Happy Birthday, Auntie Flowie!!!

March 30...and many happy returns.

Watch where you step...

Be careful watching this one. Not all audiences may like it. It shows a large insect and a frog falling prey to a plant.



This video is a bit better. It has music. But, still, it shows a beetle falling prey to the plant.

Syrup in Vermont, Sugar in Jamaica

Spring thaws and re-freezes and thaws mean I can almost smell maple, wherever I am. Uncle Cecil's dairy farm and maple sugarbush...Sally and Tom (The horse team that pulled the sleigh)...the buckets on the trees and all the cousins lugging a half an inch of sap while the uncles lugged the full buckets and the aunts made confections (and meals that felt bigger than thanksgiving!).

I love the story of Norbert Reillieux (http://center.acs.org/landmarks/landmarks/
sugar/sug3.html) and perhaps enjoy it so much because of watching the sap in Vermont's maple woods and also having had experience inspecting sugar cane crops in Jamaica.

Here's a small part that shows how Norbert was able to use his science literacy to save lives: “A series of vacuum pans, or partial vacuum pans, have been so combined together as to make use of the vapor of the evaporation of the juice in the first, to heat the juice in the second and the vapor from this to heat the juice in the third, which latter is in connection with a condenser, the degree of pressure in each successive one being less… The number of sirup-pans may be increased or decreased at pleasure so long as the last of the series is in conjunction with the condenser.” You can read the full story at: http://center.acs.org/landmarks/landmarks/
sugar/sug3.html. Enjoy!

(c)2007 J. S. Shipman

Venus Fly Trap in Slow Motion

"Standard American"

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Northeast   Judging by how you talk you are probably from north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island. Chances are, if you are from New York City (and not those other places) people would probably be able to tell if they actually heard you speak.
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The South
The Midland
Boston
North Central
The West
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North   You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Northeast
The South
The Midland
Philadelphia
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

As Fall comes, start planning next Year's Herb Garden

http://home.howstuffworks.com/how-to-grow-an-herb-garden3.htm

Winter Science

Winter is a great time to use a "bud key" to identify trees. It is also a good time to spot diseased and dead trees. Instead of feathery branch ends. These diseased or dead trees will have broken off, blunt ends. They will likely be obscured when the trees leaf out. You can find them now, though, in winter.