouse gases.  All this comes on top of  a 21,000 year old cycle caused to a wobble in the earth’s rotation that has, for the last 8,000 years, put less sunlight onto the arctic than otherwise (think of a top that spins and wobbles).  Eventually, within a few thousand years, the cycle will reverse, leading to an increase in sunlight in the arctic region, potentially exasperating the problem of already warmer temperatures.

Evidently, Cash for Clunkers couldn’t have come at a better time.

Source: MSNBC

The Sun, as of 19 June 2009. Courtesy of the National Solar Observatory/AURA/NSF.

If you’re a geek like me, you’ve kept your telescopic solar filter on the shelf for more years than you care to remember because of the lack of anything of interest on the sun. Well, time to dust it off. At least, if the scientists at the National Solar Observatory have the right idea.

Scientists have observed that solar activity waxes and wanes on an 11 year cycle. Why? Nobody yet knows. But when solar activity increases, all sorts of havoc gets wrecked onto our satellites and telecommunication systems, and at the same time we see a marked increase in aurora activity. For amateur astronomers, as even professional ones I suppose, increased activity means that sunspots are back. And peering at the sun with a telescope fitted with a high-grade solar filter suddenly becomes interesting again.

Getting back, these scientists theorize that movement of the solar jet stream across the sun’s 22′nd degree of latitude is an indicator of the upcoming switch from inactivity to activity.  And, they just noticed the streams make that crossing, 2 years later than normal.  Which means, if they’re right, we should see sunspots within the next few years.

Source: Science

Getting back, here are some of the best images of the just-completed mission STS-119.  You won’t find any of astronauts with frizzy hair, or astronauts in gravity-defying poses (that’s so 1990).  You will find juxtapositions of Earth, with the ISS, astronauts on EVA, and of course, the shuttle.

Here are the pictures, enjoy, and a word of warning – they’re quite large!

How Udderly Odd - Cows with Built-in Magnets Confirmed?

Last year, after looking at over 8000 images of domestic cattle on Google Earth, a group of scientists led by Hynek Burda and Sabine Begall found that something interesting: Cows tended to align their bodies north-south.

While the reason for why cows did this was elusive, the methodology they used was such that anybody with a computer and internet access could have reached the same results.

Google Earth, a monster of a program, is a free one by Google that provides detailed satellite images, topographic maps, etc… of our planet.  These researchers simply looked at a lot of cows spread across Earth and made this simple discovery.  But was this cause of this mystery-behavior the work of magnetism or the sun?  The researchers suggested it was magnetism because cows were seen pointing north-south even in cloudy conditions.

But there was one way to find out definitively.

Enter Google Earth again.  Except this time, they focused on cows…under high-powered electrical lines.

Contrary to popular belief, the Earth’s magnetic field is very weak, measuring in at no more than 60 microteslas.  Just for reference, a typical refrigerator magnet pulls in at about 5,000 microteslas.  Which means that electrical lines, despite being some distance off the ground from these cows could still provide enough of a disruption to Earth’s magnetic field to confuse cows.

And confuse cows they did.  The researchers found that cows under electrical lines were oriented randomly, not in neat north-south orientations.

Of course, none of this explains the picture I provided above.  It’s not from Google Earth, but from Microsoft Live.  It’s a picture of cows from the Netherlands, which if correctly depicted, shows them oriented more east-west (see the link below if you don’t believe me).  None, in fact, are oriented north-south.

Perhaps it’s just another example of things being done a little differently over in Holland.  Or maybe there are underground wires that are interfering with these cow’s internal compass. Regardless, for now go ahead and put me on the skeptical but highly amused side.

Image source: Live.com

July 22, 1980, Mount Saint Helens. © USGS, Photo by Jim Vallance.

Redoubt Volcano, Alaska, currently at code Orange. Photo taken February 26, 2009, courtesy of AVO/USGS, photo by Jennifer Adleman.

