Invasive earthworms

I have been catching up on some reading this week. An article in Scientific American (March 2009) might be interesting to those who fish or garden. The article's author has a copy at:
www.michaeltennesen.com/pdfs/sciam_worms_tennesen.pdf

Essentially it explains that after the last ice age the forests around the Great Lakes developed without earthworms. And now that people are moving earthworms around as fish bait, in vehicle mud and in compost it has been discovered that certain non-native worms (such as the "night crawler") eat up the dead leafs which are needed for new trees to grow. The article says, "As a result, some northern hardwood forests that once had a lush understory now have but a single species of native herb and virtually no tree seedlings."

Needless to say, it is impossible to eradicate worms so if you fish with worms, you now need to know if the species is foreign or native, or at the very least, don't let any escape. The article also points out that the idea of a community compost sounded like a good idea but now it is just a highly effective way to disperse the problematic critters.
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What Matters- free book

Seth Godin is promoting a new book with a free book It is a series of large font, one page comments from a long list of interesting people such as Kevin Kelly (Wired magazine co-founder), Hugh MacLeod author of Ignore Everybody, Acumen Fund founder Jacqueline Novogratz who I have mentioned before and lots more.

Justin's first book

Justin Fabian has released his first book. Justin's website showcases his incredible high resolution landscape prints. His first book is currently available directly from the publisher or in the Waterloo area it is already at Adventure Guide and will be available through retail channels such as Chapters by early in the new year.

Travel decision

There are a lot of countries in the world that sound interesting to visit. Norway and Japan are two that have been on my list for a long time. But every now and then I read that Norway and Japan continue to hunt whales. If you have seen the movie The Cove, you will also learn more about Japan's hunt of bottlenose dolphins. Those that aren't sold for 5-6 figures to commercial aquariums are herded around the corner and killed. The meat is toxic so it tends to be mis-labeled and then sold as whale meat. Lovely.

Canadian Science Policy Conference

I recently attended an excellent Science Policy Conference in Toronto. Session summaries, session audio recordings and keynote videos are on the conference website. There were many excellent presentations including Preston Manning who highlights the importance of (a) getting science-literate politicians elected and (b) making sure that scientists understand how to present their concepts and opinions in a language that is easily understood by politicians and the public.

I highly recommend watching the 5 minute interviews. One of note is Peter Singer who notes that through science, Canada can help solve global challenges, both directly and by helping developing countries. With reference to Canada's creation of the U.N. Peacekeeping Force, he suggests that Canada should evolve its international reputation from Blue Helmets to White Lab Coats. You can also watch Canada's Minister of Anti-Science Gary Goodyear read a speech and then be the only speaker to not take questions.

Why paddling is better than sex

Abridged from links above:

13. It's perfectly respectable to paddle with a total stranger.

10. Nobody will ever tell you that you will go blind if you paddle by yourself.

7. You can have a paddling calendar on your wall at the office, tell paddling jokes and invite coworkers to paddle with you without getting sued for harassment.

3. Nobody expects you to give up paddling if your partner loses interest in the sport.

1. Your paddling partner will never say, "What? We just paddled last week! Is that all you ever think about?"

FRANCE !!

A quick trip to France !

The Rock Rocks

On my second day in Newfoundland I drove from St. John's up to Twillingate to see what was reported to be the biggest iceberg in twenty years (white blob in the photo behind me just before it start to rain, sideways). Along the way I picked up a hitchhiker and eventually we discover that he worked with my father 30-some years ago at Come By Chance and Bay "Despair." What's the Chance of that? You gotta love some of the names of places there too: Cupids, Blow Me Down, Dildo.

There is something noticeably and wonderfully pleasant about folks in Newfoundland. It isn't just people in the tourist industry, but people in general. I imagine there are some cranky folks too, but not the ones I met. It is not unlike many of the people we met last summer in small communities across the Prairies during the David Thompson Brigade. I would be tempted to say it is a rural thing, but I continue to meet grumpy, miserable and rude rural folks in Ontario.

Aboriginal Community Book Drive

My shelves aren't overflowing with ideal examples, but please consider donating books for "youth up to age 14" to refresh the libraries in fly-in First Nation communities in northern Ontario. Follow the link for details.

Do Real Science at Home

This is fun - help sort through images of galaxies. Ordinary people have already helped discover new things.