Design Is Not Opinion

Black Olive Staining

For those wanting to learn more about the issue, please see Doug Caldwell's work. His Web site is here, and a relevant article is here. An earlier discussion is here.

Trees Even More Beneficial Than We Knew

And now a report from the American Chemical Society about the effect of trees in an urban environment

ACS Reports Trees Clean Better Than Thought

supports what I think we knew all along: trees and shrubs clean the air. But according to this report, the efficacy is more than we knew

Trees, bushes and other greenery growing in the concrete-and-glass canyons of cities can reduce levels of two of the most worrisome air pollutants by eight times more than previously believed, a new study has found. A report on the research appears in the ACS journalEnvironmental Science & Technology.

There's more research to be done, clearly. For example, I wonder exactly which trees or shrubs are the most efficacious? Does it matter where they are planted– in rows, in groups, or? 

More broadly, what happens to the pollutants that enter these living systems? Are they all fully hydrolyzed or in some other way made into simple molecules? Is there a threshold of pain for the living material–how much pollution is too much?

Nonetheless, this report from a prestigious source is an important tool for Landscape Architects.

The report is here.

Keeping an Eye on Earth Is Getting Harder - ScienceInsider

The ability of U.S. scientists to monitor changes in the planet's climate, natural hazards, and land surface continues to deteriorate, warns a report from the U.S. National Academies' National Research Council (NRC) that was released today. Aging satellites are being replaced too slowly, the report concludes, and by 2020 the country may have only 25% of its current observing capacity.

via news.sciencemag.org

Here's an idea: let's stop repairing the infrastructure of our country. And don't build anything new, either. Heck, what we have brought us here, right?

 

GM Crops and Superweeds

In general I can't really fault GM food. And yes, I know, that this really annoys lots of my friends, many of whom think of me as a left-wing vegan. Which I am.

I just don't see an issue with artificially accelerating the evolution of food. 

Here's where I draw the line: flourescent kittens created by splicing genes from ocean animals, ostensibly to support the 'fight against AIDS'. This is just wrong on so many levels, but it does yield one benefit: a clearly discernable and definsible line in the sand.

We've been encouraging nature to produce life forms more amenable to humans for centuries. Everything from wheat to dogs to horses to–well, it's a long list of critters.

(Image from Mayo Clinic)

 Splicing genes from an entirely different animal, though, is new. Too new.

And now, Wired reports this:

 

A Blast From the Past

Readers may not realize that your Design Pundit's education includes a BA in Classics, followed by an MLA (Master of Landscape Architecture).

Modern society is built on something less than a classical education, yet, in all of the important ways, it is the my classical training in Greek and Latin that adds richness and value to my life.

Nowadays, college students have a sadly different approach. Indeed, if coursework does not seem 'practical', if it can't lead directly to a job, it's of little value.

I know from personal experience just how wrong this view is.

Now comes online access to Oxford's Bodleian Libraries, and to the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana: all fully digitized. It's a boon to researchers, funded by the Polonsky Foundation.

Here's what The Vatican has to say: 

Gagarin's Falsified Flight Record : Discovery News

For a flight to count, the pilot-astronaut or pilot-cosmonaut would have land with his spacecraft. After all, if a pilot fails to land his with his aircraft, it's usually because something has gone wrong and the flight has been a failure. Why should spaceflight be any different?

via news.discovery.com

Yuri Gagarin has always been a bit of a hero to me. Why? Because what he did– climb into a rocket that was no where near ready for human flight– was a stunning act of bravery. In point of fact, all of the Mercury astronauts took a similar ride.

A Story About Doctors, Pain, Patients, and FDLE

For many years, Ms. X. was the victim of serious pain, something that I know quite a bit about, since in my own case I've had severe back pain from congenital spida bifida and hip displacement.

Ms. X goes unnamed. Her name does not matter. Oddly enough, her husband is- you guessed it!– a chiropractor and massage therapist. He is a true believer, but more on that in a moment.

Her pain was intractable. She participated in treatments with her husband; sometimes it was better, sometimes worse, and she did not know where to place her confidence.

She saw several neurologists, two of whom gave her MRI exams. This was ten years ago when these machines cost thousands to run, so much that it was cheaper for her to fly to Costa Rica for the exam. And why not? Their doctors go to our Universities and have similar credentials. I'd have done the same for recent dental work but for a couple of unrelated issues.

The local neurologist offered her one thing: pain medicine. At first, it worked and worked very well. She was taking hydrocodone (5.0 MG) and Ultram/ Tramadol at the same time. As the months went by, though, her body became habituated. And she did not want to embarrass her husband, or, worse, undermine him. So, she never told him. She lied by omission with her heart in the right place. Life went on, with no pain.

Dr. knew the meds would stop working so he increased the dosage to 7.5 and finally 10. 0 mg 6 times a day. For those not knowing, that is a LOT of medicine. Even that wasn't enough.

So she had two issues.