Dear Governor Bobby Jindal,

Last week, President Barack Obama’s proposed a multi-trillion dollar budget and in response you said, “And $140 million for something called volcano monitoring. Instead of monitoring volcanoes, what Congress should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington D.C.”

Nicely put.  After all, in my neck of the woods, there are no such things as…volcanoes.

Sheesh.

I mean, let’s set aside the fact that unlike what you said, in reality only 10% of the $140 million you mentioned will be used for monitoring volcanoes.  The rest would be allocated across the United States Geological Service which is tasked to help monitor and aid in the prevention of damage resulting from nearly all natural disasters (pdf).  Such as wildfires.  Floods.  Tsunamis.  Oh, and hurricanes.

Kilauea, lava entering the ocean on December 19, 2008. Photo courtesy of USGS.

Wait – and earthquakes.

Hey.  Where I live there are earthquakes, lots of them.  Where my cousins live there are wildfires.  And if I recall, my friends in your wonderful state of Louisiana and relatives in Florida often get bombarded by those nasty hurricanes.

On second thought, Mr. Jindal, I think I would like to have these potential natural disasters monitored.  I want these organizations to be well funded so ordinary citizens like myself have a chance of receiving a warning in advance of disaster and potentially surviving one.

But is $14 million too much for volcanic monitoring?  It is a lot of money.  But considering that a single Boening 747 can easily cost twenty times as much, and that a single plume of volcanic ash can bring down one of these planes, and that we have 169 active volcanoes in the U.S., I’d like to think we can spare the $14 million.

Tigers, Whole Foods, Global Warming & Orangutans. What's the Link? Photo by Dave Watts.

Palm oil.

Palm what?

If you pay as little attention to your food as I do then you’re probably just as surprised as I am that: 1) Some palm trees make edible fruit; and 2) Some of this fruit is linked to endangered species destruction and deforestation.

It so happens that for the last 50 years or so, palm oil has been making head-ways into the foods we eat.  It’s also in bio-fuels we burn and cosmetics some of you may use.  Recently, there’s been a huge push for the introduction of palm oil in U.S. foods because of new trans-fat reporting requirements.  Because palm oil doesn’t have any, it’s been used as a choice to replace non-trans-fat-free shortening.

And while we are collectively healthier for eating less trans-fat, there are measurable global consequences that have resulted from this relatively tiny shift in our dietary habits.  Namely, deforestation on a vast scale and threatened species nearing extinction.

Much of this palm oil is grown in Indonesia and Malaysia.  According to the Associated Press, the amount of deforestation needed to accommodate the growth in palm oil plantations is on the order of 670,000 acres every year.  Or, to put that into perspective, it’s an area of forest that’s cleared and replaced with palms that’s greater in size than the cities of Los Angeles and New York (including all 5 boroughs) combined.  Every year.

That’s a lot.

As a result of the forest clearing, there have been increasing incidents of sumatran tiger incursions with forest villagers, and consequently, deaths on both sides.  Naturally that’s very unfortunate both ways, but considering there are likely less than 1000 of these tigers left, it’s easier to feel sorry for the tigers.  But considering the high rate of poverty in Indonesia, I’d also hate to be that mauled logger who was only trying to pay the bills.

Other prominent victims include the orangutan and pygmy elephant.  Both rely on the native forest habitat for survival, but the pygmy elephant has been specifically targeted because they thrive on palm fruit.  As you can imagine, that doesn’t make palm plantation owners too happy.

Orangutans are also frequently cited as victims, an assertion flatly rejected by the American Palm Oil Council, an association of palm oil developers, producers, refiners, etc…  But there is one glaring problem with the APOC’s arguments – they focus to absolve Malaysia producers of any wrongdoing.  But they fail to mention Indonesia at all in their counterpoint, the other very large palm oil producer.  I wonder why.

