Is High Fructose Corn Syrup Causing Bee Colony Collapse?

It seems that there is a possible link between feeding bees high fructose corn syrup and colony collapse disorder.

A team of entomologists from the University of Illinois studying the collapse of honeybee colonies around the world say that their findings indicate that by eating the replacement food instead of honey, the bees are not being exposed to other chemicals that help the bees fight off toxins, such as those found in pesticides.

The team outlines their research and findings in a paper they've had published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Modular Robots MOSS Cubelets

MOSS Cubelets is a modular robot construction kit intended for kids to demonstrate the workings of robots and encourage the development of engineering skills.

Each module has specific properties and they are joined to each other by magnets and by connecting them together you can create a robot to do tasks. You can control them with your iOS or Android device, also.

A little pricey, but hey, for a couple hundred dollars maybe your kids can skip Robotics 101-210 in college. That should save you a few thousand.

Travel Photo of the Week

Uppsala, Sweden

The Higgs Boson Re-Explained By The Mick Jagger Of Physics

Because you need to know. Because when J.J. Thomson discovered the electron, in 1895, he raised a glass of champagne and proposed a toast "to the useless electron." Because everyone loves comics.

Twinsters

Here's another Kickstarter project of interest. These 26 year old twin sisters were separated at birth, adopted and then raised on different continents, each without any knowledge of the other.

Then one discovered the other on the internet.

Math Models Predicted Global Uprisings

A year ago I ran an entry concern-
ing rising food prices and global instability. At the time, there were various groups working on this. The New England Complex Systems Institute was one at the forefront and their paper on the issue, from the year before, laid out the numbers in this potential crisis.

The paper charted the rise in the FAO food price index (which the UN uses to map the cost of food over time) and found that whenever it rose above 210, riots broke out worldwide. The FAO Food Price Index averaged 203.4 points in January 2014. If broken down, both dairy and sugar are already above 210 points, with meat, cereals and vegetable oils in the 180s.

Food prices are set to spike again this year. With so much current unrest in so many places it might be a good time to review the work of the NECSI.

Fun Time! How To Fly Paper Airplane In An Endless Loop!

Elegant Pre-Fab Small Home

Here's another beautiful small abode. Called the MINIMOD, this one is being developed in a joint venture by Brazilian and Uruguayan architectural firms Studioparalelo and Maam Arquitectos.

From the website...

"MINIMOD proposes an innovative, intelligent and sustainable alternative for dwelling, enjoying the benefits of the off site construction (OSC) technology, with no waste and no mess. The house has a modulated structure and design, which allows multiple configurations and customizations. Starting from a minimal module, MINIMOD invests in customization, design and sustainability."

The $199 3D Printer

Want a 3D printer, but don't want to put up $2K+ or put it together from a kit? Then you might be interested in the Micro3D from M3D.

Next month, the company, located in Bethesda, Maryland, is doing a Kickstarter for their new printer. The Micro3D will take multiple materials, not just PLA and ABS plastic. The print resolution is as fine as 50 microns and while it comes with its own software for printing, it is also open source.

The print space is a little small, but at $199 - $299, you can get your feet wet in this very exciting technology.

I'll be getting one.

Travel Photo of the Week

Dadawtaung Temple, Burma

Did The 1870s Horse Flu Help Bring Us The Automobile?

I found this interesting item on Slashdot. It seems that a horse flu outbreak in 1870s killed up to 5% of the
nations horses and had a deep impact on the country's economy.

From  a related source: "In the 1870s, an immense horse flu outbreak swept across North America. City by city and town by town, horses got sick and perhaps 5 percent of them died. This happened at a time when horsepower was actual horse power. The horse flu outbreak pulled the rug out from under the economy."

Now what I find interesting is that Henry Ford was born in 1863 and would have been a preteen when this occurred. Events such as this can have a profound impact on the mind of a young person. The question I'd like to ask is: Could this event been the impetus for the automobile?

Lots Of Folks Living Small

Andrew Waits is a photographer based in Seattle, Washington, who has created a blog called Boondock, which explores the lives of folks travelling and living out of campers and trailers on the Pacific coast.

Click HERE to see all the photos.

Responding To Potential Asteroid Threats

What with last year's " relatively small asteroid entered Earth's atmosphere, exploding over Chelyabinsk, Russia, and releasing more energy than a large atomic bomb", it looks like we're finally waking up.

From the NASA mission statement...

"Tracking near-Earth asteroids has been a significant endeavor for NASA and the broader astronomical community, which has discovered 10,713 known near-Earth objects to date. NASA is now pursuing new partnerships and collaborations in an Asteroid Grand Challenge to accelerate NASA’s existing planetary defense work, which will help find all asteroid threats to human population and know what to do about them. In parallel, NASA is developing an Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) -- a first-ever mission to identify, capture and redirect an asteroid to a safe orbit of Earth's moon for future exploration by astronauts in the 2020s."

