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J Colloid Interface Sci. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2012 March 15.
Published in final edited form as:
PMCID: PMC3060059

Effects of Polymer Wrapping and Covalent Functionalization on the Stability of MWCNT in Aqueous Dispersions

The colloidal behavior of aqueous dispersions of functionalized multiwall carbon nanotubes (F-CNTS) formed via carboxylation and polymer wrapping with polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) is presented. The presence of polymer on the nanotube surface provided steric stabilization, and the aggregation behavior of the colloidal system was quite different from its covalently functionalized analog. Based on hydrophobicity index, particle size distribution, zeta potential as well as the aggregation kinetics studied using time-resolved dynamic light scattering, the PVP wrapped CNT was somewhat less prone to agglomeration. However, its long term stability was lower, and this was attributed to the partial unwrapping of the polyvinyl pyrrolidone layer on the CNT surface.

Keywords: Carbon nanotubes, hydrophobicity, aggregation, stability

1. Introduction

As the applications of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) proliferate, mass production and widespread use of these nanocarbons will continue to rise. In addition to the likelihood of occupational exposure, there is the potential for environmental contamination. While raw, unrefined, and hydrophobic carbon nanotubes tend to settle out of aqueous media/environs into solid phases such as river sediments [1], water dispersible, F-CNTs will contaminate water resource and will also be highly bioavailable on exposure. Therefore there is a need to develop an understanding of the fate of F-CNTs in aqueous media.

Several different routes to aqueous dispersion of CNTs have been explored. The most common approach includes the use of surfactants, and the covalent functionalization of CNT surface using different oxidizing agents [2, 3]. In addition, non-covalent interactions with different groups have been utilized to generate water dispersible CNTs. Well established approaches include DNA wrapping [47] and composite formation with polymers such as polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyethylene glycol (PEG) and poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly [2-(N,N-dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate] (PEO-b-PDMA) [810].

The colloidal behavior of CNT dispersions is important in understanding their fate and transport in the aquatic environment, and several publications have addressed this issue [1113]. Aggregation kinetics of CNTs has been studied using time-resolved dynamic light scattering (TRDLS), Raman spectroscopy, zeta-potential measurements, and UV-Visible spectroscopy [14, 15]. Precipitation of the carboxylated CNTs under the influence of different salts has shown that [16, 17] precipitation is dependent on the charge on the cations, and in general these nanoparticles have followed the well established Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory [18, 19].

The polymer-wrapped CNTs were prepared from purified MWCNTs which had no surface modification and therefore hydrophobic in nature. In an aqueous solution they tend to agglomerate via van der waals interactions. The grafting of the polymer on the surface eliminates these forces. Polyvinyl pyrrolidone is a highly water soluble polymer which has been non-covalently grafted onto the CNTs surface. The polymer is attached to the CNT surface at one end, and the long chains float in water repelling each other to prevent aggregation. In an aqueous environment, these hydrophilic molecules prefer to interact with water. Therefore, the presence of PVP on the CNT surface provides steric stabilization and the aggregation behavior of the colloidal system may be quite different from the carboxylated CNTs. Since the stabilization is not caused by the electric double layer, Zeta potential data for such systems provide limited information. It has been shown that while systems stabilized with ionic polymers tend to obey the DLVO theory, non-ionic polymeric systems with low zeta potential may exhibit high stability [20]. Therefore, the aggregation behavior of oxidized CNTs and those wrapped with a polymer are expected to differ due to their modes of stabilization. The water dispersibility of covalently functionalized CNTs originates from electrostatic repulsive forces between negative surface charges, whereas a polymer wrapped CNT is stabilized sterically by the presence of the hydrophilic polymer on the surface.

The objective of this paper is to investigate the aggregation behavior of polymer modified CNTs in an ionic environment and see how it differs from its carboxylated analog. Of particular interest is poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) wrapped MWCNTs, which have been used extensively as aqueous dispersible CNTs.

2. Experimental

2.1 Chemicals

Multiwall carbon nanotubes (OD 20–30nm, Purity 95%) were purchased from Cheap Tubes Inc., and all other chemicals were purchased from Sigma Aldrich with purity higher than 95%.

2.2 Preparation of the F-CNTs

Carboxylated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT-COOH) was functionalized in a Microwave Accelerated Reaction System (Mode: CEM Mars) fitted with internal temperature and pressure controls according to an experimental procedures previously published by our laboratory [21, 22]. Pre-weighed amounts of purified MWCNT was treated with a mixture of concentrated H2SO4 and HNO3 solution by subjecting them to microwave radiation at 140°C for 20 min. This led to the formation of carboxylic groups on the surface leading to high aqueous dispersibility. The resulting solid was filtered through a 10µm membrane filter, washed with water to a neutral pH and dried under vacuum at 80°C to a constant weight.

MWCNT-PVP was prepared according to previously reported procedures [23]. Purified MWCNT was dispersed in deionized water at a concentration of 50mg l−1 with the aid of 1% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and 1% by weight of PVP was added to the mixture, which then was incubated at 50°C for 12 hours. The carbon nanotubes were then filtered through a 10µm membrane filter, washed with deionized water and this was followed by three cycles of ultrasonic redispersion in deionized water to remove any residual SDS. The sample was filtered and dried under vacuum at room temperature to a constant weight.

2.3 Characterization of The F-CNTs

The materials were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). SEM Data was collected on a LEO 1530 VP Scanning Electron Microscope equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray analyzer. TGA was performed using a Pyris 1 TGA from Perkin-Elmer Inc from 30°C to 900°C under a flow of air at 10mL/min, at a heating rate of 10°C per min. FTIR measurements were carried out in purified KBr pellets using a Perkin-Elmer (Spectrum One) instrument.

2.4 Hydrophobicity and Stability Measurements

50mg l−1 stock solutions of MWCNT-COOH and MWCNT-PVP were prepared by sonicating pre weighed amounts of the F-CNTs in MilliQ water. Various concentrations of F-CNTs used in this study were then prepared by diluting the stock solution by ultrasonication. 400 mM stock solutions of sodium chloride (NaCl), sodium acetate (NaOAc) and magnesium chloride (MgCl2) were prepared by dissolving weighed amounts of salt in MilliQ water and dilution was carried out on a as needed basis.

Hydrophobicity of MWCNT-COOH and MWCNT-PVP were determined in MilliQ water, and in the presence of 25mM and 100mM salt solutions by measuring the UV absorbance at 252nm before and after extraction with 1-octanol. The stability of 25mg l−1 dispersions of the F-CNTs over a 24-hour period was determined in the presence of 25mM solutions of sodium chloride, sodium acetate and magnesium chloride using UV absorbance at 252nm. This was measured at 0, 1, 2, 4, 6, and 24hrs. Concentration of carbon nanotubes at each point in time was determined based on calibration standards.

2.5 Dynamic Light Scattering and Zeta Potential Measurements

The hydrodynamic diameter of 1mg L−1 dispersions of the F-CNTs were measured as a function of salt concentration at 25 °C using dynamic light scattering (Beckman Coulter N4 Plus submicron particle size analyzer, operated at 90° detector angle), where the salt concentrations ranged from 10 to 200 mM. Zeta potential of the F-CNT dispersions were measured at a concentration of 5 mg l−1 at 25 °C using a Malvern Instrument (Zetasizer nano ZS90). Measurements were made in MilliQ water and as a function of electrolyte concentration. Data on CNT aggregation was collected using a 1mg l−1 dispersions of MWCNT-COOH and MWCNT-PVP in the presence of electrolyte solutions whose concentrations ranged between 10 and 200 mM. The measurements were performed for a time period ranging from 180 s to 3 h.

3 Results and Discussions

3.1 Characterization

SEM images of MWCNT-COOH and MWCNT-PVP are presented in figure 1a and 1b. These show that the CNTs remained intact with minimal visible tube damage.

Figure 1
Scanning Electron microscope images of (a) MWCNT-COOH and (b) MWCNT-PVP

The IR spectrum (Figure 2) confirmed the presence of functional groups in the purified MWCNT, MWCNT-COOH and MWCNT-PVP. The carboxylic stretching frequency in MWCNT-COOH occurred at 1716 cm−1. The stretching (O-H) vibration occurred at 3440 cm−1 in the MWCNT-COOH spectrum (fig. 2a), which was clearly absent from the purified MWCNT spectrum (fig. 2c). The carbonyl stretching frequency from the amide group in PVP occurred at 1645 cm−1 (fig. 2b). In all the samples, the peak around 1576 cm−1 was assigned to the C=C stretching of the carbon skeleton.

Figure 2
FTIR spectra of (a) MWCNT-COOH, (b) MWCNT-PVP and (c) purified MWCNT

The TGA of MWCNT-PVP is presented in figure 3. It shows weight loss in the 200°C to 350°C region. This was attributed to the decomposition of the PVP wrapping on the CNT. A similar weight loss from 150°C to 400°C was observed in the MWCNT-COOH profile due to the loss of the carboxylic groups introduced through acid functionalization.

Figure 3
TGA of the F-CNTs.

3.2 Hydrophobicity

1-octanol/water partitioning was used to establish a hydrophobicity index (HI) for the two MWCNT derivatives. This index was calculated based on UV-Visible absorption of the F-CNT dispersion (at 252 nm) in the original water and after 1-octanol extraction. The HI was computed as:

where, Ao is the UV-Visible absorbance of the F-CNTs before 1-octanol extraction and Ai is the absorbance after extraction (23). Visual inspection of the phase separation revealed that the tubes were homogeneously dispersed in the aqueous layer in both cases, and this is shown in figure 4. The hydrophilicity of both MWCNT-COOH and MWCNT-PVP agreed with the relatively high negative surface charge, and the zeta-potentials in water were −43.7 and −42.2 eV respectively. Although the zeta potential values of the aqueous dispersions of the two F-CNTs were similar, their HI were quite diverse (Table 1), making them fundamentally different materials. The results showed that both MWCNT-COOH and MWCNT-PVP had relatively low HI in deionized water, preferring to partition in the aqueous phase. Among the two, MWCNT-PVP was more hydrophilic.

