The simple life

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/12/12/travel/escapes/12ashrams.html?em

Cuppa Coffee on the International Space Station

Wing-shaped coffee cup allows sipping hot brew, round cup doesn't.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk7LcugO3zg



Away from Earth's gravity, fluids become spherical due to surface tension (concentric gravity). This wing -shaped cup allows wicking, like candle wax seeps up a candle wick and like sap is sucked up a tree stem via evapotranspiration capillary action despite gravity.

Bird wings in flight produce the same result, the air flows out to the tips and then separate away (turbulence aka drag). Bird feathers have slight micro-ridges which produce this micro-turbulent boundary layer, fish scales also do; the faster the fish or bird, the smaller the ridges.

Here see how the dimpled surface of a golf ball produces a thin turbulent layer, reducing surface drag and thus allowing it to travel twice as far as a smooth ball:

http://www.livescience.com/common/media/video.php?videoRef=081119_GolfBallScience

The blood capillaries in our bodies follow the same rules in nature. While diving, the mammalian divers reflex engages with apnea, vasoconstricting outlying veins and arteries bringing the blood to the body core, then when backfloating with eupnea vasodilation pulls blood to the extremities allowing the blood to be warmed directly by solar radiation and indirectly by immersion at the warm water surface in the manner of a poikotherm. Chimps don't have this feature, since they are always fully "clothed" with their fur coats and are completely reliant on internal metabolic heating. Cool, eh? ;)

Masjid on the moon: 2012, American Islamarine Society, "FreeDome" constructed of origami-like folded hyper-paper, an insulated laminated hexa-pent spheric structure of super-lightweight impermeable materials, with moon stone/cement/foam matrix basefill, built inset within a lunar crater of proper proportion, with omni-orientable turntable floor, and attached to isotropic vector matrix octet truss space frame lunar base qasalam ramadan hotel. Somewhat similar in principle to the American Antarctic Dome residence and work station, but employing interwoven rings (arcs) and mylar etc. rather than bolted aluminum or plexiglas triangular or hexapent panels.
http://www.ecophotoexplorers.com/images/antarctica/Dome.jpg

hijab ~ tudung ~ modest clothing

Sunlight and osteoporosis: The reduction of seafood in the diet (compared to a million years ago) plus habitually wearing heavy clothing (to reduce evaporation and to follow culture mores) means more sunlight is required to prevent osteoporosis.
http://www.moneduloides.com/?p=571

Trajectory in brain cortical thickening, intelligence: http://scienceblogs.com/developingintelligence/2008/12/how_the_temporal_trajectory_of.php


New fashion: Squid Scarf with mitten tentacles ... ?? [h/t pharyngula] http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/11/squid_hats.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890
(Not advertising, just PR!)
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What is the biological rationale for wearing the veil and layered clothing?

To reduce water (sweat) loss, advantageous for people without access to water eg. desert nomadic herders. "Covering your aurah" is equivalent to a mammal's fur layer, it retains body moisture preventing dehydration. reality 101. One advantage of our human ancestors living along seashores had was protection against freshwater microbial pathogens (virus, bacteria, fungi), which could not adjust to the powerful combination of direct sunshine (ultraviolet light), freshwater submersion and saltwater submersion, together with the paranasal sinus emitted Nitric Oxide and the cutaneous eccrine glands produced slightly basic urea/dermcidin/defensins and slightly acidic skin surface. http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/static.do?p=education_discussion/molecule_of_the_month/current_month.html



Chimps don't swim. Humans do. What are you?


Humans can swim before we can crawl, walk, run, sit or stand. Yet some people want to mimic chimpanzees, mentoring others to be afraid of water. That's the path to chimpiness and polluted oceans with no fish and dead coral reefs. As fellow Minnesotan Greg Hussein Laden says "Don't be a chimp!". I concur. Get in the water, learn to swim, dive, backfloat. Be human. If you are scared, ask me to help, I will, if it's not too late.

"Female primates love chatting: IT has long been known that it is a female trait to enjoy a good gossip. Now scientists think they could have pinpointed the reason behind the female tendency to chit chat – by studying monkeys. The researchers found that like women, female macaque monkeys were more likely to make friendly noises to each other, such as grunts and coos, than the males of the species." [The researchers obviously are unaware of Dive Song, the human-only language development during backfloating and diving between dive partners, which did not occur among other primates. DD]

They think the discovery could add weight to the theory that language evolved from the need to form social bonds, with females needing to build closer relationships than males. [Rather obvious IMO. DD] http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/uk/Why-do-women--.4712406.jp

Menstruation causes brain flip: The female brain has a clever way of mitigating the stress experienced during menstruation: it flip-flops. Such a change could help women cope with the hormonal maelstrom going on in their bodies without causing huge behavioural shifts. Oestrogen levels levels, in particular, plummet around menstruation. http://neurocritic.blogspot.com/2008/11/female-flipping-brain.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

color ~ warna ~ varini




trust me to teach you to swim, backfloat and dive. No fear. Fun, and safer than walking across the street. :)

ingatlah ni, a chimp in fine linens yakking on a cell phone in a lexus is still a chimp if she can't swim.

cuz it's biology, baby! and good for the ventricles too!

ps. if you don't have a sense of humor, go buy one. life is too crazy without one. wasalam.

