Recommendations: Science

Here's an interesting article about how evolution created a nut and bolt like structure top serve as the hip of a weevil.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/science/05obscrew.html

There have been numeous other studies that have found that evolution creates simple machines on both the large scale (much of our skeletal system can be models as levers and pulleys) and the tiny scale of protein molecules. Here's Dr. Trevor Lithgow's research on protein molecules (lay language)  or  Peer review.

This is great stuff. It makes science more accessible to people. It's one of the most  important callings for an artist today.

Here's an amateur video of the results of settling sediments beneath a plaza in Japan. The earthquake jarred the saturated soil beneath the plaza, which led to the cracks and water and mud rising to the surface. Two things strike me:

1. The rapidity with which the water seeps above the pavement.
2. The absolute calm of the people in the area. If the earth opened up and urped muck in NYC, nothing less than pandemonium would ensue.

It amazes me how cultural differences can affect not only the behavior of the individual, but also crowd rection in sudden and potential dangerous circumstances.

Crepuscular is not one of those words that sounds like what it is. It simply means active during twilight of dawn or dusk. Matutinal crespucular organisms are active at dawn, whereas verspertine crespucular organisms are active at dusk.

The first known use of "crepuscular" was in 1668, according to Merriam-Webster online. "Crepusculum" means twilight in Latin.

Bosons are force-carrying subatomic particles. Bosons associated with electromagnetic, strong, and weak forces have been observed. The graviton has not been observed and recently experimental physicists at Fermilab suspect that they may have evidence of the Higgs boson, the presence of which helps iron out some inconsistencies in contemporary physics.

Bosons can occupy the same quantum state (kind of like place)  and form composites with different combined properties. Some of these composites behave like bosons, others do not.  "Bosonic-composite" is the preferred term for clusters of bosons. Some bosonic-composites are mesons and He4 atoms.

Heinrich is one of a class of wildlife biologists who combines intuition and reason to arrive at a thorough and sensitive understanding of another species. The book, aptly titled for several reasons, explores the intelligence and emotional lives of several ravens, ravens who Heinrich knows individually and has followed for years.

Through the book one also becomes acquainted with Bernd Heinrich, who in addition to studying ravens in reclusive environments, writes books on many subjects and runs marathon distances regularly. I eagerly went on to read several of his books on other topics in addition to the corvids.

Wright's book is a fantastic journey into the dawning science of evolutionary psychology, more than simply a psych book, you'll learn about human evolutionary and cultural origins, and the biological foundation of ethics.

Wright brilliantly incorporates a biography of Charles Darwin into the mix, using Darwin's life as a case study for the principles of evolutionary biology. This book was a delight to me on so many levels, not to mention it bettered my understanding of the way we work.

Doidge's book discusses neuroplasticity, the ability of the brain - at all ages - to rewire itself. Although superficially, this may sound trivial, in fact neuroplasticity can help the brain recover from profound trauma. Willful application of this knowledge can empower us to change the way we think and approach life. The book is full of real-life examples that bring the points home in a fascinating and inspiring way. It also discusses the habit of the brain to retrace familiar pathways and reinforce mental habits, a tendency that lends to efficiency, but can limit mental flexibility if not recognized.

This book shed light on so many of my mental and neurological processes, it was unbelievable. Some interesting and specific examples:

• Why it took 3 weeks to get the hang of playing a major scale on an English concertina.
• Why I could only move my two smallest toes at the same time but not independently (dystonia), and how to fix it... it worked.
• Why undoing learned behavior is so difficult.
• That I can actually teach my elderly Beagle new things. She now can lay down on command!
• And that age or habit is no excuse for avoiding learning something new. I can now sightread jigs at tempo on my concertina. It took 6 months of daily practice to rewire my brain to the peculiar keyboard layout of the instrument. The piano layout had been hardwired in me since my youth.

I recommend this book for anyone who loves learning, or who feels stuck in some old habits.