Tag: learning

Botox is in the news all of the time because of its use as wrinkle reducer, but it has many more uses than that, and a very long history.  The proper name is botulinum toxin, and is a neurotoxin produced by the common soil bacterium Clostridium botulinum.  This bacterium is an obligate anaerobe, meaning that it is poisoned by oxygen.

As a matter of fact, many bacteria of this genus are obligate anaerobes, and more than one are causes of human and animal disease.  In addition, they are also spore formers, which is the mechanism that they use to survive times when they are exposed to oxygen.

Well, it is the time of the year for holiday cooking.  You know, those things that we all love but do not often eat.  I suspect that if we ate throughout the year like we do during this season, we all would be more corpulent.  However, eating heartily during the cold season has a biological function, or at least it did as we evolved.  We need energy to produce body heat, and, not that long ago, caves, hovels, tents, cabins, and other dwellings were just cold in the winter, so we needed the extra energy.

Unfortunately, our lifestyle has become in conflict from our biology, so we must eat these highly calorific foods with caution.  That is no reason to avoid them, but certainly it is a good idea to eat them in moderation.  None of the recipes that follow are what you would call low sugar nor low fat.  By the way, dinner for me tonight is homemade beef stew with lots of vegetables added.

Atomic theory had been pretty well established well before the turn of the previous century, but no one knew much about the nature of atoms other than that the atoms of different elements had different masses (later advances revealed that they have different numbers of protons), and were composed of a positive nucleus and negative electrons, with positive and negative charges being equal in number so that the net electrical charge was zero.

Electrons were definitely established by J. J. Thomson in 1897, and he postulated that atoms were more of less continuous lumps of matter matter with positive charge in which lumps of negative charge (electrons) were embedded, although they had some freedom of movement.

Atomic theory had been pretty well established well before the turn of the previous century, but no one knew much about the nature of atoms other than that the atoms of different elements had different masses (later advances revealed that they have different numbers of protons), and were composed of a positive nucleus and negative electrons, with positive and negative charges being equal in number so that the net electrical charge was zero.

Electrons were definitely established by J. J. Thomson in 1897, and he postulated that atoms were more of less continuous lumps of matter matter with positive charge in which lumps of negative charge (electrons) were embedded, although they had some freedom of movement.

Atomic theory had been pretty well established well before the turn of the previous century, but no one knew much about the nature of atoms other than that the atoms of different elements had different masses (later advances revealed that they have different numbers of protons), and were composed of a positive nucleus and negative electrons, with positive and negative charges being equal in number so that the net electrical charge was zero.

Electrons were definitely established by J. J. Thomson in 1897, and he postulated that atoms were more of less continuous lumps of matter matter with positive charge in which lumps of negative charge (electrons) were embedded, although they had some freedom of movement.

One of standard measurements that we take for granted these days is the charge of a single electron.  This is a vivid example of how scientific knowledge has exploded during the past century.  In 1870, there was no concept of an electron, and atoms were just very crudely becoming accepted.

After the turn of the previous century, it was generally accepted that there were atoms, and that electrons were likely a part of them, but no one knew much about them.  We still have not all of the answers, but Robert Milliken elucidated the intrinsic charge of the electron in xxxx.

As a professional scientist, I am accustomed to observing some phenomenon that is interesting to me, wondering about its significance, looking at background data (if any exist, and yes, “data” is the plural form of “datum”), and then trying to figure out the principles behind.

That works well, for the most part, in systems that can be controlled and only one variable at a time changed.  That is the essence of the scientific method as it generally practiced.  I dispensed with the classical steps, which are observation, formulation of a hypothesis, experimentally testing the hypothesis, refining or rejecting the hypothesis, and then doing more and better experimental tests to test the hypothesis further.  If one is very lucky, the refined hypothesis becomes a theory, and if no exception after crushing peer review, becomes a principle or a law.

I am being challenged to support my assertion that history has lessons to be learned, and that these lessons are meaningful in terms of “what we should do next.”  There will be a long prologue in which I spell out possible metaphors for the momentum of history — readers who are interested in this discussion are recommended to read it well, whereas those who crave controversy are recommended to skip to the conclusion below, which talks about “health insurance reform” and speculates upon the future.

(Crossposted at Orange)

United States coins have traditionally been forged and minted with gold, silver, and copper.  Very small amounts of other metals have also been added to improve the wearing properties of the coins.

Gold, silver, and copper, in their pure states, are actually too soft to make good coins, in that they wear must too fast.  The chemistry of good alloys is a fascinating part of numismatics, the study of coins.

Burning the Midnight Oil for Living Energy Independence, crossposted from MyLeftWing

I return to 2007 for “America was made for HSR” (Agent Orange links retained as the other blog I was posting to at the time is no longer up)

Wow, what a ride. Sometimes on Thursday …

Thursday 22 March 2009, that is …

… it felt like the America was made for High Speed Rail diary was going 200 mph itself. And I kept the ride going, cross posting the diary on the Euro and Booman Tribunes. And based partly on comments here and partly on comments there, kept polishing up the map.

Like the first diary, this is only a sketch, and 200mph routes are not the be-all and end-all of passenger rail, and this isn’t a silver bullet … but damn if it isn’t one silver BB that is cool as all hell.

Now, I’m going to say the lessons follow below the fold in no particular order, so that if you see an order, I can call it serendipity, and if you don’t see any order … I told you so. …

… (and anyway, any excuse to use the word serendipity is a good excuse, it’s such a lovely word … and you’d never believe how I stumbled across it … but that, dear readers, is another story) …

… with some additional reflections from late 2009.

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is often used as a flavor enhancer in many savory dishes.  What most people know is that it often added to foods.  What most people do not know is that is present in many foods naturally, either in free form or as glutamic acid in proteins, since glutamic acid is a very common naturally occurring amino acid.

There is considerable controversy surrounding MSG, mostly due to the so-called Chinese Restaurant Syndrome (CRS).  Symptoms commonly reported include numbness and tingling of the extremities, facial flushing, and several others.  Tonight we shall take a fairly in-depth view of MSG.