Notes – February 15, 2013

Lot to be thankful for this Valentine’s week:

...My sweetheart of a wife...with whom I have shared many good adventures all these years. 

...My sons, neighbors, relatives, colleagues, friends, and people remembered.

...My successful surgery a month ago today... and the gradual return of stamina.

...Signs of swelling buds and new sprouts – spring can not be far away... (But, oh, a little more rain would be welcome!)

...The asteroid that flew past us today did not hit us! http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-059  (The meteorite that struck Siberia had no relationship to the asteroid):  http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/sky-fall-meteorites-strike-earth-months-18509801

Antique Valentine

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Frost

By mid February I expect morning frost to be pretty well over - but still each morning, on my way out to pick up the morning newspaper I check the roofs of parked cars...  The evening dew undergoes an amazing transformation each frosty night!  As water cools the molecules slow their motion and the liquid water first becomes more tightly packed, and then change their crystalline pattern as they freeze.  For a gram of liquid water to freeze, 80 physics calories of heat must be given off to permit the physical change to take place.  If the air is cold enough the heat is easily carried away.  (1 teaspoon of water  = 5 grams)  (1000 physics calories = 1 food calorie)

Water Molecule diagram - Covalent bonds involves both atoms attracted to the same electrons

Each water molecule has two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen... The two hydrogen atoms are somewhat closer together at one end of the molecule.  Each water molecule is like a little weak magnet.  The  oxygen end is more positive in charge and the hydrogen end more negative.  In normal liquid water the molecules are drawn together or repulsed due to the weak interaction of the + and – charges...  But the attractions are weak and easily break and re-form in liquid water.  The electrical charges in the water molecules explain why a droplet of liquid water develops the surface tension that causes water drops to form little spheres ... like rain drops and drops from a faucet.  The positive and negative forces of the water molecules are pulling the molecules together into the most compact volume possible.

Surface tension in water is caused by the strong magnetic attraction between individual water molecules

Just before freezing the water molecules undergo a dramatic change.  When water cools down to form ice, the motion of the molecules continues to slows down.  At 4°C (39 °F) liquid water reaches it greatest density, but then if further cooled the bonding pattern of the water molecules changes in away that causes the over all density to become less than liquid water. The molecules begin to form into 6 sided crystals of ice as the freezing point is reached. 

Liquid water involves separate water molecules forming and reforming temporary hydrogen bonds with other water molecules.

This ice field in August has not yet collected enough summer heat to convert the ice crystals of winter into liquid water.

Because normal  water becomes more dense at it cools down, colder water is found at the bottom of a lake or ocean.  But once it starts to become more crystalline as ice forms, the ice is less dense that normal liquid water – and the ice forms on top of the liquid water. If ice was more dense that liquid water lakes and oceans would be frozen solid at lower depths and only the top-most  portion would thaw in the summertime.

Ice floats because it is less dense than liquid water

The frost patterns that I see formed on the cars and plants are due to the positive and negative attractions and repulsions between the chilled water molecules.  if I look closely I can see the same recurring angles and patterns in the ice caused by the 6 sided ice crystals.  ( Think of snow flakes. ) When the sun rises and there is adequate  heat energy to change ice back into liquid water, these bonds will break and the 6 sides molecules will break down to form free molecules again.

Ice crystals the world over form the same predictable angles and patterns - but in an infinite variety of specific arrangements.

How wonderful to think that this whole grand system of ice crystal frost structures that formed in the night will all be transformed with the addition the first morning sunlight providing heat. All this great complexity of detail will be gone in a few moments time.   No water molecules are created or destroyed in the process – Just the addition or withdrawal of heat energy causes the ice to form or disappear. 

Theoretical construct of how the water molecules combine together when ice molecules are formed.

And what about the energy of the sun – is it created or destroyed...?  Massive thermo-nuclear reactions on the sun force H atoms to combine into Helium atoms – releasing huge energy content.... Some small part of that is captured on the revolving earth,  and absorbed by the  soil, rocks and water – and then dissipated back into the blackness of space at night... Where  does that energy go?  Is there a unified  process to recycle or return the lost energy into a reverse of the “Big Bang”?  - I somehow find it comforting to think that there are areas for which we have no knowledge – no clue... The frontier of mystery always keeps beckoning.

All snow flakes are based on 6 sided ice crystals - since there are an infinite number of ways for the water molecules to combine to form the crystals we can safely assume that truly no two snow flakes can be identical.