~ daud di nor calif ~

tri-ax weaving ~ bonding

Snowshoe (rawhide strips & wood frame), surfboard (cardboard strips & epoxy) and bola raga (rattan).

Both raindrops (icosadodecahedral spherical) and snowflakes (hexagonal planar) are molecularly tri-ax bonded in nature.

floppy puppy in flight

last eve, the ephemeral scent of the vitalized seashore while walking around
this morn, the heavenly smell of baking bread molded into raisin bagel form

Barack Hussein Obama, President, USA

His father from Kenya with east African (Kenyan) ancestry, his mother from Kansas with west European (British) ancestry, Barack spent his childhood years in Hawaii and Indonesia (where he went diving!). Mungkinlah dia bisa berbicara bahasa Indonesia & bercakap bahasa Melayu sikit, macam saya pulak. ;) Born American, yet comfortable internationally. He has much respect, though that is just the entry ticket, lots of issues to deal with.

I only hope his nickname does not become "Oh-Bomb-Ah", in the fashion of G. W. Bush's nickname "Bush-Whacker". Let Obama be known as the "Peacemaker". InsyAllah. God bless America.

Cheers to the President of the United States of America! Let freedom reign!

http://www.myspace.com/barackobama

I have one thing to say: Let this man do his job, he will most definitely earn his paycheck.

Freckles are cool; well, mine are anyways. hehe. Mahalo, Simba~Singa.

Congratulations to the democratic party, and the O bama family; we are the world!


ok that's enough patriotic political stuff. Back to nature & nurture. (^-^)

Fall behind, Spring ahead

It's Daylight Savings Time here, so the clocks ran backwards for an hour, sort of.

If your gonna fall back, make sure it's soft like water, so you can back-float comfortably.

After the winter ends with the ice melt, time to spring forward, diving into the sunny future.


I just brewed up a nice hot cup of java, with some evaporated milk, kopi susu, scrumptious!



Oh, coming up, the Coffee Opp will be having a grand opening in the Ink People Gallery:
http://california.tribe.net/event/THE-COFFEE-OPP-GRAND-OPENING-FESTIVAL-NOVEMBER-15TH-4-10PM-THE-INK-PEOPLE-CENTER/eureka-ca-95501/8c37824e-7860-4f66-b8c7-ccb9d481a3d8


Kevin (from Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean) is emceeing the show, lots of activities.

ps. just got some reed-weave flip-flops, comfy, walked out in the rain, chilly but fresh.

BOO!

(working on a grant proposal to Save the Redwoods foundation, my theme: "Can you save the forest for the trees?" a switch from the old saying "Can you see the forest for the trees?") http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Save_the_Redwoods_League

LOLrus found da bucket!

li'l minisaurus walking the woodland streets asking for sweets


Happy Halloween (see zoo animals munching pumpkins here: Hall-Zoo-Ween ) & Dias de Los Muertos ye'all! May the jack-o-lanterns light your path on this hallowed eve, and the costumed li'l goblins, witches, pirates and princesses get lots of snacks with their calls for "Trick or Treat!" (^-^)

Arts Alive Saturday night: Tuxford Gallery, Mexican theme, "the days of the dead", Brenda Gallery, Mongolian photos and paintings (I made a paper yurt!)

Images

1st aid medical gauze
http://www.nikonsmallworld.com/gallery.php?grouping=year&year=2008&imagepos=107

Killifish embryos
http://www.nikonsmallworld.com/moreinfo.php?grouping=year&year=2008&imagepos=24

Shaving cream with water
http://www.nikonsmallworld.com/moreinfo.php?grouping=year&year=2008&imagepos=29

and this one from Bent Objects: http://bentobjects.blogspot.com/2008/10/literary-interpretation.html

and finally, pass the peanuts
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/AAT/message/48610

notes: scissoring/swiveling is when 2 lines overlap at a point, and the lines are not anchored, scissoring occurs in 2 dimensions on a square or other polygon but not a triangle, and in 3 dimensions on a cube or other polyhedron but not a tetrahedron, duo-tet, octahedron or icosahedron.

just because ( me <3 ne )

no emosaurus for me thanks anyways.



Lyrics | Todd Rundgren - Hello, it’s me lyrics


[there's a swedish viking in russia, actually a kampong girl]
[i'm part swede and my home state's football team is called the minnesota vikings]
[there's a waterfall nearby called minnehaha falls, on the mississippi river]
[i think of her when i see water falling, cuz she is mini and she likes to laugh]
[but she is scared of water. and it doesn't really matter at all.]

just trying to say goodbye. cuz she's too far away. and so am i.

i guess nobody will really understand this. me neither. i so much want to talk with her. yet there is nothing i can say. wish i didn't feel this way. rindu. :(

предложение? apenye?
===================================================================================

science: study & practice of natural order
religion: study & practice of social order

It is my humble opinion that supernaturalists cannot speak authoritively of nature,
and that naturalists cannot speak authoritively of supernature.

Evolutionary biologists, including human medical researchers, discover the flow of species changes through time by examining changes in organisms (via sexual reproduction mutations and natural selection), they see life as a movie subject.

Theistic creationists, including priests, reverends, rabbis, imams, discover the unity and perfect order of systems at any given time, they see life as an illustrated objective.

