Fish, Minds and Mars

SOMETHING'S FISHY:  Heard from the fam down south this morning.  They were on the grounds of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's Willamette Fish Hatchery, in Oakridge, Ore.

On the grounds, there are ponds with fish, including some big ol' white sturgeon. They are 5 to 8 feet long, and 20 to 50 years old. There are also a bunch of rainbow trout and spring Chinook salmon.  When Christian was on the phone with me, they were buying food to feed the fishies.

In an odd but welcome development, there was also a mini mini-golf course on site.  Not sure what the fish-putt-putt connection is?  Well the 9-hole course shows the lifecycle of a salmon.  Fun and educational!

There are trails around the park, and check out this cool, oversized map that's also a work of art!

The photos above are all from the Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife's Web site.  Hopefully the MPA crew took some shots of their own.

ALMOST ANNIVERSARY:  Can you believe it's been nearly a year since the Mars Science Laboratory landed on the Red Planet?  Do you remember those two minutes of terror as it descended last Aug. 5 (Pacific Coast time/day)?  I sure do!

NASA has put together a two-minute retrospective of MSL's first 12 months in this video (shot from the rover's perspective).http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Alq08Poqb0&feature=youtu.be

MATH MATTERS: I've been playing catch up this week in my class, "How to Learn Math" via Stanford and edX.

Most of the lectures I've been watching this week have talked about the importance of mistakes. Historically, the standard definition of a mistake (especially in math!) is that it's a failure and something to be avoided at all costs.

Turns out that's not the case.

Professor Jo Boaler has used many examples, anecdotes and scientific studies to illustrate the value in making mistakes in math class. She's talked about how they lead to new pathways and synapses begin formed in our brains. That's right - mistakes make your brain grow! Isn't that an empowering thought? She's also spent a fair amount of time talking about the differences between a 'fixed mindset,' people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits, and a 'growth mindset,' people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work, when it comes to learning.

For more on mindsets, check out the Web site for the book all about it, by Stanford University psychologist Carol Dwick:  http://mindsetonline.com/index.html.  And There's a great article in Scientific American that talks about the fixed/growth topic here: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/literally-psyched/2012/02/18/hamlet-and-the-power-of-beliefs-to-shape-reality/

One of our assignments today was to create a classroom poster that would let students know that mistakes are to be valued. Here's what I came up with after a little noodling and messing around in Photoshop.  I used educational clip art from http://schools.clipart.com/

Driven

       

ONE SMALL SCOOP FOR MAN:  It has begun. Bertha, the world's largest tunneling machine, will begin eating away at the ground, creating a 1.7 mile long tunnel that runs from South Lake Union to the stadiums at the south end of town.  

If you want to keep up with Bertha's progress, and her 'thoughts,' follow her on Twitter @BerthaDigsSR99

TEED OFF:  This morning, Kennedy talked me into going down to the golf course at the bottom of our hill. The course I gaze at every day and night, but have only been to twice in all our years here.  While we didn't play 18, or even attempt the mini-golf course there, we did split a bucket of balls.  (It was about a 90/10 split.)  

I hadn't driven a golf ball since eighth grade, on the football field of Gaiser Middle School during P.E. I was a little rusty, LOL.

Actually, as I looked around at other people driving balls, I can saw with confidence, I was definitely not the worst driver at the range, which makes me feel rather triumphant.  But I still don't envision myself on the LPGA tour any time soon.

WORD FROM THE WOODS:  Today the kids and Christian checked in with me via phone. They had gone into the town of Oakridge, which is near their campground, Packard Creek, to use the wi-fi at the library to download this week's lectures in our Science of Gastronomy class.  

Unfortunately, the library wasn't open when they arrived.  Christian fired up his Kindle and it let him know that there was another wifi source close by, at the Brewers Union Local 180.  How fortunate.  That place has two things the library doesn't: Beer and French fries.  

WORD TO THE WISE:  Here's a video that's making the rounds.  It's uber geek Wil Wheaton (of Star Trek the Next Generation fame), answering a woman's question at the Calgary Comic Expo. The woman had asked what Wheaton would say to her young daughter about "why it's awesome to be a nerd." It's pretty darn heartwarming.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_BtmV4JRSc

TESTING 1-2-3: This afternoon I received a call from Microsoft asking if Annabelle was available for a Playtest next Tuesday afternoon. I said, 'potentially,' and we went through a bunch of screening questions. She fits the profile of what they're looking for, so we signed her up. That's always an interesting experience, and it will look good on her resume. ;)

Do the Shuffle

 Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

THAT'S NO PLANET: This morning's "Image of the Day" from NASA was waiting for me when I fired up the computer 'round 6 a.m.