So the conversion of liquid water to ice is an example of a conceptual model - The details of the process are not something that can be objectively seen but each step has been verified and confirmed by laboratory evidence and measurements.  Its a good example of a scientific theory.  Does that make it unreliable? No!  There are many processes in nature that can not be directly observable that have overwhelming evidence in their support.  In the nature of science this is not a dogma but an idea always open to further investigation and conclusions - its just that all evidence points to this interpretation and no better interpretations have been offered. If a better interpretation could be developed and confirmed by experimentation the scientific community would welcome that new idea. Scientific ideas are always open to reinterpretation.

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SOCIAL COMMENTARY OF THE WEEK: Source: Huffington Post,  International Labor Organization http://www.ilo.org/global/lang--en/index.htm

Why are we so stingy in our support of maternity leave?

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Notes - February 8, 2013

1.   Our great tilted planet is once more rotating into position for N. California to get more heat and light each day. Frosty mornings are becoming less common. Some plants are responding to the increased light by releasing hormones that stimulate flowering or other seasonal changes.  My arch-nemesis 'Acacia' is blooming its pretty yellow flowers that produce the first pollen allergy of the season!  Lovely! Mustard greens in my garden are rapidly coming to blossom...  After a very dry January we are off to a dry February – Today is tantilizingly misty ( at the moment ) ...

Thank goodness for that 23.5 degree tilt - it gives us our seasons!

2.  Today marks three weeks since my neck surgery – and I continue in recovery mode – improving daily... I walk about 40 minutes a day, I have gained back a reasonable amount of weight,  I once more enjoy swallowing and eating, and I am sleeping better at night.  I am not completely off codeine but I use only enough to sleep at night without pain.    Bad news – I am told that I should not plan to drive for another 3 weeks yet... My task now is to increase activity – but to avoid those things that are harmful. "Dont do anything stupid!" "Be patient".

Advertisements are the art of getting buy-in from potential customers - give them something positive with which to identify...

3.  The great human flaw – pretty much found in all cultures – is that of taking in a bit of information about a person or situation and forming a belief... a conclusion ... and then confusing that interpretation with reality.  A classic example that I have seen in many times and places is to “guess" the motivation of a person for acting as they did in a situation.  The real reason becomes less important than the theoretical  explanation developed in the viewers mind.  When we come to believe that our explanation  is correct, we end up defending that view rather than continuing to learn more about the person or situation. Many of us are slow to change even when faced with irrefutable facts.   I see this happening in politics, teachers in classrooms, interpersonal situations, and within families.  If  I am persuasive and believe in my interpretation of the facts, I may feel a great need to convince others to buy-in to my belief as well.  (Convincing others is a way to reinforce my own belief ).   When I was a teen ager I remember driving each day past a farm with a large hand made sign; : "US out of the United Nations".  I wonder what input he based his conclusion on.

There is a certain difference in identify in this situation

One of the saddest aspects of becoming fixed in a particular belief is how it cuts off and limits our ability to connect with the wider reality – Fixed beliefs build walls... Teen age kids tend to form an identity early – based on ethicicity, sports, pro or anti academics, music style, heros and heroines, politics, church groups, supremacy groups, sexual orientation, gangs...  And around many of these kids rigid walls form.  "I am this but not that."  "This is good and that is bad." "I can get away with this, but I will fight for that."  Once an identity is formed it often shapes the future direction and life of that person.  We are slow to change.  Go to a high school reunion and see how many people show the influence of early identity decisions made when they were 16.

This property owner does not welcome outsiders 

Fights erupt, bad feeling emerge, wars are fought over beliefs!  "Which team do you support?"  "What is your religion?" "What is your political party?" "What country or cultural group are you born into?" "What, you like Rachael Maddow (or Glen Beck)!?"

Two words that with very different meaning: Ignorance is the state of not having knowledge about a topic.    (We are each ignorant of many things.) Stupidity is slowness of mind.  Why do you think ignorance is the worst form of violence?

Over my lifetime I have developed firm ideas of who I am and what I value as important in matters of religion, politics, social issues, and the role of science in the development of human knowledge.   Some of my beliefs I hold most ardently.  My goal is to remain open to new ideas.  The challenge is to be able to listen to those with whom I disagree.  The challenge is to avoid wall-building but rather to engage in bridge-building.  I most probabily won't change the beliefs of my opponents but we both gain when we can continue to  talk.

Each of us from an early age builds a sense of who we are and what we stand for...

