Scientists explain the orangutan’s unique approach to problem solving with this example: If a chimpanzee is given an oddly shaped peg and several different holes to try to put it in, the chimp immediately tries shoving the peg in various holes until it finds the correct hole. But an orangutan may stare off into space or even scratch itself with the peg. Then, after a while, it offhandedly sticks the peg into the correct hole while looking at something else that has caught its interest.

Photo by Bob Worthington

So in the trailer for The Jungle Book we see King Louie…and through an article John Favreau states that he is in fact not an orangutan but an extinct ape by the name of Gigantopithecus.

This was done because orangutans do not, in fact, live in India. But  Gigantopithecus did.

I love the idea of this giant living fossil leading a community of monkeys who view him as a god.

Keep Reading

AN ORANGUTAN WALKS INTO A DOCTOR’S OFFICE ….. Veterinary staff members of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme center conducts medical examinations on a 14-year-old male orangutan found with air gun metal pellets embedded in his body in Sibolangit district in northern Sumatra island. The orangutan was rescued by Indonesia’s ministry of forestry personnel and Orangutan Information Center on April 15, 2014 in nearby Langkat district in a small patch of forest and agricultural plantation. The center has cared for over 280 orangutans rescued from palm oil plantations, poachers and pet owners and over 200 have been reintroduced in the wilds. The critically-endangered primates population are dwindling rapidly due to poaching and rapid destruction of their forest habitat that is being converted into palm oil plantation.


Wednesday, February 10, 2016

The true mandate of the Commission on Elections (Comelec)...(First of a Series) to hold competitive elections and create the environment for it.

All data from the Comelec except for gender, which were
determined based on the name.
There are other measures but at its simplest, competitive elections mean that there is more than one candidate for an elective post. For the elections this May in the National Capital Region (NCR),  955 candidates are vying for 336 elective posts.

These figures help explain how participative
 are the elections for local positions in the NCR.
This highly urbanized region and home to 6.25 million voters has 17 towns and cities.  It is broken down into 42 districts from which councilors are elected. A town or city has from two to six councilor districts depending on the population.  There are also 30 congressional districts within the NCR.

On voting day on May 9, voters in the NCR will choose one mayor and one vice-mayor, between six and eight councilors, and one member of congress or parliament.

Twenty-seven parties are competing in the NCR.

However, my take on competitiveness revolve around the data from  the table below.  Obviously, questions begged to be asked.

1.  Why are voters not presented with at least one other candidate to choose from?  Why did not parties compete?  Did the voters agree that no other candidate could represent them?

2.  What led candidates and voters to "capture" or game the system?
3.  What local political and electoral conditions could explain this situation?
4.  If at all, how might the cost of becoming a candidate or the cost of getting elected contribute in the explanation?
5.  What might prevent this situation from happening?

I will bring up more points in the upcoming posts, but for now a few future possible remedies:

1.  National parties should explain in writing to the voters, through the Comelec, why they could not field candidates in places where candidates are unopposed.  They should cite in detail the constraints they faced?
2.  In an unopposed situation, the candidate should at least get 50 percent of the valid votes in order to be elected.  If not, a re-election.

What's your take?

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Ballet Philippines’ ‘Opera’: Sculpture in dance

Published at:

Published February 9, 2016 7:53pm By TELIBERT LAOC

When dance and contemporary art collide, the senses erupt.

Ballet Philippines is collaborating with several artists—kinetic sculptor Gabriel Barredo, choreographer Redha Benteifour, composer Malek Lopez and librettists Yvette Tan and Erwin Romulo—to create "Opera," a scripted assault on the senses. The production creates synergy between the artists and melds their art forms.  In their performance, the dancers shape and bodily express their unified visions.

Barredo pioneered kinetic (moving) sculpture in the Philippines and his art installations will integrate into the dance sets.  "Meeting Gabby and seeing his work up close is very inspiring," says the Algerian-French Benteifour, whose style draws inspiration from everyday life "where censorship is absent."

"Being part of this production is a great thrill," he said.

Dancers Victor Maguad and Erl Sorilla play Twins; Carissa Adea, Mother; Denise Parungao, Death; Jean Marc Cordero, The Watcher; and Earl John Arisola, The Creator.  With 16 others from the company, led by artistic director Paul Alexander Morales, they fulfill the promise of the artistic collaboration.

As an amateur photographer at the press conference on January 27 in one of the dance studios at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the shoot was quite challenging for me.  There was always something going on onstage—several "events" unfolded before the (stage) canvas.  You point your camera to one event with the knowledge that by doing so you will miss the others.

Like creation constantly happening in the universe, events are taking place seemingly independent of each other.  But "The Artist," "The Creator," may or may not reveal the complete complexity of His work.  In "Opera," Benteifour and Barredo may just reveal what their creation might be.

— BM, GMA News

These photos originally appeared on Telibert Laoc's website.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Lighten Each Other's Load

Baskets on their heads, ladies with sons in tow walked in line on the clay footpath beside my parents' home.  I asked what they were selling. "Fruits and vegetables", I told mom. "Ask them in," she ordered.  "Dayon mo 'nang," (come in) I called, and one of the ladies pushed the wooden gate in.

Their baskets revealed a small variety of their own produce.  The little proceeds from the fruits of their labor would help them tide over   Christmas and perhaps a few days after.

But this is not the story.

Mom picked out the heaviest among the crops, which were two large squash and a few yam. Let's buy them and lighten their load.

I love mom. She turned 78 yesterday.

Weighing the goods.

She said they were among mom's patients.

Off to sell the rest of the produce.


Reference Fly Fishing Glossary

Discussion in 'Articles & Reference Info' started by Chris Scoones, Mar 14, 2012.

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  1. Chris Scoones

    Chris Scoones Administrator Staff Member

    Jan 1, 2000
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    North Bend, WA
    Fly Fishing Glossary.