I recognized the rings of Saturn right away, but one of the objects hanging in space just beyond the rings certainly caught my eye.

Tell me the big one - better known as Saturn's moon Mimas, doesn't look like the Death Star!

Apparently I'm not the first one who has noticed this fact, because when I hopped to the "Death Star" Wiki article to find a photo for comparison, there was a photo of Mimas, with the caption "The large crater in the center (Herschel) gives it a resemblance to the Death Star."

Now, I can't help but wonder if George Lucas was inspired by Mimas.

In the photo, the smaller moon is Pandora (50 miles, or 81 kilometers across) , while Mimas is a relatively whopping 246 miles, or 396 kilometers across.

The image above was taken with Cassini's narrow-angle camera on May 14, 2013. They must have had a heckuva telephoto lens, because NASA reports it was taken at a distance of approximately 690,000 miles (1.1 million kilometers) from Mimas.

MEANWHILE, SOMEWHERE IN OREGON:  Christian reports that the campers are experiencing lovely weather and are having a good time.  Glad to hear it.  I continue to plug away on a writing project and herd a pair of Havanese, who are not enjoying having three-fourths of their pack gone.

TASTY:   I haven't mentioned our "Science of Gastronomy" course for awhile.  We're in week 4 (of 6) and this week we're studying how fruits and vegetables can enhance the quality in cooking; we're learning about the properties of meat (such as appreciating how the function of muscle fiber affects the components inside meat); Professor King is teaching us how to exploit the various chemical, physical and biological properties of vegetables/fruits, and apply specific methods to remove the unfavorable qualities and enhance the appealing features of vegetables or fruits in a dish.  Good stuff!

This class hasn't been anywhere near as demanding from a workload standpoint as our previous Coursera courses (astrobiology, physics and Einsteinian physics), but it has been a pleasure.  We're understanding our foods in different ways, and it's causing the kids to have a better appreciation for a wide variety of edibles.

Hopefully the kids and Christian are keeping on task down yonder, as was the plan.  Time will tell. ...

EVERY DAY I'M SHUFFLING: This evening, the planets aligned and the big ol' boys and I were able to get together for dinner.  Rick suggested The Highliner, which was a good call. It was Taco Tuesday and super delicious fish tacos were only $2.50 apiece.  We each got two - a cheap and delicious dinner, mmm, so good.

While we ate, we watched the Mariners get creamed by the Red Sox, which was not so good.  The boys also played shuffleboard, which was fun to watch.

I only had to remind them once, sternly, that they weren't 7 and 9 anymore and to quit bickering. :)

The Sound of Silence

Photo credit: U.S. Corps of Engineers

FAR AFIELD: It's going to be super duper quiet here on the campus of MPA this week, as the kids and Christian are down at Packard Creek Campground, near the Hill Creek Reservoir in the booming metropolis of Oakdale, Ore.

According to Wikipedia Commons, the photo above is of Hill Creek Reservoir.  I'll have to take their word for it, since I've never been there!

Per the USDA/Forest service Web site, "The campground offers a variety of activities" and "there is a mix of vegetation in the campground which includes an abundant supply of Poison Oak."

Yeah, they probably should have spent more time selling its high points. ;)

Packard Creek is part of the Willamette National Forest. 

                
MOONGAWK:   Today I learned about an online archive that contains high-resolution film scans from every Apollo mission. It includes ALL all of the mind blowing photos taken during each of the missions — from Apollo 1 all the way through Apollo 17.  The gallery for Apollo 11, our first moon landing, has over 1,000 photos alone. 

Called the Apollo Image Gallery, it was assembled by the Project Apollo Archive, which scanned photographs provided by the NASA History Office, Kennedy Space Center and Johnson Space Center.

The site is a little clunky to navigate, but the hunt is worth your time, considering the treasures it contains.   Here are a few gems. ...

You might recognize the shot above as the first photo Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong took after setting foot on the Moon.

And here, below, Apollo 9 astronaut Dave Scott emerging from the command module hatch.  How 'bout that view?!?!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: Speaking of NASA, it was 55 years ago today that President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act.  Eisenhower commissioned Dr. T. Keith Glennan (right), as the first NASA administrator and Dr. Hugh L. Dryden as deputy administrator.