THE FINAL SOLUTION

The subject of this post grieves and disturbs me -- which makes it that much more important to talk about. Although I am not a Quaker, I hold by their belief in bearing witness, i.e., being mindfully present to remember any illegal or inhumane act, however difficult it may be to watch. This, so that our capacity for evil is always remembered, and may always be resisted.

On this day in 1942, the Wannsee Conference was convened in a Berlin suburb, with the purpose of formalizing and setting in motion the "final solution to the Jewish question," a euphemism for the systematic genocide of European Jews and other non-German, non-Nazi ethnicities and nationalities, including Poles, Czechs, Soviet citizens, homosexuals, gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other political and religious opponents. The plan included the gathering of target populations into ghettos, conscription into forced labor, and ultimately annihilation at extermination camps scattered throughout northern Europe. The plans's administrator was Reinhard Heydrich (shown below). In poetic irony, Heydrich himself died from injuries suffered during an attack by Czeck agents in May of that year.

The Holocaust remains one of the most horrifying events in human history. Those who would deny its existence, as well as those who are unaware of it, are shamelessly ignorant. We each bear a responsibility for challenging and resisting by any means necessary all forms of inhumanity, especially those practiced against an entire group of people. The formulation of the Final Solution, genocide by committee, happened only 68 years ago. There have been many instances of attempted genocide since. We have not evolved as a species to the threhold where we can relax our vigilance against our own tendency toward violent domination. No nation, no individual, is exempt from this responsibility.

AVATAR - THE SCIENCE AND THE SPLENDOR

James Cameron's current epic film Avatar continues to receive critical acclaim. Though it cost well over $500 million to film, produce and distribute, it is well on its way to being the most popular theater release of all time as well. Entirely new technology and special effects were created specifically for this project, supporting a well-crafted story with jaw-dropping visuals. How well-crafted? This writer would love to experience living as a Na'vi (image above) on Pandora.

Carol Kaesuk Yoon's article in today's NYTimes reveals another break-through aspect of the movie: Cameron has managed to convey the awe of discovery which every scientist (in this case, every biologist) feels as he/she explores new realms. Side-stepping conventional cliches depicting scientists as mad or naive, the biologists in Avatar are both informed and appropriately thrilled by their discoveries in this strange, richly-endowed new world. Yoon's article is highly recommended reading.

During my university studies, I was privileged to do rudimentary field work in paleontology, oceanography, mammalogy, herpitology and ornithology, as well as lab work in genetics, cell biology, and comparative anatomy and physiology. That thrill of newness, being on the verge of discovering something wondrous and meaningful, cannot be described adequately with the written word. It can only be experienced. Beyond its monumental entertainment value, Cameron's film allows the viewer to experience, however vicariously, that fragile and beautiful wonder.

MOLLY IVINS

A new biography was just published -- Molly Ivins: A Rebel Life, by Bill Minutaglio and W. Michael Smith. Ivins is one of my favorite people on the planet (a journalist poured from the same mold as another Texas woman, former governor Ann Richards) -- strong, outspokenly true to her liberal beliefs in a conservative state, funny, articulate, and fearless in aiming a relentless spotlight on hypocrisy, greed or stupidity. Though Molly has passed from our midst, long may she shine. Check out the Wikipedia entry for more on her life and times.

SMART CAR

I first saw one of these tiny, tiny marvels a few years ago, and did a double take. My first thought was, "that's so ugly, it's cute." Followed by, "it's so small, an occupant must be at high risk in a collision."

Turns out that the Smart Car is, according to the website, eminently safe. "Built by Mercedes-Benz. Roomier than it looks. Estimated 41 mpg highway. Four airbags and a tridion safety cell with tubular reinforcements. 95% recyclable." If you browse through the available models, you'll find hardtops, convertibles, and even an electric drive version. The suggested retail price is surprisingly low. Check out this Wikipedia article for more details on performance and safety.

















True, not much storage room. But for a commuter vehicle in town, or a road trip for two, what a lark. Besides, it just looks like major fun to drive, especially if you enjoy being the center of attention.