    Adult - The winged stage of aquatic insects; reproductive stage.
    AFTMA - The American Fishing Tackle Manufacturing Association, the folks who standardized the weights of fly lines the only thing in fly fishing under a standard.
    Albright Knot - A common knot used for tying the backing to fly line.
    American Shad - Alosa sapidissima
    Anadromous - Fish that live most of their adult life in saltwater but spawn in freshwater like salmon. Fish that migrate from freshwater to the sea for spawning are catadromous.
    Anti-Reverse - A feature of fly reels where the spool handle does not turn as line is pulled out from the reel.
    Arbor - The center part of a fly reel where line and backing (first) is wound.
    Arbor knot - A knot used for tying backing to the arbor of the fly reel.
    Baetis - Widely distributed genus of mayflies typically found in sizes 16 to 22.
    Barrel Knot - See blood knot
    Barrel Knot - same as blood knot. (see [[Blood Knot]]).
    Bobbin - A fly tying tool and term borrowed from seamstresses. A bobbin holds the tying thread.
    Butt section - The thicker end of a tapered leader that is tied to the fly line.
    Callibaetis widely distributed genus of mayfly that is commonly found in lakes - often called the "Speckled Wing Dun" because of the speckled markings on the leading edge of the adults wings. Callibaetis are usually found in sizes 16 & 18.
    Casting Plane - The angle(s) above or below horizontal the rod tip actually follows during the casting sequence. If you ever want to understand wind casting, this is extremely important to success or failure.
    Caudal fin - Caudal is an anatomical term meaning "the back". The caudal fin is the tail fin or tail of a fish.
    CDC - Stands for "Cul de Canard" which literally translates to "butt of the duck". Used both to refer to the feathers from the area around the oil gland of a duck and also to the flies tied with these feathers. The feathers from this area are very wispy and impregnated with natural oils making them extremely waterproof.
    Collar - A ring of feathers or hair placed immediately behind the head of the fly.
    Comparadun - series of no-hackle dry flies developed by Caucci & Nastasi in 1970s using a hair wing tied in a 180° flair. They are very effective patterns in slow moving clear water where an imitative (as opposed to impressionistic) pattern is needed.
    Damping - reducing excess vibrations in the rod blank when unloading the rod during a cast. This causes fewer waves in your fly line resulting in more power & distance for less effort. Orvis use a proprietary damping material, called MVR, in the handle of the Trident Rods to accomplish this to a level not attainable by casting skills alone.
    Drag Free - see Dead Drift
    Dragonfly - important stillwater aquatic insect most commonly imitated in the nymphal form; usually hatches in early to mid-summer. Unlike the Damselfly, the Dragonfly adult holds its wings straight out (like an airplane) when at rest.
    Dropper - A practice of fishing two flies at the same time, often one on the surface and a second underwater. This increases the chances of getting a successful fly in front of a fish. It also serves as a hunting technique when dialing in the proper size of fly, or whether fish are rising to dries or feeding below surface.
    Duncans loop - A monofilament knot used most often to tie a tippet to the eye of a hook. Also called a uni-knot.
    FFF - Federation of Fly Fishers
    Forward Taper - see weight forward.
    Freestone - type of river or stream with a significant gradient resulting in medium to fast-moving water. Although the upper reaches of a freestone stream may be spring-fed, the vast majority of its flow comes from run-off or tributaries. The fast moving water inhibits the growth of weeds or other rooted vegetation resulting in a "Free Stone" bottom. Fresstone streams are less fertile than spring creeks resulting in a smaller and less diverse aquatic insect population. Fewer bugs in faster water usually results in fewer but more opportunistic trout.
    Fry - The first stage of a fish after hatching from an egg.
    Grilse - An young, not-sexually mature Atlantic salmon
    Hauls - Hauling is a technique that increases the line speed of the backcast, forward cast, or both. Increasing the line speed enables the cast to travel over a greater distance. When the caster hauls on either the back or forward cast, the technique is known as a single haul. When the haul is applied to both the back and forward cast, its called the doublehaul. While mentioned in the text, especially in context of casting shooting head systems, hauling is an advanced technique that should not be explored until the mechanics of the basic cast have been mastered.
    Imitative Flies - flies tied to more closely match specific insects (for instance a BWO Comparadun). Imitative flies are most effective in slow-moving, clear water, with finicky trout in fertile streams with large populations of aquatic insects.
    Impressionistic Flies - flies tied to loosely suggest a variety of insects or insect families. For instance, a Hares Ear nymph in sizes 12-16 can be used as both a mayfly and a caddisfly imitation and in larger sizes as a stonefly imitation. Impressionistic flies are usually most effective in medium to fast water, in streams with sparser populations of aquatic insects.
    Knotted Leader - fly fishing leader constructed by knotting sections of different diameter leader material to each other to make a tapered leader. Most commonly used knots to construct such a leader are blood (or barrel) knot and surgeons knot (see blood knot, surgeon
    Lanyard - A device to which an item is "tethered" so that it is close by when needed; e.g., glasses
    LDR - Long Distance Release. Its a prettier way of saying you screwed up and lost the fish.
    Long Belly Spey Line - A longer version of a double taper designed for two handed spey applications. These lines are typically have a head length of 70-120 feet.
    Low water dressing - sparsely dressed fly on a small or moderate sized hook
    Mayfly - An aquatic insect found throughout the world, in both still water and rivers. It is most easily identified by its sail-like upright wings and long graceful tails. Many classic trout flies imitate mayflies. Mayflies vary in size with 3 mm tricos to the 30 mm hexagenia.
    Memory - The undesirable property of fly lines, leaders or materials to "remember" their stored condition of being coiled or wound
    Midge - a term properly applied to the small Dipterans that trout feed on. Many people call them gnats. Adults appearance is similar to mosquitoes. Midges have two wings that lie in a flat "V" shape over the back when at rest. They are also known as "the fly fisher
    MOAL - Mother of all Leeches
    Nymphing - word describing fish feeding on nymphs; nymphing right at the surface can be difficult to tell fr om fish feeding on adults, careful observation should tell.
    Palming - A term referring to the use of the palm of the hand against the spool edge of a rimless fly reel as a means of applying drag against the release of line in fighting a fish.
    Parachute - type of dry fly where the hackle is wound horizontally around the base of the wing like a parachute instead of vertically around the hook of the fly. This drops the body of the fly down into the surface film of the water. It is usually most effective in medium to slow moving waters.
    Parachute style fly - A dry fly with the dry fly hackle wrapped horizontally under the hook or at the base of the wings, providing a type of outrigger floation.
    Parr - A young trout, salmon or char, usually in the so-called fingerling stage.
    Pitzen Knot - A German derived knot that results in 95-100% of the tippet's strength.
    Polarized sun glasses - Sunglasses with iodized lenses that block incident light (glare) and thus allow anglers to better see beneath the surface glare of water.
    Pool - A reach or segment of a river or stream with greater depth and slower current, making it safer fr om predators bird and animal and where swimming against the current is reduced.
    Power - A term generally describing the wrist and arm movement used during the casting sequence to energize the rod.
    Pressure - A term used to describe the force applied by a fly fisher against a hooked fish during the fight to bring it to the net.
    Pumping the Fish - A way of using the butt of the fly rod in a lifting motion to force the fish into submission to the fly fishers will. Immediately after the lift, the rod is lowered and the slack line quickly recovered and placed back on the reel.
    Put Down - The result of a fly fishers error in presence or presentation. Once alarmed, fish will scurry away and sulk. "Putting fish down" is a great way to assure yourself that you will not catch fish.
    Reach Mend Cast - A technique used on streams and rivers to provide a longer "drag-free" float to the fly. Its done by making the cast as normal, then laying the rod over in an upstream motion once the rod tip stops on the forward cast. The fly will continue on target but the line near the tip will "reach" or fall upstream.
    Recovery - A term used to describe how fast a fly rod stops flexing after a cast, or returns to a straight, unflexed position.
    Rising Fish - A term referring to a fish visibly feeding at the surface or in the waters surface film. It can also refer to a shark fin that rises within close range of where you are standing.
    Rod Flex - The manner in which the rod bends during the cast during the acceleration phase of the cast. Tip-Flex rods bend primarily through the tip section, Mid-Flex rods bend down into the middle section, and Full-flex rods bend throughout the entire rod during the cast. Orvis has put together a Flex Index rating system so fly fishers can tell at a glance what type of flex to expect fr om a particular rod. For more information, please read our section on the Orvis Flex Index
    Rod Modulus - the weight to stiffness ratio of the graphite used in the manufacture of the rod. High modulus rods run around 60 million modulus, IM6 graphite runs around 30 million modulus.
    Scandi Line - A Scandinavian style spey line that is designed for floating to light sink tip work with small flies to moderate sized flies.
    Scrim - the material reinforcing the graphite blank. This maintains the hoop structure of the blank during flex and keeps the blank fr om flattening out. Modern Scrims are made fr om fiberglass meshes or blown graphite.
    Sculpin - A marine or freshwater bottom fish that streamers often mimic.
    Setting the Hook - the act of pulling the hook into the flesh of the fishs mouth. The amount of effort needed to do this varies with the size of hook, type of fish, and breaking strength of leader; most people strike too hard on trout and warm water fish and not hard enough on salmon and saltwater fish.
    Shooting the Line - A term used to describe the act of releasing the fly line during the cast enabling the line to be carried out away fr om the line hand by the power or momentum of the rod.
    Single action - The typical fly reel wherein a single turn of the handle causes one turn of the reel spool. This is distinguished fr om the multiplier reel where a single turn of the handle causes multiple turns of the spool and makes it easier to retrieve line. Almost all high quality fly reels are single action.
    Sink Rate - the speed at which a sinking fly line sinks; there are at least 6 different sink rates for fly lines, fr om very slow to extremely fast.
    Skagit Line - A Skagit Line is a type of shooting head that is designed to throw big flies and sink tips with little to no room behind you
    Skater/Waker - A fly designed for waking or skating across the surface on the dead drift swing.
    Smolt - The term smolt is applied to salmonids that are near to, or in the process of, migrating to salt water. They are undergoing the physical changes that will allow them to survive in a radically different chemical environment. Typically, a smolt loses his parr marks and becomes very silvery along the sides and a dark greenish-blue on the back. Fish that spend a year or two (or more) in fresh water, such as steelhead, cutthroat or coho, smoltify at a size of six to ten inches. There are two varieties of chinook; referred to as stream and ocean types, the former staying in the river for up to a year before smolting and dropping gown to salt water, and the latter moving down almost as soon they are capable of free swimming. Chum and pink fry also begin moving downstream almost as soon as they swim up out of the gravel.

    Spring Creek - A creek or stream that gets its water fr om a ground flow or spring sources, rather than glacier/snow melt or surface run off. Spring creeks are generally at a temperature of the average rainfall temperature over the course of the year (the source of most ground water) and hence usually do not warm significantly in the summer nor freeze in the winter.
    Standing Line - the part of the line that is joined to another piece of line when tying the tag ends together. Two standing lines are joined by tying their tag ends into a knot.
    Stonefly - An aquatic insect found throughout North America that generally requires higher water quality than most fish, including trout. It varies in size, but in the larger sub-species can reach 2 inches. It life stages vary fr om mayflies and caddis flies inasmuch as it crawls out of the water onto a rock, splits its outer covering and becomes a flying insect with wings that lay on its back.
    Stripping line - Retrieving the line by pulling it in through your fingers as opposed to winding it in on the reel. Term sometimes used to refer to running line (not a common usage).
    Strung out fly - A fly that has a stinger hook attached by dacron or wire that extends to the rear portion of the fly.
    Surgeons Knot - excellent knot used to tie two lengths of monofilament together; the lines may be of dissimilar diameters.
    Swimming the Fly - The way a sinking wet fly or streamer is moved through the water as it is being fished. There are two things that govern the way a fly swims: the knot that ties the fly to the tippet and the motion imparted by the fly fisher with the line hand during the retrieve.
    Tag (Tag End) - the end of the line that is used to tie a knot (also see Standing Line).
    Tail out - The lower end of a pool where it becomes shallow again.
    Tailing Loop - The result of an error in the casting technique. Tailing loops usually result when the rod tip following a concave path, such as it will do if the caster “jerks” the rod forward at the end of the backcast. Jerking the rod forward fr om the backcast applies power improperly and at the wrong time. The rod tip, in turn, dips sharply into a convex path. Since the line goes where the rod tip goes, the line is sure to follow the same concave path forming the tailing loop. The evidence of a tailing loop is a simple unwanted overhand knot somewhere in the forward part of the tippet. Sometimes called a "wind knot," the knot is anything but the result of the wind. When you begin to notice these little teeny-tiny knots, look for an error in the mechanics of your cast.
    Tailwater - The downstream section of a river or stream found below a large man-made dam. The most famous and productive tailwaters are fr om bottom-discharge dams, making the water relatively cold and constant in temperature.
    Tip section - The top section of a fly rod, smallest in diameter and furthest fr om the rod grip.
    Tippet - The terminal segment of monofilament tied on the end of a leader and connected to the fly.
    Tip-top - A guide for the fly line with a small cylinder attached that fits over the end of the fly rod.
    Unloading the Rod - unbending the rod. Transfering the casting energy fr om the rod back into the fly line.
    Vest - a fly fishers wearable tackle box; numerous styles available; particularly important in wading situations.
    Wading shoes or boots - Hiking-like boots worn with stocking foot waders, generally having felt soles and a more comfortable fit than the boot portions of boot foot waders.
    Weedguard - A piece of stiff monofilament or light wire attached fr om the top of the hook and extending in front of the hook point and bend to the hook eye. If properly attached, a weedguard reduces the likelihood of a fly picking up weeds, yet it does not deter the hooking of a fish. Weedguards are especially popular for underwater warm water flies.
    Whip finisher - A tool used in tying flies that helps the fly tier lay down a smooth and compact head of the fly.
    Wind knots - In the process of casting, especially for beginners, loops form particularly in the leader and tippet. The formation of such loops is made worse by casting in the wind and hence when they become knots in the leader or tippet they are called wind knots. Wind knots greatly reduce the breaking strength of the leader.
    X - archaic measurement used to designate diameter of leader material used in conjunction with a numeral, as in "4X". To determine the actual diameter of "4X" or any "X" number, subtract the numeral fr om the number 11 (eleven). The result is the diameter in thousandths of an inch. For example, to find the diameter of 4X material, subtract 4 fr om 11 (11 - 4 = 7) thus the diameter is .007". *Note* diameter does not always correspond to breaking strength.
    Zinger - Slang for a retractable device. Useful for hanging items suchs nippers off your vest to keep them out of the way when not in use.
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Philosophy of Animal Rights > Animal Testing - Index
Cancer Research For 10 Yrs Useless: Fraud, Says Mayo Clinic

