today
9 a.m. Doris Niles Humboldt County Science Fair Humboldt State University
read >10 a.m. Annual Juggling Festival Humboldt State University
read >10:30 a.m. Green Jobs Fair College of the Redwoods Downtown Site
read >11 a.m. Baby Read and Grow Program Humboldt County Library
read >1 p.m. Apple Solutions for Small Business See Event Description
read >4 p.m. Young Parent Support Group College of the Redwoods Kinship Site
read >6 p.m. The Tumbleweeds (cowboy songs) Chapala Cafe
read >6 p.m. Bon Swing Libation
read >6 p.m. Annual Pisces Party See Event Description
read >6 p.m. Annual Pisces Party See Event Description
read >7 p.m. DJ Ray Boiler Room
read >7:30 p.m. Arianna String Quartet Calvary Lutheran Church
read >7:30 p.m. A Midsummer Night's Dream Arcata High School
read >8 p.m. Eureka Symphony Concert Arkley Center for the Performing Arts
read >8 p.m. Humboldt Folkdancers Arcata Presbyterian Church
read >8 p.m. On the Wings of a Dove Carlo Theater (Dell'Arte)
read >8 p.m. Antigone College of the Redwoods
read >8 p.m. So Hum Tales Mateel Community Center
read >8 p.m. Gentle Thunder Arcata Playhouse
read >8:30 p.m. The Last Minute Men (international) Cafe Mokka
read >9 p.m. Taxi (rock & roll) Bear River Casino
read >9 p.m. Vintage Soul (R&B) Cher-Ae-Heights Casino
read >9 p.m. Bump Foundation Pearl Lounge
read >9 p.m. The Brothers Comatose (folk) Six Rivers Brewery
read >9 p.m. The Malone (rock Red Fox Tavern
read >10 p.m. Music by DJ Sidelines
read >10 p.m. DJ Ninja Retro Dance Party Aunty Mo's Lounge
read >previous columns
April 10, 2008
Sailing
The physics of sailing is outlined in the first diagram, ...
read >April 3, 2008
Ancient Mariners
Sailing is an ancient enterprise. Humans used the wind to ...
read >March 27, 2008
Hunting Worms
I recently went big-game hunting in the bay for a ...
read >Photos
Designer Fruit
By Don Garlick
Preparing a bowl of fruit for lunch reminded me of the tremendous diversity existing within the Kingdom of Plants. The largest Phylum, Angiosperm (flowering plants), contains hundreds of thousands of species. Recall Kingdom-Phylum-Class-Order-Family-Genus-Species? I hereby offer four favorite flavors of fruit.
The kiwi's story is interesting: I thought it was native to New Zealand until Wikipedia informed me that it is the National Fruit of China. It was carried to N.Z. a century ago and improved there by selective breeding. Italy is now the world's major producer. Kiwis do ripen in our local climate.
One family you may not expect to see flourishing in our wet climate would be the Cactaceae. Cacti are generally considered to be hot-desert plants. Yet, I encountered these ripe prickly pears in a local cactus garden. I was further surprised to learn that a small species of prickly pear growing in Canada is hardy to minus 50 degrees C (-60 degrees F)!
Oranges can hybridize with grapefruits, lemons and limes, so all these varieties of citrus belong to the same species. The navel orange, however, is special in that it originated in 1820 as a mutation in one Brazilian tree. The mutation rendered it seedless. Thus, all navel oranges are clones of that one tree, propagated by grafting twigs onto other citrus root stock.
Bananas differ from all the above by being monocots (e.g. rice) rather than eudicots (e.g. beans). The wild banana of S.E. Asia has prominent seeds. Cultivated seedless bananas are propagated by planting suckers. Common commercial bananas are identical clones of one plant. There is concern that a disease could destroy this genetically homogeneous variety as happened to the previous top banana 50 years ago.
On YouTube you can find an amusing video in which the "perfect" banana is presented as evidence for Intelligent Design. The presenter is unaware that the "perfect" design is human, not divine. And how should we interpret the enticing prickly pear that punishes the eager eater with a mouthful of fine spines?




















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