danaleeling

SC 130 physical science is guided by the idea that the great book of the universe is written in the language of mathematics. The first laboratory of the course opens with my reading of a quote from Freeman Dyson. As this is written, Freeman Dyson has just passed away at the age of 96 years. Dyson wrote, For a physicist mathematics is not just a tool by means of which phenomena can be calculated, it is the main source of concepts and principles by means of which new theories can be created... ...equations are quite miraculous in a certain way. I mean, the fact that nature talks mathematics, I find it miraculous. I mean, I spent my early days calculating very, very precisely how electrons ought to behave. Well, then somebody went into the laboratory and the electron knew the answer. The electron somehow knew it had to resonate at that frequency which I calculated. So that, to me, is something at the basic level we don't understand. Why is nature mathematical? But there's no dou...

Each term I spend a few days considering hides for the GPS hide and seek activity. I gave the most serious consideration to a hide among a small stand of Clinostigma ponapensis I only stumbled onto this term.  This location is just to the northwest of a place I hid in 2010 . Yet when I went out onto the campus on Monday to find my hide I settled on the most unorthodox location yet: a hide almost in plain site and not out in the remote fringes of the campus. This term the hide was not out under a bush or tree, nor buried in the paddle grass Faustino Jr. on lead GPS for group one I thought this might be the easiest term, yet no team reached me until after 12:15 PM. That is faster than a hiding spot out in the fringes, but was still useful. The porch would prove to be a more useful place to query the searchers on what they learned. Keilana, Christian The group had apparently taken the activity to be a race and had done some running. The group initially had gone too...

Pwunso prep this term began in A204 with a run through of a history of the Pohnpei agriculture station  followed by brief coverage of how nutmeg and the lure of spices brought westerners into these waters .  I also provided a handout on some of the plants we might see on our visit to the garden: The walk started at the millenium tree behind the public library. Angiosperm: Ficus prolixa. Banyan, aiau, auu, aw, kohnyah, leaves as hair conditioner The walk then crossed the driveway to have a look at the remaining clove spice trees. Angiosperm: Syzygium aromaticum. Clove tree. Christian considers the Araucaria pine Then the class looked at the Araucaria pine trees. Gymnosperm: Araucaria columnaris. Cook Island Pine. Family: Araucariaceae James looks up as I explain that the round female cones remain near the top of the tree Male cones of the Araucaria columnaris tree The trunk of Araucaria is distinctly pine-like. Gymnosperms produce pollen and seeds...

Monday I showed a 1980 set of videos on heat and temperature by the Ontario Educational  Communication Authority that was acquired by the MITC in VCR format circa 1993. Those videos remain one of the best introductions to temperature and heat which is comprehensive and fits into a 50 minute period comfortably. Temperatures Wednesday I ran a series of temperature demonstrations. This term the coconut oil was placed in the refrigerator in the morning, and melted at under 20°C. I also briefly mentioned three of the ways heat moves. Thursday I used cups of three different materials: metal, glass, and Styrofoam. The morning session saw some groups abandoning data recording after they had ten to twelve data points - only ten minutes into the cooling. The trend appears linear at this point and I had to ask them to continue taking data. In the afternoon I went ahead and was more careful in noting that the data would take time and would slow down but would not stop. I noted the...

Tesiwo "TM" reported on the use of Curcuma longa (tumeric ginger) in the treatment of constipation. Both the rhizome and leaves are pounded and then squeezed into fresh coconut milk. The resulting fluid is used as an enema via the hollow petiole of a papaya leaf. Over the years treatments for diarrhea far outnumber treatments for constipation, the former being perhaps more common in the heat and humidity of the tropics. Constipation can cause irritation of the sphincter. This can be treated with the juice of lime leaves applied as a salve. James reported that the fruit of Morinda citrifolia, nopwur in Chuukese, is consumed to prevent the nausea associated with seasickness. Artinlee described an immune system boosting tea made from shiishii (Phymatosorus scolopendria). Rumihna noted that the inner bark of the lemon tree is used to make a tea for shortness of breath and difficulty breathing. Blossom brought in a young, new banana leaf that was still rolled...