Cancer Research For 10 Yrs Useless: Fraud, Says Mayo Clinic

Submitted by Lois Rain on August 14, 2011

JAMA's editor calls fraudulent medical research a 'scar on the moral body of science'. But it's really just part of an entire system of fraud in medicine. Medical science is rampant with fraud. At the Mayo Clinic, ten years of research that appeared to be leading towards harnessing the immune system to fight cancer is worthless because of fraudulent studies and later research based on the fraudulent ones.

Nonetheless, those same studies are cited as evidence of efficacy of drugs and procedures. Even after papers have been retracted, the impression they've given doesn't disappear. Research based on those papers is already designed and in process.

 Changes are made more readily as new drugs and procedures are advocated, not as old ones are discredited. Just take a look at doctors' continuing to prescribe bisphonates for the nonexistent disease, osteopenia (pre-osteoporosis), and hormone replacement therapy for another nonexistent disease, menopause--or even the routine prescribing of fever-reducing drugs, which is nearly always counter-productive.

Does Better Error Detection Explain the Retractions?

Some medical journals are claiming that they're better at detecting errors, implying that there really isn't an increase in fraudulent papers. That explanation simply doesn't hold up to scrutiny. They offer no explanation as to what might make them better at detecting errors now. In other words, the august journals are basing the claim on absolutely nothing but wishful thinking.
Worse, some are claiming that the advent of plagiarism software explains it. But how does finding plagiarism in papers explain fraudulent studies?

The simple fact is that they're finding more fraudulent studies because they're actually looking for them. And not as a result of their own internal reviews, but because of fraud scandals that reached mainstream media.

Why So Much Fraud in Medical Studies?

There is a tremendous amount to be gained by getting away with fraud in medical studies. The reason is simple. According to Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet:

Fraud Is a Scar on Science

Richard Horton says that this fraud 'is a scar on the moral body of science.' That's certainly true. How many patients have been harmed? We'll likely never know, as these examples show:

Vioxx, the pain medication that causes heart attacks.

The deeply flawed statin studies that hide the adverse effects, not to mention lack of efficacy.

The antidepressant and antipsychotic studies that have hidden adverse effects and lack of efficacy, too.

The misguided studies on salt that continue to claim that lower salt intake needs to pushed, when the opposite is probably true. In most people, there is a direct relationship between salt intake and death rates. The lower the salt intake, the greater the death rate, as demonstrated by a good study published in JAMA.

Even the system that's supposed to control fraud in studies before they ever reach the stage of publication is corrupt, as documented in this sting operation. The fraud is systemic, from the start of drug trials that are financed directly and indirectly by Big Pharma, to the competition among researchers hoping to make their first million, to the journals that accept the fraudulent reports, using an obviously biased system of peer review to hide behind and financed almost totally by Big Pharma ads, to the doctors who choose to blindly accept whatever the journal reports say because it's easy, gives them cover, and also brings patients to them.

Signifying the Inherent Corruption in Conventional Medicine

Yes, this is the system of evidence that conventional medicine claims justifies its existence. Instead, it demonstrates that conventional medicine is anything but evidence-based. There is no sound basis for most of modern medicine's treatments, as should certainly be obvious with the constantly increasing rate of chronic disease.

Take a look at the advent of drug resistant diseases, which are growing rampant and often far more virulent. Or look at the false claims of disease eradication through vaccines, when any rational look at the evidence shows that it's not modern medicine we need to thank, but adequate food, good water, and good sanitation systems. Consider the advent of a new kind of whooping cough, 10 times more virulent than the old version and caused by the vaccine itself, while being blamed on the unvaccinated!

Even when there has been apparent success, we often find that it's short-lived and has presented us with worse problems than the ones apparently resolved.
We are, indeed, entering a brave new world of conventional medicine. Unfortunately, the ones who need to be brave are the patients, because they're going to need every bit of resource and resilience they can find to avoid being little more than recipients of whatever modern medicine's pseudo-science manages to spew forth.

While Dr. Horton's comment about fraudulent studies being a 'scar on the moral body of science' is true, the whole truth is far more disheartening. The entire system of conventional medicine has become a scar on the psyche and soma of humans.

By Heidi Stevenson

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Send questions or comments about this web site to Ann Berlin,


Total Time
1hr 15mins
Prep 30 mins
Cook 45 mins

Ingredients Nutrition

  1. Heat oil and butter in large saucepan. Add onions and red pepper to taste. Cook and stir until onions are tender, about 10 minutes. Add squash, apples, chicken broth and pepper. Bring to a boil.
  2. Cover and cook on low hear until apples and squash are very soft, about 30 minutes. Puree with food processor then return to saucepan. Add cream or half and half, stir, reheat and serve.
  3. Garnish with chives, green onions, sour cream, toasted pecans, etc.


It’s child’s play, done well.

“The reason I love the circus is that some days you do something you’ve never done before. The best days, you do things you never thought possible,” Grobe said. “Today, we launched 48 airplanes in 6 seconds. … That’s the heart of EepyBird. We do these outrageous stunts, but what really matters is that sense of accomplishment. That joy.”

Science is what makes the geysers go higher, Grobe noted.

EepyBird provided content.

Their Coke and Mentos experiments created fountains of exploding bottles of Coke, choreographed in spectacular, theatrical fashion. Voltz and Grobe got international play, performing their experiment on “The Late Show with David Letterman” and interviewing with the public radio program “All Things Considered.”

They’ve performed their experiments before audiences in New York, London, Paris, Istanbul. They’ve recreated the Ballagio fountains in Las Vegas.

They have won four Webby Awards and been nominated twice for Emmy Awards.

But John Voltz told them, “You have to stop hitting home runs with no one on base.”

Meaning, EepyBird made a lot of big splashes with its videos, but its existence was based on project-to-project success. The book offers a practical way to expand the business, John Voltz said.

“They do these big videos, and have to live off that whale until they kill another whale,” he said. “I asked them, ‘How can you get something more steady?’ ”

“How to Build a Hovercraft” is a result of that effort.

John Voltz lives in Cape Elizabeth now, but grew up in San Francisco. He put EepyBird in touch with Chronicle Books of San Francisco, which prides itself on publishing books about art and design and lifestyle.

Each experiment in the book has illustrations, instructions, photos and practical science lessons. QR codes lead readers to videos where Voltz and Grobe explain the experiments.

The experiments start on the second floor of the old Grange hall on the North Buckfield Road. It’s a big room, but feels very small. It’s crowded with stuff – PVC pipes, pieces of wood, juggling pins, exercise equipment and various experiments in one stage of development or another.

Once perfected, the experiments become videos starring Voltz and Grobe in lab coats and neckties. Companies use the videos to reach people who are turned off by and tune out mainstream media and advertising.

EepyBird’s 15 minutes of fame has stretched into seven and a half years.

Voltz quit his job as an attorney, and Grobe set aside his career as a juggler and circus performer to make space for EepyBird.

Their backgrounds are different, but they connected at the Celebration Barn Theater in South Paris.

Voltz is from San Francisco, and spent a lot of time in his early years observing the city’s new vaudeville scene. He learned to juggle, and performed throughout high school and college.

He knew he could not make a living on the streets, and moved east to study law. He earned his degree from NYU Law, and spent 20 years a civil litigator, mostly in Massachusetts.

Voltz never gave up his interest in performance. He put it aside to make a living and to raise a family, but when he found himself at a point in his life where he had time, he came to South Paris to take an eccentric-performance workshop with Avner Eisenberg at the Celebration Barn.

He met Grobe there in 2000.

They shared a common interest not only in performance, but science. Both ask how and why things work, and both ask “Why not?” Instead of exploding one bottle of Coke, how about 100?

Their experiments start with a crazy idea. If it works, they see if they can do it 10 times. After that, they scale it up to 100. The airplanes are almost halfway there.

