The Homely Scientist

Thanks again to Laura for this really cool link (she fessed up she got a calendar for Xmas with a cool link a day).  Ever want to know more about snow and snowflakes than you ever thought possible?  This is the place.  I haven’t scratched the surface of the site, but I’m sure there will be cool (ha ha) projects and stuff to do.

Speaking of snowflakes, on CSY:NY last night one of the CSIs fix a snowflake to a slide with superglue to look at its structure and then be able to set a time.  Okay, I know CSI is often out there on the science, but this I can’t believe.  If all my snow wasn’t melting I might try it.  Of course I have slides, coverslips, and glue around!  Who do you think you’re reading! ;)

Tags: snow, snowflakes

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So my last post was on the 24th that I made the top five of the CBAs, then nothing.  What happened?  Snow.  10+ in of it, and we lost power at noon on Sunday (the whole freakin’ Island).  Just got power back on about a couple hours ago.  So, when I dig out from about a ga-billion feeds, I’ll start posting again.

Tags: snow, no power

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I submitted two of my blogs to the Canadian Blog Awards … they are in the same category, Sci-Tech.  So, A View from the Isle (my bloggy homebase) and Homely Scientist are up there.  While I see now that is was stupid for me to submit both in the same category (I didn’t think both would be accepted), how about this … you, dear readers, choose which one you like and read more and vote for that one.  Haven’t read HS but like VftI, vote VftI (and vice versa).  You can vote more than once, just not more than once a day.  Please vote for me!

The first round of voting closes November 21st.

Tags: Canadian Blog Award, CBA

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My process to quit smoking took a major leap forward yesterday, I bought a nicotine inhaler!  I had tried one at Lorraine’s brother’s house and thought it was pretty good.  But since I couldn’t find one right off the bat I continued with the cold turkey routine.

No, it hasn’t been easy.  No, I haven’t slipped.  But the nicotine cravings were still pretty intense and I really missed the whole smoking habit thing.  The nicotine inhaler handles that all really well for me.

Here’s how it works (and it’s really cool).  The nicotine (with a little touch of menthol) is in this sponge within a plastic cylinder that is sealed until you use it.  The mouth piece opens up and you push the cylinder into one end breaking the seal then put the other end on breaking that seal, then lock together.  The next part, of course, is to puff on it.  The nicotine is pulled into the air coming into the end of the device then into my mouth.  My mouth then absorbs the nicotine.  Ahhh.  You can "smoke" up to six of the cylinders a day and they each last for about 20 mins of total puffing.  You can tell when you’re getting a hit because you can really feel it in your throat (not pleasant, but manageable).

How does this help?  I can have a hit when I need it.  It’s compact, and pretty cost effective.  The kit with 30 cylinders was about $30.  Unlike the patch where I have to use one everyday, all day and it doesn’t help with the habit of smoking, this is really up to me.

Yeah, it’s helping.  I used three yesterday and only one so far today.  The idea, of course, is to slowly wean yourself off them.  I think I’ll be able to do that and keep some around for emergency "nic fits" in the future.

You can see more pictures of the system in this Flickr set.  I am not endorsing the brand shown, that’s just what’s available up here.

Tags: quitting smoking

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Yes … it’s been almost a week.  Yes, I’m a little jumpy and tense.  Yes, I am also eating everything in sight.  But I haven’t smoked.

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From Real Tech News and Fast Company I found a great list of reasons why you should use compact fluorescent bulbs (CFCs).  Personally just about every light in my place has a CFC.  Only exceptions are a couple ones I can’t reach without a tall ladder and a light that has a dimmer switch on it (CFCs don’t work with dimmers).  And if you think you can’t put a CFC in an enclosed light, you can!  You do have to look for bulbs that allow it (read the fine print) and it will shorten the life of the bulb (so it lasts 6 years instead of 7, big deal).  I did try a CFC (original type) in an enclosed light and it died in like days.  My bad.  And, you can get CFCs in soft white or natural light.  We have both kinds and it depends on where the light is which to use.  I have the whiter kind in a lamp over my desk, but the yellower kind in the overhead switched light.  Energy savings?  Huge.  Buy a couple to try out.  Maybe your desk lamp, or a hallway light.  Yes, some CFCs do take a couple seconds to "warm up" and produce full light output, but that is manageable for all the good you’re doing, right?  Right?

You bet.  BC Hydro out here runs a yearly program to give away CFCs to customers and offer trade-ins for halogen lamps and old-style Christmas tree lights (try the LED ones, last longer, safer, and use a fraction of the energy regular ones do).  Check with your local power company if they have a similar program.

Tags: compact fluorescent bulbs, CFC bulbs, energy saving

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Yes, and in a new house, in fact. That’s why I’ve been, ummm, rather absent lately. I didn’t think I had gathered so much stuff in such a short period of time! Regardless I’m in my new place on beautiful Pender Island (here’s my Flickr photo set of various Pender pics). One of the coolest things about Pender is that beach access points are everywhere. This means that there are tons of opportunities to see wildlife. Lorraine took this amazing picture of a sea anemone (note the cup sponge to the right as well). So, that’s it. I’m pretty much moved, settling into our new place. Posting should resume soon. Maybe something on the physics of moving.

Now, where’s that bottle of pain killers …

 Here are some books you might like:

Gotta know what you’re looking at! And this is part of a great series of kids books.  My daughter really enjoyed this one.

