01 Monday Sep 2014
Posted in Culture, Happiness, Lessons, Technology
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The Nature of Cities
Timothy Beatley
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Part of our separation from nature is that we thought nature is something “over there” and where we live is not nature. We’ve got to rethink everything that we do in cities.
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Thanks for visiting.
Eric
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30 Saturday Aug 2014
Posted in Happiness, Health, Psychology, Universe
Tags
cognition, creative, environmental psychology, Gravity's Pull, health and wellness, holistic, Nature, open-minded, rodneysteadman.wordpress.com
The authors argue that understanding the complexity of nature requires holistic thinking. I agree.
So, does nature influence how we think? According to recent research out of the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, connectedness with nature may influence cognitive styles. The research team, led by Carmen Lai Yin Leong, conducted two studies with Singaporean secondary students as participants. In the first study, Leong and her team examined how connectedness with nature correlated with innovative and holistic cognitive styles. The second study explored connectedness with nature and its potential to predict cognitive styles.
The first study consisted of 138 adolescents (46 percent female) with an average age of 15 years. Participants completed an online survey consisting of questionnaires that measured connectedness to nature, nature relatedness, analytic versus holistic thinking preference, and creative style (innovative or adaptive). The results showed statistically significant correlations between connectedness with nature and innovative and holistic thinking. Innovative thinkers are open-minded, whereas, adaptive thinkers, at the opposite end…
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18 Monday Aug 2014
Tags
ancient civilization, ancient discoveries, archaeology, biology, Brain, critical thinking, Education, Evolution, History, human evolution, humans, Language, Learning, life, man ape, mental thought, Nature, neanderthal, nova (documentary), thinking
What are memes? Why do we Internet? What is enlightenment? Is honesty relevant to evolution? What is openness really? Is willingness available like a virus of sorts to alter our genes and expand our awareness? What is learning? Is there divine knowledge en-coded into every atom?
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EVOLUTION: THE MIND’S BIG BANG
NOVA – Discovery/Science/History (documentary)
NOTE:
A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena with a mimicked theme. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate, and respond to selective pressures.
Memes:
Graham, Gordon (2002),
Genes: a philosophical inquiry, New York: Routledge, p. 196,
ISBN 0-415-25257-1
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Thanks for visiting.
Eric
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21 Wednesday May 2014
Posted in Culture, Fun, Happiness, Inner peace, Inspiration
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Memorial Day is right around the corner…
I hope to get away from the crowds and
spend some time in nature… how about you?.
21 Monday Apr 2014
Posted in Culture
Tags
I am awed as I browse from
post to post the photographs
of cindyknoke.com — check it out all…
this is a lovely treat!
Ranunculus (Please click to enlarge).
The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year?
Mark Twain
Rock Rose
Behold, my friends, the spring is come: the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love-
Sitting Bull
Rose of Sharon
Spring has returned. The earth is like a child that knows poems~
Rainer Maria Rilke
Lions Ear
With the coming of spring I am calm again~
Gustav Mahler
Foxglove
April has Put a Spirit of Youth in Everything~
William Shakespeare
Peace Lily
In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt~
Margaret Atwood
Mexican Evening Primrose
Why not get some dirt on your hands, and everywhere else too??? Hope the joyful blooms of spring…
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26 Saturday Oct 2013
Posted in Entertainment, Fun, Lessons, Science
Tags
Autumn leaf color, color, Fall leaves, foliage, Forestry, happiness, Leaf, Nature, Tree
Youtube source: watch?v=270i3kn2ZWQ
Why Leaves Change Color in the Fall
Every autumn we revel in the beauty of the fall colors. The mixture of red, purple, orange and yellow is the result of chemical processes that take place in the tree as the seasons change from summer to winter.
During the spring and summer the leaves have served as factories where most of the foods necessary for the tree’s growth are manufactured. This food-making process takes place in the leaf in numerous cells containing chlorophyll, which gives the leaf its green color. This extraordinary chemical absorbs from sunlight the energy that is used in transforming carbon dioxide and water to carbohydrates, such as sugars and starch.
Along with the green pigment are yellow to orange pigments, carotenes and xanthophyll pigments which, for example, give the orange color to a carrot. Most of the year these colors are masked by great amounts of green coloring.
Chlorophyll Breaks Down
But in the fall, because of changes in the length of daylight and changes in temperature, the leaves stop their food-making process. The chlorophyll breaks down, the green color disappears, and the yellow to orange colors become visible and give the leaves part of their fall splendor.
At the same time, other chemical changes may occur, which form additional colors through the development of red anthocyanin pigments. Some mixtures give rise to the reddish and purplish fall colors of trees such as dogwoods and sumacs, while others give the sugar maple its brilliant orange.
The autumn foliage of some trees shows only yellow colors. Others, like many oaks, display mostly browns. All these colors are due to the mixing of varying amounts of the chlorophyll residue and other pigments in the leaf during the fall season.
Other Changes Take Place
As the fall colors appear, other changes are taking place. At the point where the stem of the leaf is attached to the tree, a special layer of cells develops and gradually severs the tissues that support the leaf. At the same time, the tree seals the cut, so that when the leaf is finally blown off by the wind or falls from its own weight, it leaves behind a leaf scar.
Most of the broad-leaved trees in the North shed their leaves in the fall. However, the dead brown leaves of the oaks and a few other species may stay on the tree until growth starts again in the spring. In the South, where the winters are mild, some of the broad-leaved trees are evergreen; that is, the leaves stay on the trees during winter and keep their green color.
Youtube source: watch?v=B2oIu3KuBP0
Only Some Trees Lose Leaves
Most of the conifers — pines, spruces, firs, hemlocks, cedars, etc. — are evergreen in both the North and South. The needle- or scale-like leaves remain green or greenish the year round, and individual leaves may stay on for two to four years or more.
Weather Affects Color Intensity
Temperature, light, and water supply have an influence on the degree and the duration of fall color. Low temperatures above freezing will favor anthocyanin formation, producing bright reds in maples. However, early frost will weaken the brilliant red color. Rainy and/or overcast days tend to increase the intensity of fall colors. The best time to enjoy the autumn color would be on a clear, dry and cool (not freezing) day.
Enjoy the color; it only occurs for a brief period each fall.
Fall Foliage Features
Courtesy of SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
Text prepared by Carl E. Palm, Jr., Instructional Support Specialist, Faculty of Environmental and Forest Biology