Grobe, a promising mathematician, started hanging out at the Barn as early as 1989.

He grew up in Brunswick, and went to Yale to study math. He was to become a mathematician like his parents. He came home for Christmas his freshman year and told his parents he wanted to juggle.

“He went to Yale determined to be math major,” said his mother, Betsey Grobe of Brunswick. “But he spent Christmastime on his knees in our living room learning to juggle five balls. He went back to Yale able to juggle five balls. He was very happy.”

He quit school and began a career in juggling and circus work.

Voltz and Grobe began EepyBird as a way to have fun and satisfy their mutual interest in performance and science. Neither expected it to turn into a career, but their success from the outset proved their timing was good.

The Coke-and-Mentos video hit in June 2006. Voltz took his last case that October. His legal smarts have served EepyBird well in their negotiations with companies for branding rights, but otherwise he has stpped away from his legal career.

Voltz splits his time between Maine and Massachusetts. Grobe, meanwhile, is fully committed to Buckfield, where EepyBird transforms ordinary objects into cool projects that involve practical, everyday science and translate well on the web.

Their videos have been seen more than 150 million times.

That’s a number that advertisers pay attention to, Voltz said.

“Every brand wants a viral video. Almost no one knows how to make them. But we do.”

[email protected]

Twitter: pphbkeyes


T. rex vs. Prey: Imagining battles between ancient gladiators

When I was super young, say around five or so, I remember playing in the bath tub with my plastic toys. Some were super heroes like He-Man or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, others were monster trucks and die-cast matchbox cars by Mattel, but most were dinosaurs.

This might be TMI, this story about the kid in the bath tub with bubbles on his head, ramming plastic characters into one another and dreaming up their backstories, the bellows of challenge they traded, and the choreography of their battles, but I know there are other adult children out there with similar memories.

During this epoch in the evolution of me, I distinctly recall pitting Tyrannosaurus rex against Stegosaurus, which, as I’ve discovered in later life, was completely wrong, as was most of what I thought around five years old, but you know, who can blame a five-year-old for muddling up the fossil record?

T. rex is one of the most famous dinosaurs in history, easily identified by its massive, heavy skull, long steak-knife teeth, powerful back legs and tail, and ridiculous vestigial arms, but due to her status as dinosaur royalty, the length of her reign and her identity is as often confused by adults as it is by naive five-year-olds. The T. rex lived for two million years in the Late Cretaceous, never in the Jurassic, as her appearance in Jurassic Park might suggest, but we can forgive this fiction for its oversight. (After all, InGen, the engineering firm responsible for cloning extinct dinosaurs in the movie, infamously mismatched animals from different eras within the same park.) And she wasn’t the only two-legged carnivore.

stego allo

In a dramatic representation, Stegosaurus and Allosaurus duke it out in the Jurassic. Morian Hall.

In the time of Stegosaurus, between 155 and 150 million years ago (the real Jurassic), the apex predator was the Allosaurus. Smaller than the T. rex, but with more capable arms with three fingers ending in talons, this baddie no doubt picked battles with Stegosaurus, putting its life on the line for a meal. With its polygonal plates down its back, viciously spiked tail, flexible spine and toes that allowed it to rear up, Stegosaurus could give Allosaurus a true walloping.

Allosaurus remains feature prominent eyebrow ridges and three-fingered hands with sharp claws.

Forget about jaws and claws. One solid hit from the bone spikes could deeply puncture the neck or torso of any shady Allosaurus looking for a bite, and its plates would protect its spine from being severed by teeth until it could land a blow. It isn’t difficult to imagine eyes gouged and jugulars perforated, many Allosauruses bleeding out after botched predatory encounters with Stegosaurus. There were certainly easier things for Allosaurus to eat, but few battles with other species could match the gladiatorial epicness of this match-up, at least not in this era.

Even as an herbivore, Stegosaurus would have made a formidable opponent against Allosaurus in the Jurassic, using a spiked tail and bone plates along its spine as defenses.

Fast forward 90 million years to the Late Cretaceous, the reign of the “tyrant lizard.” Tyrannosaurs roamed North America and Asia, preying on a variety of other famous megafauna like Triceratops, Ankylosaurus, and duck-billed hadrosaurs including Edmontosaurus, Brachylophosaurus, and Parasaurolophus. There’s no way T. rex even knew Stegosaurus was a thing. More time passed between these two than between dinosaurs and Homo sapiens.

As the largest predator of the Late Cretaceous, the T. rex is one of the fossil record’s most iconic species.

Nor was the T. rex the only one of her kind; she was just the largest, hence the name, “king of tyrants.” Among her smaller contemporaries, Tarbosaurus, Albertosaurus, Daspletosaurus, and Gorgosaurus, she was the Queen B, big and bad, in spite of the competition. She had excellent vision, a sense of smell that could detect prey from miles away, and decent hearing, though high-pitched sounds would have been lost to her. Food wouldn’t have been difficult for the T. rex to find, but that food really, really didn’t want to be eaten.

T. rex couldn’t have fought Stegosaurus, but it preyed upon Triceratops, another iconic species that lived in the same time period.

There’s no more famous match-up than Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops. With two long horns and a bony frill like a samurai helmet to guard its neck, as long as the trike met the T. rex head-on, there was no contest. But if Triceratops charged and missed the mark, the tyrant’s big jaws could take out its backbone in a single bite, neutralizing the threat of horns. Recent discoveries of casts of Triceratops‘s hide reveals nodules that might have housed quills, making even a bite to its back a dangerous one if T. rex ever got around the impenetrable helmet. You can imagine this battle yourself in the Morian Hall of Paleontology, where Lane the Triceratops takes a defensive position under an aggressor T. rex.

T. rex preyed upon Denversaurus and its famous cousin, Ankylosaurus, but both would have made a difficult meal, protected by bony armor.

Against Ankylosaurus and its cousin Denversaurus, also on display in Morian Hall, tyrannosaurs likely had a more difficult time. Both Ankylosaurus and Denversaurus developed the adaptation of a wide, low body and armored plating, making access to its soft underbelly impossible for tyrannosaurs unless kicked onto its back, but Ankylosaurus had another advantage. The tip of its tail bore a mace-like club that, like Stegosaurus’s spiked tail, could maim the jaws of predators that didn’t pay enough heed. One swing from this heavy weapon could break open a T. rex‘s face, cripple its legs, or shatter its ribs, and with arms too small to defend itself, dodging seems the only tactic at her disposal against this tank of a creature. An encounter with an Ankylosaurus could mean either a meal or certain death, depending on the T. rex‘s experience hunting.

Armor plating on the back of Denversaurus would have protected against a bite from the T. rex and other tyrannosaurs of the Late Cretaceous, but if flipped over, its soft underbelly would be exposed.

A more easy meal for any tyrannosaur would have been Edmontosaurus and other duck-billed dinosaurs. These hadrosaurs had few defenses. No armor plating, no spikes, no claws, no wings, no sharp teeth. But it’s possible they had a different advantage, though it’s tough to deduce through fossils alone. Hollow chambers in the skulls of many hadrosaurs suggest these creatures, like geese and other water fowl, had the power of sound at their disposal. A deafening bellow might have stopped a tyrannosaur in its tracks or sent it running in the other direction. T. rex isn’t known for its sensitive hearing, but as we all know, if the sound is loud enough, it can be excruciating. And T. rex had no fingers to put into her ears, nor could she reach them.

Edmontosaurus, a duckbilled hadrosaur and cousin of Parasaurolophus, appears to have lacked natural defenses. However, the hollows in its skull suggest it could have protected itself with deafening bellows like giant geese.

Understanding these species as they once were, interacting with one another, is more than bath tub child’s play for paleontologists; it’s a career and a discipline. It’s in the Greek roots of the word “paleontology,” the study of being and beings in the ancient world. The study of what life on Earth might have looked like eons ago. The work of these scientists is more like philosophy than fiction, but building careful theories via the fossil record and considering every angle does require a measure of imagination.

An artist’s representation depicts Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus rex in an age-old feud set in the lush swamps of the Late Cretaceous, an imagined scene deduced from evidence in the fossil record. Morian Hall.

I suppose, apart from the spikes and teeth and horns and claws and body armor and all the other things that make these terrible lizards seem like something out of science fiction, or monsters invented by a puppeteer, it’s the daydreaming paleontology requires that holds my attention. To understand their world, you must build it in your mind.

Lesson learned from Sue?

So what happened to Sue?

Dinosaur 13 HMNS December 9

Sue at the Field Museum

Want to learn more about this amazing story?

Tuesday, December 9, 6 p.m.
Houston Museum of Natural Science

Click here to purchase tickets in advance.

Want Peter Larson to keep you posted on his dinosaur finds?
Follow him on Twitter: @PeteLarsonTrex

Dinosaur 13 Peter Larson

Attention Movie Lovers: Now you too can spend a “Night at the Museum” with overnights at HMNS!

Editor’s note: This post was written by Julia Russell, HMNS Overnight Program Coordinator and Curator of Education Collections.

Movies have the power to entertain and transport us, and yes, maybe even teach us a thing or two. We laugh, we cry, we… go to museums?

Over the past decade, movies have increasingly inspired moviegoers to follow their intellectual curiosity out of the theater and into the museum. With the release of movies like Lincoln, National Treasure, Night at the Museum, and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, museums across the country have seen a fairly dramatic increase in attendance over the past 10 years.

The Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois had a 7.7% increase in visitorship following the release of Spielberg’s Oscar-winning movie Lincoln. The National Archives saw an increase of 200,000 visitors after National Treasure hit theaters in 2004. Though, I would bet that a good number of those visitors were probably trying to get ahold of the Declaration of Independence. (There’s a treasure map on the back, you know! Or maybe there’s not…) The American Museum of Natural History in New York City had a 20% increase in attendance after the release of the first Night at the Museum movie in 2006 as did the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. after the second Museum movie came out in 2009.

Overnights 1

These movies have reignited an interest in history, science, and culture in the American public. They’ve also resulted in museum staff hearing questions like “Okay, so when does everything in this museum come to life?” on a daily basis. Audiences across the country are leaving movie theaters wanting to know more about the political savviness of Abraham Lincoln, the secrets of the Declaration of Independence, the ferocity of Tyrannosaurus rex, and the wisdom of Theodore Roosevelt. And where are they turning for the answers? Their local museums, historic houses, aquariums, and zoos! Zoos and aquariums certainly aren’t immune to the “movie bump” that’s happening across the country. Dolphin Tale increased visitorship to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium almost tenfold after its release in 2011!

Museum goers can satisfy their movie-induced curiosity by visiting a museum to see Lincoln’s original stovetop hat or dinosaur skeletons in the flesh…well, sort of, maybe it’s more like seeing dinosaurs in the fossil. These Hollywood blockbusters have also given museums a chance to provide some unique opportunities for their visitors. Many museums across the country are letting visitors get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of their institutions after hours. Lucky for you, HMNS is one of them

Overnights 2

The Overnight program at HMNS actually started back in 2004 even before Ben Stiller saw the treasures at the Museum of Natural History come to life for the first time. Since the start of this program, we’ve had thousands of children and adults spend a night at the museum. This program gives people an opportunity to see one of their favorite Houston landmarks in a new light (or in a new dark, actually)!

For more information about HMNS’ Overnight program and how you and your group can see HMNS after hours, click here or email overnights@hmns.org. Maybe you can spend a night at the museum and finally answer the question, “Does everything come to life at night?” You never know, our objects could speak to you in a whole new way.

But here’s the Hitch: Who really discovered that dinosaurs had feathers?

I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s reading books about the dinosaur “orthodoxy.” According to this traditional view, the dinos died out at the end of the Cretaceous because their beloved swamps dried up and the air became too cool. But the new conditions were perfect for us quick-thinking Mammalia, so we took over, along with the other hot-blooded class, feathered birds. That was the Official Scientific View until the 1970s.

Whew! It’s hard to believe that four decades ago paleontology could be so very, very wrong.

Us versus Them. The smart hot-blooded mammal Didelphodon defies a rex. The furball is saying “Just wait till yer swamps freeze....”

rex. The furball is saying “Just wait till yer swamps freeze…”

Today we know that Tyrannosaurus rex was not a big lizard. It was the 10,000-pound roadrunner from hell, clothed in fine feathers. Tyrannosaurs and other dino-clans ranged far north and far south and survived icy winters just fine. We mammals were kept small all through Mesozoic times because the dinos, on average, were faster on their feet, quicker in their jaws, and had better hearts and lungs. Dinos won the roles of top predator and top herbivore fair and square. The humiliating truth is that we mammals are the class that won by default, taking over only because some external event removed our dinosaurian overlords.

Face the facts friends: we are furry carpet-baggers.

Question: Who first discovered that dinosaurs were part of the hot-blooded bird family tree?

Was it Dr. Bob Bakker, your faithful curator? Aww, nice of you to ask, but the original hot-blooded-dino guy was long before my time.

How ‘bout Yale’s John Ostrom, who dug up the raptor Deinonychus in 1964 and linked raptor-dinos to the early bird Archaeopteryx?

No, he wasn’t the first. (Oddly, John fought the idea that Deinonychus had feathers.)

Was the first dino-bird chap Thomas Henry Huxley, the pugnacious defender of Darwin in the late 1860s and 1870s? Huxley, who coined the term “agnostic,” was a favorite of my advisor at Harvard, Stephen J. Gould. Huxley did point out that hips and shoulders of dinos were very bird-like, and so were feet. Therefore, Huxley argued, some sort of dinosaur-oid was the ultimate ancestor of the bird class.

But no again. Huxley was not the first to see bird-ness in the dinosaurs.

T. H. Huxley, as portrayed in Punch. Among his many jobs, Huxley served on the Board of Fisheries.

served on the Board of Fisheries.

Got your notebook ready? Here comes the answer, and it makes most museum-goers raise an eyebrow.

The true discoverer of feathered dinos was… the Reverend Edward Hitchcock, State Geologist of Massachusetts, Professor at Amherst College, philosopher and Congregationalist pastor. Hitchcock figured out that dinos were a subclass of birds as early as 1838 — four years before the term “dinosauria” was invented!

First Director, Massachusetts Geological Society, Edward Hitchcock. His wry sense of humor and boundless joy in science is evident.

First Director of the Massachusetts Geological Society, Edward Hitchcock. His
wry sense of humor and boundless joy in science is evident.

How many skeletons did Hitchcock dig up? None. Not a one. But surely his lab got many well-preserved parts of dinos, right? Nope. Only after he retired did a partial skeleton show up, blown to bits by gunpowder used to excavate a well. Hitchcock came to the fundamental truth about dinosaurs entirely from fossil trackways.

Across the pond at Oxford, Hitchcock’s colleague, the Reverend William Buckland did dig hundreds of Jurassic and Cretaceous bones and some pretty good skeletons. The Oxford fossils inspired Buckland’s student, Richard Owen, to come up with the name “dinosaur” in 1842.

Sad to say, neither Buckland nor Owen realized that their restorations of dino skeletons were, in today’s parlance, “bass ackwards” — they put a huge bone in the shoulder, giving the critters a clumsy muscle-bound look in the forequarters. They didn’t realize that their “shoulder” was really part of the hips. Hitch*, on the other hand, without a single well-preserved osseous specimen, scrutinized the footprints and got dinos correct, fore and aft.

What a guy.

“Bass Ackward” dinosaur in the 1820‘s--1860’s. The restoration done under Richard Owen, with gigantically distorted forelimbs and flat feet. Painting by Luis Ray from our “Big Golden Book of Dinosaurs”.

“Bass ackward” dinosaur in the 1820s-1860s. The restoration done
under Richard Owen, with gigantically distorted forelimbs and flat feet.
Painting by Luis Rey from our Big Golden Book of Dinosaurs.

Hitchcock and Buckland were members of the “Pious Paleontologists,” thoughtful scholars of the early 1800s who took the record of the rocks and the record of Scripture seriously. Hitch was persuaded that earth history, written in pages of shale and sandstone, would make everybody better, more intelligent citizens. He wrote a delightful book for his Congregationalist flock,The Religion of Geology probably the finest rumination of how rocks and fossils can be integrated with piety.

Hitch won the reputation as an inspiring lecturer at Amherst. Emily Dickinson, among many others, was enraptured by the stories of prehistoric New England and how the past had shaped the woodlands and gardens of the present day.

When Hitch took over the Geological Survey, the Connecticut Valley was already famous for red Jurassic rocks. Quarries were dug for paving stones, excellent for walkways, and massive sandstone blocks, ideal for constructing “brownstone” homes, college dorms and courthouses. (Alas, as coal-fired furnaces became common, acid rain ate into the Triassic-Jurassic sandstones and many brownstone monuments began crumbling in the mid-20th Century.)

Hitch and his crew found petrified remains in these beds: some fern-like fronds, stems of horsetail reeds, bits of fish and a magnificent bug, the larva of some ferocious water insect. The red rocks had petrified weather, too: some surfaces had the delicate pattern of raindrops. Others showed deep cracks produced by prolonged drying.

But the most abundant remains were tracks, thousands of them. Some of the littlest footprints were made by flat-footed, lizard-oid critters with long, supple toes in fore and hind paws. Much more common, and often of giant size, were tracks made by somebody very different — mystery animals who grew as big as elephants and shared a common body plan that kept Hitchcock’s powers of deduction busy for his entire career. It was a great quest — he was on the trail of the creatures who ruled the Jurassic world on land.

Giant mystery tracks exposed along a county road in Massachusetts, with the local farmers using the one-horsepower field vehicle to visit the site.

Giant mystery tracks exposed along a county road in Massachusetts, with

Hitch pondered the prints made by the mystery toes. Almost two centuries before Microsoft and Apple, Hitchcock began a digital revolution, inventing new methods of deciphering the details of paws. He and his son scoured libraries for anatomical details of the class Amphibia, the class Reptilia, and the hot-blooded classes, the Mammalia and Aves. Then they ran digital experiments, chasing all manner of animals across muddy fields — including barefoot boys with cheeks of tan — so they could draw the arrangement of toes.

All this research gave the Reverend Hitchcock more insight into the animal sole than anyone had obtained before. Step by step, Hitch filled a dossier of clues that would lead him to a final identification.

Bakker - Hitch Bird Dino pt1 6

Barefoot boy track as drawn in Hitchcock’s great monograph. Little dots are raindrop impressions. Hitch found drop marks on rock slabs with the mystery monster tracks. There was no evidence, pro or con, that the boy or the monsters carried slingshots, a la Bart Simpson.

First Clue: Bipeds. Nearly all the mystery tracks, even the biggest, were made by animals walking on their hind legs alone. That was unlike the locomotion of most lizards and mammals. And unlike the way dinosaurs were restored — with huge shoulders.