Do I meet my goal?  No - I build my share of walls when it comes to isolating myself from people of other political and social positions... We are more polarized as a nation than many times in our history.  Most of us tend to watch the evening news programs that reinforce our bias - but news sources themselves cater to polarized audiences.  BBC News America or the news on PBS probabily come the closest to balanced complete news coverage. My challenge and my goal is tobe open as I "grow" my beliefs and opinions.  ...to avoid a closed mind...The big question is how to be open and honest with myself and still hold fast to what  I believe to be life enhancing ideals...

Healthy discussion can be a balancing act - be honest and state your belief - but accepts the right of 'the other' to disagree

What distresses me most is when someone who disagrees with me feels that they can no longer engage in civil discussion and they feel that they are  left with no response but labelling and name calling.  This is a mark of a failed discussion... it leads to the building of walls and the closing off of communication... 

"DON'T MISS" - REFERENCES OF THE WEEK:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/01/us-gun-deaths-sandy-hook_n_2602074.html

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/02/1183558/-This-week-in-the-War-on-Workers-State-taxes-fall-heavily-on-the-poorest-people-lightly-on-the-rich

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/pro-gun-myths-fact-check

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 I'm still hungry!

Day 14 - post surgery

Only 2 half Codeine pill yesterday, a good 25 minutes of walking, and a two-hour mid-day nap…Motor and sensory reactions in hands and feet improved (about normal), and dizziness going away.  I am reading a lot but get quickly bored with most TV shows.  

One book I have been reading is called “Fat Chance- Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease “ http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Chance-Beating-Against-Processed/dp/159463100X

Roast Goat - Tanzania - 

disguises

I am not badly overweight but like many people today I have to consciously be on guard against weight gain.  Obesity in America is epidemic! Take a minute to examine the data: http://www.businessinsider.com/shocking-facts-obesity-america-2010-12?op=1 Obese people often make a joke of their weight – but the evidence points to a shorter life with less mobility and more disease.

Delaware - Soft shell crab dinner

Its almost funny how many different diet plans and theories have been offered in the last 20 years–Most all have been formulated from reasonable scientific  facts and observations.  A few that you will recall:  “all food calories are the same – if you want to lose weight just eat less”, “ eat only meat “, “avoid animal fat”, “avoid sugar and fat”, "eat eggs"- "dont eat eggs", "eat beef" - "dont eat beef". … If you find the current theory doesn’t strike your fancy just wait for the next one… “Fat Chance” delves into the history and reasoning of each theory and why each was purported to work… and then explains where each theory went awry. 

Thanksgiving dinner -Berkeley CA

Basically it comes down to a question of the endocrine system. Calories from different sources are processed by different metabolic routes!   The normal human pancreas produces insulin in response to the presence of sugar in the body. Thus a diabetic person who can not produce normal insulin may have glucose in their blood stream but be unable to take it into the body cells.   Table Sugar (sucrose) is made up of a molecule of glucose joined with a molecule of fructose.  These sugars were rare in nature before the advent of modern processing methods; and our bodies evolved over thousands of years to recognize sugar as an indicator of energy rich good food.  Insulin acts as a chemical signal to direct food directly into fat cells.  The presence of insoluble fiber in some foods (like fruit) slows down the action of the insulin to store food in the fat cells. 

Insulin has one more trick up its sleeve.  Excess Insulin leads to a perceived sense of hunger and a need to eat more.  Thus that piece of chocolate cake soon leads you to seeking something more to snack on...Sugar begets insulin which begets a sense of wanting more to eat!

 I highly recommend this brief video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

Back yard political fund raiser event

Our bodies have balancing mechanisms- and our fat cells also produce a chemical called Leptin that acts to counter the action of the Insulin. Leptin lets us know we have had enough to eat and it directs food into metabolic pathways that release energy for immediate cell use.    Fat cells – Leptin released - leptin signals that the body has enough stored energy in the fat cells.  Most modern humans, having strayed far from the diets under which we evolved, have altered normal leptin pathways....that may no longer recognize "normal" hormonal cues to stop eating.  This is largely due to a glut of fructose in our diet. 

Sashimi and sushi

Some of our human ancestors were hunters;  their food was primarily meat and animal fat.  Combined with their active life style, they developed a metabolism that could take in and store energy when it was available, to carry them over times when food was scarce. (Like the Atkins diet.) Other humans were gatherers that collected plant products from nature as the foods became seasonally available. (Much like Vegans today) Their foods were carbohydrate and plant proteins.

