When Protozoa Came to the Big Screen

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Fierce and cannibalistic! The battle to the death will be primitive and unmerciful! This is not a sensational film coming to your local multiplex, but a way-back look back at 76-year old street science.

These days, we can watch protozoa battling on screen whenever we’re online, but in 1933 this was shocking, amazing stuff! The article from the February, 1933 issue of Modern Mechanix covers the jaw-dropping marvel that awaited visitors to that year’s World’s Fair Hall of Science…a protozoa death-match unfolding in a single drop of water. (Side note: deflation! Was 25¢, now 15¢!) The article in its entirety:

Screening Fierce Battle in Drop of Water

YOU might not believe it, but ferocious and cannibalistic battles are staged every moment of the day in the drops of water that make up the rivers, lakes and oceans of the world.

A few of these battles are to be brought to the screen for the amusement and amazement of visitors to the Hall of Science at the 1933 World’s Fair. What will make this feat possible is a special projector which throws on the screen in a greatly magnified scale what is seen at the eyepiece of a powerful microscope.

Drops of water containing various species of unfriendly protozoa will be joined on the slide under the microscope connected with the projector. The battle to the death will be primitive and unmerciful, for protozoa are hungry and they ask no quarter and give no quarter. The artist’s drawing above shows how the projector and screen will be rigged up for the show.

And looking closer, the devil really is in the details! What are these creatures doing battle? Are there any microbiologists out there who can identify these “unfriendly protozoa?

Detail: Two unfriendly, unidentified protozoans

Not having any microbiology reference works available, our “research department” turned to a freely available tool, the Tin Eye reverse image search engine, which diligently checked 1.12 billion images but failed to find anything quite like it across the wild, wide expanse of the Internet.

Are you a Numptee?

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Numptee is the charmingly clueless character starring in Yorkshire (UK) Water’s new public education campaign, “Bin it, don’t flush it.”

You can’t help but smile at his silly antics though they spotlight a serious problem: sewer blockages and flooding, half of which are caused by Numptee and his buds putting inappropriate items down the drain. From campaign headquarters at yorkshirewater.com,

Numptee, did you just put that cooking fat down the sink?

Numptee, did you just put that cooking fat down the sink?

Yorkshire’s sewers are being abused and it’s causing all kinds of problems. You wouldn’t believe some of the things we find down the sewer – nappies, false teeth, fat, Christmas trees and even a Spacehopper! As funny as that sounds, all of these things can cause the sewer to stop working and this can lead to flooding.

Hmmm, are we talking about you? You might be a “Numptee” if:

  • you’re one of the 40% of people who dump fats, oils and grease down the sink
  • you’re among the 25% who think it’s OK to put items like cotton buds, nappies or sanitary products down the toilet.

Now, Numptee’s handlers at Yorkshire Water aren’t idiots so naturally the campaign is multi-media and backed by numerous social-media channels. You can follow the red-lipped phenom on Twitter (@MrNumptee) because…

By following Mr Numptee on twitter you’ll be able to see if we are dishing the dirt in your neighbourhood and take a sneaky peak at some of the unusual things that block up our sewers – yes that’s right we really do find strange things down there including one particular problem with knickers!!!

Where's Numptee Jr.'s dirty nappie headed?

If you’re like me, you don’t want to miss a single episode on Yorkshire Water’s YouTube channel. Contest-entering types can give their creative interpretations of exactly what kind of creature Numptee is (see the WIN tab) with top entries receiving cinema tickets, where…that’s right, Numptee trailers will be playing!

I found a lot of interesting information on the campaign’s web pages, including a neat tip to make “Bird Cakes” out of waste fats (the recipe is here.)

Numptee? Bin there, done that. You: don’t do it.

*Britspeak Glossary for Americans!

Bin: Trash can
Cotton Buds: Q-tips or cotton swabs
Knickers: underwear
Nappie: Diaper
Numptee: Dolt, or idiot
Spacehopper: Child’s sit-on bouncing toy

Fountains are Pretty in Pink

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Starting tomorrow, there’s “something in the water” in communities all over the world…and it’s fabulously pink! October 1st marks the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and along with it, pink-tinged fountains to draw attention to this important health issue. In my town, twelve fountains will be dyed this month. What about yours?