Both are right, of course, in their own minds. So there is nothing to argue about.

http://groups.google.com/group/aasara?hl=bg

and finally

i made a snowman today (yukidaruma in Japanese) and put it atop my computer monitor, it is made of paper, bottom ball is ivory snow color, middle ball is blue, and top is a picture of an ink bottle with an Ink People face. the balls i wove like takraw balls with 6 strips of paper. it's kinda cute, like below. see ya ;)

====^====
===/|\===
=|||||||=
==(^_^)==
==== ====
=(== : ==)=
==== ====
(__= : =__)

can you hear the thunder in a little girl's tears?

http://eurekareporter.com/article/081018-oprah-honors-betty

http://www.oprah.com/media/20081009_tows_betty

The story on Winfrey’s Web site reads: “Born in China, Betty was separated from her family at age 7 during Mao Zedong’s brutal Cultural Revolution. Tormented by hunger and lack of social contact, Betty went mute (tidak dibunyikan). After four terrifying years, Betty escaped from China by walking 1,600 miles to Hong Kong and later arrived in America with only $20.”

Betty is safe here in Kuala Walu Wiki, Nor Calif. She speaks wonderfully too. :)

"can you hear the thunder in a little girl's tears?"
"can you mend her broken heart, and soothe all her fears?"

(I met her husband, physics professor at Humboldt State University. I don't know why she told him I'm a physicist. That's funny. I can't even do the math, I just guess.)

Congratulations Betty Chinn, such an awesome angel.

And Oprah, good call!

"a spring in my step"

Primatology
leaping indri lemurs

springy sifaka lemurs

Top two pics: baby gibbons. Bottom: indri, siamang





Indri
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indri
href="http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Indri_indri/">http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Indri_indri/
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=indri+lemur&search_type=&aq=f

There seem to be many parallels between the indri and the siamangs. The abundance of liana vines in island SE Asia for siamangs to swing (brachiate) and the lack of liana vines in Madagascar for the Indris may be why clinging and leaping was adopted among the Indris. Both tend to walk/skip bipedally rather than quadrupedally, and both have enlarged laryngeal air sacs likely indicating past vertical floating in tidal forests.

Inhabits montane and coastal rainforest from sea level to 1800 meters (6). Indris are active during the day and are most at home in the trees, where they feed on leaves, flowers and fruit, but they do occasionally descend to the forest floor to cross small treeless areas or to eat soil (4) (6). On the ground they cannot walk on all fours and so move around on their back legs, standing upright and holding their arms outstretched for balance, skipping in a unique fashion through the forest (6). The indri is one of the most endangered species of lemur on Madagascar, and one of the most threatened primates in the world (4). They live by the coast, where forests have become so fragmented that they are almost too small to sustain viable populations (6).

Except a narrow strip at the eastern coast most of their natural habitat, the rainforest, is destroyed. Indris are amongst the most endangered species.

Even if you are luckily you meet Indris it's more likely to hear their voices instead of seeing them up in the trees. Their voices are said to be amongst the loudest within the animal kingdom. Indris live in family groups and they use their voices to mark their family range.

They give birth to just one young at a time. The young Indri stays in the family for a long time, even if there are younger siblings. Indris are very similar to gibbons concerning these behaviours. Other characteristics of Indris are their large ears, the long hands and the very short tail whereas most other prosimians have long tails. They belong to the few prosimian species which are active during the day; most of the other prosimians are nocturnal animals.

Why is the indri that endangered? Most of the Indri's natural habitat is destroyed by now and the Indri isn't able to adapt to other habitats than the rainforest. The destruction was caused by the growing number of human inhabitants and their need for soil to plant rice which is the common food on the island. Madagascar is a poor country and the methods of planting rice are not very efficient. Conservation societies worked out a masterplan together with the government of Madagascar to use the soil more efficiently, hoping that no more rainforest areas are destroyed in the future.


When elephants weep
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0385314280/

Anthropology

Early humans from Africa to Asia: Speed walking or a stroll along the beach?
http://sciencenow. sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/1007/3

Speed walking? Wouldn't they all resemble each other cranially very strongly if
that were the case? There's a lot of cranial differentiation, indicating long term separations between groups geographically.

from 2002
http://www.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12098208

http://anthropology.si.edu/humanorigins/ha/erec.html

Ok one more entry, about what singles typically are looking for in a prospective mate: "This could explain why women are drawn to indicators of resource and future investment, while men are more likely to look for youth and waist-to-hip ratio - signs of reproductive potential and the ability to tolerate the stresses of childbirth". h/t Ed Yong link: the cost of having children

That doesn't sound very romantic, does it? So analytical. Oh well, that's life.

Maskibition show & awards

mask yg alien?

Quite a great collection of masks here at Arts Alive in the Gallery, perhaps 100 or more,personally crafted and decorated in numerous styles and fashions. Will add more pics later. The Darth Vader mask is cute, being made from kitchen utensils.

http://inkpeople.org/2008/10/03/maskibition-24-artsalive-at-the-ink-people-2/

Maskibition is sponsored by American Hydroponics, Dell Arte and Sun Valley Farms




The Coffee Opp coffee shop is up and rollicking (Kev, our Coffee Opp guest worker/Manager from Mauritia, managed to produce a volcano eruption in the coffee maker, the coffee and grounds looked like lava pouring down the sides of the machine and on the floor, he was too nervous, so many people came. All cleaned up now.)

