Speaking of Science: News from the Oberlin College Science Library
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| Access F1000Posters.com |
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| access at USGS pubs |
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| Carbon is published by Elsevier; more info at Sciencedirect.com |
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| C.M. Hall, from Oberlin College Archives see also CM Hall collection guide |
To not know is fine. To not want to know is disastrous.Here is a further observation: Some people want to know, but don't know how to find or assess the accuracy of their information sources. More alarmingly, they don't know that they don't know how to find or assess information. The apparent ease of finding so much so quickly through any Web search engine does not translate into knowledge. Next time you feel completely certain, absolutely sure, that your understanding of a particular issue or problem is correct, take careful stock of the source of your information: who funded the research? is it free of bias? who reviewed the data before publication? who is likely to profit (or suffer) from the research results? do the authors hold educational degrees or certification relevant to their research findings?
(From Oberlin College Headlines) "In addition to supporting student-faculty research opportunities in his lab, Moore will use the CAREER grant to improve student understanding of the core concepts in evolutionary biology both at the college and high school levels. He plans to run a summer workshop for area high school teachers in which he’ll give instruction on phylogenetic concepts — material that isn’t covered in Advanced Placement biology curriculum, but necessary for intro-level biology courses in college. He will also work with the faculty who teach the introductory BIOL 102 course to implement new lab activities aimed at getting students up to pace on extracting plant DNA and building an evolutionary tree."
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| photo from aerospaceguide.net |
We have received an extraordinary book; part biography, part art, part science, and full of passion and creativity. It is a delight for the eyes and intellect - and it smells delightfully bookish, from the combination of so many colored inks and fine paper. The cover offers an extra treat of tactile pleasure, with slightly fuzzy imprinting of images and lettering. The content, of course, makes it truly special, giving insight into the lives of Marie and Pierre Curie, and their abiding love and shared genius in the discovery of radioactivity. The book considers also the scientific and romantic partnership of their daughter, Irene, with Frederic Joliot, who as a team discovered that radioactivity could be "provoked rather than simply observed," and worked so closely together that they could not always say who had an idea first. The author, Lauren Redniss, brings the reader to more contemporary issues as well, and provides copious source notes. It is sure to be off the shelf and into a borrower's hands quickly!
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| This delectable collection comes from Malley's of Cleveland, Ohio. And, closer to home: Suzin L. Chocolatier |
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| Felisa Wolfe, when she was an Oberlin College Science Library student assistant |
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| A message from the American Library Association |
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| Info @ Google books |
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The U.S. House of Representatives held a Hearing to review the status of pollinator health including colony collapse disorder (hearing before the Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture of the Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, One Hundred Tenth Congress, second session, June 26, 2008), providing abundant evidence of the cost and effect of CCD on farmers nationwide and USDA's research efforts to date."Human nature and bee nature were interconnected in how the puzzle pieces came together. Two brothers helped foster communication across disciplines. A chance meeting and a saved business card proved pivotal. Even learning how to mash dead bees for analysis — a skill not taught at West Point — became a factor.Now that the cause of CCD is more clearly understood, how can it be treated? That remains elusive:
"One perverse twist of colony collapse that has compounded the difficulty of solving it is that the bees do not just die — they fly off in every direction from the hive, then die alone and dispersed. That makes large numbers of bee autopsies — and yes, entomologists actually do those — problematic."
"Scientists in the project emphasize that their conclusions are not the final word. The pattern, they say, seems clear, but more research is needed to determine, for example, how further outbreaks might be prevented, and how much environmental factors like heat, cold or drought might play a role.Published in NYT online September 6, 2010.
"They said that combination attacks in nature, like the virus and fungus involved in bee deaths, are quite common, and that one answer in protecting bee colonies might be to focus on the fungus — controllable with antifungal agents — especially when the virus is detected."
"Graphene is a form of carbon. As a material it is completely new – not only the thinnest ever but also the strongest. As a conductor of electricity it performs as well as copper. As a conductor of heat it outperforms all other known materials. It is almost completely transparent, yet so dense that not even helium, the smallest gas atom, can pass through it.
"The list of possible applications for graphene is long. The relentless activity that began following its discovery will eventually most likely bear fruit. No-one can predict what the future might bring, not even this year’s Nobel Laureates."Take a look and enjoy the graphics. The images give a much better idea of graphene's structure! See also this book at SpringerLink: Progress in industrial mathematics at ECMI 2006 / Luis L. Bonilla ... [et al.], editors] for a few chapters on graphene.
After months (and months) of planning, we are at last embarking on our community read of Fahrenheit 451. The kickoff event, long scheduled at the fire circle in Tappan Square, will instead be indoors at The First Church, in the Meeting House (Sat., Oct. 2, 4pm). The forecast of rain and cold wind made the outdoor location less and less desirable (so unlike the brilliant blue sky, bright sun and fluffy white clouds visible from the science library windows at this moment).When the North Atlantic Caught a Chill - Surface cooling could have pushed down temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere 40 years ago.""The sudden cooling event [of 0.3 °C ] that Thompson and his colleagues report1 on page 444 of this issue [September 23] could help to solve a mystery: a prominent drop in the global mean surface temperature record around the same time. The ocean cooling, which may have resulted from a shift in currents, also offers a reminder of the North Atlantic's outsize role in climate."
Excellent background information is available in this text: 
As we prepare to welcome new students to campus tomorrow, today is, figuratively, our last day of summer. New beginnings! Library hours are a bit extended this week to accommodate departmental open houses held in the library and course registration in the iMac lab.