Tags: Pender Island

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Our dependence on petroleum is a huge problem.  Let’s get beyond the whole greenhouse gases and global warming thing and just look at the bare fact: it’s running out.  And remember it isn’t just gasoline that we get from oil, it’s plastics, drugs, dyes, and a myriad of other critical things in your lives.  Sure, we’re finding ways to squeeze more oil out of the Alberta Oil Sands, but this is a short term fix, what we need is a solution.  So we’ve been looking at powering our cars on gas and electricity (hybrids), hydrogen fuel cells, just electricity, and alternative fuels like ethanol.

In the last couple days I’ve come across a bunch of interesting articles about the whole hydrogen as a fuel debate.  From AlwaysOn and EcoWorld comes a pair of articles making a really good case for why hydrogen isn’t the way to go.  You will note, however, that EcoWorld has some really big banner ads for corn-based ethanol fuels from GM.  I am not saying that they are biased, but you do have to see the potential agenda there.  That being said, hydrogen does have a lot of problems.  It isn’t easy to make.  The Earth’s gravity isn’t actually strong enough to keep those darn H2 molecules around very long, so storage is a huge issue.  Oh, yeah, and it tends to like to explode (remember the Hindenberg?).  Sure it just turns into water, but umm, having done those experiments in school, you don’t want a tank of H2 of any size going off (no, it wouldn’t be a thermonuclear explosion, just one helluva boom and fire).

So, alternative.  Well there is just pure electricity.  With better batteries you could reduce the amount of gas required to charge up the car.  According to TechReview, this might be possible.  Also from TechReview is an interesting article about genetically engineering bacteria to make electricity from waste.  We certainly have enough waste, that’s for sure!

But, what is the common thread here?  Below the surface of all of this is that we are going to have to look at changing our lifestyles.  I have read post-apocalyptic scenarios where high gas prices during the American suburb into either a rich person’s paradise or ghost towns because no one can afford to drive to work.

Might be a good time to push telework, eh?

Tags: hybrid cars, hydrogen fuel cells, hydrogen fuel, electric cars

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So where have I been?  I mean my last posts were May 12 on CFS awareness day, mammoths, and the impending summer hot spell coming our way.  Well I’ve been Meshing.  Huh?  Yeah I was at the Mesh 2006 conference in Toronto.  I’ve been wearing my Qumana Blogi Master hat all week so posting about science hasn’t really been possible.  I have been blogging my fingers to the bone about Mesh, though, so if you’re interested you can wander over to my "other" blog and read about it (sorry no beakers of coffee there).

So, weather.  I’m experiencing some "weather" at this moment.  It seems that mother nature has decided, in her great wisdom, to grace Toronto with a thunderstorm.  Yeah a mite early.  So I’m thinking about lightning.  Lightning is really, really dangerous stuff.  Lots of volts.  Lots.  Like we as people cannot generate enough electricity in a power plant to equal it.  Yeah really.  As for airports, besides the clearly bad thing if a plane gets hit, the workers are restricted from being on the tarmac and such when there is lightning in the area.  So no bags on or off.  Pretty much, things grind to a halt.  Ick.  Let’s see right now we’ve got people waiting to got all over Canada.

More lightning facts:  cars are safe.  As long as you don’t touch anything metal.  But someone has to ground the car first before you can get out.

Also both my dad and grandfather (his dad) were struck by lightning, and survived.  I figure there is something about us Hussey’s that attracts it, so I’m careful to be indoors and not under lone trees, using ladders, or swinging golf clubs during a storm (all of these things are things you should not do during a lightning storm.

I’ll be back on track tomorrow with a few books I’ve heard about that are now on my reading list.

Also my friend Joey is going to enlighten (ha ha) us on how to make ice cream with your feet (kinda)!

Until then … I’m waiting.

Tags: mesh06, lightning

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As you all know I’m in the process of quitting smoking.  I say process on purpose because it isn’t an overnight thing.  Myself, I opted to use the patch, which gives my body the nicotine it craves through my skin.  I had a check up (more like check in for a refill) with my doctor today and he had some really interesting things to say about the patch.

While he thinks the patch is good for starters, there is a flaw in it.  The lowest dose available is 7 mg (miligrams).  I’m on the 14 mg right now (and will be for a couple more weeks I think).  My next step is the 7 and then … whoops nothing.  My doc said that I need to be ready to deal with the total absence of nicotine when I stop my 2 week stint on the 7s.  His suggestion to me was to try the gum as my last bit.

So the patch works to reduce the amount of nicotine I’m getting, but he really thinks that there should be smaller steps.  Because right now my body is getting used to 14 mg.  When I drop that by half, I’m going to have some adjusting to do.  Our figuring together was that there are manufacturing limitations in making lower dose patches, and it’s probably confusing (and maybe economically infeasible) to have more than a few steps in the process.

My doc (who is my age and we actually look a lot a like … well he’s 6 feet + tall and I’m far from that) has done his homework on this and is right up on the latest studies on how some people are more wired to become addicted than others (I’ve read those whose mother’s smoked when pregnant with them are in this group).

Bottom line.  It’s not an easy process for many, it’s going to take time and creativity.  My doc is glad, of course, that I am quitting.

Tags: smoking cessation, quit smoking, the patch

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