SOLAR ECLIPSE

Yesterday an annular solar eclipse was visible in parts of Africa, eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Solar eclipses come in several geometries (see illustration above) and resulting visual effects, as described here.

In February 1979 I journeyed from my home in southern Arizona to visit my parents in northern Montana, timing the trip for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view a total solar eclipse, whose path of totality arced across the U.S. Pacific Northwest and into Canada, passing within a few hours' drive of my home town. Beforehand I researched the sequence of visual effects to expect, and scripted how best to photograph them with my trusty old workhorse Pentax Spotmatic 35mm SLR camera, telephoto lens and tripod.

Knowing that I had just shy of three minutes in which to shoot, I ran rehearsals of shutter speeds and lens openings before ever leaving home. On the day of the eclipse, 26 February, my dad and I drove to a point which lay in the exact center of the path of totality. The Montana prairie in winter is cold by any standard, so having found an ideal viewing position on a ridge, we stayed in the vehicle to keep the camera warm until it was time to set up. I was ready within moments, and as the moment drew near, an eerie quiet settled onto the landscape. I noticed a herd of whitetail deer dashing about in panic, and would later hear that dogs had started howling in nearby Lewistown.

Then it came. A small, dark bite in the sun's side became larger as the moon began to occlude the sun's disk. Light appeared to shimmer on the ground, and then the lunar shadow appeared in the west, sweeping like a silent curtain toward us at the speed of the earth's rotation (at our latitude, probably around 700-800 mph). Almost before I could breathe, we were in a landscape of darkness, surrounded on all horizons by an unearthly salmon-colored light. I was able to take pictures on automatic pilot, while simultaneously looking up (safely) at the sun for the spectacular visual effects of a total eclipse -- Bailey's beads, the diamond ring effect, the sun's corona (see photo below, click to enlarge). Like most people, including those who become global eclipse chasers, I experienced a natural high, a heightened flow of adrenaline and endorphins and who knows what else. Normally taciturn, after the event I was babbling like a happy idiot.

At midpoint of totality, the sequence of visual events started to reverse themselves, until sure enough, from the west that dark curtain receded toward us as the moon's shadow passed on, revealing a day that was far from normal. I was giddy for hours, and (in those pre-digital photography days) came away from it with some pretty impressive photos, and indelible memories.

SAME SKY, DIFFERENT HEMISPHERE

Today's APOD (Astronomy Picture Of the Day, a NASA posting) is quite striking -- the same section of sky, including the constellation Orion, taken from sites in the northern and southern hemispheres -- specifically Tasmania and Iran. Lovely. [Click on image to enlarge for best effect. Note that Orion appears upside-down between photos, visual proof that they are taken from different hemispheres, not unlike a plane appearing to reverse orientation as it passes overhead.]

EUROPEAN HEALTH CARE

During the current debate on health care reform in the U.S., whenever the comprehensive government health care coverage offered in European nations (and Canada) is referred to, it is usually by conservatives, and usually with an anachronistic sneering reference to "socialized medicine" -- as if that were a bad thing. News flash -- the Cold War is over, we won, and we STILL have one of the most expensive and least effective health care systems among the developed nations of the world. I suggest that it is time to take a fresh look at the successful plans of other nations. We are not so elevated in our perfection that we cannot learn from the example of others.

Toward this end, I refer the gentle reader to Paul Krugman's recent column in the NYTimes.

THE WINTER OF 2009-2010

It's not exactly news to those living in the northern reaches of the Northern Hemisphere, that this winter has been unusually cold, stormy and laden with snow and icy conditions. Winter conditions in Europe have been especially disruptive, catching many off guard. I was struck by this satellite image showing the entire island of Great Britain covered with snow -- almost as it might have appeared during the most recent ice age, except that the adjacent sea would have been frozen as well. Note the contrast between the winter image above, and the fair weather image below.

SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

What do chemistry, music, astronomy, biology, physics, and engineering have in common? The answer is that adaptable, versatile tool -- math. Math is both a language and a process, with a clear and essential vocabulary, syntax and grammar. All of the above disciplines employ math to express complex concepts in universal terms.

If you think about learning to count on your fingers as a child, it becomes intuitively obvious why so much of the world uses math with the value ten as its basic unit of measure or counting. We call this "math to the base ten." (Had we been born with eight digits instead, we would probably use math the the base eight.)

In science, it is customary to employ the decimal system for expressing both values smaller than one, and also values of great size. This usage is referred to as scientific notation, and is a kind of shorthand for manipulating numbers more easily and quickly -- one can simply shift the decimal point, rather than working out complex fractions. This handy system is also called working in powers of ten (i.e., ten multiplied times itself a given number of times).

To illustrate: we know that there is only one ten contained in the number 10, so in scientific notation the value is written as 10 (the coefficient) with a superscript 1 (the exponent). It looks like this: 10¹. By the same token, we know that there are ten tens (ten times ten, or ten squared) contained in the number 100. So the coefficent remains 10, but the superscript now is written as 2. It looks like this: 10². Similarly, a thousand is written as 10³, or ten cubed (ten times ten times ten). And so on.

So what's the big deal? Well, if we're talking, say about the distance from the earth to the sun, it's both easier to write and easier to do math with, if we write it as 9.3 x 10⁷, than it is to write it as 93,000,000 miles. And that is a truly puny distance in astronomical terms. By the same token, a monumentally tiny quantity, so small that many zeros appear between the decimal point and any integers, can be conveniently written in scientific notation. The mass of a proton is easily written as 1.67 x 10^-27, as opposed to longhand, 0.00000000000000000000000000167 kg.

Those of us who grew up using the metric system find scientific notation intuitive, even second nature. Those of us who (unfortunately) grew up with the more cumbersome English system of measurement may have to do a bit of unlearning and relearning, but the effort is worth it, especially when dealing with size relations between extremely small and extremely large objects or distances. Imagine having to convert between inches, feet, yards, miles and light years using cumbersome fractions and conversion tables, and then compare that to the ease of simply shifting a decimal point. In such shifts between orders of magnitude, the metric system and scientific notation come into their own. Just for fun, try to wrap your imagination around this illustration of orders of magnitude -- click on the image to enlarge.

EXTINCTION IS FOREVER

When I was pursuing my bachelor's degree in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology in the early-to-mid-1980s, a professor noted that (at that time) "due to human activity, a species is going extinct every hour, and an entire ecosystem is lost every day." It seems fairly certain that, given the escalation of human predation on other creatures, and of human encroachment on natural habitat, the pace of extinctions has similarly increased at a geometric rate.

This breaks my heart. My childhood in the 1950s was spent marveling at the exotic diversity of animals and plants around the world. Everything I learned in grade school, high school and college reinforced my excitement and wonder. Perhaps this, as much as anything, led me to a major in biology -- literally the study of life. What could be more fascinating?

Today, so many creatures which were numerous a mere half century ago are extinct or endangered. My blog focuses attention on predators, precisely because they are at the top of the food chain (or the center of the food web, choose your metaphor) -- their health reflects the health of the environment in which they live. Disturb one element of that interconnected community, and you disturb all elements connected to it, thence all elements connected to those, until the ripple effect is felt by all. Ultimately, human survival itself is placed at risk.

But one needn't focus just upon predators to get a sense of an ecosystem's health, and the part we play in its degradation. Witness the demise of the Dusky Seaside Sparrow (photo shown below). As described in Wikipedia, this subspecies was "found in southern Florida in the natural salt marshes of Merritt Island and along the St. John's River ... The dusky's demise began in 1940 when DDT was sprayed on the marshes for the control of mosquitoes. This pesticide entered the bird's food chain which caused the population to go from 2000 to 600 breeding pairs. When Merritt Island was flooded with the goal of reducing the mosquito population around Kennedy Space Center, the sparrows' nesting grounds were devastated, and their numbers plummeted. Later, the marshed surrounding the river were drained to facilitate highway construction, a further blow. Eventually, pollution and pesticides took such a high toll that by 1979, only six Dusky Seaside Sparrows were known to exist -- all of whom were males .... The last one died on June 17, 1987, and the species was officially declared extinct in December 1980."

