Some interesting (science-y) books

I've come across a few good science-related-without-being-too-technical books lately. These are not brand new books, I just got around to reading them recently. I recommend them!

The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson: A cholera outbreak in London in 1854, before anyone knew what caused cholera. Was it the air? Was it the water? What I like about this book is it is not just about disease or medicine but about the history (and future) of cities, plus a little medical detective work by John Snow and Henry Whitehead.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot: Doctors took the cells of a poor black tobacco farmer without her permission. Those cells (HeLa cells) revolutionized science and medicine and launched a multimillion dollar industry. Twenty years later, her family found out...this book is really interesting and written in a way that makes you want to keep reading. It is also being made into a movie.

Stiff: The curious lives of human cadavers by Mary Roach. I usually avoid anything having to do with dead bodies, but this actually looks interesting and potentially funny. I haven't read it yet but plan to read it soon.

Neighbor carts

This isn't exactly science-related, but who cares. I just discovered Neighbor Carts (in Chicago), a produce cart business. But it's not just any produce business--it's a social impact business, meaning the vendors are or were unemployed. It also fights the urban food desert problem--no or little access to healthy foods in urban neighborhoods. And the best part of all is that the produce is GOOD and CHEAP! I highly recommend shopping at a Neighbor Cart--the grocery stores can't beat the price x quality combination Neighbor Cart has. I should mention this is a joint venture between Streetwise and Neighbor Capital. Go eat more fruit!

Map of where to find them here.

Did you know carrots spark in the microwave?

Totally crazy...I guess I never microwaved carrots until last night. I was supposed to add minced carrots to something I was cooking but forgot and so I put them in the microwave, thinking I would cook them that way. And then...the sparks started flying! This made me think, hmm...is there metal in my carrots? Are they contaminated? Should I eat them?  A little googling told me that other people have experienced this same phenomenon, and apparently it is because of the iron, magnesium and selenium in the carrots. Supposedly green pepper and green beans do this too...sounds like a fun study! Just don't damage your microwave by letting the sparking go on too long!

My dissertation is taking over my life

It's been a rough few weeks. Writing a dissertation is no walk in the park, I'll say that much. At the beginning of today, I had 18 thesis-related things to do (mostly re-analyzing things and revising/editing). Now I only have six left to do, and they can be done tomorrow. Hurray!

Update: Pollen movie is called "Wings of Life"

Remember that movie about pollinators I mentioned? Well it turns out "Pollen" is called "Wings of Life" in the US and went straight to DVD/blu-ray. I feel like they're shafting the plants by sending them straight to DVD. After all, plants and pollinators are vital to the rest of the living world. The movie is narrated by Meryl Streep. I saw a commercial for it on Monday (Earth Day) and I thought they said, "available on DVD and blu-ray, only today" and I was all like, "gasp! only today!" but they actually said, "own it today." Lol.

Graduate school in China

I learned some interesting things about being a grad student in China by reading this post from the Cadotte lab...two things jumped out at me. One, you can hire an army of farmers to do your fieldwork in China. That sounds awesome. Think of the large scale experiments that makes possible! That's certainly a different take on citizen science. Despite hiring armies of farmers (or others, I suppose), ecology is still not a popular or well-understood field to the public. Sounds like the US too. How many people do I meet who think "Ecology" means "recycling"? Answer: too many. Hopefully this and other blogs help...although since I mostly write about cool animals I'm not sure how much I'm helping...

The other thing that was interesting is that PhD students in China have to publish an article in an international journal as a requirement for graduating. While publishing is certainly ideal and a goal of most American grad students, it is by no means required. What would happen if it were required? Ha! I think we would have a lot more seventh and eighth year grad students...there has been an explosion of ecology publications coming from Chinese authors, and this helps explain why. I mean, the fact that China is the world's most populous country also explains why, but it's interesting. More pressure on grad students to publish while they're students, and not to wait until they're postdocs or beyond.

Disney Nature films--what happened to 2013?

Earth Day is approaching, and we're already in "Earth Month," for those of you who don't think everyday is Earth Day. The past few years, DisneyNature has put out a nature-inspired documentary. Last year it was Chimpanzee, in 2011 it was African Cats, they did Ocean another year. But nothing is on the slate for this year! Say what you want about the Walt Disney company, but they know how to make movies and they reach a huge audience. So I am disappointed there is no blockbuster wildlife documentary this year. According to wikipedia, a movie called "Pollen" that came out in France in 2011 is scheduled for a US release this month, but I'm not sure if that's true. After all, it is Wikipedia.

I have to admit I'm pretty excited about next year's movie about grizzly bears. I very much admire bears from afar (let's not go all Grizzly Man here) and I'm looking forward to observing them from the safety of a movie theater. So until then, just think natureful thoughts...