A tangenital mix of blogliness, studying the effects of time, change, and chaos
A student in Colorado, looking for some sort of synthesis--the big picture, encompassing all the strangeness in the universe--but willing to settle for the philosophic or poetic lens.
Most of my favorite blogs can be found here somewhere on ScienceBlogs. Here are a few of the other gems out there:
July 31, 2006
Category: Riding the Waves
Last week, my Scibling* Janet tagged me with the Book Meme. There's also been an "old book" meme going about, sort of a do-it-yourself thing, so instead of doing separate posts, I just tacked an extra question on the end...
Posted by Karmen at 6:21 PM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Strange Life
In my recent post on a lady beetle colony, I posted a picture of a wasp which I'd identified as Polistes dominulus. Unfortunately, the wasp didn't exactly look like the prototypical P. dominulus, as one of my commenters, Julie Stahlhut...
Posted by Karmen at 4:04 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Figments of Imagination
The drums pounded and oars stirred the water in perfect rhythm--the experience was both invigorating and calming at the same time. This weekend, the Dragon Boat races came to Sloan's Lake in Denver. Despite soaring temperatures, hundreds of metro residents...
Posted by Karmen at 2:52 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 29, 2006
Category: Figments of Imagination
If you're in the Denver area this weekend, consider checking out the Colorado Dragonboat Festival. It will run today and tomorrow at Sloan's Lake park, from 10am to 7pm. There will be food, music, shopping (my favorite) and, of course,...
Posted by Karmen at 10:07 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 28, 2006
Category: Fractals
I thought I'd do today's fractal a little backwards. I usually begin with a fractal, then show a matching picture from nature, and explain a bit of the science behind the nature. This time, I'm going to start off with...
Posted by Karmen at 2:52 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 27, 2006
Category: Life, evolving
I love trees, but trees covered in insects aren't usually my cup of tea. 'Till now. One of the reasons I chose my house was the giant maple tree by the front porch. The foliage provides shade and privacy in...
Posted by Karmen at 4:42 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 26, 2006
Category: Riding the Waves
I've been saving these for a rainy day--a game or other timesinking tidbit for each ScienceBlogs category. I originally was going to wait until a rainy weekend, but the climate hasn't favored that idea. As it is,I'm behind on other...
Posted by Karmen at 5:26 PM • 10 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 25, 2006
Category: A Grand Universe
The deeper we look, the more complex order we discover. Biologists studying DNA have discovered another pattern of code within the genetic code. This pattern may regulate the placement of nucleosomes: Biologists have suspected for years that some positions on...
Posted by Karmen at 12:20 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 24, 2006
Category: Lens of Fiction
What could a magnificent but arrogant dragon have to do with ecological change? Everything, perhaps, if we can be influenced by myth and metaphor. I won't be able to return to my series on urbanization for a day or two,...
Posted by Karmen at 1:20 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 21, 2006
Category: Fractals
I never did match any of Lillybridge's photography work on my visit to the South Platte. The past seemed to be lost under layers of roadways and rails. Still, within that changed land, patterns of natural beauty still exist. Sometimes,...
Posted by Karmen at 3:31 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Colorado
"They paved paradise, and put in an interstate freeway..." In order to visit the place where the studio/shack of Charles Lillybridge once stood, I have to drive down the I-25, the interstate freeway which runs parallel to the Front Range. It already looks like a gloomy day, with thunderheads looming ominously to the west.
Posted by Karmen at 12:13 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 20, 2006
Category: Colorado
An ecosystem is held together by complex interactions between living organisms and their inorganic environment. When early farmers and ranchers transformed the landscape in Colorado, were they destroying an ecosystem, or becoming a part of it? Perhaps there was a...
Posted by Karmen at 1:40 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 19, 2006
Category: Figments of Imagination
Behind every child is a budding scientist. They approach the world with an unrelenting curiosity, testing hypothesis at every corner. They like to experiment hands-on, and they like to make a mess--and how.