So who cares, right? What's one obscure little bird, few in numbers, in the grand scheme of things? Quite a bit, as it turns out. Every species has co-evolved with its predator and prey species, and with its environment, filling a specific ecological niche. What happens to the top-dog predators may be more dramatic and easily observed, but the health of the other web members is just as important. The integrity of the whole is compromised when one member is wiped out.

Please understand -- over geologic time, species have come and gone in vast numbers. In fact, of all species that have existed, 97% are extinct. There have even been catastrophic mass extinctions caused by asteroid strikes, ice ages, sea floor changes, flood basalt events, and associated climate perturbations.

But it is precisely the current geometric increase in the rate of extinctions, at human hands, (in contrast to the flatter, natural background rate of extinction and speciation) which is alarming. We are, so far as we know, the only self-aware species on the planet, capable of changing the entire landscape, affecting climate, and .... here is the crux of it .... possessing both high intelligence and a conscience. It is incumbent upon us to regard all other creatures as having equal rights to survival, and to do whatever is needed to ensure that we have the least possible impact on our own nest. Should we fail, cockroaches shall inherit the earth.

THE UNITED NATIONS

Over the course of our evolution as a species, our social group identities have increased in size and complexity. Early on we were first and moremost members of our immediate, nuclear family. As we progressed from nomadic hunger-gatherers to settled agriculture, and thence to communities which enabled wider commerce, we also progressed to organization in clans, tribes, villages, towns, city-states, and nations -- all the while retaining our connections with the smaller groups which went before.

On this day in 1946 a global governing body, the United Nations (UN), held its first general assembly. Membership has increased from the founding 51 nations to 192 currently, with developing countries making up two-thirds of UN membership. It is the only successful assembly of nations yet devised (unlike the antecedent League of Nations), a vital forum for discussion, debate and resolution of conflicts between nations. Those who criticize the UN as purportedly being an ineffective body should recall that the UN charter does not provide for enforcement powers, a tragic omission. Imagine a city with no police force, a nation with no army. When the UN does decide to intervene militarily to settle a dispute (as in the Korean War), the contribution of forces by member nations is voluntary, not compulsory. This has the effect of crippling the UN in both military and humanitarian endeavors.

Nevertheless, the UN is presently our best (and only) hope for positive change as we deal with human overpopulation, famine relief, genocide, war, and other issues of national and international importance. It is critical that all nations, rich and poor, be afforded the opportunity to voice their concerns in a civilized forum, and have those concerns addressed. Just as our national government does nothing to detract from our identities as residents of a state or community or family, so does the UN not threaten our identities as citizens of our nation. The opposite is true. A world that is secure and at peace, in which all peoples are free from hunger and war, and free to celebrate their cultural heritage, is a better world for its diversity.

SPEAKING OF LISTS

I know, it's that tedious time of year when news media shower us with lists of past-year events, and we ourselves create mostly-useless lists of things to change or accomplish in our lives. here, however, is one such that's actually interesting -- 50 things we know now that we didn't know this time last year. Among many, I find #26 of more than passing interest.

And as a bonus today, I finally found an exotic video featuring Bobby McFerrin singing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" -- something I've not found on YouTube. Love this song.

Peace out.

SEVEN WONDERS

Check out this Wikipedia listing of the wonders of the world -- divided into ancient, medieval, and modern, with entries for everything from architecture, the natural world, and much more. Have fun browsing !!! [Above -- the Great Wall of China. Below -- the ancient Inca city Machu Picchu, in the Peruvian Andes. Click on image to enlarge.]

I WANT ONE !!!