Figure 4
1-octanol extraction of MWCNT-COOH from A; deionized water, B; 25mM NaCl, C; 25mM NaOAc and D; 25mM MgCl2.6H2O.
Table 1
Hydrophobicity Index

Table 1 compares the relative HI of the F-CNTs in deionized water, NaCl, NaOAc and MgCl2. HI indices for the F-CNTs in the presence of the divalent Mg salt were higher than in the monovalent Na which was consistent with the Schulze-Hardy Rule [13], where the critical coagulation concentration (CCC) depends upon the counterion valence z (ranges from −2 to −6). While NaCl is neutral in an aqueous environment (pKa 6.7–7.3), sodium acetate is basic (pKb 9.25). However MWCNT-COOH is expected to be dissociated completely at both pH values accounting for the similarity in their HI. The HI of the MWCNT-COOH in the monovalent Na salt solutions was generally higher than those of MWCNT-PVP. This was attributed to the presence of relatively weaker charges on the MWCNT-PVP surface for neutralization by the metal ions. On the other hand it is possible that PVP may partially unwrap [24] from the tube surface during 1-octanol extraction making the tubes hydrophobic, which may make them relatively insensitive to ionic strength.

It is known that the addition of an electrolyte to water changes the hydrogen-bonded structure of water. The effects of salt species in a polymer wrapped CNT depends on the interaction of the polymer with the solvent, the binding of water molecules to the polymer, changes in the hydrogen bonding and the alteration in the hydration sheath due to the added salt. PVP contains N-C=O units on the lactam rings, and these polar groups are involved in the association with water molecules by hydrogen bonding. The addition of salts into aqueous dispersion of MWCNT-PVP changed the association and/or hydration, and could disrupt the highly oriented water molecules surrounding the polymer leading to higher hydrophobicity [25]. MWCNT-PVP had a lower HI in the presence of sodium chloride than sodium acetate, which is consistent with previous reports where acetate ions were shown to be more effective in salting out PVP than the chloride [25].

3.3 Aggregation of F-CNTs

Figure 5a shows the particle size distribution of MWCNT-COOH and MWCNT-PVP in water as a function of salt concentration. Agglomeration led to large particle size, which increased with salt concentration. The two functional forms showed markedly different behavior. The water dispersibility of MWCNT-COOH originates from the negatively charged oxygen-containing groups on the CNT surface. In aqueous phase, the electrostatic repulsive forces between negative surface charges of the oxygen-containing groups may lead to stability of the MWCNT-COOH in water. In the presence of electrolyte solutions, positively charged metal ions neutralized the surface charges on the MWCNT-COOH surface, and compressed the double layer of the dispersed nanotubes, which lead to agglomeration. On the other hand, the CNTs in the MWCNT-PVP dispersion were sterically stabilized by the presence of the hydrophilic polymer on the surface. The diameter of the MWCNT-COOH increased gradually at low monovalent salt concentration, but the size increased rapidly past a concentration of 100mM (figure 5 a). This was not observed in the case of PVP wrapped CNTs, where the size increase was gradual even at high salt concentrations. The anions did not appear to have any effect on the stability of the dispersions because the agglomeration in presence of NaOAc was similar to that of NaCl. The presence of acetate did not lead to any common ion effect in the case of MWCNT-COOH. It is interesting to note that in the case of MWCNT-COOH, as compared to the monovalent Na salt, the divalent Mg led to a marked increase in the particle size (nearly 4 times). The difference between the mono and the divalent salts was not as pronounced in the case of MWCNT-PVP, implying that the aggregation behavior was not as dependent on counterion valence in accordance to the Schulze-Hardy Rule [13]. In general, these observations were consistent with the zeta potential of the F-CNTs dispersions (figure 5b), where an increase in salt concentration led to less negative values.

Figure 5
(a)Particle size distribution and (b) zeta potential of the F-CNTs as a function of salt concentration

Figure 6 shows the particle size distribution as a function of zeta potential for the F-CNTs in the electrolyte media. It was observed that up to a point, the particle size of the F-CNTs generally increased as their zeta potential became less negative with increasing salt concentration. The size of the MWCNT-COOH showed a strong dependence on zeta potential in the presence of the sodium salts, where the particle size increased first linearly and then asymptotically. The effect was less pronounced in the case of MWCNT-PVP and significantly lesser in the presence of the Mg salt.

Figure 6
Particle size distribution as a function of zeta potential in the presence of (a) sodium chloride, (b) sodium acetate and (c) magnesium chloride.

The initial aggregation kinetics of the F-CNTs was investigated using time resolved dynamic light scattering. The initial rate of change in particle size (rh) is proportional to kno where k is the initial aggregation rate constant and no is the initial concentration of the MWCNTs [26]. The reciprocal of stability ratio 1/W or the attachment efficiency α for suspensions with the same particle concentration were computed as:

where (drhdt)t0 and (drhdt)t0(f) represent the slow and fast aggregation regimes respectively [12, 26]. The attachment efficiency, which is a measure of the ratio of the initial slope of the aggregation profile in a given electrolyte system to the slope obtained under fast aggregation conditions are shown in Figure 7. This shows the attachment efficiencies of the F-CNTs in NaCl and MgCl2 as a function of salt concentration. The data for NaOAc was similar to that for NaCl, and is not presented here for brevity.

Figure 7
Attachment effeciency of the F-CNTs are presented as a function of Electrolyte concentration. (a) MWCNT-COOH in MgCl2, (b) MWCNT-PVP in MgCl2, (c) MWCNT-COOH in NaCl, and (d) MWCNT-PVP in NaCl.

Distinct unfavorable and favorable aggregation kinetics regimes, demarcated by the critical coagulation concentration (CCC) (figure 7) were observed. This indicated that electrostatic DLVO type interactions to be the dominant mechanism for stabilization [27]. At low ionic strengths, an increase in salt concentration led to a corresponding increase in attachment efficiency. This is in line with Figure 5b, where an increase in electrolyte concentration led to less negative zeta potential. At high concentrations, the attachment efficiency was no longer a function of concentration and remained constant. This was similar to what had been reported previously [12]. Higher attachment efficiencies were observed in the presence of the divalent Mg ion (figure 7a and 7b) which was also consistent with the zeta potential, where the latter became much less negative with even small increase in Mg concentration.

The CCC values were estimated from the plot of the attachment efficiencies against the salt concentration which shows the slow and fast aggregation regimes (figure 7). The CCC values were obtained from the intersection of the interpolated lines through the slow and fast regimes. MWCNT-COOH showed higher attachment efficiencies than MWCNT-PVP (figure 7c and d), which was evident from the CCC values. For example, the CCC values were 0.6mM and 18mM of MgCl2 for MWCNT-COOH and MWCNT-PVP respectively, and the corresponding values in NaCl were 125Mm and 100Mm. The difference between MgCl2 and NaCl was also quite apparent. With the exception of MWCNT-COOH in MgCl2, previously reported CCC values are significantly lower than the present data which deals with highly water dispersible MWCNT [12].

3.4 Long Term Stability of the F-CNTs

The time dependent stability of the nanoparticles dispersions are presented in figure 8. It was observed that both MWCNT-COOH and MWCNT-PVP dispersions in deionized water were stable over the 24 hour measurement period. Aggregation and subsequent deposition of the nanoparticles was observed in the electrolytic environment. The higher the hydrophobic indexes of the F-CNTs, the less stable they became in aqueous solutions. Therefore the decreased long-term stability of the F-CNTs was in agreement with their hydrophobicity indexes (table 1) in deionized water and electrolyte solution. Stability of MWCNT-COOH was better in the presence of the monovalent Na ions than the divalent Mg ions. This was consistent with the Schulze-Hardy Rule [13] where CCC is said to be dependent on counterion valence.

Figure 8
Colloidal stability as a function of time measured by UV absorbance at 252nm

MWCNT-PVP showed lower stability in the presence of electrolyte than MWCNT-COOH over the 24-hour period. This was attributed to the long term behavior of the PVP wrapped carbon nanotubes in the electrolytes. Wrapping of carbon nanotubes by water soluble polymers are driven largely by a thermodynamic drive to eliminate the hydrophobic interface between the tubes and their aqueous environment, therefore changing the solvent system to remove the strong hydrophobic thermodynamic penalty would induce the polymer-CNT complexes to dissociate [24]. It is therefore possible that the PVP wrapping on the carbon nanotubes were partially removed after prolonged exposure to the electrolyte solution causing them to lose their hydrophilicity and subsequently they deposited out of the solution.

4 Conclusion

The colloidal behavior of carboxylated and polymer wrapped CNTs were markedly different in terms of hydrophobicity, particle size distribution and zeta potential. Aggregation of the polymer modified CNT was lower compared to the carboxylated CNTs, with orders of magnitude higher CCC. Since dispersion in presence of NaOAc and NaCl followed similar patterns, it is concluded that the anions did not have any significant effect on stability. Both F-CNTs were highly stable in pure water, while MWCNT-PVP showed lower long term stability in the presence of electrolytes. Our results suggest that these highly dispersible F-CNTs can be relatively stable in typical aquatic environments, and their behavior will depend upon the presence of other species.

This work was funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) under Grant Number RC2 ES018810. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NIEHS. Partial support for this work was also provided by the Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future Fellowship.

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Wheel Decide: Spin the Wheel to Pick a Random Topic

Wheel Decide - Spin the Wheel to Pick a Student, Topic, or group
Wheel Decide – Spin the wheel to pick a random answer, person, or topic

WHO: Teachers looking for a fun and fair way to let students pick topics at random for class work.

