Oil at the Gulf coast

NOAA Response, Deepwater Horizon

Village of Islands/Islamorada, Florida Keys: VI

All those tourists covered with oil...? Tar balls in paradise...?

Tar balls have been found at Key West, broken oil sheens have been seen pulled into the loop current from the eddy towards the Gulf stream between the Keys and Cuba

Time for the ARC to investigate the British Petroleum crude oil slick at the Gulf coast, possibly an opportunity to do some good...

[Potential transport funding being arranged via official channels, preliminary destination is the village of islands, awaiting further information and confirmation]

DDeden, Director
Aquamarine Research Center
Eureka-Arcata, Humboldt Bay, northern California

Archae-Numeric and origin of XYZ

[click pic to enlarge]

re. the numbers, seems to me that the last common numerical language was 1-12
_ (1 horiz line)
= (2 lines)
3 (3 horiz lines, cursive)
[=] square (4 lines, 2 vert 2 horiz)
_ above a square (5 lines)
= above a square (6 lines, 2 vert, 4 horiz)
3 above a square (7 lines)
square above a square (8 lines)
square above _ above a square (9 lines) (became % sign?)
square above = above a square (10 lines)
square above 3 above a square (11 lines)
square above a square above a square (12 lines)

12 might have been quickly drawn as a cube triface (a Y at center of angled cube)?
(A simple paint program or cad could show all this better.)

originally zero was a point or dot, not a circle, so 4 and 8 were curved.

Used probably 8,000 years ago, with local variations.
I'd wondered how 10, 11, 12 appeared before decimal notation.

Primitive numerical symbols used in early merchant/market trade, with local variations?

Numer = Sumer (symbol) name, used in Samar, Meroe, Meru, Samarkand, Somali, Sumatra... mer = merchant marine or port

> re. origin of XYZ in alphabet:
>
> XXXXXX if these letters all touched as a grid, they'd
> XXXXXX produce a bi axial weave of 90 deg. = squares
> XXXXXX add duplicate overlay & tilt = octagons
>
> YYYYYY if these letters all touched as a grid, they'd
> YYYYYY produce tri axial chicken wire weave = hexagons
> YYYYYY add duplicate overlay & tilt = rhombi (below)
>
> ZZZZZZ if these letters all touched as a grid, they'd
> ZZZZZZ produce bi axial 120,60 deg. weave = rhombi
> ZZZZZZ add duplicate overlay & tilt = 60 deg. triangles

add a duplicate overlay to get tetrahedral grid
add a duplicate overlay to get cube grid (?)

Maybe buy some cheap chickenwire, cut into 6 layers and overlay them, noting the cells (X-Y-Z-delta-tetra-cube?)
I'm sure someone has done this, but I don't recall seeing it anywhere, could be done with nets flat or on a sphere (notching where necessary.).
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Polynesian contact with California?
here

Hair mats & booms & Oil spill

Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone, caused by Mississippi River effluents of Nitrates, Phosphates, Sulfates, from rural agricultural run-off and urban sewers producing eutrophication, overgrowth of algae blooms and reduced oxygen.
dead zone of Gulf

Below: massive crude oil spill in Gulf from offshore rig explosion, ongoing



article

Must see this video

Hair & fur sponge up oil in water, a lb. of hair retains a quart of oil from water.

video: how to make a hair boom

The ottimat and hair boom use the principle of high surface area of hair/fur adsorbs oil but not water. Synthetic product mats absorb the oil and can't be reused, while hair mats can be wrung out into oil barrels and reused 100 times.

volunteers needed at Florida Keys to protect mangroves

"Locks for Keys" donate locks of hair and pet fur to save the coastal regions of the Florida Keys and other island reefs from the second worst oil spill ever, the Deepwater Gulf spill, which is expected to be pulled into the Gulf loop current towards the Keys and Florida coastal mangroves.
mangroves

http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/topic_subtopic_entry.php?RECORD_KEY(entry_subtopic_topic)=entry_id,subtopic_id,topic_id&entry_id(entry_subtopic_topic)=8&subtopic_id(entry_subtopic_topic)=13&topic_id(entry_subtopic_topic)=1

If you want to construct a building you must file an Environmental Impact Statement, but British Petroleum did not file an EIS for their huge deepwater oil project, and they bypassed numerous safety measures.

Perhaps its time for another tea party? What say you, oil addicts? Care for a spot of petrol?

bird-dino postures

uncinate process in birds

JR Codd 2010 Compar.Biochem.Physiol.A156:303-8
Uncinate processes in birds: morphology, physiology, and function

The avian respiratory system is remarkable in terms of its complexity &
efficiency. The evolution of this system with its unique lung morphology &
physiology has contributed to birds being one of the most successful
vertebrate lineages.
Despite holding the attention of the scientific community for a long time,
much remains to be discovered about the complexities of this system. Recent
advances have highlighted the important role that accessory breathing
structures, the uncinate processes, play in understanding how this system
functions & evolved.
Almost all spp of extant bird have uncinate processes extending from the
mid-point of the vertebral ribs. These processes are integral to the
mechanics of ventilation in birds, being active in both in- & expiration,
but also playing some role during locomotion.
The morphological variation in the uncinate processes suggests that the
constraints placed on the body by adaptations to different forms of
locomotion are key to understanding differences in how birds breathe.
These processes also occur in the theropod dinosaurs, providing further
evidence that they are the ancestors of modern birds, but also highlighting
the intrinsic flexibility in the ventilatory systems of these animals.
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death pose of long necked dinos & posture of resting geese: sleeping with head on back above abd. air sacs (parallel to backfloating & whale blowhole on back) while floating or on nest, the eyes see behind when awake but static, able to see predators which approach from behind. Uncinate processes probably evolved as air sac flexible cages allowing leaping-breathing like kangaroos) but bellows not deflating during sleep which would result in sinking.
kangaroo leap breathe

Amazing argonaut octopus: here

We be neandertals

Gene expression

1 - 4% of genome of anyone derived from outside sub-saharan Africa is shared with neandertal genome.
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Atlatl spear-throwers include a launcher, a long narrow dart with flint tip, and a stone weight: atlatl
Compare to harpoons, polespears, Hawaiian slings, throwing spears, lances, bow & arrows
paleo art atlatls
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Grey whale in Mediterranean Sea
here

""Over a lifetime, a gray whale migrates the equivalent distance of a return trip to the moon."
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Salt springs in the Sahara: Niger has clays rich in salt from ancient seabeds, the salt springs of Teguidda-n-Tessoumt are surrounded by small round pools of brine, where salt crystals form on top slowing evaporation so children sprinkle water to break the crust which then settles at the bottom as crystals, later collected as loaves. Then the salt ponds are cleaned of remaining clay mud and reused, the mud dumped onto manmade hillocks. Much of the salt is traded via desert-edge nomads for use by domestic herds. Trees are very rare in the Sahara, but two trees grow nearby. (from article in Awake! Jan 09)