Fairly preliminary, but yeah, could prove to be significant.

(and floppy, please give at least a hint of what the link is, so we don't ignore it or click on something we've already been well exposed to. xthanksbai)

Came home, no fog. 10 minutes later, 1/2 mile visibility with fog. mother nature, u crazy.

... and they're just getting started with the gene therapy stuff.

So does anyone know anything about aquaponics? I am teaching environmental systems and I'm thinking about trying to raise money for a mid-sized system in my classroom. I could use it to teach literally half the syllabus and it would be fun for the kids (and for me). If I was in the US, I would write a grant for one, but I'm not sure if there are international or swiss grants for such things. I may just try to build one from scrap parts, but that would be risky given my plumbing skills.

For those of you who don't know anything about aquaponics, it's basically a mix of hydroponics (growing plants in water with nutrients) and aquaculture (growing fish). The ammonia waste put off by the fish gets converted to nitrites and nitrates by bacteria in the system. The nitrates are then used by the plants and the plants clean and oxygenate the water for the fish. It's basically a little ecosystem. You can also use worms to help break down the ammonia, clean up solid waste, and provide protein for the fish in the form of live feed.

Here is a very short video about it. You can find all kinds of vids and info about it if you look for it. I'm kinda obsessed with it at the moment.

Aren't your students like trillionaires? Doesn't the school have a development office for this kind of thing? You know, the Aga Khan Aquaponic Room?

I have certainly thought about that. But the kids aren't millionaires, their parents are. I have talked to the school development office about it and they said they would give me the names of some organizations. I am going to try to use word of mouth with the families. I am teaching IB though and the IB kids tend to not be as rich. They're still rich, just not enough to donate 50k for a greenhouse/aquaponic center. There are exceptions, of course.

fish have training wheels to walk

http://io9.com/5867815/ancient-fish-lea ... ed-on-land

Heard a report on NPR that the research scientist trying to find the Higgs Boson have struck out a number of times and have smaller odds of actually finding it now.

I went to CERN in october on a science trip. The immensity of the thing is mind boggling. If they don't find it, it will be a major setback for such projects

Here's a time lapse video of the entire day today in Fairbanks, AK.

Happy solstice!

anyone else get dizzy when the wobble changed directions

Hey, here's a super close-up pic of a snowflake I stole from twatter that blew my mind:

WHAT THE FUCK

Open the pod bay doors Frosty!

WheelsFellOff wrote:Open the pod bay doors Frosty!

I'm sorry, that wasn't my best work. I'm going to bed now.

SK790 wrote:Hey, here's a super close-up pic of a snowflake I stole from twatter that blew my mind:

That's incredible. Those Whoville guys do nice work.

looks like space junk

Great shot, sk. Before I read what you wrote, I thought it was a greek column found on the bottom of the ocean.

Here's a story about Gazzaniga, a neuroscience researcher currently at Dartmouth.He got there just as I was leaving so I didn't get the chance to work with him, but I did meet him and see him talk a few times. Very entertaining guy, though I think there are post-docs in his lab doing most of the heavy intellectual stuff these days. Anyway, the article is about how our brains decipher what is going on around us and it's implications for responsibility. Much of his research is on split-brain patients (people who have the two halves of their brain severed to combat epilepsy).

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/scien ... .html?_r=1