Point State Park, Pittsburgh, PA via literaturejunction.com

At the Pennsylvania Capitol, via basial on Flickr

At the Pennsylvania Capitol, via basial on Flickr

Kortrijk, Belgium via Sarah DeForche on Flickr

Kortrijk, Belgium via Sarah DeForche on Flickr

Birmingham, UK via Steve Oliver Imagery on Flickr

Birmingham, UK via Steve Oliver Imagery on Flickr

Milwaukee Art Museum via 2fs on FLickr

Milwaukee Art Museum via 2fs on FLickr

Welwyn Town Centre via welwynhatfield.co.uk

Welwyn Town Centre via welwynhatfield.co.uk

Woodruff Park in Atlanta, GA via www.atlantaga.gov

Woodruff Park in Atlanta, GA via www.atlantaga.gov

Kiener Plaza, St. Louis, MO via Judy on PicasaWeb

Kiener Plaza, St. Louis, MO via Judy on PicasaWeb

Benton Boulevard Concourse, Kansas City, MO via pinkfountains.com

Benton Boulevard Concourse, Kansas City, MO via pinkfountains.com

WTF: New Water Trivial Features Update

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MOM ARMED WITH A WATER BOTTLE SAVES SON FROM ATTACKING COUGAR

A 5 year old British Columbia boy is recovering after a cougar attacked him on a family hike at Colville National Forest. As his father Mark Impey recounted, he heard his wife and son’s screams, ran to check and

…he saw that a big cat had his son, Simon, by the head and his wife, Dawn, was trying furiously to fend the animal off with a metal water bottle.

“I really think it was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Impey said in an interview.

Dawn’s repeated blows with the water bottle finally forced the cougar to retreat into the bush.

WTF footnote: Just try that with some flimsy, disposable bottle. You couldn’t fight off a house cat with your Dasani.

Read the full story at www.chandlerswatch.com

PEE MINUS 5 SECONDS AND COUNTING

On Wednesday evening, Sept. 10th, sky watchers across North America watched in curious awe as the space shuttle Discovery glided silently overhead, sprouting a flamboyant comet-like tail.

In Madison, Wisconsin, photographer Abe Megahed witnessed a similar display: “The shuttle was sporting a massive curved plume. What could it be? Something venting? Reaction Control System thrusters? A massive, record-breaking urine dump?”

It was in fact, his last guess. The shuttle, while docked with the International Space Station, sprayed about 150 pounds of waste water and pee-pee out into space on September 10. Shuttle pilot Kevin Ford was scheduled to carry out a number of “waste water” dumps around the time these observations were noted. Pristine water supplies and condensates were also dumped overboard in preparation for landing on Thursday, Sept. 10th.

WTF footnote: Do the astronauts eat tomatos? If so, someone should research whether this could cause tomatos to grow on the moon.

Read more and see photos of the zero-gravity sewage here at www.jimonlight.com.

SWEET AUSSIE TEENS HOOK DIRTY BAG OF CASH

Australian police said two teenage brothers reeled in a plastic bag stuffed with $86,000 while fishing for catfish in Tuntable Creek, near the town of Lismore.

The boys spent three weeks deciding on a plan of action before telling their mother and obtaining legal advice on how best to turn over the cash, The Times of London reported.  Mama knows best! From UPI.com,

The mother of the boys, who requested anonymity, said the family did not want to keep the money because it might be “dirty.”

“We just don’t want any trouble,” one of the brothers said. “We were sweet before the money and we’ll be sweet afterwards.”

WTF footnote: An estimated two-thirds of media comments by teen boys include the phrase  “We don’t want any trouble.”

Save Water, Pee Outside

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With the recent shower peeing campaign a confirmed success*, what’s the next step? I can’t vouch for it’s veracity or sincerity, but Atlanta-based peeoutside.org is the driving (and I’m guessing, heavily-male) force behind a volunteer effort that they claim can save millions of gallons per day.

However, sustainable water supply will be achieved one wee bit at a time! Plus, consider this:
Number of species on the earth that pee outside: 4,999,999
Number of species on the earth that pee inside: 1

So if you’re ready to sign up, you can join their 1,300-plus member Facebook group or follow them (from a safe distance) on Twitter. Peeoutside.org also invites you to send in your stories and pictures (and a number of people already have!) Finally, be sure forget to mark your calendar for April 19th, the festive annual Pee Outside Day event! (Wow! Jaime Pressly should have claimed she was “going green!”)

peeoutside.org: visit the member-submitted photo gallery

Forget your milquetoast manners, we’re trying to save the planet here! The website’s FAQ will help you overcome your reticence about this this frowned-upon (and usually illegal) behavior.

Q. Are you suggesting that people expose themselves in public?
No. Just so we are clear, the suggestion is that people pee on their own property, in a private setting, preferably under the cover of night.  Apartment and condo owners probably shouldn’t pee over ledges.  Just be sure to use your head when peeing outside.

