When I was a kid there was this commercial on TV for Chiffon margarine (fake butter) with the slogan, “It’s not nice to fool mother nature!” As a kid I thought it was dumb but kind of funny. A modified version of that mother nature advertising slogan has become a cultural tagline. Don’t mess with mother nature! Who knows, maybe “don’t mess with mother nature” predated Chiffon margarine. Some scientists might have their own version of such a slogan “Don’t mess with (mother) Nature, …Read More
Nature
I recently flew up to Seattle from Sacramento to visit the UW Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine (ISCRM). It was a great trip just on the science front and seeing some old friends from the UW and the Hutch, as well as making some new ones (yeah, corny, but true). I not only love stem cell research but also nature and I’ve got a weakness for aerial photography of landscapes and especially mountains. This post includes some photos I took from the …Read More
I’ve always grown tomatoes in my garden and I like unusual varieties. This year I’ve got a bunch of cool tomatoes growing out back. Some are now starting to ripen so it’s getting more exciting. Note that this posted has been updated for 2020. Growing tomatoes is not as hard as I thought originally, but there are some tricks. I’m going to do a separate post fully on tomato growing tips. Some key ones are pick the sunniest spot in your yard, work on …Read More
Isn’t it cool how close one can get with just an iPhone and a macro lens to take pictures of things including nature? 2020 update: you might also enjoy these pages of nature photos I took. Can you figure out or guess what these things are below that I captured “on film”? Some are self-evident and some are really hard.
The tragic 9.0 earthquake and tsunamis that hit Japan a few weeks ago are having lasting consequences not only for Japan, but also for the world via radiation. One area of particular concern is the radiation that has leaked and is continuing to leak from the damaged nuclear reactors. At this point, the radiation has probably circled the globe and the leaks show no sign of stopping. Highly radioactive materials have contaminated the air, the ocean, and the soil. The contamination is at …Read More