And dekat sini, in the Municipal Auditorium, a bunch of kids are roller skating, singing and screaming to the music.

Tomorrow morning: live drawing (nude, not me la)
Tomorrow night, punk metal concert. Ear plug time.
Next night: watercolor landscape painting class, with Alan Sanborn

Also fiber arts (weaving), print making, Lunel's yoga class, etc.

"Kembali ke Bali"

Oh, Dell Arte is having their annual Bali study abroad class in mask making, wayang kulit, etc. FEBRUARY 9 - MARCH 12, 2009. I wanna go diving in Bali! Nak ikut? JOM kita pergi main menyelam & mensurfing kan! Full cost $5,000 US... nak duit raya ... sponsor anyone? [hint hint]
http://72.167.83.180/dellarte.aspx?id=13

When the rain comes

October begins the rainy season here. Raindrops are falling on my head, plop plop drip drop.

I have a Humboldt Hydroponics hoodie, of forest green hue, so if the rain is mild, I can just cover my hair with the hood. If it rains harder, then I'll need a brolly (payung) or proper rain gear, I think I disposed of last year's set.

In the gallery, the artistic mask exhibition is up 'Maskibition', and the Coffee Opp is getting the coffee shop set up.



Shoshanna's dance group has a benefit for the coffee opp in Arcata: link

I must admit that I've never thought much of belly dancing, but as I watched them perform the sword dance at the Ink People's annual dinner (Brahm Craic), I was impressed with their synchronised and balanced performance art. Much more than simply wobbling their bellies.

Strange medicine? People can be so bizarre, no? Yikes!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7649851.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1634584.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7649876.stm

Eur-Asian inter-racial relationships at gene expression http://scienceblogs.com/gnxp/2008/10/the_prenatal_wages_of_interrac.php#more


Why did I put this piccie here? I dunno. privyet. zhiv. da zvidanya.

Cinta: Tape (in Spanish, pita in Malay)
Pita: Flatbread (in Turkish, pizza in Italian, pet in Hebrew, pain in French, roti in Hindu)

salam eid al fitri

s... -_-
e
l... ^_-
a
m.. ^_^
a
t... -_^

h... -_-
a
r... ^_-
i

r... ^_^
a
y... -_^
a

m.. -_-
a
a... ^_-
f

z... ^_^
a
h... -_-
i
r... -_^

b... -_-
a
t... ^_^
i
n

Equatorial atmospheric air currents

Lungs of the world http://scienceblogs.com/bioephemera/2008/09/the_lungs_of_the_world.php

the arc

Arc Anciel ~ Double rainbow (ciel in French is sky or heaven)

Arc Anciel ~ Circumzenithal arc

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1056500/Pictured-Rare-upside-rainbow-spotted-UK.html

gerbang ~ lengkok ~ buih =-= portal ~ entry ~ bubble

Another kind of arc: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/09/photogalleries/2008-best-science-photos/photo6.html

Ninja cat!

Reminds me of Chibi... (karate kat ... kucing yg zen master)
h/t to Gene E.
==================================================

Fly & Spider | Fliderspy?

by Terry at: http://bentobjects.blogspot.com/

nothing important to say

Let's stop deforesting the Earth! Save the neem tree, protect mangroves, kelp forest and coral reefs.
http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080917/full/news.2008.1114.html

um, no, adik, i didn't get a haircut, i just buka topi je :p



[I've always liked this classic rock song, I've seen all good people by Yes]

Didja notice the vocal refrain of John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance" mixed in? tight!

pening...demam?

pening... demam... pedas? lapar sket.


had a bit of a tension headache earlier, took a few aspirin, now ok.
perhaps a slight fever? (update: better now I guess.)

===================================================================
Stathmin: motherhood, socializing, amygdala
fearless_mice_are_neglectful_mothers_but_social_butterflies

Brain asymmetry in vertebrates = multi-tasking
asymmetrical_brains_help_fish_and_us_to_multitask

h/t Ed Yong

bites, flights & sights

oops! http://stickgal.blogspot.com/


mariposa: metamorphosis


award video: who sees t' day?

*randomness*

when hate is stronger than love

ingat lah ...
the innocent victims ~ al fatiha
--------------------------------------

bravery & belligerence & boundaries


||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

when love is stronger than hate

alas_my_loves casalamballiekumselam ramaramadanmariposa

alas (English) sympathy ~ alas (Español) wings ~ alas (Melayu) base

Love bridges all of us... together.

daud di nor qalif, kampung kuala walu wiki

ps. Here's a love letter to Pulau Nu Yorkistan from Cheryl @ Intersection love_letter_to_new_york
p2s. Graph @ Gene E. & Talk Islam who was responsible for 911
p3s. btw, i was told by one guy, "that's not a (sky)bridge, that's a bra strap!" :| macam madonna?
p4s. Petronas twin towers originally designed by Calif. Arc. firm KCG
p5s. I provided some small funding for it and other projects via Bank Negara.

pendek jumpa tinggi

“It is not the critic who counts: not the one who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena..."