HOW: Visit  http://wheeldecide.com/, click to modify the wheel, add topics, give the wheel a title, and pick advanced options. Choices can removed after they have been landed on, color scheme can be changed, seconds to spin, and more.

WHEN: Wheel Decide is great to have student pick topics for presentations and projects. Teachers could also use it to pick topics for review games in class.  Another option would be to randomly call on students during class time. Wheel Decide is also very useful to studying vocabulary or even assigning teams. After creating a wheel, teachers can copy the embed code to their classroom LMS or website.

Below is a wheel for countries involved in World War II.


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Researchers at the University of Hawaii and Manoa have discovered what they are calling “the largest individual structure ever identified by humanity.” They are calling it a “supervoid” and it meausres 1.8 billion light years across. This means that it would take 1.8 billion years to travel across this space if you were to travel at the speed of light.

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The study is being published online on April 20 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society by the Oxford University Press.

What’s interesting about this big structure, is that it consists of a great deal of emptiness. It is still populated, but has a significantly lower galaxy count.

This part of the universe is unusually cool, researchers were actually looking for this “supervoid” as a means to explain why that area had unusual temperatures.  It’s a region in the sky that’s been dubbed as the “cold spot,” and is highly unusual and unexpected given its tremendous size. The cold spot was discovered 10 years ago and is used by scientists to try and piece together the origins of our universe, as well as explain the big bang – because that theory predicts warmer and cooler spots of various sizes in the universe.

It was discovered using data from Hawaii’s Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) telescope located on Haleakala, Maui, and NASA’s Wide Field Survey Explorer (WISE).

New Discovery Offers Partial Explanation

This new discovery however, still does not explain the mysterous cold spot, but offers a partial explanation.

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“The existence of an empty patch helps explain the Cold Spot because assuming the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate, photons of light would be expected to lose energy (cool) as they cross a void.” – István Szapudi, Lead Researcher (source)

Space is remarkable, and for the most part, all we can do is develop theories and continue to explain what we have yet to understand completely. Not long ago, scientists suggested that the big bang never even occurred. Another interesting factor to consider is the weird world of quantum physics, that shows the nature of our reality might not even be physical.

“This is the greatest supervoid ever discovered,” Kovács said. “In combination of size and emptiness, our supervoid is still a very rare event. We can only expect a few supervoids this big in the observable universe.” – István Szapudi

One thing that consfuses me is the fact that Szapudi has said this is the largest structure ever discovered, when it doesn’t seem to be a “structure” but just a portion of space with less “stuff.”

Regardless, it’s definately an interesting discovery that adds a piece to the puzzle of what we have yet to comprehend.

You can read articles that go more into detail regarding the science here

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FutureHeights hosts vacant and abandoned properties forum

FutureHeights will host a public forum, Vacant and Abandoned Properties in Cleveland Heights and University Heights, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 7, at Forest Hill Presbyterian Church, 3031 Monticello Blvd.

As Northeast Ohio climbs out of the housing crisis, many Cuyahoga County communities are still dealing with issues of property abandonment. This panel presentation and discussion aims to help attendees understand the basics about vacant and abandoned properties, help translate applicable laws and policies, and discuss existing options and solutions.

The discussion will focus on answers to the following questions:

  1. What is a vacant and abandoned property, from a legal perspective?
  2. What are the legal pathways to remedying an abandoned property?
  3. What community actors have tools to remedy abandoned or nuisance properties? What are these tools? How do they work?
  4. How do community actors know when a property is vacant or abandoned?

Presenters include April Urban, a research associate at Case Western Reserve University’s Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development; Kermit Lind, clinical professor emeritus at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University (CSU); and Mark Wiseman, University Heights City Council member and principal of Wiseman Consulting.

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Time to open up to Cuba | VailDaily.com

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Time to open up to Cuba

I peered into the past, recalling the idyllic rustic Minturn of yesteryear in an article a couple weeks ago in the Vail Daily. However, nostalgia does not blind me to a current reality. Nostalgic Minturn would not persist, or even exist, today without today's tourism and previous economic anchors. The Meyer, Moreland and Lucero stations would have run out of gas after the railroad and mines cut or ceased operations.

We have successful Hispanics residing in the valley, some with enhanced assets and others with enhanced exposure to international cultures. Some of the valley's Hispanics, like Alan Salazar and Gil Cisneros, have interacted on the national and international stage beside political and economic leaders. All have a better understanding of global society and cultures.

The shift from mining to tourism saw its share of stereotypes and disparities, but no more than existed previously or elsewhere. More importantly, the Hispanic standard of living increased. Hispanic integration in today's Eagle County encompasses professions, politics and marriage, all of which today provoke a shrug rather than a scandal.

Sure, there are social and occupation separation among Hispanics, particularly recent immigrants, but I've known members of that population who've sped and surged into the mainstream.

People point out that Cuba already enjoys international tourism to no discernable benefit for the average citizen. However, economic opportunities have slowly improved. American tourism and business investment (including foreign companies with American investments and interests) would hasten the process.

Perhaps more important are the cultural advantages. American tourism would remove a long-standing misperception that the American embargo equates to American opposition against Cuba's people. Many Cubans with wealth, position and/or foresight fled at the onset. Others left in successive waves and decades. However, many Cubans simply do not have the exposure, means and contact to appreciate American society.

For many Cubans of a certain age, memories of Cuban-American exchanges on an official, friendly and regular basis recall Fulgencio Batista and the associated torture, exploitation and unabashed racism.

Batista is four decades dead. America has changed.

Around the time of American support for and involvement with Batista's Cuba, the Civil Rights Act was still a somewhat distant dream in the U.S. (and the dream of a black president even a greater distance) and signs outside Colorado businesses with the direct and simple statement, "No Mexicans or dogs allowed," didn't seem odd, let alone controversial.

The obvious weakness in the tourism and cultural corollary is that the valley — and America — isn't communist, so the comparisons don't equate. However, on a human level, the cultural and economic exchanges and comparisons agree.

Since I'm a journalistic voyeur and not a licensed economist or sociologist, I have to rely on the opinions of others. Economists tend to agree that economic exchanges for goods and services foster democracy, free markets, opportunity and living standards. Sociologists universally agree that social and cultural exchanges promote understanding, reconciliation and cooperation.

Most residents of Eagle County would also agree. Can anyone answer a pertinent question: Has the Cuban embargo and travel ban in its half century of existence accomplished any of the above?


This game is very entertaining for my kids, and even though it is geared towards younger kids, my 12 year old loves the format, too! Its easy to learn, helps if they struggle with adding or subtracting when carrying or borrowing numbers. The only issue we've had is one of the fishermen won't work when you have all 3, but other than that we love this game!


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Guillermo Prieto… Rosario Vera Peñaloza… Gerardo Murillo - Doctor Atl… Toussaint Louverture… Biographies Multiposts

Biographies of famous and historical figures

Biographies of famous:

  1. Biography of Guillermo Prieto
  2. Biography of Rosario Vera Peñaloza
  3. Biography of Gerardo Murillo - Doctor Atl
  4. Biography of Toussaint Louverture

Biography of Guillermo Prieto

(1818/02/10 - 1897/03/02)

Guillermo Prieto
Mexican writer
The 10 February 1818 was born in the City of Mexico.
He was raised in the Molino del Rey, near the castle of Chapultepec. Son of José María Prieto Gamboa, who ran the mill and bakery. When he was 13 years old his father died and his mother went mad.
He worked as a dependent in a clothing store and later as an apprentice at the Customs Office. It was protected from Andrés Quintana Roo and could continue their studies. He had various positions in the Government, he was the Secretary of Valentín Gómez Farías and Anastasio Bustamante.
Novelist, short story writer, journalist, and essayist, began his career in the newspaper El Siglo ten and nine, as critic Theatre, publishing the column "St. Monday", under the pseudonym of Fidel. He also collaborated in the the Republican Monitor. He founded several newspapers, in which are criticisms against the dictator Antonio López de Santa Anna and literary academies by what was pursued. For his support of Benito Juárez suffered exile.
His fruitful work include Musa Street, national ballads, Supreme order trips, trips to the United States, Universal history and memories of my times.
Guillermo Prieto died on March 2, 1897 in Tacubaya, city of Mexico.

Biography of Rosario Vera Peñaloza

(1873/12/25 - 28/05/1950)

Rosario Vera Peñaloza
Argentine educator
He was born on 25 December 1873 in Atiles, Department Rivadavia (La Rioja).
Founder of the first kindergarten in Argentina garden annex to the Normal School. She was interested in a comprehensive training that takes into account physical, manual, musical and artistic aspects. Was Inspector of secondary education, Normal and special, retiring in 19He was author of more than 25 books.
The National Board of education commissioned him to the formation of the first Argentine Museum for elementary school, today Museum complex of the Institute Felix Bernasconi, who works in Cátulo Castillo 2750 of the Federal Capital.
Rosario Vera Peñaloza died on May 28, 1950, date that is commemorated in his honor the "day of the master gardener" and the "day of the Jardines de Infantes".