Second Clue: Toe-walkers, not flat-foots. Usually there was not a trace of the heel so it must have been held high off the ground. That eliminated dinosaurs because the dinos were flat-footed — so said the brightest and best of Europe’s bone-sleuths.

Bakker - Hitch Bird Dino pt1 7

Third Clue: Long Achilles tendons. This clue was the biggie. Over 99 percent of the tracks showed nothing of the ankle and nothing of the front paw, because the mystery beasts were strict toe-walkers. But in a precious few fossils, the tracks captured the mystery animal as it squatted down on all fours to drink or sniff the earth. Marvelous. The entire backside of the ankle was pressed into the mud — the Achilles tendon wasn’t wide and flat like a lizard’s. It was gracefully elongated and slender. The front paws were tiny, five-fingered and carried short, sharp claws. Maybe there was a mark left by a stumpy tail — the track wasn’t clear on this point.

Hitchcock’s mind raced. What prehistoric monsters had ankles and front feet built that way? Not mammoths or rhinos. Those giant hairy beasts always had front feet wider than the hind, and the ankle was always short. Well then, what about frog-oids? The hopping amphibians did have long, powerful hind limbs, strong calf muscles and small hands. The thought of multi-ton froggies stomping over the Jurassic meadows was … well, weird. And exciting.

If not frogg-oids, mebbe … bandicoot-oids? Australia was famous for “low-class” mammals, the marsupials, which on average were smaller in the brain than antelope, deer and other “normal” mammalians. Kangaroos and bandicoots had enlarged rear legs with super-strong calf tendons — plus little hands. Therefore, Hitchcock had to take seriously the idea of Massachusetts being overrun by Jurassic bandicoots bouncing about, as big as bull African elephants.

The Usual Suspects: Giant prehistoric beasts who might have made the tracks.

The Usual Suspects: Giant prehistoric beasts who might have made the

And then there was the original suggestion made about 1800 by farmers who dug tracks on their land: Maybe it was Noah’s raven. The Flood Story in Genesis says Noah released a raven from the ark to test the depth of the water. The raven didn’t come back, so Noah concluded that some bare land had appeared. The Noah reference was a joke, an i.d. offered with a chuckle. But, indeed, to the un-trained eye, the Jurassic mystery tracks did have an avian gestalt …

… and Hitchcock could feel that he was getting close to the final answer. He needed just one more new type of CSI analysis, a quantitative sole-searching that would finger the culprit and reveal, once and for all, the identity of the Jurassic rulers.

Hitchcock’s Digital Data Base -- one page of the great monograph of 1858. Paleo-podiatry would enable the Reverend to solve the mystery of the Jurassic tracks.

Hitchcock’s Digital Data Base: one page of the great monograph of


Research Grants/Fellowships/SBIR

From Arkansas to Ontario: Understanding Climate and Climate Change Impacts on Sugar Maple Range Limits

EPA Grant Number: FP917234
Title: From Arkansas to Ontario: Understanding Climate and Climate Change Impacts on Sugar Maple Range Limits
Investigators: Putnam, Rachel Cope
Institution: University of Minnesota
EPA Project Officer: Jones, Brandon
Project Period: September 1, 2010 through August 31, 2013
Project Amount: $111,000
Research Category: Fellowship - Global Change , Academic Fellowships

Forest ecosystems will be affected by global climate change in multiple ways, from changes in community composition to shifts in species distribution. The long-term goal for this research is to determine the relative importance of climate and biotic interactions on plant ranges to better understand how climate change will affect range limits of temperate tree species and forest community dynamics. The current objective for this project is to determine how climate interacts with competitive and facilitative dynamics to define the range limits of sugar maple.

Rapid changes in global climate are likely to have multiple effects on forest ecosystems. Plant ranges are already shifting, which in turn alters plant communities and competitive interactions between species. This study will examine how climate and biotic factors shape the current range limit of sugar maple, identify population differences in response to climate and competition, and clarify our understanding of how novel climate conditions may affect biotic interactions and forest ecosystems.

Sugar maple seeds and seedlings were planted in the forest understory at ten locations along a latitude and climate gradient extending across and beyond this species’ range. To identify population-specific responses to climate and neighbors, seeds and seedlings from populations in Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri were planted at each site. To determine how biotic interactions affect growth and survival across the climate gradient, competition was reduced in half of the plots by clipping nearby vegetation, whereas vegetation in remaining plots was left intact. Neighbor removal treatments will be repeated during each growing season of the study. Where present, sugar maple seedlings naturally growing at each site will receive identical treatments as a control for the effects of transplanting. Annual seedling growth, survival, and population-specific phenology will be recorded at all sites.

Expected Results:

Climate is an important factor limiting plant ranges, especially at northern range margins. Therefore, sugar maple growth and survival are expected to be poor beyond the northern edge of its range. At the northern range margin, the presence of neighbors is expected to mitigate the limiting effects of climate through facilitation. At the southern range margin, neighbors are expected to exacerbate the effects of climate through competitive interactions, and sugar maple experiencing reduced competition is expected to have high growth and survival. It is hypothesized that sugar maple is less competitive relative to other woody species in the southern part of its range due to a significantly lower growth rate than southern competitors and an optimum temperature for photosynthesis that matches the climate less well than competitors’. At any given site, it is expected that the sugar maple population closest to its native region will be best adapted to local climate and competition and therefore have the highest growth and survival.

Potential to Further Environmental/Human Health Protection:

Plant ranges are already shifting in response to climate change, which in turn alters plant communities and interactions between species. Determining which factors are foremost in constraining plant ranges is therefore critical to maintaining the diversity and overall health of forest ecosystems. Forest ecosystems are important for carbon storage and nutrient cycling, as well as local and regional economies; understanding how climate and competition interact to affect tree growth is crucial to predicting how forests may respond to novel climate conditions.

Supplemental Keywords:

climate change, range limits, sugar maple, competition, facilitation, biotic interactions,


Energy policy will decide the 2014 election cycle

Energy policy is a Rubik’s cube, with immense, often complex implications on global financial markets, geopolitics, technological innovation, labor markets, and the environment.  Over the next few years, government rulings on several key fronts in the energy market will largely shape the landscape of energy resources available to the global economy. Therefore, political candidate positions on energy policy will ultimately tip the scales of national elections in both 2014 and 2016, given the importance of energy policy in itself as well as its relationship with other areas of central voter importance (e.g. foreign policy, economic policy, and labor policy).

Forecasted in 1976 by Amory Lovins’ “Soft Energy Paths: Towards a Durable Peace”, the fork-in-the-mountain America faces today offers two vastly different options for political figures to choose: a soft energy path and a hard energy path.  “Fork-in-the-mountain” in the sense that both options include adversity and significant obstacles.  "Soft energy," which includes solar, wind, biofuels, geothermal, and other renewable sources, offers a path that emphasizes energy efficiency as the key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions that are linked to anthropogenic climate change.  “Hard energy,” while availing the world to robust, yet increasingly difficult to access sources of fossil fuels or nuclear fission, requires technologies that are capital-intensive and environmentally taxing.  Lovins explained that the most profound difference between the soft and hard paths, the difference that ultimately distinguishes them, is their different socio-political impact.  As Lovins says, both paths entail social change, "but the kinds of social change for a hard path are apt to be less pleasant, less plausible, less compatible with social diversity and freedom of choice, and less consistent with traditional values than are the social changes which could make a soft path work.”

 Republicans heavily favor the development of America's existing fossil fuel deposits with a strong emphasis on increased production of oil, natural gas, and coal.  Furthermore, most Republicans favor the opening up of more federal lands and offshore sites for exploration and production.  Conversely, many Democrats propose an “all of the above” energy policy, which incorporates some level of fossil fuel development but uses incentives (both positive and negative) set by the federal government  to enhance both energy efficiency and develop the scale and effectiveness of renewable sources.  This approach essentially marries the two paths described by Lovins, taking both the high-road and the low-road; it’s a win no matter which path, so bet on both.

As in many circumstances, with opportunity comes risk, but mitigating these risks enables the nation to move forward on issues currently stymied by political intransigence: hydraulic fracturing, offshore drilling, renewable energy subsidies, deep sea drilling, and pollution control measures such as cap-and-trade.  Tackling any one of these ultimately determines how we efficiently complete the Rubik’s cube of our broader energy policy.  This puzzle will rest in the hands of political representatives, meaning each candidate will be judged for their future role in shaping the energy policies of the United States, and in bringing us towards a more secure, more independent, and more prosperous nation.

Resnik is a law student at Vermont Law School and has worked in both public and private arenas, focusing on government relations, domestic public policy issues, as well as federal and state energy and environmental regulation. Contact:

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Kenya's second largest ethnic tribe

The Luhya tribe, also known as the Abaluhya, Baluhya, or Abaluyia, is a Bantu tribe living in Kenya's agriculturally fertile western region. They are neighbors to some of the Nilotic tribes, including the Luo, Kalenjin, Maasai and Teso (Iteso).

Luhyas are Kenya's second largest ethnic tribe following the Kikuyu, and they account for 14 percent of the Kenyan population.

Though considered one tribe, the Abaluhya consist of over 18 sub-tribes, each speaking a different dialect of the Luhya language. The Bukusu and Maragoli are the two largest Luhya sub-tribes. Others include the Banyala, Banyore, Batsotso, Gisu, Idakho, Isukha, Kabras, Khayo, Kisa, Marachi, Marama, Masaaba, Samia, Tachoni, Tiriki and Wanga.