'Citizenship in a Republic' US Pres. Theodore Roosevelt
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910 (h/t zaidhakim)

Perhentian Islamarina Seadiving Clinique: natural healing treatment of respiration disorders, back pain, dietary, stress mgmt...
(PISC ~ pisces/pesca/fish/ikan, pronounced 'peace')

7?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/08/16/egypt.septuplets.birth.ap/index.html#cnnSTCText?iref=werecommend

The father wanted required a son. (agrarian sociodynamic tribal patriarchy)

He had 3 daughters.

So his wife took fertility drugs,

and now he has 6 daughters...

and 6,666,666,666 kin.

http://somethinguniqueforall.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-many-kids-will-you-have-it-all.html

petnatzet copla ~ Siber-Alaskan Lynx~ mal du mer

sable


Chai Samovar of Turkey, Greece, Central Asia and Russia traditions

In the service of the Russo-American Telegraph Company that attempted to carry out the plans of Major Collins to make an electric connection between Europe and the United States by way of Asia and Bering's Straits in the 1860's.

Even varied by glimpses of the Mexican coast, the occasional appearance of a whale with its column of water thrown high into the air, and the sportive action of schools of porpoises which is constantly met with.

The cosmopolitan character of San Francisco is the first thing that impresses a visitor. Almost from one stand-point he may see the church, the synagogue, and the pagoda. The mosque is by no means impossible in the future. During my stay in California, I visited the principal gold, copper, and quicksilver mines in the state, not omitting the famous or infamous Mariposa tract.

The day before we came in sight of land, my dog repeatedly placed his fore feet upon the rail and sniffed the wind blowing from the coast. His inhalations were long and earnest, like those of a tobacco smoking Comanche. In her previous voyage the Wright carried a mastiff answering to the name of Rover. The colonel said that whenever they approached land, though long before it was in sight, Rover would put his paws on the bulwarks and direct his nose toward the shore. His demonstrations were invariably accurate, and showed him to possess the instinct of a pilot, whatever his lack of training. (Malayo-Polynesians had dogs on their seagoing conquests.) Salmon form the principal food of the Kamchadales and their dogs. The fishing season in Avatcha Bay lasts about six weeks, and at its close the salmon leave the bay and ascend the streams, where they are caught by the interior natives. In the bay they are taken in seines dragged along the shore, and the number of fish caught annually is almost beyond computation.

The "samovar" or tea-urn is an indispensable article in a Russian household, and is found in nearly every dwelling from the Baltic to Bering's Sea. "Samovar" comes from two Greek words, meaning 'to boil itself.' The article is nothing but a portable furnace; a brazen urn with a cylinder two or three inches in diameter passing through it from top to bottom.

Mr. Fluger had been only two years in Kamchatka, and was doing a miscellaneous business. Boardman's agent confined himself to the fur trade, but Fluger was up to anything. He salted salmon for market, sent a schooner every year into the Arctic Ocean for walrus teeth and mammoth tusks, bought furs, sold goods, kept a dog team, was attentive to the ladies, and would have run for Congress had it been possible. He had in his store about half a cord of walrus teeth piled against a back entrance like stove wood. Phillipeus was a roving blade. He kept an agent at Petropavlovsk and came there in person once a year. In February he left St. Petersburg for London, whence he took the Red Sea route to Japan. There he chartered a brig to visit Kamchatka and land him at Ayan, on the Ohotsk Sea. From Ayan he went to Yakutsk, and from that place through Irkutsk to St. Petersburg.

There is a story of a man in California who followed the track of a grizzly bear a day and a half. He abandoned it because, as he explained, "it was getting a little too fresh." There is a story of a traveler who paid his hotel bill in a country town in Minnesota and received a beaver skin in change. The landlord explained that it was legal tender for a dollar. Concealing this novel cash under his coat, the traveler sauntered into a neighboring store. "Is it true," he asked carelessly, "that a beaver skin is legal tender for a dollar?" "Yes, sir," said the merchant; "anybody will take it." "Will you be so kind, then," was the traveler's request, "as to give me change for a dollar bill?" "Certainly," answered the merchant, taking the beaver skin and returning four muskrat skins, current at twenty-five cents each.

The sable is the principal fur sought by the merchants in Kamchatka, or trapped by the natives. Dogs are fed almost entirely upon fish. They receive their rations daily at sunset, and it is always desirable that each driver should feed his own team. The day before starting on a journey, the dog receives a half ration only, and he is kept on this slender diet as long as the journey lasts.

A new company was formed and chartered in July, 1779, under the title of the Russian-American Company, with its chief office in St. Petersburg, where the Directors formed a kind of high court of appeal. It was authorized to explore and place under control of the crown all the territories of North-Western America not belonging to any other government. It was required to deal kindly with the natives, and endeavor to convert them to the religion of the empire. It had the
administration of the country and a commercial monopoly through its whole extent. All other merchants were to be excluded, no matter what their nationality. At one time so great was the jealousy of the Company's officers that no foreign ship was allowed within twenty miles of the coast.