Biography of Gerardo Murillo - Doctor Atl

(1875/10/08 - 15/08/1964)

Gerardo Murillo
Dr. Atl
Mexican, landscape painter, volcanologist and ideologue of the muralist movement
He was born in 1875 in Guadalajara, Mexico.
He studied painting in the workshop of Felipe Castro continuing later, in 1896, at the School of fine arts of the city of Mexico. In 1897 he was awarded a government scholarship to study in Europe, earning his doctorate in philosophy and law from the University of Rome in 18The years he spent in Italy, Renaissance monumental images were you.
He visited the 1900 Universal exhibition in Paris and toured England, Germany, Spain and France, where it is influenced by the impressionists. In recent years begins to be known by the pseudonym ofDr. Atl, which in nahuatl means 'water'.
When he returned to his country in 1903, he went to paint and teach at the Academy of San Carlos of the city of Mexico, where he had as pupils to Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and José Clemente Orozco. In 1912 he founded the League International writers and artists and the newspaper Action d'art which diffuses his pictorial and social theories.
He took an active part in politics in favor of Venustiano Carranza and joined the Constitutionalist Movement by publishing the newspaper La Vanguardia. He entered jail for their political ideas behind what went into exile in Los Angeles (United States). In 1920, when returning to Mexico began to exercise as director of the Department of fine arts , and since 1926, in which study volcanology, performs various landscapes with Mexican volcanoes, devoting attention to Popocatepetl, Iztaccihuatl and Paricutin (this last made a series in 1943).
In 1957 he began a new way of showing the landscape, seen from the air. Writer and utopian, projects a cultural town called Olinka in the crater of a volcano near Puebla. When he died on August 15, 1964, in the city of Mexico he was buried in the Pantheon of illustrious men.

Biography of Toussaint Louverture

(1743/05/20 - 1803/04/07)

Toussaint Louverture
François-Dominique Toussaint
Military and leader of the independence movement in Haiti, nicknamed 'forerunner'
Son of slaves, was born on May 20, 1743 in out French, Santo Domingo (now Cap-Haïtien, Haiti).
Self-taught, he worked as doctor in the insurgent army during the revolt of the black population of 1791 against the French planters of Santo Domingo.
In the year 1793 he made campaigns forcing France to abolish slavery in this territory (1794). It gave its support to the French authorities on the island in the anglo-espanola invasion of 1793 and was named general in 17In 1800, Governor general for life of Santo Domingo was proclaimed and in 1801 attained independence from France.
In 1802 Napoleón I Bonaparte sent troops commanded by general Charles Victor Emmanuel Leclerc that defeated it. He was captured and charged with conspiracy. Led to France, Toussaint Louverture died April 7, 1803 at Fort de Joux .
He is considered one of the founders and national heroes of Haiti.

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nedwos Retail manage the processing of both resource requirements - eg programmers, consultants etc - and products/services we resell as a business.


No video of the event yet, sorry!

This presentation will open a discussion about how we are introducing new developers to programming. Most textbooks, tutorials, and trainings begin by introducing new developers to mathematics lessons within the language. Many courses on programming require math skills as prerequisites. However, math prowess is not usually an indicator of one's potential programming abilities. Those people who have been told from a young age that they aren't good at math or generally doubt their math skills often feel excluded from the world of programming unnecessarily.

I will pose questions about whether we can be using methods other than math skills to teach programming languages to adult beginners. I propose logic and reasoning skills are more important programming concepts to master to help new developers succeed. Let's change the way we're teaching programming and break down more artificial barriers to entry for becoming a developer.

2016 November 11 15:30
1 h
Room 3178
Seattle GNU/Linux Conference 2016


Looking for Life in All the Wrong Places

March 27, 2017

It’s been over a month since my trip to KIC 8462852, better known as Tabby’s Star. And yes, my trip was totally for real. I was actually there and saw the alien megastructure for myself. You can trust me on this.

Anyway… I did a lot of research and reading to prepare for my trip, and I noticed a common theme in almost all the papers and articles I read: whatever’s happening to Tabby’s Star, it was very easy for us Earthlings to miss. In fact, it almost was missed.

Tabetha Boyajian herself (for whom Tabby’s Star is named) initially dismissed the star’s anomalous light curve as faulty data. And that could have been the end of it, no further investigation required.

It’s almost dumb luck (plus the persistence of a few citizen scientists) that Boyajian and others ended up taking a second look at that “faulty” data and realized it wasn’t a problem with the telescope, that something legitimately weird was going on.

Enrico Fermi Still Whats to Know: Where Is Everybody?

I’m bringing this up because I think it has interesting implications for the Fermi Paradox. Circa 1950, physicist Enrico Fermi argued that advanced space faring civilizations should be out there somewhere, and furthermore Fermi said we should have seen them or heard from them by now. So where is everybody?

Now I don’t want to oversell my point here, because there are a lot of possible answers to Fermi’s question. Maybe we really are alone in the universe, or maybe intelligent life is less common than Fermi assumed. Or maybe intergalactic law forbids making contact with primitive worlds like Earth.

But it’s also possible—in my opinion, very possible—that evidence of alien civilizations is there, but we’ve just missed it. Maybe we haven’t been looking in the right places, or maybe we haven’t been looking for the right things. Tabby’s Star is a perfect example. I don’t know if aliens are responsible for what’s happening to Tabby’s Star… wait, I mean I do know, because I was there and saw the aliens. No really, I did.

Umm… anyway… even if there weren’t an alien megastructure, the story of Tabby’s Star should tell us something about how easy it is for us to overlook what’s happening right in front of our eyes—or what’s happening right in front of our telescopes.

Sciency Words: The Fermi Paradox

March 24, 2017

Enrico Fermi was an Italian physicist, one of the many great scientists who immigrated to the United States right before the outbreak of World War II. He is most noted for creating the first nuclear reactor and the role he played in the development of the atomic bomb.

But that’s not what we’re going to talk about today. Today we’re talking about something Fermi said half-jokingly over lunch.

Where Is Everybody?

Based on some historical detective work, we can say this probably happened in the summer of 1950. Fermi was visiting the Los Alamos National Laboratory. He and a few colleagues were having a lunchtime conversation about flying saucers. Apparently there had been an amusing cartoon about little green men in a recent edition of the New Yorker.

The conversation got serious (sort of) when Fermi suddenly asked: “but where is everybody?” Everyone at the table laughed, but Fermi’s question and the not-entirely-serious discussion that followed would become the basis of what we now call the Fermi paradox.

As a matter of statistics and probability, it seems like advanced alien civilizations should be out there somewhere. There are over 100 billion stars in our galaxy. Many (if not most) of these stars have planets orbiting them. Some of these planets must surely support life, and in at least a few cases intelligent life—life capable of developing interstellar travel.

Even without faster-than-light technology, one or more of these space-faring civilizations could conceivably spread across the whole galaxy in just a few million years. The galaxy is far, far older than that. There’s been plenty of time for the aliens to do it. So where is everybody? Shouldn’t we have heard from somebody by now?

Or so Fermi argued over his club sandwich (or whatever he was eating) in a half-serious conversation about flying saucers. Of course there are plenty of objections to Fermi’s line of reasoning here, but I’m not going to weigh in on that. Not today. I’m saving my opinion for Monday’s post.

Sciency Words: Magnetar

March 17, 2017

Oh wait. Yes there are. Sort of.

Sneezing in Space

March 15, 2017

So in case you were wondering: yes, astronauts do sometimes sneeze in their spacesuits. And no, there’s nothing they can do about it when it happens. The sneeze just splatters on the helmet’s faceplate.

I believe I first read about this in one of those Time Magazine specials I reviewed last year (click here or here).

The thing I really want to know is how the force of the sneeze affects the astronaut’s motion, especially when the astronaut is not wearing a helmet. For example, what happens when an astronaut is floating freely aboard the I.S.S. or some other spacecraft and suddenly sneezes?

I’d imagine the force of the sneeze could have some amusing propulsive effects in microgravity.

TRAPPIST-1: A Sky Full of Planets

March 13, 2017

Okay, one more post about TRAPPIST-1 and its seven planets, and then I promise I’ll move on to another topic. But this is something that’s just too awesome for me to skip.

You know that goofy trope you sometimes see in Sci-Fi movies or comic books? The one where the hero is standing on the surface of some alien planet and there are a whole bunch of other planets in the sky? Like, not just a moon or two, but a ton of huge planets looming over the horizon.

Well, apparently if you stood on the surface of one of the planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system, you’d be able to look up and see the other planets in the sky. Not just as tiny points of light but as large orbs.

The planets of TRAPPIST-1 are packed extremely close together, it seems. Several articles I’ve read, such as this one from Spaceflight 101, suggest that weather patterns and surface features would be visible to the naked eye.

I’m guessing the view would not be quite as epic as what I drew for the illustration above, but still… it would be stunning to see it. Just remember to bring proper radiation gear. TRAPPIST-1 is still a flare star.

Sciency Words: Ultra-Cool Dwarf Star

March 10, 2017

Sciency Words PHYS copy

At some point, I want to profile each of the planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system one by one for my Exoplanet Explorer series. But it’s too early for that. Right now, we don’t know much about these planets except that they’re there.

But I can say something about TRAPPIST-1 itself. It’s a type of star called an ultra-cool dwarf star.

Apparently TRAPPIST-1 has just barely enough mass to cause hydrogen fusion in its core. That means that for a star, it doesn’t produce a whole lot of energy, and thus its temperature is relatively low. Based on my rough math and statistics I got from Wikipedia, it looks like TRAPPIST-1 is less than half the temperature of our Sun.

This is one of the things that makes TRAPPIST-1 so interesting to me, and why it’s really starting to capture my imagination. It’s not just about all those Earth-like planets. The star itself helps set a lower limit for just how small and cold stars can be.

TRAPPIST-1: A Mini-Solar System

March 8, 2017

Right now, TRAPPIST-1 is getting a ton of attention. If feels like just about every single telescope on Earth or in Earth-orbit has been stealing glances of this very tiny star and its seven Earth-like planets.

But we’ve discovered lots of other exoplanets, many of them Earth-like, and many of them in multi-planet systems. So why is TRAPPIST-1 getting so much special attention?

There Could Be Aliens!

Okay, yes. There could be aliens.

But I doubt it. TRAPPIST-1 is a flare star. We’ve met flare stars before. You don’t want to live near one.

Also, these planets are so close to their parent star that they are almost certainly tidally locked, with one side perpetually facing the sun and the other side perpetually turned away from it. Katy Perry could write a song about how hot and cold these planets must get.

