The Festival begins October 10, 2010. There are free events, school programs and nationwide contests. Free teacher workshops. Contests with cash prizes. (see deadline to send in your entry form)

There is an Expo on the National Mall October 23 & 24, 2010. 1500 fun hands-on activities for kids, teens and adults.

The Event if Free!

For more information go to www.usasciencefestival.org.

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Lucia Regolin, an animal recognition expert at the University of Padua i Italy and author of the study, said the animals “performed basic arithmetic” to work out which screen concealed the larger group of objects. He showed that 3 and 4 day year old chicks can add and subtract!

What makes this a landmark report is that no other animal at such a young age has been noted to have this mathematical aptitude.

The findings are reported in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

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The question comes to mind as to why Americans do not trust or value scientist’s findings.

How can anyone disregard human activities such as burning coal and oil, climate change studes or the continuous equations in circulation models? How come so much denial? Is that adults don’t want to be bothered or take responsbility for change?

Newsweek claims that all this is happening because scientists are “lousy communicators”. I find that an excuse for taking responsiblity for our actions. 

When my grandson was 3 yrs old he started blaming his younger brother for something and pointed his finger at him. I said to him, “Jimmy, when you blame someone else and point your finger at them you are pointing 3 fingers at yourself. So you need to take responsibility for hitting your brother, no matter what he did.”

Jimmy looked at his hand, counted his fingers that were pointing at himself, went over and kissed his brother and said he was sorry! If a 3-yr old can get it, what’s up with adults!!!!

On the other hand, scientists need to be forthcoming and truthful about their findings. We are getting mixed messages and it is hard to sort out truth from fiction.

What’s your take on this? Weigh in with your opinion. Also, tell us what you are doing, if anything, to help reduce your carbon footprint.

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Teams compete in a 1100 mile drive from Tulsa to Chicago. The route has been chosen to combine pieces of old routes used in previous events, giving a bit of an historical tribute for the 20 years of organized events in North America.

The American Solar Challenge is hosted by the Innovators Educational Foundation, a pending 501c3 organization devoted to applied learning in the areas of science, engineering, and technology.

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Did you know that the broader you smile and the deeper the creases around your eyes when you grin, the longer you are likely to live? This was report by a study published in Psychological Science this week.

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Micoralgae under an electron microscope. Materials scientists dream of one day being able to place a sample of unknown substance under a microscope and name individual atoms and the structure they form.

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Wind turbines dot the landscape on the outskirts of Dongying, in central China’s Shandong province. China has surpassed the United States as the top investor in clean energy with the rising Asian power becoming a “powerhouse” in the emerging field, a study by environmentalists said.

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The Cornucopia Institute has just released their groundbreaking report Behind The Bean — The Heroes and Charlatans of the Natural and Organic Soy Foods Industry.

The Cornucopia Institute’s Organic Soy Full Report and accompanying Scorecard rates companies that market organic soy foods, such as soymilk, tofu and “veggie burgers,” based on ten criteria that are important to organic consumers—showcasing companies that are truly committed to the spirit and letter of the organic law while exposing those that do not rate highly or were unwilling to share their sourcing and production practices in our survey.

The scorecard sheds light on questions such as:

- Do the soybeans come from American organic farmers, or are they imported from China, India or South America?

- Is the company devoted to supporting organic agriculture by sourcing only organic soybeans and marketing only organic products?

- Does the company use loopholes in the organic standards to source cheaper non-organic ingredients even when organic ones are available?

Part I of the comprehensive report explores the reasons for asking these questions, including why organic consumers should be wary of Chinese imports, given the lax oversight by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) over organic certifiers working in China.

Part II of the report exposes the “dirty little secret” of the “natural” soy foods industry: the widespread use of hexane in processing. Hexane is strictly prohibited in organic food processing, but is used to make “natural” soy foods and even some that are “made with organic ingredients,” such as Clif Bars®. Hexane is a neurotoxic petrochemical solvent that is listed as a hazardous air pollutant with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Both the report and scorecard highlight the good news in the organic soyfood industry: in every market and product category, there are true heroes, both national and local manufacturers, supplying ethically-produced organic food that are worthy of consumer support.

POSTSCRIPT: It would be interesting to do a Soy Bean DNA science fair project, wouldn’t it?

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I know that you will enjoy this story as much as I did. It is always uplifting and rewarding to hear about others who are like minded, and caring individuals, whether it be for humanity or “all creatures great and small”.

It is ironic that some will ask, “Was this verified by snopes?” The answer is yes, however the irony, for me, is in the asking. This story, whether true or a fable reminds us all of what humanity MUST be! Have a joyous and prosperous day and enjoy the following:

A female humpback whale had become entangled in a spider
web of crab traps and lines.

She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that
caused her to struggle to stay afloat.

She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around
her body, her tail, her torso, a line tugging in her mouth.

A fisherman spotted her just east of the Faralon Islands
(outside the Golden Gate ) and radioed for help.

Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined
that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive
in and untangle her — a very dangerous proposition. One slap
of the tail could kill a rescuer.

They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her.

When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like
joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at
a time, nudged them, and pushed gently, thanking them.

Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives.

The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth says her eye was following him the whole time, and “I will never be the same”.

~~~~~

May you be so fortunate… To be surrounded by people who will help
you get untangled from the things that are binding you. And, may
you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude.

I pass this on to you in the same spirit.
Madeline

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