Q. I would rather not pee outside–what are some options?
We understand that some people just don’t like peeing outside, but every little bit helps! Some approved methods are:
– Pee in a cup/bottle and dispose of it outside.
– Pee down a drain of your choice
– Pee in the shower, only if you are doing something else at the same time.
– Use the old “If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down” method.
– Or, just don’t flush every pee.

*In the unscientific but esteemed weekly Aguanomics poll, 3 out of 4 admit to shower-pee water conservation methods.

What’s Cookin’? Tomato Surprise!

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Sewerage Garden (photo: Yorkshire Water)

Sewerage Garden (photo: Yorkshire Water)

Care for some “organically grown” tomatoes? Dozens of tomato plants are sprouting up in sewage works and places where sewage travels in a process that works like this: 1) people eat tomatoes; 2) people excrete tomato seeds; 3) seeds travel via wastewater to sewer works; 4) seeds resurface as stray plants in odd sewage- and sludge-touched locations.

It’s not an uncommon occurrence, but this year’s poo produce crop is apparently impressive! From the Yorkshire Water website,

Over the course of the summer, hundreds of tomato plants have sprung up at our treatment works across the region, often sprouting in some of the most unlikely of places, including skips full of toilet paper and other rags removed during the treatment process.

And whilst there have been instances in the past of tomatoes cropping up at works in the region, it is thought that the higher-than-usual temperatures over the summer, coupled with regular bouts of rainfall, have played their part in ensuring many of our works can boast a bumper yield this year.

They arrive at sewage works where some are among the waste removed at the first stage of the treatment process before being compressed and stockpiled in skips – and it’s in these that many tomato plants have taken root and flourished.

If you should see a mysterious tomato sprouting randomly in the wild, it might be because…umm…most of the seeds find their way into

…much-sought-after compost, which is then distributed to farms and local authorities.  Invariably, the compost contains tomato seeds which grow into plants, prompting regular stories from farmers who report rogue tomatoes growing among their crops.

Tomatos sprout from Hoboken sidewalk cracks (photo: nj.com)

Tomatoes sprout from Hoboken sidewalk cracks in 2007 (photo: nj.com)

In 2007, citizens in Hoboken, New Jersey protested that wayward tomato plants mysteriously growing in desolate urban settings testified to the severity of the city’s flooding and sewer overflow problems. As reported on nj.com/hobokennow,

“We know raw sewage is backing onto our streets. You can’t say that this is definitively from the flooding, but it’s very possible,” said Dawn [Zimmer]. “These tomatoes were not planted here. Does this look like a community garden to you?” The plants are growing in an empty lot, filled with mud and gravel. In one spot, gnarled tomato plants are even growing out of cracks in the sidewalk. On Marshall Drive, they are growing from underneath a chainlink fence.

I guess this is teaching us, in semi-biblical fashion, that you reap what you go. Get cookin’!
Recipe: Aunt’s Florence’s Tomato Surprise
(Ingredients include—seriously!—canned tomatoes.)

In-Depth Report on Jimena

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This guy is sinking but ratings are not! Watch as a reporter inadvertently crosses the line and becomes the news rather than just reporting it. This fast-moving viral video shows an unfortunate fellow getting too close to the story when tropical storm Jimena hit Baja, California in early September.

Eric’s Excellent, Enigmatic Water Collection

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This is Eric Lease Morgan, and for the last three decades he’s been amassing an unusual collection. A water collection. No, I don’t mean collecting samples for testing or other scientific pursuits. Since 1978, he has collected about 200 samples of water from all over the world, for reasons that are unclear even to him.

From the Atlantic to the Pacific, the River Ganges, Loch Ness, the Canadian Rockies to Three Mile Island to the Peruvian Amazon and many more, his unusual collection has grown steadily. You might imagine that it is displayed carefully in his home or office for all to marvel at the sight. But it isn’t, because that’s not the reason for the collection.

Many of these waters I haven’t seen in years. Moves from one home to another have relegated them to cardboard boxes that have never been unpacked. Most assuredly some of the bottles have broken and some of the water has evaporated. Such is the life of a water collection.

Salton Sea, California

Salton Sea, California

So how did this all begin? Most of us remember that entrancing moment when we first saw the ocean. For Eric, that moment did not come until he was a young adult, in the summer after high school graduation. Since Eric had never seen the ocean before, he and his best friend set out on an adventure to Ocean City, Maryland, and upon arriving…

At 2 o’clock in the morning, my first impression of the ocean was its sound. It was loud. In the light of day I was impressed with its size. Resolving myself to being able to see the ocean whenever I wanted, I bought a deformed bottle for 59 cents and filled it with water. Thus, my water collection was born.