Still, it’s not impossible for life to evolve under these conditions. Just don’t get your hopes up.

An Astrophysicist’s Dream Come True

There’s still a lot I haven’t read yet about TRAPPIST-1, and no doubt there’s even more information still to come. But at this point, I’m getting the impression that this miniaturized solar system is like an astrophysicist’s dream come true. Here’s why I think that:

  • From our vantage point here on Earth, these planets pass directly in front of their star (i.e.: they “transit” their sun). This is convenient for us. It’s a lot easier to collect data about transiting planets than non-transiting ones.
  • These planets are all very close to their parent star, and therefore they all have relatively short orbital periods. That means more transits and more opportunities to collect data.
  • There are so many planets so tightly packed together that it’s easy for us to study the gravitational interactions between them.
  • And again, because these planets have short orbital periods, these gravitational interactions are sort of accelerated compared to similar interactions in our own Solar System or in other star systems we’re currently observing. I imagine these interactions are also much stronger, since the planets are so much closer together.

TRAPPIST-1 is basically a mini-solar system running on fast-forward. We can collect loads of data about it in a matter of days or weeks, rather than years or decades, and use that data to refine our current theories about solar system dynamics.

That, I think, is the real reason TRAPPIST-1 and its seven planets are such a big deal. At least that’s what’s got me the most excited about them, and why I think we’ll be hearing a lot about the TRAPPIST-1 system for many years to come.

If we happen to discover alien life there as well, that’ll just be an added bonus.


Journey 2 reveals the mysterious allure of islands

From South Pacific to Archipelago, cinema and fiction has long explored island paradises and hell-holes. But why are film-makers enchanted by islands time and time again?
Journey 2: Mysterious Island
In Journey 2: Mysterious Island, Michael Caine and Luis Guzmán 'forge a more articulate relationship with the world'. Photograph: Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar/New Line CInema

Journey 2 reveals the mysterious allure of islands

Jules Verne's works have much to offer the makers of CGI-prone, 3D-disposed kids' adventure flicks. The 2008 version of Journey to the Centre of the Earth did well enough at the box office, so a sequel was obligatory. We could have had Captain Nemo's submarine odyssey, the exploration of Africa from a balloon or a voyage to the moon by cannon-fired projectile. Instead, we get a trip to an island.

Even in Verne's day, this was considered a bit of a let-down. The author's publisher rejected the first version of what was to become The Mysterious Island with the reproach: "Where is the science?" To beef things up a bit, Verne got his adventurers blown off course while escaping from a war zone by balloon. Less thrillingly, the heroes of Journey 2: The Mysterious Island travel instead by downmarket tourist chopper.

Still, their destination is an island, and islands enjoy a special place in the human imagination. Those who can, including Marlon Brando, John Wayne and Mel Gibson, have insisted on actually owning one. Tiberius preferred to rule the Roman empire from Capri, while to create Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell felt obliged to maroon himself on Jura. A poet called Kimon Friar lived on 46 different islands; a decorator called Andy Strangeway has slept on 162; a conservationist called Philip Conkling has visited a thousand.

The allure prompting such behaviour infected cinema from its beginnings. The first big-screen version of Verne's The Mysterious Island appeared in 1929, though the 1961 stop-motion animation is better remembered and the little-known Soviet version has its admirers. Island settings have sustained films as different as Jaws, South Pacific, The Wicker Man, Dr No and Il Postino, or more recently Mamma Mia!, Shutter Island and Archipelago.

Our preoccupation with islands goes back to classical times, while since the middle ages, both paradises and hell-holes have typically been envisaged on islands. This year, the BBC celebrates the 70th anniversary of its longest-running programme, Desert Island Discs, and Danny Boyle presents his Olympian extravaganza, entitled, fittingly enough, Isles of Wonder.

The role of islands in the human psyche has been much pondered, but the artefacts that they've inspired offer clues enough. Works such as The Tempest, Utopia, Gulliver's Travels, Robinson Crusoe, Treasure Island and Lord of the Flies may seem very different, but they utilise the same obvious but distinct features of isolation.

Islands are necessarily extrinsic; but, unlike deserts, forests or mountain ranges, they're also peculiarly finite. This makes them theatres in which alternative worlds can readily take the stage.

Evolution makes this happen automatically, as Darwin discovered in the Galapagos. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island relies on Foster's rule, which asserts that island life-forms may get larger if cut off from predators or smaller if denied mainland nutrients. That's why Michael Caine is subjected to the indignity of having to ride on a giant bee. However, as in so many island fictions, human character also evolves.

Islands provide distance from familiar ways of thinking and invite or require reassessments. Visits to them, real or imaginary, can be as conceptually disruptive as any sojourn in the contrived landscapes of science fiction. They enable us, as one writer has it, "to know ourselves as distinct from those around us, and, in so doing, forge a more articulated relationship with the world". So it is, sort of, in Journey 2.

The film's protagonists are peculiarly unappealing. As romantic leads, Josh Hutcherson and Vanessa Hudgens are both vacuous and unpleasant. Luis Guzmán is drearily gross and The Rock seems to have wandered in from another movie. The quartet's adventures are mechanically predictable. When we reach the bog-standard redemptive climax to which they're subjected, we might weep with weariness, but for one thing. It's that island locale. This makes the whole thing somehow work.

Journey 2 is based on the idea that Verne, Stevenson and Swift's books were rooted in fact; that they were prompted by rumours of an uncharted island that does actually exist. The film ends up by reminding us that just such an enchanted isle is indeed real enough. It lies, however, not in the wide ocean's stormy embrace, but amid the boundless seas of the human soul.


Home » » Fraser Island

Fraser Island

The island has rainforests, eucalyptus woodland, mangrove forests, wallum and peat swamps, sand dunes and coastal heaths. It is made up of sand that has been accumulating for approximately 750,000 years on volcanic bedrock that provides a natural catchment for the sediment which is carried on a strong offshore current northwards along the coast. Unlike many sand dunes, plant life is abundant due to the naturally occurring mycorrhizal fungi present in the sand, which release nutrients in a form that can be absorbed by the plants. Fraser Island is home to a small number of mammal species, as well as a diverse range of birds, reptiles and amphibians, including the occasional saltwater crocodile. The island is part of the Fraser Coast Region and protected in the Great Sandy National Park.

Fraser Island has been inhabited by humans for as much as 5,000 years. Explorer James Cook sailed by the island in May 1770. Matthew Flinders landed near the most northern point of the island in 1802. For a short period the island was known as Great Sandy Island. The island became known as Fraser due to the stories of a shipwreck survivor named Eliza Fraser. Today the island is a popular tourism destination. Its resident human population was 360 at the census of 2006.

Geography and ecology

Fraser Island is separated from the mainland by Great Sandy Strait. The southern tip, near Tin Can Bay, is situated to the north of Inskip Peninsula. The most northern point of the island is Sandy Cape where the Sandy Cape Light operated from 1870 to 1994. The establishment of the lighthouse was the first permanent European settlement on the island. The bay on the north east coast is called Marloo Bay and on the north west coast is Platypus Bay. The most westerly place on the island is Moon Point.

Eli Creek is the largest creek on the east coast of the island with a flow of 80 million litres per day. Eli Creek has its own unique and varied wild life. Coongul Creek on the west coast has a flow rate of four to five million litres per hour. Some of the swamps on the island are fens, particularly near Moon Point. This was only discovered in 1996 when a group of experts who had attended a Ramsar conference in Brisbane flew over the island and conducted an aerial survey. From above they noticed the distinct patterns of potholed peat which are devoid of trees. This was the first instance of fens found in Australia and in a sub-tropical region, although more were subsequently found on the adjacent Cooloola coast.

The total volume of sand above sea level on Fraser Island is 113 km³. All of the sand, which originated in the Hawkesbury, Hunter and Clarence River catchments in New South Wales has been transported north by longshore transport. Along the eastern coast of the island the process is removing more sand than it is depositing, resulting in the slow erosion of beaches which may accelerate with sea level rises attributed to climate change. The sand consists of 98% quartz.

All hills on the island have been formed by sandblowing. Sandblows are parabolic dunes which move across the island via the wind and are devoid of vegetation. In 2004, there was an estimated total of 36 sandblows on the island. With year-round south-easterly wind, the sand dunes on the island move at the rate of 1 to 2 meters a year and grow to a height of 244 meters. The dune movement creates overlapping dunes and sometimes intersect waterways and covers forests. Dune-building has occurred in episodes as the sea levels have changed and once extended much further to the east. The oldest dune system has been dated at 700,000 years, which is the world's oldest recorded sequence.

The coloured sands found at Rainbow Gorge, The Cathedrals, The Pinnacles and Red Canyon are examples of where the sand has been stained over thousands of years due to the sand conglomerating with clay. Hematite, the mineral pigment responsible for the staining acts like cement. This allow the steeper cliffs of coloured sand to form. Coffee rock, so-called because when it is dissolved in water it turns the colour of coffee, is found in outcrops along the beaches on both sides of the island.

The 120 kilometres (75 mi) beach runs along most of the east coast of Fraser Island. It is used as a landing strip for planes and an informal highway for vehicles (highway rules state that vehicles must give way to aircraft if they are oncoming). Along the beach are the Champagne Pools, Indian Head, the Maheno Wreck and the outflow of Eli Creek. Exposed volcanic rocks are found at Indian Head, Waddy Point and Middle Rocks as well as near Boon Boon Creek.

Fraser Island has over 100 freshwater lakes, as well as the second highest concentration of lakes in Australia after Tasmania. The freshwater lakes on Fraser Island are some of the cleanest lakes in the world. A popular tourist area is Lake McKenzie which is located inland from the small town of Eurong. It is a perched lake sitting on top of compact sand and vegetable matter 100 metres (330 ft) above sea level. Lake McKenzie has an area of 150 hectares and is just over 5 metres (16 ft) in depth. The beach sand of Lake McKenzie is nearly pure silica. The lakes have very few nutrients and pH varies, though sunscreen and soaps are a problem as a form of pollution. Freshwater on the island may become stained by organic acids found in decaying vegetation. Because of the organic acids a pH level of 3.7 has been measured in some of the island's perched lakes. The high acidity levels prevent many species from finding habitat in the lakes.

