Taste of Bluegrass

Here’s my caveat: You have to give away at least one of your invites (you’ll get some) to someone in a random way. I will pick a random commenter to this post (on tanglewoodhollow.net).

Check out the guidelines for fund raising. And the FAQ.

This tool can make creative projects take off in a big way. One project raised almost a million dollars. I’ve seen some sweet ideas funded. Everything from albums, to books, to restaurant and brewery start-ups. It’s a beautiful thing.

Most people are at a loss to be able to identify any useful connections between arts and sciences. This ignorance is appalling. Arts provide innovations through analogies, models, skills, structures, techniques, methods, and knowledge. Arts don’t just prettify science or make technology more aesthetic; they often make both possible.

That cell phone or PDA you’re carrying? It uses a form of encryption called frequency hopping to ensure your messages can’t easily be intercepted. Frequency hopping was invented by the composer George Antheil in collaboration with the actress Hedy Lamarr. Yeah, really.

via The Art of Scientific and Technological Innovations : Art of Science Learning.

Monarch butterflies use medicinal plants to treat offspring | Michigan Today

Monarch butterflies appear to use medicinal plants to treat their offspring for disease, research by biologists at the University of Michigan and Emory University shows.”We have shown that some species of milkweed—the larva’s food plants—can redu

ce parasite infection in the monarchs,” said Jaap de Roode, the Emory evolutionary biologist who led the study. “And we have also found that infected female butterflies prefer to lay their eggs on plants that will make their offspring less sick, suggesting that monarchs have evolved the ability to medicate their offspring.”

via Monarch butterflies use medicinal plants to treat offspring | Michigan Today.

Aquaponics is a bio-integrated system that links recirculating aquaculture with hydroponic vegetable, flower, and/or herb production. Recent advances by researchers and growers alike have turned aquaponics into a working model of sustainable food production. This publication provides an introduction to aquaponics with brief profiles of working units around the country. An extensive list of resources points the reader to print and Web-based educational materials for further technical assistance.

via Aquaponics – Integration of Hydroponics with Aquaculture.

Just when we thought that buying “Organic” was safe, we run headlong into the deliberate poisoning of our organic food supply by the FDA in collusion with none other than the folks who brought us Aspartame. NutraSweet, a former Monsanto asset, has developed a new and improved version of this neurotoxin called Neotame.

Neotame has similar structure to aspartame — except that, from it’s structure, appears to be even more toxic than aspartame. This potential increase in toxicity will make up for the fact that less will be used in diet drinks. Like aspartame, some of the concerns include gradual neurotoxic and immunotoxic damage from the combination of the formaldehyde metabolite (which is toxic at extremely low doses) and the excitotoxic amino acid.

via USDA Certified Organic’s Dirty Little Secret: Neotame | Farm Wars.

Canada’s most iconic food — maple syrup — is much healthier than previously believed, according to a new U.S. study that found a host of disease-fighting antioxidants in the sugary sap and highlights the lost benefits of smothering pancakes with “fake” liquid sweeteners instead of the “real” stuff.

via Maple syrup rich in antioxidants: Study.

Want to find America’s most successful entrepreneurs? Skip Silicon Valley and Manhattan; head to the rural Amish enclaves.Amish businesses have an eye-popping 95% success rate at staying open at least five years, according to author Erik Wesner’s new book, Success Made Simple: An Inside Look at Why Amish Businesses Thrive.

via Why Amish businesses don’t fail – May. 4, 2010.

Amy called a repair guy to come out, but he only has a voicemail that he checks once a day. I’m not a patient man when my food is spoiling.

A few trips to the stinky basement fridge with the perishables later I considered waiting it out. I had plans for the night (needed to make some beehives). But my friend Jason convinced me to at least take a look. I’m glad I took his advice.

It was pretty easy to figure out what was wrong. There are two fuses on the circuit board that runs the fridge. The main one had blown from an electrical surge. My house seems to get these regularly. I’ve already lost a couple computers.

The thing is, they put the damn fuses on the board by soldering them in. I can hear the repair tech now, “Sorry sir, it’s a bad computer board. I can have one ordered in three days. They cost about $200.”

It’s not that I know how to solder really. I’ve done it on a totally different scale doing stained glass, but never on a circuit board that I can remember. But I figured it was worth trying (carefully). If I couldn’t do it I’d bow out to the repair guy’s expertise and cringe while writing the check.

It was rather easy. I just heated up the pins while gently pulling on the fuse (with J’s assistance). It slid right out. Today I took it in to an electronics shop (Ken’s Electronics on Lake Street in Kalamazoo) and he fixed me right up with a replacement fuse. Grand total was $4.24 or so. He was a beekeeper too! He started back in the 40′s and at his height he maintained a few hundred hives. He said he has three now.

I didn’t need to add any more solder. Heated up the pins and they slid back in and held strong. I’m currently freezing the 5 gallons of chicken stock that Amy made out of our rooster in it. More to come on Amy’s first butchering job in another post.

Dr. Suzanne Simard is a professor with the UBC Faculty of Forestry, where she lectures on and researches the role of mycorrhizae and mycorrhizal networks in tree species migrations with climate change disturbance. Networks of mycorrhizal fungal mycelium have recently been discovered by Professor Suzanne Simard and her graduate students to connect the roots of trees and facilitate the sharing of resources in Douglas-fir forests of interior British Columbia, thereby bolstering their resilience against disturbance or stress and facilitating the establishment of new regeneration.

via Botany Photo of the Day: Mycorrhizal Networks.