A French company called Parrot has created a scale-model quadricopter, a helicopter with four rotors which you can control via your iPhone. The chopper comes with two cameras, so that the user navigates using the iPhone screen -- and can be operated indoors or out, by remote control. The possibilities for play, work applications, or surveillance are limitless. Unlike other remote control aircraft, this vehicle can hover in place, and lift off and land without the need for a smooth runway. Check out the video here, as well as at Parrot's website, and let your imagination run wild.

WHALING WARS

As reported in the NYTimes by Andrew C. Revkin --

This video shows the collision between a Japanese security vessel and the $1.5 speedboat (shown above at dockside) deployed by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society this year to dog the Japanese whaling fleet. The video was provided by the Japanese Institute for Whaling Research.

Sea Shepherd's leader, Paul Watson, has labeled the incident a deliberate attack by Japan, but Japan's whaling institute, which claims the whale hunt is scientific research, blamed the conservation group for what it called "illegal harassment and terrorism."

Some activists say that such an incident was inevitable, given Sea Shepherd's confrontational tactics. At the same time, the media cannot afford to deploy boats to chronicle whale hunts (photo below shows a whale being drawn up the stern ramp of a factory ship), and governments opposed to whale kills in the commons of the Southern Ocean aren't doing much to track or resist such activities.

If a whale is hit by an exploding harpoon near Antartica and the world doesn't have a way to witness that, does it make a sound?

(Please note -- when I view the video, it appears that it is the Japanese "security vessel" which is maneuvering aggressively, aiming water cannon and changing its course to ram the Sea Shepherd vessel. See what you think.)

PRAGUE SPRING

Beginning on this day in 1968, reformist Slovak Alexander Dubcek came to power, and introduced sweeping political liberalization in the Soviet republic of Czechoslovakia, including loosening restrictions on the media, speech and travel, and partial decentralization of the economy. Dubcek's reforms, popularly called the Prague Spring, met with national and worldwide approval, and were seen as a new hope for the emergence of a more humane variant of Communism.

Alas, reactions within the Communist bloc (the USSR and its satellites) was less welcoming. After initial political pressure failed to halt reform, Warsaw Pact armies invaded Czechoslovakia in August of that year, crushing all resistance and removing Dubcek from office. It wasn't until the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991, that the emergent Czech Republic and its sister nation Slovakia were able to freely pursue democratic governments.

This anniversary has special meaning for me. My mother's family immigrated to this country from Prague, in the Bohemian region of what was once Czechoslovakia. I also have a good friend who lives in Slovakia. One day I dearly hope to visit Europe, with this region as a special destination.

THE WORLD'S TALLEST BUILDING

(NOTE: as always, click on any image to enlarge.)












Burj Khalifa, the newest tallest building on the planet, officially opened today. Located in Dubai, UAE, it stands a monumental 2717 feet tall -- over half a mile. From its summit, one can see for sixty miles in any direction. (As part of the opening festivities, skydivers leaped from the top, with no reports of unopened parachutes or parasails.)

One of its fundamental design principles fascinates me -- in cross section the building is composed of three lobes, in essence a triangle rather than the usual square cross section of other super-skyscrapers (including the twin towers of the former World Trade Center (WTC) in New York City). As any geometry student knows, a triangle is the simplest and strongest structure which one can create with straight lines. This is why everything from buildings to bridges has diagonal beams connecting the opposite corners of otherwise square or rectangular components, inducing the reinforcing strength of the triangle.

A perverse but nonetheless fascinating question occurs to me -- what would world reaction be if, as happened to the WTC, the new Dubai tower were attacked by a hijacked aircraft? It is entirely conceivable, given the sectarian differences within Islam. If a copycat attack might be directed at the Burj Khalifa, would the design structure be more resistant to collapse, and would (as happened initially until the Bush administration blew it) the countries of the world express universal sympathy with the victim nation, and universal condemnation of the perpetrators? Just wondering, I have no answer.

I confess to a lingering affection for the long-since eclipsed edifice which was, when I was a child, the world's tallest -- the Empire State Building. At a mere 1454 feet in height, it is now dwarfed by other, newer skyscrapers. Yet it retains its charm. Several movie versions of King Kong have scaled its vertical sides. It has been named one of the seven architectural wonders of the modern world. I've never had the pleasure of standing on its observation deck, as I have several times atop the WTC before its demise -- but I hope someday to do so. On the other hand, next time I happen to be in the Middle East .......