Another perched lake on the island is Lake Boomanjin, which at 200 hectares in size, is the largest perched lake in the world. In total there are 40 perched lakes on the island, half of all known lakes of this kind on the planet. Lake Boomanjin is feed by two creeks that pass through a wallum swamp where it collects tannins which tint the water red. Lake Wabby is the deepest lake on the island, at 12 metres (39 ft) in depth and also the least acidic which means it has the most aquatic life of all the lakes.

Some of the lakes on Fraser Island are window lakes. These form when the water table has risen to a point higher than the surrounding land. Most of the valleys on the islands have creeks which are fed by springs. Motor boats and jet skis are banned from the island's lakes.

Estimates of the number of mammal species present on the island range from 25 to 48. Mammals found on Fraser Island include swamp wallabies, echidnas, ringtail and brushtail possums, sugar gliders, squirrel gliders, phascogales, bandicoots, potoroos, flying foxes and dingoes. The Swamp Wallaby finds protection from dingos in the swampy areas which have dense undergrowth. There are 19 species of bats which live on or visit Fraser Island.

Until 2003, when they were removed by the Environmental Protection Agency, there were a few brumbies (horses) on the island, descendants of Arab stock turned loose for breeding purposes, and joined in 1879 by horses brought over for the logging industry.

Dingoes were once common on the island, but are now decreasing. The Fraser Island dingoes are reputedly some of the last remaining pure dingoes in Eastern Australia and to prevent cross-breeding, dogs are not allowed on the island. According to DNA-examinations from the year 2004, the dingoes on Fraser Island are "pure". However, skull measurements from the 1990s detected crossbreeds between dingoes and domestic dogs among the population.

Up until 1995, there were no official records of dingoes attacking humans on Fraser Island. In April 2001, a boy wandered away from his family and was discovered dead, with indications of a dingo mauling. Over 120 dingoes were killed by rangers as a result of the incident, though locals believe the number was much greater. After the 2001 attack, four dedicated rangers were allocated dingo management roles and ranger patrols were increased. There are fines for feeding dingoes or leaving food and rubbish out which may attract them.

As of January 2008, the number of dingoes on the island was estimated to be 120 to 150, and sightings have become less common. A University of Queensland researcher, Nick Baker, claims the dingoes on Fraser Island have adopted unusual behaviour. Rather than hunt in small packs, Fraser Island dingoes had developed a tolerance for each other and work together in one big hunting pack. Dingo-proof fences, consisting of metals bars across a concrete pit and a 1.8 m high mesh fence were built around nine island settlements in 2008, to keep the dingos out of the townships.

In late 2009, a former ranger on the island, Ray Revill, claimed 70% of the dingo population, which was then estimated at between 100 and 120 animals, was malnourished. In March 2010, three separate reports of dingos biting tourists were made. Backpackers have been criticised for ignoring advice from park rangers as they try to provoke reactions from dingoes while taking photographs.

Reptiles & amphibians

There has been a total of 74 different species of reptiles recorded on Fraser Island. 18 species of snake have been identified with one third of them considered dangerous. Goannas, snakes, geckos, skinks and frogs are all present on the island. Some frog species have evolved to cope with the acidic waters of lakes and swamps on the island, and are appropriately called acid frogs. The island is home to the recently discovered Fraser Island sand skink. Freshwater turtles such as Kreffts river turtle are found in the island's lakes and creeks.

Saltwater crocodiles are exclusively tropical reptiles and usually found in Far North Queensland (several hundred kilometres north-west of Fraser Island,) however, occasionally during the warmer season (December through March, when water temperatures reach consistent tropical temperatures) crocodiles may appear in areas in and around Fraser Island. This is very rare, but during the 2008-2009 summer season at least four crocodiles (one over 4 metres in length) were present. It is thought that these reptiles are seasonal visitors, as they always disappear during the cold months (presumably returning to tropical northern Queensland.) This sort of activity was apparently reported but unverified decades ago (a handful of crocodiles have also historically been observed on very rare occurrences around Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coasts during the warmer season) but within recent years has been proven and observed more often. Crocodiles do not breed nor do they appear to have any permanent populations living on Fraser Island.

Fraser Island forms part of the Cooloola and Fraser Coast Important Bird Area (IBA). There are over 350 different species of birds on the island. Birds of prey include sea eagles, peregrine falcon, osprey and kites. Other common birds include pelicans, terns, honeyeaters, gulls, kingfishers, kookaburra, owls, doves, thornbills, ducks, brolgas, and cockatoos. The island is visited by 20 species of migratory wader birds from as far afield as Siberia. There are 22 different species of gulls and terns, four species of falcons and six species of kingfishers. A rare, bird on the island is the Eastern Ground Parrot, already extinct in some parts of Australia.

Cetaceans, such as Humpback Whales and some species of dolphins are frequent visitors to the area. Dugongs and tiger Sharks can also be found in surrounding waters. Mud crabs are found on the western side of the island near mangrove-lined estuaries. 24 freshwater fish species are found in the island's lakes.

There has been 300 species of ants recorded on Fraser Island. Long finned eels and giant earthworms are also found on the island.

The flora of Fraser Island is unique and diverse. More than 865 species of plants thrive on the island. It is the only place on Earth where tall rainforest grows in sand. The island contains the largest extent of wallum heath remnants in Queensland. In Pile Valley, 1,000 year old rough-barked satinays are found. Despite being logged the kauri pines dominate in some areas. Scribbly gums, red gums, piccabeen palms, Blue Quandong, brush box and pandanus all grow on Fraser Island. Along the coast, the foredunes are dominated by salt-tolerant species which includes pigface, goats foot vine and beach spinifix. Spinifix sericeus is an important foundation species. Decayed matter from this dune grass breaks down in the sand, providing vital nutrients for other plant species. The rare Angiopteris evecta, a species of fern that has the largest fronds in the world, grows on Fraser Island. The southwest coast is dominated by mangroves.

As one travels from east to west across the island, the dune age increases. These leads to the progressive maturing of vegetation in the same direction, except for some areas along the western coast where soil leaching has decreased the nutrient soil layer to a depth beyond the reach of plant roots. Each lake on Fraser Island is surrounded by concentric vegetation zones. Typically these zones range from rushes in the shallows, then a mix of pioneer species on the beaches, through to sedges, heath, paperbarks, shrubs and finally eucalypt or banksia woodlands.

Fraser Island is part of the Local Government Area Fraser Coast Region, which was created in March 2008 as a result of the report of the Local Government Reform Commission released in July 2007. Before the local government reorganization, the island was split up evenly between the City of Hervey Bay (northern part) and the City of Maryborough (southern part).

Fraser Island South is Local Area 8 of the City of Maryborough, and includes the existing village community of Eurong, the Kingfisher Bay Resort, and Dilli Village.

In 1971, the northern half of the island was declared a national park. Now almost all of Fraser Island is included in the Great Sandy National Park, which is administered by Queensland's Environmental Protection Agency. This was extended in 1992 when heritage listing was granted. Except for a few small urban areas the island is protected by a Wild Rivers declaration.

Domestic dogs are not permitted on the island and fines can be given for non-compliance. The ban, first applied in 1981, is imposed so that the island's dingo population is not exposed to diseases.

In 2010, the management of the park, particularly the treatment of dingos by the Department of Environment and Resource Management was called into question by Glen Elmes in the Queensland Parliament. Camp grounds are sometimes closed so as to reduce human contact with dingo populations.

History of settlement

The earliest known name of the island is 'K'gari' in the Butchulla people's language (pronounced 'Gurri'). It means paradise.

The name Fraser Island comes from Eliza Fraser and her story of survival from a shipwreck on the island. Captain James Fraser and his wife, Eliza Fraser, were shipwrecked on the island in 1836. Their ship, the Stirling Castle, set sail from Sydney to Singapore with 18 crew and passengers. The ship was holed on coral while traveling through the Great Barrier Reef north of the island. Transferring to two lifeboats, the crew set a course south, attempting to reach the settlement at Moreton (now Brisbane). During this trip in the lifeboats, Captain Fraser's pregnant wife gave birth in the leaking lifeboat. The infant died soon after birth. The Captain's lifeboat was becoming more and more unseaworthy and was soon left behind by the other lifeboat which continued on. The sinking boat and its crew was beached on what was then known as the Great Sandy Island. Whether the survivors died due to disease, hunger, exhaustion or battles with the native population will never be known for sure; most likely a little of all of the above. Captain Fraser died leaving Eliza living among the local peoples. She was rescued 6 weeks after being shipwrecked by a convict, John Graham, who had lived in the bush as an escapee, and who spoke the Aboriginal language. He was sent from the settlement at Moreton by the authorities there who had heard about Eliza' plight, and negotiated her return. Within 6 months, Eliza had married another sea captain. She moved to England and became a sideshow attraction in Hyde Park telling ever more lurid tales about her experiences with white slavery, cannibalism, torture and murder. As she is known to have told several versions of the story, it is unknown which version is the most accurate. She was killed in a carriage accident in Melbourne in 1858 during a visit.