Which brings us to global warming.  One could argue that replacing forests with productive palm trees is at worst a carbon-neutral event.  Perhaps.  Yet it remains to be tested or demonstrated.  But replacing native peatland with palm trees almost certainly is not.  And unfortunately, the world will have to face the consequences of this as a result of the Indonesian government’s February 2009 decision to lift a ban to replace peatland with palm plantations.  Estimates of carbon released over the next few years as a result of this is…staggering.

Is there a silver lining anywhere in this story?!  Yes, well, maybe.  Whole Foods announced earlier this month that it will only sell palm oil obtained through sustainable means in its products starting in 2012.  Everything else will be banned.  Surely a bold move.  Though I can’t figure out why it will take three years to implement this ecologically-minded idea.

It should be as easy as saying, “Ok, I don’t want to buy any more of your palm oil, I’ll buy this other palm oil instead.”  Or, perhaps Whole Foods realizes the grim truth – doing the “right” thing is very hard.  Which in turn does not bode well for the average consumer: If Whole Foods is going to have a tough time telling which palm oil producer is good and which isn’t, how are we supposed to know?

USS Mullinnix as it's getting sunk as part of naval tests in August 1992. Photo by USSMullinnix.org.

The path to science discovery and application does not always follow a straight line.  This is one such example.

For years the U.S. Navy has conducted tests of the explosive variety in an effort to make ships stronger and bombs more potent.  I can only assume they’re succeeding in doing a very good job at both.

But since these tests tend to take place over open water, there’s collateral damage of the marine variety.  In particular, dolphins and turtles.

Currently, the U.S. Navy takes measures to ensure that high-valued creatures such as these are a safe distance away from test sites before the bombs go off.  But the nagging question has always been – how far is far enough?

In order to answer that question, the U.S. Navy joined forces with scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.  Together they collected carcasses of turtles and dolphins which died of natural causes, embedded pressure sensors within them, and subjected them to underwater explosions from varying distances.

They found that while pressures of 300 pounds per square inch turned the insides of dolphins to mush, the same could not be said of turtles which recorded some but not significant internal damage.

They suspect the shell’s composition, shape, or some combination thereof helps protects turtles from these otherwise insane pressures.  Maybe it’s how the shell is basically an extension of the turtle’s ribcage.  To answer that question, further research is needed.  And if they find an answer, the hope would be to better improve the effectiveness of body armor and helmets.

You know, just in case you happen to be too close to an exploding ship.

Source: Woods Whole Oceanographic Institution

Does coffee help prevent strokes? Photo courtesy of Starbucks.com.

Doctor David Liebeskind of UCLA et al. announced late last week at the International Stroke Conference an interesting finding with regard to the relationship between coffee consumption and…wait for it…strokes.

While previous publications have touted the seemingly beneficial effects of coffee drinking, how it relates to strokes was not established.

But after looking at daily coffee intake amongst a sample of over 30,000 individuals (of which, over 9,000 were coffee drinkers), they found lower incidences of strokes in those who drank more coffee.  In other words, those who imbibed at least 6 cups a day had fewer strokes than those who drank 3-5, who had fewer than those who drank 1-2, who had fewer than those who didn’t drink any.

If that wasn’t enough, the incidence of cardiac disease, diabetes, and hypertension was also lower for those who drank more coffee.

Right about now you might be asking why this is. Is coffee good for you? Should I drink more? The simple answer is, nobody knows.

Which implies that despite these findings, caution is in order.  The results represent correlations, not necessarily cause and effect.  The authors state that the mechanism behind these “benefits” is as yet unknown and more research is required.

For example, it is possible that those who drink a lot of coffee have greater wealth and thus better access to health care than those who drink less.  After all, last I checked 6 cafe mochas at Starbucks can easily set you back $20 a day. Which is about the cost of a very good PPO with a very good health insurance company here in California.

Source: International Stroke Conference Oral and Poster Presentations

Discovery at the Vehicle Assembly Building in January 2009. Photo courtesy of NASA.

