Crystal faces reveal symmetries which reflect the geometric arrangements of their constituent atoms. All inorganic solids are crystalline, except glass. The concepts of symmetry are essential also to the understanding of life’s architecture. Your right hand has no symmetry. Two hands in prayer are related by a mirror symmetry (biology’s bilateral symmetry). Rotate one of […]
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Fear in the Hills
"There’s more people that are not in this room, who are out in the hall and spilled out into the street — I’m not saying they’ve got pitchforks, but there’s people out there who are really, really concerned about this and they’re not going to go away. … This code enforcement program is completely out […]
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Rogue Waves
Waves are intimately connected to everything, even electrons and such, but let us begin with those that can catch you unawares on the beach or boat. Such rogue waves can be lethal. Waves originate when wind blows across water. Two processes build larger waves from initial ripples: Frictional dragging and Bernoulli lifting. I have not […]
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The Notebook of Alternate Juror No. 4
I’ve been here a week and a half, sitting through jury selection, and I’ve learned a few new things about our justice system. For instance, I already knew the difference between direct and circumstantial evidence, but I didn’t know, as the judge patiently explained at least four or five times, that the two are equally […]
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After You’re Dead
What happens after you’re dead? The exact nature of the afterlife (if there is one) is debatable and far from certain. What is certain is that we leave behind a body, a mass of flesh and bone that someone has to deal with. Have you made plans for the disposition of your remains? Chances are […]
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Bankers’ Lunch: Second Course
With the national economy in the tank and the local election season just around the corner, we thought it time to reconvene our panel of high-finance pundits to discuss the state of affairs here on the ground. Patrick Cleary, 49, spent 17 years as an investment banker on Wall Street — 10 with Chase Manhattan […]
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Hunting Worms
I recently went big-game hunting in the bay for a jawed and venomous predator reputed to be two meters long. I found, instead, this interesting spaghetti-sprouting Polychaete worm named Cirriformis, just 10 cm long, lurking in smelly sulfidic mud. This species eats black mud from which it extracts organic material. According to Kelly Dorgan of […]
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Fish In The City
On a half-overcast day in early spring, environmental scientists Scott Bauer and Gordon Leppig get into a big, white, double-cab pickup with the California Department of Fish and Game logo on its door. Bauer starts the engine and steers the truck out of the parking lot of the DFG’s Eureka offices in Old Town, and […]
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Tsunami Terrors
Understanding the nature of tsunamis could save your life. They are usually caused by large earthquakes, coastal or submarine. You could expect timely warning of a tsunami generated thousands of miles away, but if our local Cascadia Megathrust is the culprit, the violent shaking would be your cue to head for the highest ground reachable […]
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The Not-So-Peaceful Atom
On a summer day in 1969,Bob Rowen, a nuclear control technician at the Humboldt Bay nuclear power plant, realized that for his employer, Pacific Gas and Electric, the bottom line was everything — it was even more important than the community’s safety. It wasn’t the first time Rowen, a burly former Marine, had witnessed safety […]
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In Formation
The V-formations of honking Aleutian Cackling Geese that decorate our skies pose the question as to whether they fly in formation for social cohesion or to conserve energy. The reason military jets fly in V-formation is not to conserve energy, but to permit trailing pilots to remain in visual contact with the leading pilot. Fortunately, […]
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Humboldt At War
This Thursday, March 20, marks the five-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. In Humboldt County, the occasion will be marked, this Saturday at 1 p.m., by the county’s annual peace march, which will start at the Eureka Municipal Auditorium. As always, the peace marchers will bring all sorts of issues to the event. Some […]