Aboriginal Australians

Initial European contact was limited to explorers and shipwrecks. The first recorded European to sight Fraser Island was James Cook who passed along the coast of the island between 18 and 20 May 1770. He named Indian Head after viewing a number of Aboriginal people gathered on the headland. Matthew Flinders sailed past the island in 1799, and again in 1802, this time landing at Sandy Cape, while charting Hervey Bay. His 1814 chart is a combination of both voyages, but did not confirm Fraser Island as being separate from the mainland. However, Flinders did suggest the presence of shallow swampy areas at the lower part of the bay. Flinders was told of an opening at Hook Point, between Fraser Island and the mainland, by two American whalers who were hunting whales in Hervey Bay. In 1842, Andrew Petrie discovered good pastoral lands and forests, attracting graziers to the island. Lieutenant Robert Dayman was the first European to sail between Fraser Island and the mainland in 1847.

Logging on the island began in 1863. Blackbutt trees (Eucalyptus pilularis) and kauri pines (Agathis robusta) on Fraser Island were logged extensively as they provided excellent timber. Logging started in 1863, initiated by American Jack Piggott (known as 'Yankee Jack'). For the first 70 years of logging, bullock drays were used to haul the timber to loading points on the beach. Railway tracks were laid through the forest to facilitate logging, but were later removed. Some of the largest logs were sent to Egypt for the construction of the Suez Canal. The logging industry continued right through until 1991, and ceased following the concerns of the Fraser Island Fitzgerald Inquiry, led by the Honourable Justice Gerald Edward Fitzgerald.

Sand mining

The geological wealth of the island lay in its rich deposits of rutile, ilmenite, zircon and monazite. Sand mining leases were first granted in 1950, and mining continued until 1977. Without public knowledge the Queensland Government granted mining leases to the American mining company Dillgham-Murphyores in the 1960s. In 1971, the Fraser Island Defense Organisation (FIDO) opposed the granting of more leases to the company. Despite more than 1,300 submissions that were made to the local mining warden objecting to new leases, the submission was granted. FIDO took the case to the High Court of Australia which over-ruled the decision noting that the public interest was not being upheld. Dillgham-Murphyores continued mining. The Whitlam Government established Australia's first environmental impact inquiry which recommended that mining cease. Eventually Malcolm Fraser canceled the company's mineral export license which halted mining on the island. This represented a significant win for the conservation movement in Australia. Fraser Island then became the first place to be included in the Australian Heritage Commission's Register of the National Estate.

Wreck of the Maheno

A major landmark of Fraser Island is the shipwreck of the S.S. Maheno. The S.S. Maheno was originally built in 1905 in Scotland as a luxury passenger ship for trans-Tasman crossings. During the First World War the ship served as a hospital ship in the English Channel, before returning to a luxury liner. In 1935, the ship was declared outdated and on 25 June 1935 the ship was being towed from Melbourne when it was caught in a strong cyclone. A few days later, on 9 July 1935 she drifted ashore and was beached on Fraser Island. During the Second World War the Maheno served as target bombing practice for the RAAF and was used as an explosives demolition target by special forces from the Fraser Commando School. The ship has since become severely rusted, with almost three and a half storeys buried under the sand. Climbing on the shipwreck is not permitted.

Fraser Commando School
During World War Two, the area near McKenzie's Jetty was used by the Services Reconnaissance Department (popularly known as "Z Special Unit") as a special forces training camp - the Fraser Commando School. Thousands of soldiers were trained here because the conditions were similar to those found on Pacific Islands where the Japanese were fought. Lake McKenzie was used for parachute training and the wreck of the Maheno was used for explosive demolitions practice.

Visitors to the site of the Fraser Commando School today can still see various relics of its military past including armour plates used to test armour piercing explosive charges and weapons and a concrete relief map of Singapore Harbour used as an aid in operations planning.

Nauru resettlement proposition

As part of ongoing meetings in the United Nations Trusteeship Council on the Conditions in the Trust Territories, the Republic of Nauru expressed concern that its phosphate mining exportation would be depleted by the end of the century, endangering the future of the island. In 1961, Fraser Island was proposed by Australia as a location for the resettlement of the entire population of the Republic of Nauru. The timber industry on Fraser Island managed to ensure that resettlement on Fraser Island did not proceed. In 1964 in the 31st session of United Nations Trusteeship Council meetings it was concluded that Curtis Island could provide a more satisfactory resettlement for the population of Nauru. Nauru rejected the offer of moving the entire population to Curtis Island due to political independence considerations that Australia would not agree to. Although a resettlement never did occur, the Republic of Nauru went on to achieve independence on 31 January 1968.

Estimates of the number of visitors to the island each year range from 350,000 to 500,000. The chance of seeing a dingo in its natural setting is one of the main reasons people visit the island. The use of boardwalks and marked tracks by visitors is encouraged to reduce erosion.

Urinating tourists have created environmental issues at Fraser Island lakes and coastal dunes. The foredunes are used as a toilet by bush campers which are estimated to number 90,000 each year. Many of the perched lakes have no outflow or inflow which exacerbates the problem. Water quality in some lakes is being impacted by storm water run-off from dune roads and swimmer's use of sunscreen.

In April 2009, a vehicle overturned on the beach after being hit by a wave. Two backpackers were killed in the accident. Following the incident speed limits were reduced from 100 km/h to 80 km/h on the beach, and from 40 km/h to 30 km/h inland. Everyone who hires a vehicle on the island from a Fraser Coast 4WD Operators Association accredited organisation must attend a one hour long briefing on vehicle safety.

Central Station is a popular tourism destination on the island. Some of the rarest ferns grow along the rainforest near the station.

The island can be reached by ferry from Urangan Boat Harbour (Hervey Bay) to Moon Point, River Heads (South of Hervey Bay) to Kingfisher Bay and Wanggoolba Creek or Inskip Point to north of Rainbow Beach to Hook Point, or by chartered flight via Maroochydore Airport.

A four-wheel drive is required for all landings (except Kingfisher Bay), and travel on the island (except within the Kingfisher Bay resort. A permit is required for vehicles and is obtainable on line from DERM and several outlets at Rainbow Beach. Several firms provide four-wheel drive vehicles for rent. Tour buses travel the island as well.

Tailor is one of the more common species sought by anglers on Fraser Island and along the Queensland coast. Other fish caught on the eastern coast include jewfish, golden trevally and silver bream, while whiting, flathead and bream prefer the calmer western waters. Pilchards, bloodworms, yabbies, pipi and sandworms can all be used for bait. Fishing is banned in the island's creeks and lakes.

There are many campgrounds on Fraser Island with varying amenities and access. The main camping areas are: Dundubara Campground, Waddy Point campground, Central Station Tent Sites, Waddy Beach (tent only campsites), Cornwells Break (large group site), One Tree Rocks camp zone (Eurong-One Tree Rocks), however there are others. Permits are required for camping and also for vehicle access.

There is various possibilities for overnight hiking on the island. A very beautiful and well cared-for trek is the 90 km long Fraser Island Great Walk. A shorter hike would be for example to start in Kingfisher Bay (ferry drop off) and head to Lake McKenzie, stay there for one night, and then hike back. In October 2006, Belgian adventurer Louis-Philippe Loncke traversed the island unresupplied.

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DIY Toy Hammock

My son is collecting way too many toys, but I have a hard time getting rid of any. I have to start finding ways to organize them better so that they fit in our house! I have a feeling that we will have to turn one of our rooms into a playroom soon.

My inspiration came from The Junk Nest, check out her toy hammock here.

Rope (aka “Clothesline” from the Dollar Tree)

1. Hem the two long edges.

2. Hem the two shorter edges with enough space to fit the rope inside the hem.

3. Slide the rope through each side.

4. Tie rope to crib, bed or wall.

Super complicated, right? If you need help, refer to the drawing below on my super cool legal pad from NAU. (My souvenir from visiting my sister!) Also please pretend that I wasn’t drawing it while someone was tugging on my arm and throwing books at me. It is a pretty good drawing for suffering through all that though!

See Also:
The Nursery (that has never been completely finished)
Bathroom Organization
Closet Door Writing


Created for our The Mirror exhibition last month, this illustration documents performative mirror project called Spring Well by artist Jana Trávníčková.

Spring Well is a small natural laboratory for creating colorful mirrors using color pigments and wather. The mirror is placed on the bottom of the pure glass bowl filled with water. The pigment drops into the water and creates sediments on the surface of the mirror when the water is dried out. The result is the mirror with the colorful surface on it.

The project is the design imitation of the natural and climatic processes.


to Tree     to Tree's branches     back to Welcome     on to Conclusion     site plan

12                                Creating Art

You have created works of art yourself, either small or large. Would you agree that, before you start, you have some feeling inside yourself that prompts you to begin? (I don't refer to obligations; I mean works that you begin of your own accord.) Your early idea may be quite well formed or rather vague; either way, as the work goes on, don't you get  the feeling that it is coming on well, or perhaps conversely that it is not coming out the way you wanted? The point is that there are two things in the air --- the idea in your mind and the thing on the table or easel or wherever it is. Perhaps the work never comes right, it is frustrating and in the end you throw it away; but on better occasions, you gradually get the feeling "That's what I wanted; that expresses what I wanted to express."

        [It is an old idea: about A. D. 1270, we find, "In every artist's mind, there already exists the idea of what he will create by his art," (Saint Thomas Aquinas, in his "Summa Theologica") The same was probably proposed in Baghdad and in Greece well before that. Here is a neat version: "I dream of painting and then I paint my dream" (V. van Gogh)]

        The point is that your pleasure comes from the match. It is not that the work in itself is beautiful or ugly. You might have intended it to be beautiful and soothing or else ugly and disturbing; whichever way, you get satisfaction if the way it turns out matches what you wanted to express. There is a three-way conjunction: your concept, your product and the resulting pleasure.

  Twig 16, Creating a Poem, says much the same. Twig 13, about a person looking at or hearing what someone else already created, is a little different.

        You might think, "That's all pretty obvious!" The surprising thing is that if you read books about such matters, you find many two-way links mentioned but surprisingly few references to the three-way conjunction in the picture. If you wish, check out Previous Writers.

     to Tree     the Tree's branches      back to Welcome    on to Conclusion     site plan


Dirty Duet

Found In Oblivion, Book 3

February 17

Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo

He’s the wildest guy in his band, but falling for a virgin groupie-in-disguise might be his craziest move yet.