Czech kolache with dried fruit fillings combine fats and carbohydrates

Neither of these groups combined fats and carbohydrates naturally together because such combinations were not naturally found in any wild food.   Major health problems developed when it became possible to combine fat and carbs. into a daily diet…  This combination  is called the “Omnivore’s Dilemma”.  Our poor bodies are trying to do the best they can with a diet of food for which we have not evolved natural chemical pathways over millennia of time. Surplus fat is stored as subcutaneous fat or surplus colesterol is deposited within the arteries.

Carved fruit and vegetables - Thai banquet

The primary offender is processed sugar, added under many different disguises to many of our foods.  Read more about the disguises of sugar:   http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/sugars.htm.

The bottom line is that sugar, corn syrup all stimulate the release of insulin – and insulin directs food directly into fat cell storage.  Reduce insulin and food is directed to cells for immediate release of energy.  Reduce insulin and the sense of "fullness" clicks in after a good meal.   Eating natural fiber (not additives) also slows the action of the insulin.

Government health conscious programs in the mid twentieth century called for a reduction in the amount of fat that we eat – and so to make food tasty and more profitable, food processors increased the amount of sugar and corn sweetener in their products.   Fiber has also been removed from processed foods - the sale of food would decrease if the customer  experiences normal  "fullness" after eating.  Combine this with "super sizing" orders and you go a long ways toward explaining our national obesity problem.

Fresh apricots

In addition processed starch, white flour, other carbs that have had fiber removed quickly break down in the body to form more sugars…  Natural fiber in grains and fruit slow the process and allows more of the food to be routed into energy release rather than fat cell development.  Six carbon fructose sugar does not directly stimulate insulin, but has the effect of removing the bodies ability to respond to Leptin, which means that the awareness of "enough to eat" is cancelled.

Best diet: Eat "real" food  - not processed food.  Avoid sugars in their various forms, select foods with high natural fiber.  

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Post Surgery 1.25.13

I have nothing but praise for my surgeon, the nursing staff, and the follow up support after my surgery last Friday.  (I had a “disc” issue in my neck – and had two vertebrae fused, along with the removal of a laminae).  Kaiser Hospital Redwood City is the Kaiser regional center for all NW regions Kaiser neurosurgery – and they certainly have their ducks in a row.   But, oh my goodness, it feels good to be home again.  My dear sweet wife if taking very good care of me, under the watchful eyes of our three Jack Russell pups who cant quite figure out why I am not am active playful self.  From start to finish my hospital stay was about 40 hours.   Now I am trying to wean myself from codeine, but pain levels have been low throughout the recovery procedure.  I fear that my biggest challenge is going to be keeping a lid on my activities as I start to feel better…  I want to do this recovery thing right and not do anything to jeopardize the healing process.  The progress forward varies from day to day - but I am on the mend.  After teaching anatomy and physiology for years there is part of me that is looking at this whole process as a fascinating science experiment - a case history - and its a bit odd to be on the inside of it!  Part of my response is emotional - I'm not sure how much of that is induced by the many chemicals and drugs to which I have been exposed and how much is my own internal life/world.

Counting down from the top I had Cervical 3 and 4 fused

It is amazing how an incident like this focuses my mind on all that I am thankful for.  Like most folks I get involved in “ideas” and “attitudes” and “opinions” and think that they are the real “me”…  At the moment I feel most aware of being thankful for the healing process, for the return of arm and leg functions that had slipped with my disc issues… Thankful for the support of friends and family that have let me know their concern for me through the process…(I had about equal responses from people who held me in their prayers and those who promised to ‘hold a good thought for me’ – I cherish them both)… Thankful for the medical knowledge and skill on my medical team…and thankful for insurance that made the process affordable within my reach.  

This was one of those times when it has been possible to peek outside my daily routine to see the broader scope of things

 We have been stockpiling TV programs and documentaries for just such a time – I look forward to getting caught up on “Downton Abby” and PBS specials … also I have my Kindle loaded with good books to read.  But wouldn’t you know that my desktop computer choose this exact moment to have a hard drive problem – Judy is taking it in today for a “fix”.  I am writing on my laptop, which is not a bad alternative.  I am certainly wired electronically in ways that would have been unknown a few years ago.

I really miss my daily encounters with interns and student teachers – Both the staff at Loyola Marymount U. and Mills College have both been very understanding and supportive.  I have good colleagues and friends who are covering for me in my absence – but I miss the stimulation of my visits.  I am anxious to return to full activity.