History of the Luhyas

The true origin of the Abaluhya is disputable. According to their own oral literature, Luhyas migrated to their present day location from Egypt (north of Kenya). Some historians, however, believe that the Luhya came from Central and West Africa alongside other Bantus in what is known as the Great Bantu Migration.

The Luhya tribe, like many other Kenyan tribes, lost their most fertile land to the colonialists during the British colonial rule of Kenya. The Abaluhya, and especially the Bukusu, strongly resisted colonial rule and fought many unsuccessful battles to regain their land. The Wanga and Kabras sub-tribes, however, collaborated with the colonialists.

Luhya culture and lifestyle

Traditionally, the extended family and the clan were at the center of the Luhya culture. Luhyas practiced polygamy, and a man was given more respect depending on the number of wives he had. This is because only a very wealthy man could afford to pay the dowry (bride price) for several wives. The dowry was paid in the form of cattle, sheep, or goats. Today, polygamy is no longer widely practiced, but dowry payment is still revered in some Luhya communities. Instead of giving cattle, sheep, or goats as the bride price, one may pay a dowry in the form of money. However, marrying a person from one's own clan is considered taboo.

Traditional male circumcision is an important ritual in most Luhya sub-tribes. It marks the initiation from boyhood to manhood. The modern and educated Luhyas continue to choose to circumcise their sons in hospitals upon birth. However, among some factions of the Bukusu and Tachoni, traditional circumcision ceremonies still take place every August and December.

Luhyas and sports

Luhya people are great sports enthusiasts, especially when it comes to rugby and soccer. Many Luhyas show wide support for the AFC Leopards soccer club, which they consider to be their own. The club was formed in the early 1960s under the name Abaluhya Football Club, and has traditionally had a bitter rivalry with Gor Mahia FC, a club associated with the Luo. In Kenya's football history, AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia FC were, for a long time, the best soccer teams in the country. Luhyas produced most of the players on Kenya's national soccer team, the Harambee Stars.

Traditional bullfighting is still considered a sport among sections of the Luhya ethnic tribe. The annual bullfighting competition attracts many spectators, including Dr. Bonny Khalwale, the current member of Parliament (MP) for Ikolomani.

Faith and religion of the Abaluyias

Today, most people from the Luhya tribe are Christians; however, it is common to find some Luhyas mixing Christianity with aspects of African traditional religion. For example, Dini ya Msambwa, a religion whose adherents are mostly Luhyas, uses portions of the bible for its doctrine while practicing traditional witchcraft at the same time. God, in Luhya language, is Nyasaye, a name borrowed from their Nilotic Luo neighbors.

Luhya tribe's economic activities

Like other Kenyans, Luhyas are involved in almost every sector of Kenya's economy. For example, in most urban areas, there are as many Luhyas working as professionals as there are working as semi-skilled laborers. In their native Western Kenya region, Luhyas practice farming and agriculture, growing sugarcane and other cash crops specific to the region. Most of the sugar consumed in Kenya is produced in Mumias, a Luhya land. Other agricultural products grown by the Luhya include maize (corn) and wheat.

Abaluhya food

Ugali, known as obusuma in the Luhya language, is the traditional food of the Abaluhya. Ugali is made from either maize flour or cassava, or millet flour. It is usually served with chicken. While Luhyas eat many other foods, a meal is never complete without some ugali.

Related Information

TOP of the Luhya Tribe

Go to Kenya Information Guide Home page


Contingency Leadership Theory

There are many theories on what defines successful leadership. Contingency leadership is one of them, and it is especially important in modern leadership thought. The stance we take this theory will have a huge impact on how we go about leading, and developing as leaders.

What is it?

The theory holds that the success of a leader in a given situation isn’t up to their skills that leader, but rather how those skills line up with factors outside of him or her. Proponents of that theory hold that it isn’t just having a skilled leader that leads to success, but rather it is having a leader who can solve the right problems n the right way.

This method is somewhat similar to situational leadership, though it is less about whether or not a style should be adapted to external factors but rather how different factors can interact in unexpected ways to shape the outcome.

What does it mean to you?

Proponents of this theory believe that with all the factors determining the success of a leader, it is hard to predict success. With that in mind, the leader has to be adaptable to maximize the potential of success should initial strategies not work.

You cannot change many of your inherent leadership qualities, even if you are trying to consciously cultivate good habits. What you can do is keep mindful of the interactions and factors that are affecting your ability to lead effectively, and minimize them. If you notice a positive impact on your leadership by some external factor, try to play to this strength.

That advice alone makes the contingency leadership theory a good investment.

How you can apply it:

Contingency leadership theory doesn’t give you a strategy or tool, so much as a perspective to evaluate your situations. It’s important not to take assessment of leadership skills as a judgment of character worth, and this theory helps keep that in mind.

Leaders should always be adaptable, and this is a theory that lends itself to that adaptability. If you recognize that success is a matter of having the right mix of skill and opportunity, you can evaluate what to bring to the table, and what to dismiss.

To incorporate contingency leadership into your toolbox, learn more about your own leadership style here.


LEAD Event Credits

LEAD@Oneonta credit is assigned to events with educational goals consistent with the following descriptions:

LEADership Outcomes

Balancing Independence & Collaboration: explain that good leaders are both independent and collaborative; demonstrate self-reliant, autonomous behaviors while exhibiting healthy methods of interdependency; demonstrate successful models of cooperation/collaboration; suggest the importance of accepting supervision, feedback, and constructive criticism when needed; define effective strategies for seeking input and involvement of others.

Career Path: provide clarity on certain fields/professions of interest to the student; help them gain depth to their own career goals; bring structure to the process of searching for jobs or considering graduate school options; highlight professionalism and expectations of work environments.

Critical Thinking: teach students to use complex information from a variety of sources including personal observation to form a decision or opinion; demonstrate the application of previously understood information and concepts to a new situation or setting (case studies, role plays, scenarios).

Effective Communication: teach participants to write and speak coherently and effectively; explain the importance of deliberate reflection; highlight the (ethical) use of influence on others through writing, speaking or artistic expression; support effective articulation of abstract ideas; coach in developing successful presentations or performances.

Healthy Behavior: articulate the relationship between health and wellness and accomplishing lifelong goals; promote creating a healthy community and environment; help students choose behaviors and environment that promote health and reduce risk; educate on how to recognize and address unhealthy behaviors in themselves and others.

Email: LEAD@oneonta.edu
Telephone: 607-436-3213
Fax: 607-436-2415

Leadership Programs

Elise Cain
Email: Elise.Cain@oneonta.edu
Telephone: 607-436-3213

Leadership Development:
relate the concept of lifelong learner to individual leadership growth; help students understand that there are many roles that a leader may play; provide insight on how leadership roles apply to their lives; teach students the ethical/professional components of leadership.

Meaningful Interpersonal Relationships: help students develop and maintain healthy, satisfying, and mutually rewarding interpersonal relationships with peers, family, colleagues, and authority figures; help students recognize and address unhealthy relationships and relationship patterns; provide skills in resolving conflict.

Media Literacy: teach participants to access, analyze, evaluate and create messages in a variety of forms (from print to video to the Internet); build an understanding of the role of media in society; teach participants to view media with a critical eye and provide essential skills of inquiry; highlight the importance of self-expression

Personal Competency/Confidence: increase assertive and respectful behavior in participants; help initiate actions towards achieving goals; assist in identifying personal skills and abilities; offer opportunity to seek constructive feedback from others; provide an assessment of personal strengths and weaknesses; encourage risk taking and sharing; provide skills to help process difficult or uncomfortable scenarios or subject matter.

Personal/Educational Goals: give students the concept of personal/educational goal-setting; help students clarify their own personal mission and/or vision; provide tools to assist student in task management; teach individuals to use their personal/educational goals as a guide to daily decisions.

Satisfying and Productive Lifestyle: help students apply time and stress management strategies to their daily lives; highlight the importance of a balanced lifestyle between education, work, family and leisure; educate on availability and use of on and off campus resources.

Social Responsibility: articulate a community-oriented social justice perspective; Help students understand the development, maintenance, and/or orderly change of community, social, and legal standards or norms; provide them with the tools to appropriately challenges the unfair, unjust, or uncivil behavior of other individuals or groups.

Spiritual Awareness: highlight the importance of a personal belief system; explain the roles of spirituality in personal and group values and behaviors.

Values and Ethics: assist students in exploring and understanding their personal values and recognizing how personal values influence decision and perception of the world; promote ethical leadership and understanding of morals/principles.

Core Competencies

Foundations of Leadership: provide students with general knowledge on leadership. Covering issues such as historical perspectives and evaluation of leadership theory; theoretical, philosophical, and conceptual foundations of leadership of several cultures; cultural and gender influences on leadership; ethical practices in leadership; moral leadership; leadership and followership.

Organizational Development: provide students with general knowledge on how organizations work. Covering issues such as team building; shared leadership; group dynamics and development; organizational communication; group problem-solving and decision making models; planning; conflict management and resolution; methods of assessing and evaluating organizational effectiveness; organizational culture, values and principles; community development; power and empowerment; collaboration; developing trust; organizational politics; leadership in diverse organizations.

Personal Development: provide students with general knowledge on their growth as a person. Covering issues such as awareness and understanding of various leadership styles and approaches; exploration and designing of personal leadership approaches; human development theories; the intersections of human development theories, sexual orientation, national origin, and environment; personal management issues such as time management, stress reduction, development of relationships, problem solving, goal setting, and ethical decision-making; oral and written communication skills; critical thinking skills; risk taking; creativity; wellness lifestyle development; supervision; motivation.