The Imperial Government required that the chief officer of the company should be commissioned in the service of the crown, and detailed to the control of the American Territory. His residence was at Sitka, to which the principal post was removed from Kodiak. In the early history of the Company there were many encounters with the natives, the severest battle taking place on the present site of Sitka. The natives had a fort there, and were only driven from it after a long and obstinate fight. The first colony that settled at Sitka was driven away, and all traces of the Russian occupation were destroyed. After a few years of conflict, peace was declared, and trade became prosperous. The Company occupied Russian America and the Aleutian Islands, and pushed its traffic to the Arctic Ocean. It established posts on the Kurile Islands, in Kamchatka, and along the coast of the Ohotsk Sea. It built churches, employed priests, and was quite successful in converting the natives to Christianity.

For many years the Company prospered. In 1812 it founded the colony of Ross, on the coast of California, and a few years later prepared to dispute the right of the Spanish Governor to occupy that region. The natives were everywhere peaceable, and the dividends satisfied the stockholders. The slaughter of the fur-bearing animals was injudiciously conducted, and led to a great decrease of revenue.

When our Secretary of State purchased the Emperor's title to the western coast of America, there were various opinions respecting the sagacity of the transaction. No one could say what was the intrinsic value of the country, either actual or prospective. The Company never gave much attention to scientific matters. Veins of copper have been found near the Yukon, but so far none that would pay for developing.

Building stone is abundant, and so is ice. Neither is of much value in commerce. The fur trade was the chief source of the Company's revenue. The principal fur-bearing animals are the otter, seal, beaver, marten, mink, fox, and a few others. There is a little trade in walrus teeth, mammoth tusks, whalebone, and oil. The rivers abound in fish, of which large quantities are annually salted and sent to the Pacific markets. The fisheries along the coast are valuable and of the same character as those on the banks of Newfoundland.

An hour after dropping the Danzig we stopped our engines and prepared to run under sail. The whole crew was called on deck to hoist out the screw, a mass of copper weighing twenty-five thousand pounds, and set in a frame raised or lowered like a window sash. With strong ropes and the power of three hundred men, the frame and its contents were lifted out of water, and the Variag became a sailing ship. The Russian government is more economical than our own in running ships of war.

What a hindrance to a traveler and literal man of the world is this confusion of tongues! There is no human being who can make himself verbally understood everywhere on this little globe. In the Russian empire alone there are more than a hundred spoken languages and dialects.

Major Abasa and the Ispravnik of Ghijiga escorted us from the landing to their quarters, where we soon warmed ourselves with hot tea, and I took opportunity and a couple of bearskins and went to sleep. Late in the day we had a dinner of pea soup, reindeer meat, and berry pudding. The deer's flesh was sweet and tender, with a flavor like that of the American elk.

In this part of Siberia there are many wide plains (_tundras_) covered with moss and destitute of trees. The blueberry grows there, but is less abundant than the "maroska," a berry that I never saw in America. It is yellow when ripe, has an acid flavor, and resembles the raspberry in shape and size. We ate the maroska in as many forms as it could be prepared, and they told us that it grew in Scotland, Scandinavia, and Northern Russia.
http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=102529&pageno=48

[At lunch, I had just been reading a historical novel about an American family from San Francisco which moved to Alaska during the Russian fur trade and discovered gold, that's why I included this article here, it provided some background.]

Ampang Medikal = Amateur Medikal?

"jangkitan jaundice dimata"?

Is jaundice an eye infection? Of course not, it's a liver condition. The symptoms include yellow-orange skin tone & sclerae (white portion of the eyes) from accumulation of bilirubin pigment. My mother had jaundice when going through her cancer treatment, there was no "eye infection".

http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec10/ch135/ch135b.html

Ampang Medical, an attempted copycat of Grey's Anatomy, based in Malaysia, obviously needs professional medical advisors aboard. Nobody needs false medical information on public television, especially kampong folk that might think Ampang Medical is actually representing real doctors and hospitals.

'Ampang Medikal', Please seek medical help immediately. STAT. Good luck!

h/t bakawali

malaria

http://www.afreeman.org/2008/02/28/great-interview-week-scientific-serendipity-in-sydney-2/

Chromera velia, a unicellular photosynthetic symbiotic brown algae found associated with coral reefs, which leaves when the reef water becomes too warm resulting in bleached coral, has been found to be related to malarial Plasmodium and other apicomplexan parasites like toxiplasmosis.

Apparently, these blood-borne parasites derive from coral cell symbiont alga, and still contain vestigial chloroplasts (chlorophyll compounds, like in tree leaves that construct tissue from hydrocarbons using sunlight energy) , but now obtain energy from their animal hosts.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6468381.stm

Newsletter folding

nothing much, few hundred newsletters to fold, a bit late due to technical difficulties with internet router etc.

I had my one meal of the day earlier this evening, shared with a bunch of other guys.

Sunny windy day

Blue sky & sunny, but a very wintery wind came, from the north mountains.

Well September is here now, summer is flying south. Happy Labor Day!
~sehari cuti~

Blues by the Bay this weekend http://www.redwoodcoastmusicfestivals.org/

For a month now, I've been eating typically one lunch meal per day, for no reason.
But I won't mention about coffee consumption. uhum. nobody's perfect. salam selam...

I lost something precious recently, a belief thingy. nothing important.

I just found something this morning, a keychain thingy. nothing important.

I'm still breathing, and I still don't know why. Please forgive my ignorance, errors, faults.

~ Ramadhan Mubarak ~ daripada daud di nor calif, anak kanaka haoli, kuala walu wiki, US

MDR-PS-Speech

[Update Nov. Some of this is now outdated. Oral communication while at depth was indeed done, via clicking.]

