I have recently started tagging articles using Google Reader. This is a tool that allows me to easily post stories that I've read online.

If you would like to, you can subscribe to the feed provided and then you can easily keep track of stuff that I've been reading.

Google Reader is an alternative to me emailing links to articles I have been reading. Sort of a simplified blog. If you were subscribed, you may have noticed that I am no longer using this blog. So, check things out there if you are interested.

The return of science

What a really great piece on the return of science.  I also found the comments on China interesting.

"There is no democracy in China, and some would argue that despite that nation’s vast resources and potential, there will not be vigorous science there either until the Chinese leaders take seriously what Mao proclaimed back in 1955 and then cynically withdrew: Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend."

Sci-Fi Literature

I really enjoyed this piece in Wired on sci-fi as the last refuge of real philosophical literature. Of course, I'm a bit of biased audience since I'm a sci-fi geek, but his arguments are interesting.

Seville's Solar Tower

I heard about this in an NPR story and followed up by watching a video from the BBC. This thing is incredibly cool! I'd love to see it in person. This "solar tower" uses 600 mirrors to focus the sun's rays on a single point at the top of the tower where water is heated for turning turbines. I had heard of a different "solar tower" design that used panels and convection for moving air-driven turbines, but this one was new to me.

(Rhetorical question) Why isn't the US involved in more research like this? Each of these designs comes from other countries.

City Museum

While recently in St. Louis on vacation, I had one of the coolest experiences. The City Museum! This place is part art, part playground and all fun. Seems like a large group of artists were set loose on this old abandoned shoe factory and went wild creating art from "found objects" (e.g. "junk") from in and around the city. The results are amazing. The highlight was MonstroCity, which is the outdoor playground consisting of old airplanes, a castle turret, and bunch of scaffolding that you climb through, with many tight squeezes and vertigo-inducing heights. You can see our pics at Flickr (and see all "citymuseum" tagged photos) and there are loads of cool pics on their website. Better yet, go and experience it for yourself!

You can read about the City Musuem at there website. There is also a very interesting feature in Wired magazine.

Photo in Post-Dispatch

We recently made a family trip to St. Louis (my hometown) and visited the Gateway Arch. While taking pictures outside, a photographer approached me and took this shot that ended up on the front page of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. We went two days after a recent outage that they experienced with their tram system (that takes you to the top). Everything is still running fine, but they had to shut down one side of the Arch tram system and it made big news. The photo at the left is the resulting picture you see me taking in the newspaper photo.

Wolf migration to Colorado

This is old news, but it was news to me. The Colorado Division of Wildlife believes they have evidence of wolf migration into Colorado. They even posted a video. It appears a male wolf may have crossed the border with Wyoming to possibly establish territory or to look for a mate. Of course, this doesn't really constitute a migration as he might of just crossed back over into Wyoming. But as the gray wolf population grows (estimates have 3,800 in the lower 48) and with the incredible range of these animals, such migrations could continue. Thankfully, any wolf in Colorado is currently protected under USFWS regulations as it is still listed as an endangered species. But western states (Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Colorado) are drafting their own management plans to handle wolves as they will become responsible if wolves are taken off the endangered species list. Currently, the de-listing of the wolf is expected to become a protracted legal battle.

I mentioned the incredible range of these animals. They can defend territory ranging from 50 to 1,000 square miles. For fun, I calculated the rough distance a wolf might have migrated if this sighting (north of Walden, CO) was a Yellowstone wolf (see Yahoo map - about 500 miles). The Colorado DOW found no tag or collar that would indicate it was a Yellowstone wolf and it is possible that it migrated from another state (Idaho, Montana, New Mexico and Arizona all were part of a reintroduction program as well as Wyoming/Yellowstone). Still, it is sort of fun to imagine these animals traveling these distances.

You can read more about the gray wolf here:

• Gray Wolf - Colorado Division of Wildlife
• NRDC: Wildlife on the Brink - Gray Wolf (Rockies/Prairie)