NEWS 3 PLUS COMMENTARY 2

NEWS

1. How to train the aging brain -- question assumptions, learn new physical and mental skills -- http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/education/edlife/03adult-t.html?em


2. The link between Restless Leg Syndrome and Erectile Dysfunction in older men -- http://www.sciencecodex.com/study_links_restless_leg_syndrome_with_erectile_dysfunction_in_older_men


3. Conspicuous consumption as a marker in status seeking, social signaling and sexual solicitation -- surprising ways in which men and women differ -- http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427392.700-sex-and-shopping--its-a-guy-thing.html



COMMENTARY

1, A Wee Bit o' Revolution. Comic and talk show host Craig Ferguson is a native Scot who is also a proud citizen of the U.S. In this video he describes his fascination with the ideals behind American democracy, combining razor-sharp caustic wit with the thoughtful challenge to step outside our customary beliefs and to think, really think, about what freedom means. His perspective is a breath of fresh air in the predictable polemics of public discourse. Freedom of speech includes freedom from speech. Freedom of religion includes freedom from religion. Of all the freedoms spelled out in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, the most fundamental (and the most compelling responsibility for every citizen) is freedom of thought. The founders were revolutionary not just politically or militarily, but in their deep and original thoughts. It is incumbant upon each of us to emulate that example, to engage in our own wee bit o' revolution every day.

2. From The Outermost House, by Henry Beston, 1928:

We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals.
Remote from universal nature, and living by complicated artifice,
man in civilization surveys the creature through the glass of his knowledge
and sees thereby a feather magnified and the whole image in distortion.
We patronize them for their incompleteness,
for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves.
And therein we err, and greatly err.
For the animal shall not be measured by man.
In a world far older and more complex than ours they move finished and complete,
gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained,
living by voices we shall never hear.
They are not brethren,
they are not underlings;
they are other nations,
caught with ourselves in the net of life and time,
fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.

(Note: This writer does not seek to mystify nature. I do seek, however, to encourage a sense of respect, caring and wonder for the diversity of life on our shared planet. Like it or not, as an intelligent, self-aware species, we inherit the mantle of steward for all other creatures and for this garden planet we call Earth, on behalf of this and future generations.)

36 HOURS IN TUCSON, ARIZONA

At last, the NYTimes online travel section offers a juicy sampling of things to see and do, in and around Tucson. The choices offered barely skim the surface of restaurants, museums, theater, music, or the natural world of the Sonoran Desert and the "islands in the sky" ranges of mountains surrounding the city. Tucson, a.k.a. the Old Pueblo, is a fascinating blend of cultures, a liberal enclave in a conservative state, and the home of my alma mater, the University of Arizona.

A hearty "Right On!!!" from this former resident. [Images: Top -- view looking northeast toward downtown, the UA, and the Santa Catalina Mountains. Center -- the Sonoran Desert in winter. Below -- the mall at the UA. Click on images to enlarge.]

OUTSOURCING GONE WRONG

The NYTimes online reports that Iraqis are understandably confounded and outraged that criminal charges have been dropped against Blackwater Worldwide security guards (read mercenaries) who fired indiscriminantly upon unarmed civilians, during an incident which occurred in 2007. It has become common practice, starting in the Reagan years, for the military to hire private contractors (at considerable profit for the contractor) to provide services ranging from construction and preparing meals to providing armed security. Blackwater is only the most famous and notorious of such "security" providers.

In this observer's eyes, the incident is a microcosm of conservative ideology carried to its logical and flawed conclusion. We hire and train a professional military for such duties. Why, other than blatant cronyism and greed, is it necessary to farm out surveillance, security and other military ops to a bunch of heavily-armed cowboys with little oversight and few scruples? The answer is, there is no justification. Yet we wonder why so many in the third world hold us in contempt.