Posted by Karmen at 8:33 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Colorado
While the world changes around us, does regular, ordinary life change as well? The Lillybridge Collection shows simple, ordinary life, 100 years ago. From that simplicity, personality emerges. Charles S. Lillybridge didn't bother to seek the rich and the famous....
Posted by Karmen at 1:50 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 18, 2006
Category: Colorado
When most people think of Colorado history, they picture the Wild West--outlaws, ghost stories, prostitutes, and other strange tales that go along with gold fever. (I talked a bit about gold mining on Friday, along with instructions for panning your...
Posted by Karmen at 3:30 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 17, 2006
Category: Riding the Waves
The following letter, by House Representative Diana Degette, was sent to 25,000 Coloradans, urging them to show their support for science by signing this petition. I'd like to forward this request on to the scientific community at large. I hope...
Posted by Karmen at 3:21 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Colorado
This sends a pretty powerful message to anyone thinking about drinking and driving: If they can bust Pete Coors, they can get you too. When the brewery bigshot stepped into his car on May 28th, he'd apparently had a bit...
Posted by Karmen at 1:53 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 15, 2006
Category: Life, evolving
Would the tadpole, undergoing transformation from pollywog to froglet to frog, be astonished at our changing world? The metamorphosis of the tadpole is probably quite unremarkable--to the tadpole. A budding froglet, (Rana catesbeiana) giving me a suspicious glare. Is he...
Posted by Karmen at 5:43 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 14, 2006
Category: Fractals
When you peer into a fractal, you're seeing the edge of chaos. If you sift through enough Julia or Mandelbrot sets, you might catch a hint of fractal fever. When you find that point, where order is filtered out of...
Posted by Karmen at 3:15 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 13, 2006
Category: The Arrow of Time
"A good many of Colorado's mountain springs, especially the hot springs, are radio-active. Eminent physicians are now studying the affects of these to see what curative properties they may have. At some later time these undboubedly will be valued highly."...
Posted by Karmen at 5:03 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 12, 2006
Category: The Arrow of Time
...but home is always changing. Every rainstorm washes away a bit of the soil. Trees grow, seasons change, like in so many songs and poems. We say "you can't go home again" because it is never the same, but we...
Posted by Karmen at 2:38 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 11, 2006
Category: The Arrow of Time
I used to play among these tall grasses with my imagination running wild, pretending to be a warrior princess--nearly a decade before Xena hit the air. When I wasn't running, I'd often sit near the little lake by the railroad...
Posted by Karmen at 2:23 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 10, 2006
Category: Ethics
...or at least they would be if someone had cloned a person by now. I've missed the last few "Ask a Science Blogger" questions, which I now regret. I can easily describe the qualities of an excellent science teacher, or...
Posted by Karmen at 12:16 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 7, 2006
Category: Fractals
Today's fractal is so bushy and branching, that you might almost miss the regular curving patterns of a Julia set. (Actually, this is two Julia sets, but who's counting?) That seems fitting, as nature can be the same way. You...
Posted by Karmen at 4:17 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 6, 2006
Category: Strange Life
Across our planet, ecosystems are changing, big and small. While I've been compiling my thoughts on small, local changes (check back next week for a series on the subject) I found a bit of news about some very drastic changes...
Posted by Karmen at 3:50 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 5, 2006
Category: Strange Life
Every summer, great white pelicans make their way to Colorado to fish for trout in stocked reservoirs. I've always been fascinated by the fact that these giant sea birds come to Colorado, so far from an ocean. They don't breed...
Posted by Karmen at 4:15 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 4, 2006
Category: Fractals
Freedom is a beautiful thing. In some sense, it can be found in every particle, every molecule, and every living cell. (To divide, or not to divide...) As sentient beings, we are mass conglomerations of freedom, individual harmonious machines, adapting...
Posted by Karmen at 3:29 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 3, 2006
Category: Ecology
I seem to have chosen an odd time to take a break from blogging. I'm returning on a holiday Monday, as everyone else is starting their vacation. Just leave it to me to do it the weird way. I've missed...
Posted by Karmen at 4:09 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