It's about time. Read more HERE.

Fun Time! Beautiful Stop-Motion Short From Kirsten Lepore!

Move Mountain by Kirsten Lepore.



Plus! Bonus Fun Time Making Of!

High Resolution Poster Of Our Galaxy

Just what you've always wanted right? Click on the image to see it full-size. Get the hi-res PDF by clicking HERE.

Proposed Olympic Sport: Crowboarding

This video is remarkable for so many reasons: tool use; self-awareness (prerequisite for the ability to enjoy an experience); the repeated enjoyment of experience; knowing how to to achieve the experience (probably by watching children in the snow; which in and of itself is remarkable).

Also, interesting: people seem to like skiing and snowboarding because of the "flying" feeling. It's looks like birds might prefer winter sports to flying!

Travel Photo of the Week

Madrid, Spain

World's First Entanglement-Enhanced Microscope

Here's something new: a microscope that uses the properties of quantum entanglement.

The researchers at Hokkaido University in Japan say it "works by focusing two beams of photons into spots next to each other on a flat sample and measuring the interference pattern they create after they have been reflected. When both spots hit a flat part of the sample, they travel the same path length and create a corresponding interference pattern. But when the spots hit areas of different heights, the interference pattern changes".

Who says that physics isn't useful?

Want To Look At Global Warming? Here You Go!

New Scientist is offering an interactive world map that shows any place on Earth and the rise in temperature that it has experienced over the last hundred years.

MakeVR

If you already have a 3D printer, then this is the Kickstarter project for you. MakeVR is a software/controller package that is designed to make the CAD part of the process intuitive and much easier.

Super Fun Time! LEGO/Marvel Fun!

First, we have a lovely LEGO animated version of the new Captain America movie trailer.



And then we have some photos of the proposed X-Men’s X-Mansion LEGO playset. It takes 10,000 votes for production to be considered, so go vote for it by clicking HERE.

Neurochemistry And Aggression

A very interesting video from the New York Times on brain chemistry, genetics and aggression.

The Hackney Shed

From Humble Homes comes a photo spread on a lovely writing shed located in a backyard in Hackney, London. Lots of shelf space and well insulated. Just my kind of place.

Travel Photo of the Week

Vaucluse Spring, Stephens City, VA

Share This With All Schools, Please (And Everybody Else, Too)

Chase Melton is a lucky child. Every Friday afternoon his teacher "asks her students to take out a piece of paper and write down the names of four children with whom they’d like to sit the following week. The children know that these requests may or may not be honored. She also asks the students to nominate one student whom they believe has been an exceptional classroom citizen that week. All ballots are privately submitted to her.

"And every single Friday afternoon, after the students go home, Chase’s teacher takes out those slips of paper, places them in front of her and studies them. She looks for patterns. Who is not getting requested by anyone else? Who doesn't even know who to request? Who never gets noticed enough to be nominated? Who had a million friends last week and none this week? You see, Chase’s teacher is not looking for a new seating chart or 'exceptional citizens.'

"Chase’s teacher is looking for lonely children. She’s looking for children who are struggling to connect with other children. She’s identifying the little ones who are falling through the cracks of the class’s social life. She is discovering whose gifts are going unnoticed by their peers. And she’s pinning down- right away- who’s being bullied and who is doing the bullying.

"It is like mining for gold – the gold being those little ones who need a little help – who need adults to step in and TEACH them how to make friends, how to ask others to play, how to join a group, or how to share their gifts with others. And it’s a bully deterrent because every teacher knows that bullying usually happens outside of her eyeshot – and that often kids being bullied are too intimidated to share. But as she said – the truth comes out on those safe, private, little sheets of paper.

"As Chase’s teacher explained this simple, ingenious idea – I stared at her with my mouth hanging open. 'How long have you been using this system?' I said.

"Ever since Columbine, she said. Every single Friday afternoon since Columbine."

Why does Chase's teacher do this? Because she realizes that all violence begins with disconnection.

Quoted material is excerpted from Glennon Doyle Melton's blog, Momastery.com. Please go read the rest there. It's important.

Stratasys Objet500 Connex3 Color Multi-Material 3D Printer

This was bound to happen sooner rather than later. 3D printer company Stratasys has developed the Objet500 Connex3, a printer that uses multiple colors and materials in its print.

Only $250,000, but I'm sure prices will come down.

Beautiful Student-Designed Portable Home

From Treehugger.com, "Designed and constructed by sixteen students, the OTIS (which stands for Optimal Traveling Independent Space) is an aerodynamic, pod-shaped design, made to be towed on a standard 5 by 8 foot trailer and a four-cylinder vehicle. It has its own rainwater collection system that feeds into the indoor plumbing, in addition to the 120-watt solar panel system to provide electricity. To handle human waste, the OTIS uses a composting toilet."

Fun Time News Flash! Glove And Boots Wins The Superbowl!