Eric’s college Philosophy major further reinforced the concept through the study of Western thinking.

…Heraclitus who believed the only constant was change, and water was the essencial element of the universe. These ideas were elaborated upon by other philosophers who thought there was not one essencial element, but four: earth, water, air, and fire. I felt like I was on to something.

Roman Forum in Rome, Italy

Roman Forum in Rome, Italy

While traveling student-style through Europe in the early 1980s, the collection grew by leaps and bounds. During this six weeks, Eric collected water from the Seine at Notre Dame (Paris), the Thames (London), the Eiger Mountain (near Interlaken, Switzerland), the Aegean Sea (Ios, Greece), and many other places.

Over the years, his collection continues to grow at a slower, but steady pace. Each sample contains not just the element of water, but memories of a time and place… Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on a day playing hooky from work. From a pond at Versailles during his honeymoon. From the Missouri River, following the footsteps of Lewis and Clarke.

And with so many samples and memories, what stands out? What are his personal favorites?

Nice, because it was the prettiest; Atlantic Ocean, because it was my first and it is fun to watch the sand sift through the skinny part of the melted bottle; Caribbean Sea at Lime Cay because that is where my family and I had a whole Jamaican island to ourselves; Roman Forum, just because it came from a cool place; Salton Sea because that water is so dead it is unbelievable.

Caribbean Sea at Lime Cay, Kingston, Jamaica

Caribbean Sea at Lime Cay, Kingston, Jamaica

One thing I wondered… with today’s air travel security restrictions, how does he manage to bring home new additions to his collection without getting the full suspected-terrorist treatment at airports?

Security restrictions? Definitely! Collecting water has gotten expensive. When I travel I almost invariably never check any luggage. Unfortunately, carry-on luggage is not allowed to contain bottles of water. Consequently I have recently begun to check my luggage on the trip home — incurring a handling fee — just so my water can come along for the ride. Each of these bottles of water is costing me about $15 each.

And one of the best things about all this? Eric Lease Morgan is a librarian, and a computer-savvy one who has provided access to his collection on the web! So, we can all enjoy browsing the waters of the world from the comfort of our chairs!

Homepage: Eric Lease Morgan’s Water Collection
Collecting Water and Putting it on the Web (3-part blog series)
Water Collection Image Gallery
Water Collection, Links listed alphabetically
Water Collection Map View

Of course Eric’s 30-year endeavor isn’t world-changing, but still, for reasons I can’t explain I’m heartened to know that his water collection exists. I marvel at the fact that all of us can learn of it and see it, even if it is for no practical purpose. Thanks, Eric, for sharing it!

Finally, again, why do I do this? Why do I collect the water? Why have a spent so much time creating a system for providing access to the collection? Ironically, I am unable to answer succinctly. It has something to do with creativity. It has something to do with “arsience“. It has something to do with my passion for the library profession and my ability to manifest it through computers. It has something to do with the medium of my art. It has something to do with my desire to share and expand the sphere of knowledge. “Idea. To be an idea. To be an idea and an example to others… Idea”. I really don’t understand it through and through.

Dogs Rule the Pool in Colorado

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Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer in the U.S. so let’s close this one out with a major dose of the cuteness “Awwwwwws!” At Scott Carpenter Pool in Boulder, Colorado the annual Dog Dayz event gives the rules a pause (paws?) to let the canines swim, dive and rule the pool on a select few days at the end of the summer.

It seems the pups really are like people, as you’ll recognize all the familiar people pool personalities in dog form–including show-offs, chickens, the overly-cautious, and quite possibly, pool pee-ers!

Flying Water Catcher for the Futuristic Home

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I hope I live long enough to own one of these! The fanciful Water Catcher, conceptualized by Penghao Shan from Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, China, is a finalist in the Electrolux Design Lab ’09.

It is a robotic “birdie” that flies about, returning home with a bounty of water gathered from rain or humidity. The idea seems a bit silly initially, but watch the video; you’ll likely be won over with the “wants” for the little hydro-whirlybird like I did. Even the Jetsons didn’t have it this good!  (NOTE: the public can vote on the entries! Send Penghao Shan some ballot-box love in the poll on the right sidebar.)

From electroluxdesignlab.com:

Flying in the rain
Penghao Shan has created a product that addresses water shortage. His solution is “Water Catcher”, a flying rain catcher and water purifier. This automated device dispatches small flying balls in the air to catch raindrops. After the raindrops are collected, the balls return to a homing tray that purifies the water for drinking. Once purified, the balls take the drinking water directly to a person to be drunk. The homing tray also reads fingerprints to determine what additives should be added to the water to ensure the drinker optimizes their health.