Speech, though completely dependent upon the
mouth/larynx, is not particularly sensorial. Eating, breathing,
sniffing, sneezing are all face-sense-related, talking isn't. Talking
is all about internal air valve control.

One cannot talk underwater, yet if not for underwater air valve
control, speech would not have happened.

In a way, both speech (audio sense only) and physical gestures (visual
sense only) require an absence/reduction of other of senses, otherwise
risking interference. (Compare the small eyes of echolocating
cetaceans (especially river dolphins, which are almost blind) vs huge
eyes of ancient non-echolocating marine reptiles.)

What is the physiological opposite of the anaerobic MDR Mammalian
Divers Reflex which occurs at depth? Instant exhalation
(photic/pressure/thermal induced) & aerobic breathing at surface, with
optional controlled exhalation vocalized speech. Has anyone
immediately upon surfacing from a *long* dive, spoken during the first
exhale? I think humans are programmed/selected not to, just like
seals. First exhale, then speak/bark. Not sure though.

I think also that the LCA Hominoid/Hominid could not call while
floating vertically, possibly due to (water) pressure on the
throat/sac/hyoid/thyroid cartilage. Only when pressure was eased,
could a vocal sound be produced (compare to having a "knot in ones
throat" or feeling choked up), I guess. This allowed breathing clearly
through the nose during floating, then upon grasping and lifting up or
wading, the air sac pressure is off, and oral breathing and calling
can start.

[{Highly significant}]
This might have been a predecessor of being able to suction feed in
Homo underwater, having the oral breathing disconnected during
submersion, allowing the open pharynx for feeding and swallowing, then
upon re-emergence to light/pressure change, the larynx reopens to the
mouth and instantly exhales but with no vocalization, just a pure
instant complete air exchange of the lungs, trachea, mouth. Only the
little air in the nasal area is not forcibly exchanged. Why? Either
because the sinuses and eustacean tubes were pre-flooded with seawater
(per Seb Murat), or because of some other reason (high-pressure nasal
sneeze might cause damage to delicate nasal
veins/arteries/turbinates/olfactory nerves/middle ear/inner ear
barotrauma).

Today's scuba divers and free divers instead keep their chin down near
the throat, with their eyes 60 to 90 degrees from the streamlined linear
posture (and more like a vertical floating ape posture), which differs
from this ancient diving technique, and may indicate why the photic
sneeze "doesn't work" in today's divers.

no clue

yeah though i walk thru the valley of the shadow of death

i will fear no evil

but i have no staff or rod to comfort me, and no wife to join me.

and the still waters are icy...

and the bonobots climb after the $ and status

just another day



~ daud di nor calif ~

tears like rain

Human emotional tears are anti-fungal, thanks to salt, protein defensins and dermcidin. This developed as a result of living around seawater for millions of years, where both salt and water are abundant. The same is true of eccrine sweat.

Chimps, gorillas and orangutans left the mangrove rich seashores millions of years before, their rare tears and sweat are not saline, because there is almost no salt in the rainforest.

There is very little inland Iodine and Selenium (plentiful in the sea), so hypothyroidism, cretinism and goiters are often found in people living far from the sea, or on mountain islands without easy access to the lower shores.

Common chimps don't weep tears, rather they become enraged. (I hate you!)
Pygmy chimps also don't weep, rather they have sex play. (I distract you!)

Humans do weep, those that don't, are in a more primitive state of emotion; a stronger brittle shell but a more fragile center. Prisons are full of people who never weep. Psychiatric hospitals have people that can't release their emotions in a healthy way, so doctors medicate, but usually only dull the senses.

Tears release tension which otherwise destroys bonds.

"Tears : Tears produced by emotional crying differ in chemical content from those caused by irritants such as onion juice. Emotional tears contain more protein than tears induced by irritants. Researchers are now examining the contents of emotional tears for substances such as endorphins, ACTH, prolactin and growth hormone, all of which are released by stress. While the research on psychoactive substances in tears is just beginning, there is reason to think that emotional tears may be important in the maintenance of physical health and emotional balance.

Crying is not grief; it is a way of getting over your grief. Trembling isn't the same as fear. Rather it is part of a letting go of fear. In the same manner, embarrassed laughter, yawning, and even rapid, excited talking are parts of the healing process that get mistaken for symptoms of the problem".
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Somebody must care about the forest, the field, the ocean, more than the individuals, otherwise the individuals overpopulate and destroy the environment ("tragedy of the commons").

But if nobody cares about that somebody, then it doesn't matter.
It just becomes numbers, and resource warfare, which just escalates, until people stop planting food crops, being too busy destroying and defending property and rituals. Then only wild forest food is easily obtained, but that soon disappears, leaving famine and chaos. This can happen anywhere there are humans.


Penghutanan al khalifah, daud di nor calif
Univ WI, Univ Malaya, Trop Forestry Ctr


UPM edu.my Dogathon 2008

did i say that out loud?

World Shelters

Yesterday, I was in Arcata, where I chatted with Bruce LeBel, the exec. dir. of World Shelters, a non-profit organization providing emergency temporary housing to victims of earthquakes, tsunamis, other disasters around the world. He showed me around, I checked out the Qshelter, octahut and icosa Udome, where they are working on insulation and a snow peak.

http://worldshelters.org/

on the walk around the bay, I plucked lots of sweet blackberries along the trail.