The again-delayed shuttle mission STS-119 is supposed to be special for a number of reasons.  First, three of the would-be astronauts are first-timers, and of those two are former educators.  Joseph Acaba and Richard Arnold were both former high school teachers who were elevated to the ranks of Mission Specialists after undergoing NASA’s standard training for all astronauts.  The hope, of course, is to continue to spark the imagination of students everywhere and engage them on an academic level.

But this mission seeks to accomplish much more.  As the 10th-to-the-last shuttle mission ever (unless things change), STS-119 seeks to install the final set of solar arrays onto the International Space Station and fix the failed toilet to tap urine conversion system.

Of course there will be a wealth of on-board science experiments and ISS construction that will ensue over the 14 day mission.  But one interesting bit includes a one-off heat shield tile that will be placed under the left wing.  It will sport an irregular bump of 0.25 inches and will be monitored during re-entry at Mach 15 to understand the heating effects on that tile.  I can’t wait to catch the video on YouTube.

Oh, why is this mission delayed?  Endeavor’s flight in November 2008 was marred by a failure of a hydrogen flow control valve, one of three that adjusts the flow of gaseous hydrogen to fill the void of liquid hydrogen used during assent.  Fortunately, this particular failure was compensated for by the other two and the assent proceeded without a hitch.  But upon landing and an inspection of the valve, engineers were left with answering a basic question: Could this failure have led to catastrophe?

Well, it’s 6 days before the intended launch date of February 27.  And without a firm answer, NASA has wisely decided to postpone the mission.

More to come…

To get all the details, you should jump straight to the source. In a nutshell, NIH funding increases by $10 billion, compared to a total budget of $29.5 billion last year. Plus, just over $1 billion will go to support various wellness programs and training for health professionals.

It’s clear that doctors and related scientists won’t be hurting any time soon, although the stimulus package mandates significant changes to the way doctors manage and safeguards patient information. But perhaps the biggest winner falls into an area you may have heard little about. Well, we suspect that will change shortly.

There is a branch of medical studies called comparative effectiveness research which recently received a nice bump, upwards of $1.1 billion in new funding. That’s over a 3x increase as compared to last year.

But what is comparative effectiveness research? Simply, the branch evaluates the risks and benefits of not just a particular drug, medical device, or surgical procedure but also those of competing or alternative treatments to determine their impact on the patient. As a simple example: Does aspirin work better than ibuprofen? What about naproxen sodium? Surprisingly, until recently no U.S. government or business entity existed to answer the question. But in today’s climate of ever-increasing health care costs, the question suddenly bears great relevance.

Source: New England Journal of Medicine

Photo courtesy of NASA. Artist's rendition of Earth's magnetic field.

If you recall, THEMIS is the awful name given to the amazing set of satellites charged with learning about how the solar wind affects Earth’s magnetic field, auroras, and shortages to our power grid.

Without getting into the nitty gritty, late last year initial results indicate that indeed our magnetic field is leaky as previously predicted.  However, what surprised scientists is the finding that more solar particle penetrate Earth’s magnetic field when it’s aligned with the sun’s magnetic field, not against it.

And it’s when the sun’s magnetic field switches orientation that ours tears open, ultimately wrecking havoc yet yielding amazing auroras.  For the science intense, you can go straight to the source.  For those looking for auroras, look no further than here.

Once you’re done, enjoy the pictures that follow.

Photo by Joshua Strang. This image was taken over Alaska, and was voted Wikipedia Commons Picture of the Year for 2006.

Photo courtesy of NASA. This image, taken from the International Space Station in February 2, 2003 shows green and red aurora. Depending on conditions, the ISS can travel through, above, or below aurora.

Photo by Don Pettit, ISS Science Officer in 2003.  Here’s another instance of the ISS going head to head with a green aurora.

Photo by Bud Kuenzli, courtesy of NASA.  This photo, taken over an Alaskan lake captures not just an awesome aurora, but a shooting star and the the Pleiades. You can find the original description here.