Fantasy Cartography - maps of fictional places

For those who like maps, or fiction, but preferably both - Fantasy Cartography is a website that compiles maps from works of fiction. From my quick review, it appears that most of the maps are from fantasy works, but there are also items from science fiction (Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea embedded above), and traditional fiction (Watership Down, Wizard of Oz, Arthur Conan Doyle, Harry Potter).

In my view, this is what the web is for - collecting things so you can look them up. You never know when you might need a map of Jurassic Park...

Atolls after nuclear blasts

Much of the public's fear of nuclear energy derives from books and movies depicting a post-apocalypic barren world. In point of fact, nature is more resilient that such simple models suggest.

"Three islands of Bikini Atoll were vapourised by the Bravo hydrogen bomb in 1954, which shook islands 200 kilometres away. Instead of finding a bare underwater moonscape, ecologists who have dived it have given the 2-kilometre-wide crater a clean bill of health...

Richards and colleagues report a thriving ecosystem of 183 species of coral, some of which were 8 metres high. They estimate that the diversity of species represents about 65% of what was present before the atomic tests...

The ecologists think the nearby Rongelap Atoll is seeding the Bikini Atoll, and the lack of human disturbance is helping its recovery. Although the ambient radiation is low, people have remained at bay..."

There's an obvious irony in the observation that in a relatively short time a coral reef can recover from nuclear bombs, but not from the presence of people...

The fungi of the Chernobyl reactor

There are a number of interesting links on the web about the current status of the Chernobyl plant and the nearby town of Pripyat. Today I ran across an interesting article about the biological developments occurring inside the reactor itself:

"The exclusion zone is teeming with wildlife of all shapes and sizes, flourishing unhindered by human interference and seemingly unfazed by the ever-present radiation. Most remarkable, however, is not the life buzzing around the site, but what's blooming inside the perilous depths of the reactor.

Sitting at the centre of the exclusion zone, the damaged reactor unit is encased in a steel and cement sarcophagus. It's a deathly tomb that plays host to about 200 tonnes of melted radioactive fuel, and is swarming with radioactive dust.

But it's also the abode of some very hardy fungi which researchers believe aren't just tolerating the severe radiation, but actually harnessing its energy to thrive...

In 1999, a robot sent to map the inside of the reactor returned with samples of a particularly black fungi, indicating an abundance of the biological pigment melanin, which also colours your skin... melanised fungi, happily congregating in the cooling pools of functional nuclear reactors, and by studies of dark, 'radiation-seeking' fungi, purposefully growing towards radioactive particles in soil, particularly around Chernobyl...

They also saw a change in the pigment's electronic structure. This, Dadachova says, is evidence "that melanin transformed part of the ionising radiation energy into the energy of electrons, which represents the 'chemical' form of energy [that] fungi could potentially use in their metabolism."

Taken together, the researchers think their results do indeed hint that fungi can live off ionising radiation, harnessing its energy through melanin to somehow generate a new form of biologically usable growing power...

Their melanin gene, she said, might eventually be popped into food crops and used to help growth in difficult regions. And astronauts on long spaceflights might one day find a useful, self-replenishing diet in black, melanin-rich fungi.

And because the fungi don't actually 'eat' radioactive material, but simply use the energy it radiates, Dadachova said, they're in no danger of becoming radioactive themselves.

(text and image from Cosmos magazine)

Opening lines from science fiction books

From the text and comments at this link. I'm not recommending the books (most of which I haven't read), but I always enjoy posts about "best first lines" "best closing lines" etc in literature. For brevity, just the first lines are here - sources at the link for those interested.

"Physicist Leonardo Vetra smelled burning flesh, and he knew it was his own."

"They set a slamhound on Turner's trail in New Delhi, slotted it to his pheromones and the color of his hair."

"The five small craft passed from shadow, emerging with the suddenness of coins thrown into sunlight."

"In the summer of his twelfth year — the summer the stars began to fall from the sky — the boy Isaac discovered that he could tell East from West with his eyes closed."

"Brother Francis Gerard of Utah might never have discovered the blessed documents, had it not been for the pilgrim with girded loins who appeared during that young novice's Lenten fast in the desert."

"No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water."

"Gully Foyle is my name
And Terra is my nation
Deep space is my dwelling place
And death's my destination."

