Posted on 24th September 2008 by Judy Breck in animals | biography | ecology | engineering | environment | general science | health | math | sciences
atmospheric composition, atmospheric physics, atmospheric radiation, atmospheric temperature, computer codes, emission and scattering, hurricane, ike, inverse problems, Mie theory, noaa, numerical solutions, Radiative transfer equation, remote sensing, spectroscopy, storm watch
The image above is the Hurricane Ike Interactive Map from NOAA. When you go to the page you can click into the boxes to locate and study satellite photos of damage. StormWatch is part of the work of the Johns Hopkins University/ Applied Physics Laboratory.
Remote sensing imagery and study materials abound on the internet. An excellent cluster of information can be found at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program which “is a multi-laboratory, interagency program, and is a key contributor to national and international research efforts related to global climate change. A primary objective of the program is improved scientific understanding of the fundamental physics related to interactions between clouds and radiative feedback processes in the atmosphere. ARM focuses on obtaining continuous field measurements and providing data products that promote the advancement of climate models.”
To learn scientific and technical background for the field MIT offers open couseware on Atmospheric Radiation that is “an introduction to the physics of atmospheric radiation and remote sensing including use of computer codes. Subjects covered include: radiative transfer equation including emission and scattering, spectroscopy, Mie theory, and numerical solutions. We examine the solution of inverse problems in remote sensing of atmospheric temperature and composition.”
A NASA- based Remote Sensing Tutorial provides further introduction to the field.
Posted on 5th August 2008 by Judy Breck in biology | ecology | environment
gorilla conservation poach western lowland
This learn node about the discovery of 150,000 western lowland gorillas is prompted by a New York Times Science Times report. The image with this post is from a slide show accompanying the Science Times article. The discovery was announced by the Wildlife Conservation Society. The Society’s information section on the Western Lowland Gorilla does not yet have the good news of the new discovery as this learn node is written. By the time you are reading this it probably will because online resources are usually the first science to be updated. Although the new discovery makes some of the gorilla numbers happily out of date in this Gorilla Rescue video, the presentation is an excellent introduction for young humans to the challenge that lies ahead in their lifetime for caring for their fellow creatures of our planet.
Posted on 25th March 2008 by Judy Breck in biology | environment
care, gorilla, medicine, monkey, primate, veterinary, wildlife
In this learn node focusing on mountain gorillas, good news is an important bottom line. The website of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project reports the good news that the gorillas’ numbers have grown from 248 to over 360 individuals in the Virunga Massif in Rwanda alone. The illustration for this learn node is from the veterinary project, showing one of its patients: Magayane, a 6.5-year-old female mountain gorilla who was found to have a wire snare her left hand. The project team operated successfully to remove the snare and gave her a complete physical exam while she was under the anesthesia.
Anyone across the world can study and learn about Primate Medicine at the OpenCourseware published online by Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. The course materials are an excellent introduction to non-human primate medicine. The Primate Medicine webpage is also important reading for anyone who has thought about having a monkey as a pet: powerful reasons for not doing so are explained.
The Wildlife Conservation Society provides a Mountain Gorilla webpage describing the status of these great apes, discovered only 100 years ago by western science: “While mountain gorillas remain highly endangered, thier resurgence stands as a powerful example of what committed conservation efforts can accomplish.”
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Posted on 11th January 2008 by Judy Breck in agriculture | chemistry | environment
arsenic, danger, drinking, ground, groundwater, remove, water
This learn node clusters material about the dangerous presence of arsenic in ground water of the United States as illustrated the map here from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Water Quality Assessment Analysis of Trace Elements webpage. Information on the world wide arsenic in drinking water problem is abundant on the World Health Organization Arsenic in drinking water Fact Sheet.
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A look at an example of the arsenic problem in drinking water is provided by the American Museum of Natural History’s 2007-08 special exhibit on Water, which describes a situation where arsenic foiled attempts to get good water by drilling below bacterial contamination:
In Bangladesh, millions of deep wells were drilled to end use of bacteria-laced surface water. It worked: for instance, infant mortality dropped sharply. But many of the wells turned out to contain high levels of naturally occurring arsenic—an extremely toxic chemical element with serious health effects. Today, experts are working to develop inexpensive methods of removing arsenic from the water.
So how would you get arsenic out of water? Three pages from a Stiochiometry tutorial at Carnegie Mellon University’s openlearning initiative describes a method developed by Prof. Fakhrul Islam, a chemist at Bangladesh’s Rajshahi University. The tutorial is Arsenic remediation: Using powder to absorb arsenic from water.
Posted on 16th November 2007 by Judy Breck in animals | biology | environment
learning, meerkat, meerkats, play, scorpion
This learn node points to facts about the mammal Suricata suricatta, known as the meerkat, that are set out with excellent images (including the one to the right) in the Animals pages of Utah’s Hogel Zoo website. There are more facts at the Meerkat Information page of a zoological park that cares for meerkats who need a home. An article in the magazine of the American Museum of Natural History, Natural Science, by Lynda L. Sharpe is an expert description of some of what is known about the animal’s behavior: Meerkats At Play: Evolution demands that activities costing a lot of energy provide survival value in return. But what do these rambunctious little mammals gain from having so much fun?
Meerkats have their learning duties as well as frequent recess. A Live Science report (with amazing pictures) describes: Hunting 101: Meerkats Teach Scorpion Dismemberment in which a seventy-day-old pup learns how to eat a scorpion fed to it live. Only the not squeamish click here.
Within the webpages mentioned are links to more sources chosen by the page authors. Like their burrows, the online network about meerkats is complex and connects among various chambers of information.
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Posted on 22nd October 2007 by Judy Breck in animals | biology | ecology | environment
bacteria, disease, drug-resistant, MRSA, wash_hands
Lady bug star in this learn node, noting that this week 720,000 lady bugs were released by groundskeepers to find and kill pests harming plants and grass at a major New York City housing complex. Ladybugs, also called lady beetles, are natural enemies of many insects, especially aphids and other sap feeders. The beetle brigades are being used in the New York project to protect the greenery without using chemical insecticides. The tiny bugs are awesome predators: one lady bug can eat as many as 5000 aphids in her lifetime. Not only ladybugs are serving as beetle battlers for the green world. For another example, a Michigan report describes how beetles take a bite out of purple loosestrife.
There are an awful lot of beetles � and a lot beetle websites, often with titles including their scientific order name Coleoptera. The Coleopterists Society home page begins: “We live in the age of the beetles: Beetles, the insect order Coleoptera, are the dominant form of life on earth. One of every five living species of all animals or plants is a beetle! . . . ” Many of the beetle species have shown up online; for one example there are the beautiful Bembidion �where the webpage is the direct presentation of a scientist who is a leading expert on the species he showcases.
The beetle breakout of body parts in the image above is from a Russia Zoological Institute Beetles (Colelptera) and Coleopterists exhibit. From anatomy to poetry and ecology to jewelry, the exhibit showcases our human fascination with the dominant form of life on earth.
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