Keyboardist West Reynolds’s idea of commitment? Going out for breakfast with a woman after a night of bed-breaking action. The only thing he gets serious about is Warning Sign, the band he formed with his two best friends. Then he meets a woman being hauled off by security, and she’s fascinated by him.

To her, he’s a subject to study. Like a bug under a microscope with a big…head.

Lauren Bryant is a student of sociology, and now she’s going in depth on rockstars. Specifically, fans. What makes a woman turn into a lust-driven groupie?

Is it the music?

The fame?

The men?

She isn’t sure, but she never expected to get her own night with a rockstar. One where he’s on top, doing some studying of his own…

And this time, they’re both out for all As.


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Because Discover is always running, it quickly identifies patterns and themes in your data, eliminating the need to hunt for them. In turn, you can more quickly uncover root cause, gain a deeper understanding of the issue, and address it before it gets out of hand.

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Discover ingests your historical data to create a baseline of normalcy in scores and comments. When it finds an abnormality in the data, Discover alerts you automatically. It also displays how far outside of the norm the anomaly is, as well as its impact on your main scoring metric, so you know which issues to take action on first.


Progress Comes to India - Slowly

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New Delhi – A month after they first queued to vote in India’s mammoth general election, the country’s voters will learn the outcome on May 16. The election, staggered over five phases – involving five polling days over four weeks, rather than one “election day” – will determine who rules the world’s largest democracy. Only one thing is certain: no single party will win a majority on its own. India is set for more coalition rule.

That may not be a bad thing. India’s last two governments each served a full term and presided over significant economic growth, even though they comprised 23 and 20 parties, respectively. Coalition politics gives representation to the myriad interests that make up a diverse and complex society, and ensures that the country as a whole accepts the policies ultimately adopted.

But coalition rule can also often mean governance of the lowest common denominator, as resistance by any of the government’s significant members to a policy can delay or even thwart it. In India’s parliamentary system, if a coalition loses its majority, the government falls, and keeping allies together can sometimes prove a greater priority than getting things done.

India’s national elections are really an aggregate of thirty different state elections, each influenced by its own local considerations, regional political currents, and different patterns of political incumbency. Soon after May 16, the largest single party that emerges will seek to construct a coalition out of a diverse array of victors from the various states.

Several outcomes are possible. The most likely is that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Indian National Congress, currently leading the government, emerges once again as the largest single party and assembles a new ruling coalition. The main alternative would be majority alliance put together by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by the 82-year-old Lal Krishna Advani.

But there is a third possibility: a motley collection of regional parties, together with the Communists, gets enough seats to prevent either of the two big parties from forming a government. In that case, a “hung parliament” could see a “third front” coming to power as a minority government, supported tactically by one of the big parties. This has happened before – and each time, the government that resulted fell within a year.

Each alternative could have serious implications for India. Though the big parties are broadly committed to continuing an economic policy of liberalization and growth, the BJP is mostly focused on the well-being of India’s merchant class, whereas Congress wishes to redistribute enhanced government revenues to the poor through generous social programs. The left, which would strongly influence any “third front” government, are staunchly opposed to economic liberalization and wish to strengthen, rather than dilute, India’s large public sector.

In foreign policy, India’s growing closeness with the United States under both the BJP and the Congress has proved controversial at home, with leftist parties threatening to scrap the Indo-US nuclear deal and break defense ties with Israel if they come to power.

Should the regional parties dominate the government, domestic politics would strongly impact India’s foreign policy: the anger of Tamil voters over events in Sri Lanka, or of Muslims over Gaza, would be reflected in the government and therefore constrain policy options. The BJP has promised a more hawkish security posture than Congress in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, but when it was in power it conducted itself remarkably similarly to its rival, initiating a peace process with Pakistan.

The biggest differences among the various groupings consist in the tone and tenor of their respective visions of India. Congress remains a “big tent” party, committed to preserving India’s pluralism and conscious of the multiple identities and interests of India’s many peoples. The BJP, which accuses Congress of “appeasing” India’s minorities, hews to a staunchly Hindu-chauvinist line, and has received support from some of the most bigoted and intolerant sections of Indian society.

The “third front” involves assorted petty particularisms – parties representing the sectarian interests of specific castes, sub-regions, or linguistic groups. The danger is that such groups could accentuate the divisions of a fractious society, rather than pull everyone together in the collective national interest.

That would be a startling change from five years ago. The 2004 elections were won by the Congress party, led by a woman political leader of Roman Catholic faith and Italian descent (Sonia Gandhi), who made way for a Sikh prime minister (Manmohan Singh) to be sworn by a Muslim (President Abdul Kalam) in a country that is 81% Hindu. That single moment captured much of what elections have meant for this diverse democracy.

But the ultimate reality will remain that of a coalition government trying to make progress in a contentious polity. In India, policy changes require political consensus within the ruling coalition, labor laws are strongly defended by unions and political parties, and controversial decisions can be challenged on the streets, in the courts, and ultimately at the polls. Necessary policy reforms advocated by a ruling party are often held hostage to the prejudices of its allies.

So change comes slowly. But it does come, and once a policy consensus has been established, it tends to be durable. Indian democracy has often been likened to the stately progress of the elephant – ponderous in its gait and reluctant to change course, but not easily swayed from its new path when it does.

The elephant of Indian democracy will acquire a new set of mahouts before the month’s end. Who they are will have a major impact on the fortunes and prospects of one-sixth of humanity. That alone makes the election results due on May 16 worth the world’s attention.

The writer is a former Under Secretary General of the United Nations.
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Growing Trees to Mend Old Wounds

THE HANS INDIA |   Mar 19,2016 , 11:15 AM IST

 “You could tell when the Jewish boys came into town because they always looked scared.”I choked on my tea as these words were uttered by my Moroccan host father. I couldn’t understand how as a child he could have thrown stones at the Moroccan Jewish boys as they came into town. He laughed as he told me the story as if it was a favorite childhood memory of his while I stared dumbfounded at the well educated businessman who I had come to know as a teacher and father. He was quick to mention that it was a different world when he was a child and that things have changed with time. However, it struck a chord within me about the deep rooted prejudice between the two cultures and religions.

I had studied the conflict between the Muslims and Jews in school but I didn’t realize how much it impacted the people across nations. When you think of the conflict between Israel and Palestine you dont think about the ripple of discord that goes across the entire world.

Morocco is a gateway between Europe and Africa and as a result, different ideas, cultures, and languages have influenced the country greatly. The discord that echoes throughout North Africa as a result of extremist groups and governments has so far passed by Morocco, where it remains relatively peaceful.

Historically, there was a Jewish population in Morocco but it has dwindled over the years. As a result, ancient Jewish cemeteries are spread out across the country. Recently, initiatives have been started to recall and advance the unity of the Jewish and Muslim Moroccans.

For example, the Marrakech Jewish community has started to work with local Muslim communities to plant trees in the unused arable land connected to these cemeteries. It is as if the past and present are combining to create a better future for Moroccan farming families. An unlikely and unusual project is uniting two religions that are in other places supposed to be at war. Instead of destruction, they are creating life and prosperity.

Right outside of the small village of Akrich, lies the burial site of the 700 year old Hebrew Saint Raphael Hacohen. His burial site is surrounded by graves of other members of the Moroccan Jewish community and around these graves new life grows. Raphael Hacohen became a saint as a result of his healing miracles and his grave continues to be a place of healing to this day.

This sacred site brings Jewish pilgrims from around the world to Akrich and it fosters the growth of good relations through the High Atlas Foundation’s interfaith community tree project. The High Atlas Foundation (HAF) is a non-profit organization based in Marrakech whose main focus is to create sustainable prosperity throughout Morocco. HAF has projects in tree nurseries, community planning workshops, clean water initiatives, school infrastructure, and youth and women’s empowerment.

It is unusual to hear of projects that are attempting to bridge this tumultuous gap through tree planting, let alone planting trees beside Jewish cemeteries. However, the High Atlas Foundation saw the importance of bringing these two communities together. It is a rare situation where a nonprofit is led by an American Jew, Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir, who speaks fluent Moroccan Arabic and is committed to the betterment of Morocco and its peoples no matter their religion.

I was raised a Catholic, but while working with the High Atlas Foundation, I’ve been able to have interfaith discussions with both Muslims and Jews inside and outside of work. The opportunity to bridge these gaps myself and then to see this replicated on a larger and more global scale is impressive and revolutionary. This initiative is addressing real religious tensions in a country that has long tradition and history of Muslim and Jewish inhabitants and solidarity. Even as the population of Jews decreases in Morocco, there will always be a mark left by a people who lived here for 1,000 years through their texts and their left behind loved ones.

As the tree saplings grow, so does the trust and respect between the rural Muslims and the urbanized Jews. Morocco is attempting to overcome a deep rooted prejudice that has, and still does, impact people all over the world. Instead of rocks being thrown at each other, trees can be planted together to improve the environment and heal old wounds. Morocco is an example for other areas of the world where Muslims and Jews have lived side by side but in situations can become disparate and where hope, in more forms than one, awaits to be planted.

By:Emma Tobin


If Water drinking had a Super Bowl, this episode would be it. Pick your sides and deal with the results cause after this one, there will only be ONE. The Water Gawd.

If thrive to be the best is that like striving to be the best? What if you have 4 teeth? Can you still be the best? Now add 400 or so pounds. Yup, the best.

We love coaches and mentors as much as anyone else, but when said mentor speaks directly and curses non stop, well then we fall in love.

Daniel Pena is straight forward and doesn't worry about feelings. Gnaw mean?

Plus, let's get to the bottom of Bart being fat. This episode has BOTH sides of the story.