"Once upon a time there was a Martian named Micheal Valentine Smith."

"In the week before their departure to Arrakis, when all the final scurrying about had reached a nearly unbearable frenzy, an old crone came to visit the mother of the boy, Paul."

"Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun."

Ask the people of Greenland about global warming

"I’d like to say that global warming was evident during my visit, but that is not really the case. Indeed, Salik tells me that he and most Greenlanders are pretty skeptical about it. The local fishing industry used to be based on arctic prawns, but the sea temperature has changed just enough that the prawns are much further north, so now they fish for cod.

But, as Salik points out, this cycle has happened several times in living memory. The same with the glaciers: yes they are retreating, but at least in his area, they have yet to reach the limits that the locals remember them. Objective measurements do show that climate change is happening. Nevertheless I was amused that the locals don’t seem to think it is such a big deal..."

(Text and image from Freakonomics)

Can watching television cause autism?

"Today, Cornell University researchers are reporting what appears to be a statistically significant relationship between autism rates and television watching by children under the age of 3. The researchers studied autism incidence in California, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington state. They found that as cable television became common in California and Pennsylvania beginning around 1980, childhood autism rose more in the counties that had cable than in the counties that did not. They further found that in all the Western states, the more time toddlers spent in front of the television, the more likely they were to exhibit symptoms of autism disorders...

So Waldman studied precipitation records for California, Oregon, and Washington state, which, because of climate and geography, experience big swings in precipitation levels both year-by-year and county-by-county. He found what appears to be a dramatic relationship between television viewing and autism onset. In counties or years when rain and snow were unusually high, and hence it is assumed children spent a lot of time watching television, autism rates shot up; in places or years of low precipitation, autism rates were low...

Research has shown that autistic children exhibit abnormal activity in the visual-processing areas of their brains, and these areas are actively developing in the first three years of life...

If television viewing by toddlers is a factor in autism, the parents of afflicted children should not reproach themselves, as there was no warning of this risk. Now there is: The American Academy of Pediatrics currently recommends against any TV for children under the age of 2. Waldman thinks that until more is known about what triggers autism, families with children under the age of 3 should get them away from the television and keep them away.

Researchers might also turn new attention to study of the Amish. Autism is rare in Amish society, and the standing assumption has been that this is because most Amish refuse to vaccinate children. The Amish also do not watch television."

[Note: correlation is not the same as causation; this is discussed at the Slate article from which the above text was excerpted. Even though I'm no fan of television, I'm not taking a position on any role it might have re autism - just offering this information as food for thought.]

Food taster ... of pet food!

"This is Simon Allison, the man who eats pet food for a living.

Chicken dinners, beef strips or campfire jerky bars - it is all the same to him: if it's a dog's dinner (or cat's breakfast), he eats it. What's more, he enjoys it.

Mr Allison is a senior food technologist for Marks & Spencer with special responsibility for pet food. This means no M&S product goes into the nation's pet bowls unless it has been tasted by him first...

"It's quite bland, really," he said. "Dogs enjoy all food universally, while cats can be very choosy about what they will eat. They respond more to aroma than seasoning flavours that you would recognise."

...The human tester does, however, draw the line at swallowing the stuff - "I would be quite a different shape" - and always has a glass of water on hand to wash his mouth out.

Afterwards, he chews gum to prevent "dog breath".

(Posted for Charles, a taster of (human) food, and for Jay, who in a recent comment suggested that cat food tastes bad...)

Jenga challenge

Posted for old friend Graham, who invented the game.

Excellent botanical photos

Two examples from the Botanical Society of America website, where there is a collection of (as of today) 68 submissions for the 2008 student photography award. The images come from students around the world, and since the website belongs to a scientific society, each one is accompanied by detailed information and observations on the plant.

Many of these photos are truly superb - and to my delight they enlarge to wallpaper status (try clicking on the embedded images above!!). I highly recommend a visit to the link.

THEN - if you enjoyed that - just change the date in the url from 2008 to 2007 to see the material from the previous year and click HERE for the 2006 photos.

"Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii"

One of the most interesting websites I've run across is the "Name Voyager" at BabyNameWizard.com. It allows you to type in a name and see how the frequency of that name has changed over the years. You can read about it HERE and follow the link there to the primary site if you're interested.

