chaoticutopia | July 4, 2006Freedom 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 by choice to the changing world around us. I've always appreciated living in a country based entirely on the idea of freedom. It reflects our nature, whether scientific or social. While we may squabble about what responsibilities come along with our freedom, we can all agree: liberty is precious.
In honor of this anniversary of liberty, I've…
chaoticutopia | July 3, 2006I 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 posting, especially the Friday Fractal--my apologies to anyone who looked for it. While I've been gone, the world has moved on as usual. Pollution has been getting worse, naturally, and the effects are beginning to show in our National parks. Meanwhile, parks like Mesa Verde (which is celebrating its 100th birthday) are expanding their borders.
While some are working at protecting the wilderness…
chaoticutopia | June 30, 2006I promised poetry, and here it is. I've written many poems about chaos, but this one is probably my favorite. It fits about any definition of chaos you can use and explains "battle or ride the waves" far better than I ever could while spewing philosophy. Poetry is just cool like that. The title, "Reminder", is suggestive of a note tacked under a refrigerator magnet. It's part fridge note, part old movie scene, where one character is hysterical ("OMG! Whatever are we going to do!?!") and another slaps them in the face. ("Thanks, I needed that.") Here is that reminder, that slap, that we all…
chaoticutopia | June 28, 2006Why does chaos always strike in threes? I've spent the past three days* dealing with what I can only describe as personal chaos. Of course, I don't mean it in the classic sense; I haven't been floating in a void of disarray. (It just feels like it sometimes.) Rather, I refer to the variables in life... those which we knew were possible, but seem unbelievable when they occur. I'm still seeking order (riding the waves, with a touch of battle, here and there) so it will be a few days before I have time to write. In the meantime, I'd like to share a few bits from my old site--about chaos, of…
chaoticutopia | June 23, 2006While visiting Two Ponds, a wildlife refuge here in Arvada, I captured these wonderful butterfly images, earlier today:
A two-tailed tiger swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata) feeding on a showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) blossom, along the banks of Little Dry Creek.
And a few more: (Click on any of the thumbnails to open in a new window.)
For a quick fact sheet on the butterfly, please visit eNature, or for the same on the milkweed, please visit the USDA.
chaoticutopia | June 23, 2006While crawling across the web this week, these stories of spiders just seemed to stick. So, when it came to making today's fractal, I knew exactly where to turn. The shape seen at right is an example of a "loom" style fractal, originally described by Cliff Pickover in his book, the Keys to Infinity. He calls it a mygalomorph pattern (sounds like something from King of the Hill, doesn't it?) or "Interactive Spider Geometry."
His webpage, found here, provides a simple java applet for exploring the various shapes. (Read: fun little web toy.) He also explains the math behind the image with a…
chaoticutopia | June 22, 2006In a delightfully sweet announcement, Enstrom's Candies revealed their plans to save Stephany's name in chocolate.
Anyone who ever frequented a Colorado mall remembers Stephany's Chocolates, an Arvada-based company specializing in truffles, mints, and other chocolaty delights. They usually offered free samples, winning the heart of each and every sweet-toothed passerby. Unfortunately, earlier this year, profits took a downturn, leaving owner Hal Strottman unable to pay his employees. Then things really took a turn for the worse. On April 4 of this year, Strottman was found in his home, dead…
chaoticutopia | June 21, 2006Behold! The Earth, as viewed from the sun. You can also view the Earth from the moon, a satellite, or above any point by entering coordinates for latitude and longitude. You can even look at the moon from the sun. (By John Walker of Fourmilab Switzerland.)
Enjoy!
chaoticutopia | June 21, 2006Today, the sun is rising to its highest point over the northern hemisphere. It is the longest day of the year--the summer solstice. But do we notice? Outside of a glance at the calendar, marking the official start of summer, it's just another day. Did the residents of Rochester Creek notice the solstice 2000 years ago?
When they carved these elaborate images into the face of the rock, were they considering the passage of time and the rotation of seasons? Were they librarians, recording useful information, such as astronomical or biological details?
Or were they shamans, performing religious…
chaoticutopia | June 20, 2006The trail to the Rochester Creek panel winds through a timeless oasis. After traveling through miles of dry canyons and salt washes, it is easy to see why ancient artists were drawn to the spot. As the trail follows the path of least resistance, it drops into a small, lush valley, filled with shrubs and herbs. It is easy to imagine people here, thousands of years before, dropping juniper berries and rice grass seeds into hand-woven baskets, while others chipped away at the rock wall above.
While the residents of Rochester Creek may have been in contact with others who grew squash and maize,…
chaoticutopia | June 19, 2006The question:
How is it that all the PIs (Tara, PZ, Orac et al.), various grad students, post-docs, etc. find time to fulfill their primary objectives (day jobs) and blog so prolifically?