Now I'm resting from the long hike through the brambles, watching the ladies go to their friday yoga class. Their room is temporarily full of a variety of nests, including birds nests featuring the dune dwelling snowy plover*, and artistic renditions of nests, for this month's Arts Alive gallery.

Funny how a Udome or round hut is an upside down nest, both utilize the spherical principle of 'maximum space enclosed by minimum material' (least surface area and structural support). Also, the tubular quonset Qshelter resembles buckytubes.

Olympic stadium in China the "birds nest"

* Although the show's theme is nests, the snowy plover, like many other shorebirds, does not actually build a woven nest, unlike tree roosting birds which do. They usually just dig a shallow hole in sand or pebbles or grasses and deposit their camouflaged eggs; some seabirds deposit non-rolling eggs in rocky clefts hidden from view.

It's a very hot day, absolutely perfect for diving.

Invisible cloak?

Little Red Invisible Riding Hood



honey_wheres_my_supersuit




Cultural perceptions: East & West

Holistic vs Analytical Eyes-mouth vs nose (Hat tip to Ed Yong)



Geophysics of ice cream


"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."
- Albert Einstein, scientist (1879 - 1955)
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Melanin, Grouping, Anatomy

Pleiotropy in the melanocortin system, coloration and behavioural syndromes

Article

In vertebrates, melanin-based coloration is often associated with variation in physiological and behavioural traits. We propose that this association stems from pleiotropic effects of the genes regulating the synthesis of brown to black eumelanin. The most important regulators are the melanocortin 1 receptor and its ligands, the melanocortin agonists and the agouti-signalling protein antagonist. On the basis of the physiological and behavioural functions of the melanocortins, we predict five categories of traits correlated with melanin-based coloration. A review of the literature indeed reveals that, as predicted, darker wild vertebrates are more aggressive, sexually active and resistant to stress than lighter individuals. Pleiotropic effects of the melanocortins might thus account for the widespread covariance between melanin-based coloration and other phenotypic traits in vertebrates.

ps. Is this accurate or not? Please inform. (Hat tip to Razib at Gene Expression)

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Evolving forgiveness
"For instance, his description of Robert Axelrod’s work on game theory modeling and cooperation is extremely insightful and resounding proof that natural selection actually leads to a nicer world in the long run. Primate studies, as he describes them, also suggest that the standard response - and healthy - mechanism of closure to an act of aggression is forgiveness and reconciliation. Human psychology studies back this up, and identify the components of apologies that elicit forgiveness the best.

And in the next-to-last chapter, he debunks the notion that religion is the shortcut to forgiveness and compassion. True, as McCullough notes, religious individuals often forgive more readily - *if* the offender is part of the same social network, and particularly if the offender is part of the same religion. Moveover, devoutly religious individuals are more likely to exhibit more intolerant and vengeful attitudes towards offenders who are outsiders, on the margins of society, etc."

in sum: Group bonding requires internal similarity, external dissimilarity. ie. oil and water don't mix without surfactants due to differing polarities or so.

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Your inner beast
Human anatomy article

Human anatomy is a formative experience in the training of future physicians -- it is the students' grand introduction to the body, when they memorize the names of bones, organs and nerves as they painstakingly dissect a real cadaver. That first year, as well as in years after, the medical students were curious about what kind of doctor I am. I am a fish paleontologist who studies finned creatures that have been extinct for more than 370 million years. Seeing the history inside our bodies is like peeling an onion: The first layers we see reveal the history we share with primates (large brains and opposable thumbs). Peel deeper and we find the layers of history shared with other mammals (hair and breasts), reptiles (our distinctive way of chewing food), fish (arms, legs, backbones and heads), worms (an anus on one side of the body and a mouth on the other), jellyfish (the DNA recipe that builds our bodies), sponges (our many celled bodies) and so on.

Earthquake in Eureka!!

My kampong going goyang-goyang just now ~ haiyo ~




http://quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/
http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/nc51207076.html
http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/hefferan/geol320/strikeslip.html

They say 4.6, but I think it was a 5.3, maybe here a bigger jolt due to the soft wet silt ground foundation surrounding the Kuala Walu Wiki (Humboldt Bay), on the Cascadia Subduction Zone of the west coast of America. It was quite a sharp lurch to the brick building, no bricks shaking apart, but I heard the walls moving and the floor jolted. I almost dove under the desk! abes!

Hope nobody gets a big tsunami! InsyaAllah.


_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/^\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_


Salam Merdeka ~ Indonesia ~ Malaysia ~ Singapura ~ United States of America

nasi goreng mamak

Hungry bear "finds" fish snack. (Winnie the pooh prefers honey)

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Kitty kat air terjun (kedua)




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Nasi Goreng Mamak | You + Me = Rice + Oil


Comic Steve Martin : "I like a woman with a head on her shoulders. I hate necks." Silly. haha

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Got a bunch of Malaysian and Indonesian students here in Eureka just arrived.

muka muka malu, selamat datang ke kampung kuala walu.
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ps. thanks to Patty for the sweet pea flowers on my desk, very pretty and sweet scent.