It's understandable that parents want their child's name to have meaning, and perhaps some in this era want to have a name that will be unique in a Google search. But there are limits, as exemplified in the report below. (via Arbroath)

Some parents have been branded abusers because of the bizarre names of their children.

Family Court Judge Rob Murfitt stated his concerns in a written decision after a custody hearing in New Plymouth revealed a couple had named their child Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii.

He was so disturbed at the effect on the nine-year-old that he ordered her temporarily placed under court guardianship so a suitable name could be chosen.

"It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap," he said.

The girl, who had not had her birth officially registered in NZ, had not revealed her name to her friends.

The judge was stopped talking yesterday by Principal Family Court Judge Peter Boshier.

Meanwhile, Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages Brian Clarke released a statement today which said a list of unusual names believed to be registered in New Zealand issued by Judge Boshier's office was incorrect.

"The names Fish and Chips, Masport, and Mower, Yeah Detroit, Stallion, Twisty Poi, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit have not been registered," Mr Clarke said.

Names on the list from Mr Boshier's office that were not corrected included: Spiral Cicada, Kaos, Hitler and Cinderella Beauty Blossom.

Click on the ball

The "balloon on a string" flash device has been around for years and has been emailed to everyone on the internet. Here's a new variation - the balloon is now a "ball," and when (if) you click on it, it changes color. It is frustratingly difficult, but I was able to change the color 3-4 times before realizing what an incredible waste of time it is -- which is why you should try it.

Click here to play with the ball.

Product placement sinks even lower

I may seem to have a schizophrenic approach toward advertising; sometimes I applaud the insightful or innovative approaches (see the "clever" column in the sidebar). More often I bemoan the plethora of ads that besmirch the landscape and intrude on daily living. On the left is an example of the latter.

The FOX television station in Las Vegas opted to use the product placement device that is so ubiquitous in movies. On the desk in front of the news anchors are what appear to be iced coffees from McDonalds. But they're not even real products, and the anchors don't drink from them; they're fake. The station claims that the presence of the products will not impair their ability to report truthfully if e.coli is found at McDonalds. And if you believe that... take a sip of the "coffee." (via J-Walk)

Bush surveys the widespread damage in America

With advance apologies to AV8r, Brother C, and other Bush supporters, here is a video in which President Bush seemingly offers apologies for the unnatural disaster caused by his presidency. Some may be offended; I thought it was funny. Created by the team at the Onion.

Was a special pizza created to honor Obama?

From the BBC today, at a link entitled "Palestinians pay culinary homage to visiting Senator 'O'" is this description -

"...no real visible signs of Obama-mania.

Apart from in the Zeit and Za'tar bakery in Ramallah.

There - next to its wood-fire oven - manager Nasser Abdulhadi told me about "the O", his culinary homage to the visiting presidential candidate.

He calls it a pastry, but the "O" is actually a sort of Palestinian pizza - a circular dough ball, stuffed with cheese, dotted with cherry tomatoes and black sesame seeds and topped with a garnish of basil and mint.

All of which, Mr Abdulhadi told me, reflected the American melting pot, symbolised by Senator "O" himself.

The white cheese represented white Americans, he explained, the red tomatoes the "Red Indians" - or native Americans - and the black seeds, what he called the "Afro-Americans".

The green? Mr Obama's environmental policies, apparently - slightly random, that bit..."

I hope I can be excused for just a bit of skepticism, but since red, white, black, and green are famously the colors of the Palestinian flag, I suspect the concoction "created" for Obama is a rebranding of an old staple by an enterprising baker.

Monarch caterpillar forming a "J"

When monarch caterpillars reach full size, they become "restless" in their enclosure, wandering about and climbing the sides of the container or any structure inside. They are seeking a slanting or horizontal surface from which they can suspend themselves.

One a suitable location is identified, the caterpillar lays down a carpet of silk to assure a firm attachment and then hangs by his hind feet, with the head curling forward into a "J" configuration. Now begins the first step in the magic of metamorphosis. The caterpillar molts for the final time, shedding his skin (and his head capsule!). What emerges from under the skin is the beautiful jade-green chrysalis inside which the transformation to butterfly will occur.

We have several cats in J formation now. I'll post photos of a chrysalis in a day or two.

If you want to see a video of the process, there is a good one HERE that compresses the process to 40 seconds.