The answer:
Since I'm still an undergrad, I suppose I fall under the "etc" category, here. I can't say that blogging interferes with my studies; rather, I think it enhances them. In some cases, I've taken a paper or a project, and transformed it into a blog post or series. (Like this.) I've yet to find a professor who minds; most seem to appreciate a well-written paper accompanied by charts and images.…
chaoticutopia | June 19, 2006The newspapers this last week were full of science stories, exhibiting the broad diversity and strangeness of life on our planet. Here are some of the highlights:
Seeds are preserved in an Arctic vault in Svalbard, preserving humankind's agricultural legacy:
Crop seeds are the source of human sustenance, the product of 10,000 years of selective breeding dating to the dawn of agriculture. The "doomsday vault," as some have come to call it, is to be the ultimate backup in the event of a global catastrophe -- the go-to place after an asteroid hit or nuclear or biowarfare holocaust so that,…
chaoticutopia | June 17, 2006Endless miles of canyon stretch across the landscape, cutting deeply through cake-like layers of red and gray stone--the San Rafael Swell. I've always felt this hint of anticipation while traveling west along I-70. As the road drops into Green River, Utah, there's a sign that reads: "NO SERVICES NEXT 110 MILES" That sign always seemed like a taunting dare. Are you willing to enter this rugged, barren land, void of your beloved "services"?
I'm not sure if it is the remoteness or the beauty of the Swell which calls me, or the mysteries that lie within, but I find myself returning, year after…
chaoticutopia | June 16, 2006The phoenix is one of those enduring symbols from ancient mythology that occurs frequently in modern culture. Phoenix is a name for places and stars (Hollywood and constellations alike.) It shows up in movies and literature (including the Harry Potter series.) Most importantly (at least for the context used here) this name for a mighty bird, which perished in flame, is a type of fractal. A phoenix set seemed rather fitting for today's image, as we'll soon see.
This set (seen whole, at right) is a modification of the original phoenix sets, discovered byShigehiro Ushiki. Essentially, I began…
chaoticutopia | June 16, 2006I'm having some computer difficulties (the gnomes in my CPU are battling the dwarfs inhabiting the cable modem) that have made it difficult to upload anything, let alone image-heavy posts. So, the Friday Fractal and other posts may be a little late today. Thanks for your patience!
chaoticutopia | June 15, 2006I'd planned to spend the day discussing ancient rock art, but this isn't how I wanted to start. Earlier this month in Fruita, Colorado (located on the I-70 corridor on the western slope) a group of graduating high school seniors took a can of spray paint and marked their legacy on a couple of rocks outside of town. Kids will be kids, right? The trouble is, they weren't the first to leave a legacy on those rocks. Someone else had left their mark there, about a thousand years before.
Petroglyphs and pictograms, left by a people known collectively as the Fremont Culture, are scattered across…
chaoticutopia | June 14, 2006I see that PZ already mentioned this yesterday, but I think it's worthy of a bump. I hardly ever watch TV (despite owning a big screen) but tonight I will, for the outspoken comedian George Carlin will sit along side the rather scary Ann Coulter on Leno. This should be good.
Coulter, the acid-tongued conservative with a new book out, and Carlin, the quick-witted, antiestablishment comedian who's in the voice cast for the new animated film "Cars," were booked at separate times for the NBC late-nighter, a spokeswoman said Monday.
But the duo's meeting could produce serious fireworks for "…
chaoticutopia | June 14, 2006A number of bloggers have been posting about YearlyKos, including many who were there, and even some who were not. I wrote on Friday evening about some of the science discussions, but didn't really get into my impressions of the political atmosphere. This shouldn't surprise any of my old readers--I typically avoid the subject like the plague. Something about this weekend changed that, whether it was being encouraged by speakers such as Howard Dean or Harry "Give 'em Hell" Reid, or just encountering hundreds of intelligent individuals willing to discuss politics AND think for themselves.
Since…
chaoticutopia | June 13, 2006In the Fishlake Mountains of Utah, several fires are steadily burning. As the American West enters yet another dry season, there will almost certainly be more. Folks around these parts have been whispering about the increasing fire danger, dreading another year like 2002. We reffered to that period of time as "the summer of fire", when the Hayman fire, started by a disgruntled forest service worker, burned over 7 million acres of land and destroyed over 100 homes. This year is shaping up to be disturbingly worse. Why? The Bush administration thinks that the bulk of our firefighting helicopter…
chaoticutopia | June 12, 2006Along with everyone else here, I've been tagged with the new Pi meme. Since I'm still a bit shy, you'll have to click here to find my answers:
3 reasons you blog about science:
I love questions, and science has answers that lead to more questions.
I like information that has been tested, or at least can be.
Science is just plain cool.
Point at which you would stop blogging:
When I disappear into the woods.
1 thing you frequently blog besides science:
Poetry and prose (is that two things?)
4 words that describe your blogging style:
Tangential
Eclectic
Visual
Lyrical
1 aspect of blogging you…