Diversity Program

Diversity Program: articulate the advantages and challenges of a diverse society; combat stereotypes and oversimplification of characteristics of identity groups; explore privilege and power; develop participants' understanding of their own multi-faceted identities; educate on appropriately challenging abusive use of stereotypes by others; create understanding of the impact of prejudice and diversity on one's own society; and/or promotes taking the perspective of another to facilitate understanding.


Meet the Cancer Patient Navigators

Patient Navigator

Tonica Anderson, RN, BSN, OCN
618.985.3333 ext 68305 |

Tonica has a diverse background in nursing, which includes several years in oncology, as well as an OCN certification. She previously worked in home health & hospice for several years, then in community outreach and education. She is a member of the Illinois Cancer Partnership Executive Committee and has worked at the SIH Cancer Institute since 2009, just after her mother was diagnosed with bladder cancer. All of these experiences led Tonica to choose to become a cancer patient navigator.

“I have seen firsthand how devastating hearing the words ‘you have cancer’ can be not only to the patient but also to the family. As a navigator, my goal is to make what is typically considered a really bad time in someone’s life a little bit easier.

Patient Navigator

Diane Clayton, RN, OCN
618.985.3333 ext 67133 |

Diane Clayton, OCN, has been with Southern Illinois Healthcare for 18 years, serving primarily in Radiation Oncology. While her daily work meant interacting with patients and families as they go through a cancer diagnosis, she was most impacted by her father’s lung cancer diagnosis in 2013. His experience opened her eyes to see firsthand that care does not stop after an eight hour day.

“That event is why I chose to become a cancer patient navigator. My goal is to provide you the best care for my patients and family members. I will be your advocate as well as your partner. You are not alone – together we will take this journey.”


Maya Lin 2 x 4 Landscape 2006 ON12
Maya Lin
2 x 4 Landscape 2006

Maya Lin has maintained a careful balance between art and architecture throughout her career, creating a remarkable body of work that encompasses large-scale site specific installations, intimate studio artworks, architectural works and memorials. She draws inspiration from the landscape, interpreting the world through a twenty-first century lens, merging rational order with notions of beauty and the transcendental. Her work asks the viewer to reconsider nature and the environment at a time when it is crucial to do so.

The American Artist Lecture Series is a partnership between Art In Embassies, Tate Modern and US Embassy London. It seeks to bring the greatest living modern and contemporary American artists to the UK in the name of cultural diplomacy.


Ken Blackwell

A respectful and prolonged discussion between atheists and believers about truth and faith is the focus of a brilliant new book by noted author and theologian Michael Novak.

I first got to know Ambassador Novak through my work at the United Nations, as we both served as U.S. Representative to the Human Rights Commission.  He is a leading Catholic theologian and Templeton Prize laureate who currently serves as a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.  His latest book, No One Sees God: The Dark Night of Atheists and Believers, is both personal and very timely to the current religious debates.

In the book, Mr. Novak discusses faith and compassionately engages, with great charity and respect, the new atheist movement.  This is a movement led by authors such as Richard Dawkins, Dan Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens. From my readings of their work, the answers they give to metaphysical questions are frequently lacking and often consist only of mean-spirited insults hurled at the reportedly 92% of us who believe in God. Mr. Novak, however, sees the positive in the popularity of these anti-religion books, as they challenge believers to question and carefully exam their own faith.

As the late Pope John Paul II wrote in a 1999 encyclical, "Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to contemplation of the truth." Taking this insightful truism to heart, Mr. Novak shines a light on the common darkness experienced by both Christians and atheists in their lives, as even the most devout believer never fully witnesses a God who exists on a far greater frequency than human senses can detect.

Modern atheists, with their supposed adherence to the ideals of the Enlightenment and scientific inquiry, can be surprisingly irrational in their suggestion that all we see on earth, from simplest forms of life to the greatest products of human intellect, is out of total randomness and is therefore without meaning or purpose.

Mr. Novak correctly understands, as did many of America's founders, that it is divine providence from which freedom and civilized society flow.  And for any faults one may find with Christian regimes throughout history, they pale in comparison to the abhorrent atrocities of the dogmatically atheists regimes of China and the former Soviet Union.  Without the guiding moral compass that faith provides, those regimes slaughtered millions. And modern society, without a Judeo-Christian ethics, would have little reason to oppose, for example, to the despicable eugenics movement as espoused by Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger.

Mr. Novak proclaims that those who claim to adhere to science and reason owe a great deal of gratitude to the Christian church, as it is the home of the scientific method. And great scientists such as Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein were anything but atheists.  In fact, Einstein once described atheists as "creatures who-in their grudge against traditional religion as the 'opium of the masses' cannot hear the music of the spheres." Mr. Novak poignantly states new atheists do not seem to accept that a vast majority of intelligent, highly-educated people are quite religious.

As a former mayor and statewide elected officeholder in my home state of Ohio, I have long fought against those who seek to force God and faith out of the public square.  On this point, Mr. Novak's keen insight on the essence of religious liberty provides the book's most in-depth and scholarly analysis.

Influential English writer and Catholic apologist G.K. Chesterton once opined that "Religious liberty might be supposed to mean that everybody is free to discuss religion. But in practice, it means that hardly anybody is allowed to mention it." This is clearly the intention of the ACLU and other anti-religious campaigners, who file lawsuits at the mere mention of Christmas in our public schools or the sight of a courthouse daring to display the 10 Commandments.

Mr. Novak reclaims the term "secular" as a word invented by Christians to describe, at the same time a barrier against secular totalitarian governments and a barrier against church officials controlling government.  The term in is rooted in, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."  This sort of separation in defense of religious liberty is quite different from modern secularists who seek to keep the public square religion-free.

Mr. Novak rightly contends it is unfair to ask citizens to divorce themselves from ethics and principles derived from religious convictions.  He is right and his book is a homerun.

Ken Blackwell


Dictionary, Thesaurus, Reference tool - easy to use - | term.ly | Languages, Learning & Technology | Scoop.it
term.ly, crafting words. An online dictionary, thesaurus.

"term.ly is a way to explore the English language. It is a semantic reference. A dictionary. A thesaurus. A reference tool. Maybe more. Maybe less.

term.ly provides concise definitions and goes beyond standard thesauri by providing related words that scale the hierarchy of language, allowing you to browse to more and less specific terms, and through relationships like 'member of', 'parts', 'similar to', etc.

Via Tom D'Amico (@TDOttawa)


Apple’s spaceship campus will be completed later than expected

Shane McGlaun - Nov 21, 2012
Apple’s spaceship campus will be completed later than expected

One of the biggest projects Steve Jobs was involved in before he passed away was the new Apple campus in Cupertino, California. The campus is a round spaceship-like building that would house a huge number of Apple employees. The build project for the spaceship campus has been delayed slightly.

Apple has reportedly revised its plans and the new building might not be completed until the middle of 2016. Apple reportedly gave the new timetable along with an updated proposal to the city of Cupertino on November 14. Originally, Apple had planned to break ground on 176-acre campus in 2012.

However, Bloomberg reports that the city may not complete the environmental impact report until June. Apple might not be able to start work until 2014. There is a chance that Apple could break ground in 2013, but that would be "only if everything goes smoothly." Apple had originally wanted to move into its new building by 2015.

There were no major changes made in the new proposal submitted to the city that deviated from what Steve Jobs presented to the city Council in June 2011. The revisions Apple submitted reportedly allowed the construction to be completed without having to remove any dirt from the site. The revisions also had Apple moving its freestanding 1000 seat auditorium further away from surrounding roads than it was placed in the original. The changes including little things like an additional building to house utility equipment and more parking spots.

[via Bloomberg]


French authorities introduce alternate driving days to cut pollution in Paris

French authorities introduce alternate driving days to cut pollution in Paris

Only cars with number plates ending in odd numbers will be allowed to run on Paris streets on Monday as the authorities are struggling to bring pollution in the French capital under control.

Nearly seven hundred police officers will be deployed at sixty checkpoints to make sure that only cars have odd-numbered registration plates run on the streets.

The restriction is all set to come into force across the capital city and its twenty-two surrounding areas from 5:30 am (0430 GMT) on Monday.

It is the first time in as many as twenty years that the authorities have introducing alternate driving days. In case the restriction remains in place on Tuesday, it will be the turn of cars with even-numbered registration plates.

However, electric and hybrid cars will enjoys exemption from the ban as well as any other vehicle carrying three or more people.

The move has been criticized by groups like Automobile Club Association (ACA) that counts nearly 760,000 members. Denouncing the move, ACA head Didier Bollecker termed the move as 'hasty and ineffective'.

Condemning the move, Bollecker argued, "This measure had no effect in any country where it was introduced. Drivers are being targeted even though heating is more polluting, but no one is asking for heating to be used on alternate days."

On Friday, the number of pollution particulates in the air (PM10) hit a high of 180 microgrammes per cubic metre, more than double of the prescribed safe limit of 80 per cubic metre. PM10 particulates are produced by heating, heavy industry and vehicles.

FrenchTribune Specials

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Total Time
Prep 15 mins
Cook 5 mins

This came from Studio 5 and has a great Angel Food Cake variation.

Ingredients Nutrition

  2. Boil one minute and remove from heat.
  3. Stir in lemon zest and butter, stirring constantly until the butter has melted completely.
  4. Pour mixture into crust and cover with wax paper pressed directly to the surface.
  5. Let cool.
  6. Whip together the whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla until well mixed and it starts to stiffen. Drizzle whipped mixture over the top of the cooled pasty and top with raspberries.