To read the content of this post, click here:
http://www.inspiremeasap.blogspot.com/2011/03/time-for-report-cards.html

A quick note as things are a bit crazy here (I have just returned from a fantastic meeting in London - and will have a post on it soon). In the mean time, here is a reminder that we have our Hampshire College Science & Religion Lecture by archaeologist John Hale today at 5:30pm. If you are in the area, join us in exploring the mysteries of the Delphic oracle. Here are the details:

Hampshire College Lecture Series on Science & Religion Presents

Mysteries of the Delphic Oracle

Ancient Religion, Modern Science

by

Dr. John R. Hale

Thursday, March 31, 2011

5:30p.m., Franklin Patterson Hall, Main Lecture Hall

Hampshire College

Abstract:

The Delphic Oracle was the most influential religious site in the ancient Greek world.  Speaking from a tripod in a crypt under the temple of Apollo at Delphi, the priestess called the Pythia acted as a medium for the god, and spoke the divine prophecies while in a state of trance or possession.  The testimony of eye-witnesses linked the oracle's prophetic power to geological features in the rock under the temple: a mysterious chasm or cleft, a natural vapor or gaseous emission, and a sacred spring.  Although long doubted by modern scholars, these ancient traditions have recently been put to the test by an interdisciplinary team of researchers -- a geologist, an archaeologist, a chemist, and a toxocologist -- with surprising results.

Dr. John R. Hale received his Ph.D. in archaeology from the University of Cambridge in 1979. He has conducted fieldwork in England, Scandinavia, Portugal, Greece and the Ohio River Valley, and is currently director of liberal studies at the University of Louisville, where he is studying such diverse subjects as ancient ships and naval warfare, and the geological origins of the Delphic Oracle. Professor Hale's work has been published in Scientific American, Antiquity, The Classical Bulletin, and the Journal of Roman Archaeology.

For more information on the Lecture Series, please visit http://scienceandreligion.hampshire.edu/

To read the content of this post, click here:

http://www.inspiremeasap.blogspot.com/2011/03/some-knows-about-tangrams.html

 

Nanci and I were together the other afternoon and decided to tackle these delicious patties.  They are commonly made with beef, not turkey but as usual we wanted to try to make it a bit healthier but still taste delicious.  I think they came out really good.  Next time we will actually make the dough from scratch instead of using pre-made dough.

 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of margarine
1 onion chopped
1 lb of ground turkey
2 teaspoons of curry powder
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 cup of chicken broth
1/4 cup of bread crumbs
2 ready made pie dough
1 beaten egg mixed with 1 teaspoon of curry powder or tumeric for color

Preparation:

Melt margarine in a skillet over medium heat.
Saute onion until soft and translucent.
Stir in ground turkey.
Season with curry powder, thyme, salt, and pepper.
Cook until turkey is evenly brown, stirring constantly.
Stir in chicken broth and bread crumbs.
Simmer until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat.
Set aside to cool a bit

Assemble:

Roll out pie dough and cut 6" circles using a glass bowl or a circle cutter.  Spoon equal amounts of filling into each pastry circle.  Fold over and press edges together, making a half circle.
Use a fork to press edges, and brush the top of each patty with beaten egg mixed with a little curry powder or tumeric for color.  Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

I had a package of sliced mushrooms sitting in my fridge and didn't want them to go to waste so when Nanci came over we decided to make a mushroom ragu.  We found an easy and yummy sounding recipe that incorporated polenta.  This was very easy to make and came out delicious!!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 pound sliced button or crimini mushrooms
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 can (14.5 oz size) crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 cups dry instant polenta or instant couscous

Preparation:

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat until hot. Add onion; cook 5 minutes or until tender and slightly golden, stirring occasionally.

Stir in mushrooms, oregano, salt and pepper; cook 5 minutes or until mushrooms are tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in tomatoes; cover. Simmer 3 to 5 minutes or until heated through.

Meanwhile, in large pot, cook polenta according to package directions.

To serve, spoon ragù over polenta. Sprinkle each serving with the cheese.

To read the content of this post, please click here:

http://www.inspiremeasap.blogspot.com/2011/03/point-of-view-letter-writing-lessons-on.html

This is a weekly post by Nidhal Guessoum (see his earlier posts here). Nidhal is an astrophysicist and Professor of Physics at American University of Sharjah and is the author of Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science.

The theme of “Islam and the Environment” has recently gained much popularity, both at the general-public level and with Muslim scholars and institutions. Many conferences on the topic have been taking place: in Turkey in 2009, in Indonesia and in Jordan in 2010, and in Algeria over the next few days; in fact, I am headed to Algeria to take part in the latest one, organized by the High Islamic Council there. Several books have also been published, in Arabic and English (and quite certainly in other languages too), among them, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin’s ‘Green Deen: what Islam teaches about protecting the planet’, which Salman blogged about last December, with excerpts from an interview with the author.

I really don’t know what to expect at the Algiers conference on Islam and the Environment; I don’t even have the program yet. I am told an international ensemble of speakers will be present, and this type of conference is always heavily covered by the local media (being organized by the highly official High Islamic Council). I will report back later on the main themes and highlights; hopefully there will be some serious discussions, not the usual “Islam is great on this issue, and the only problem is that we are not following its teachings” type of discourse. As always, my presentation will be somewhat critical, but I’ll save my views until I’ve attended and listened to others.

In the meantime, I tried to do my homework, so I read a couple of book and a bunch of articles on the topic, including two books in English: ‘Green Deen’ and ‘Islam and the Environment’, a volume edited by Harfiyah Abdel Haleem, including contributions by scholars like Seyyed H. Nasr.

As a bi-product of my research, I published a review of ‘Green Deen’ in Gulfnews, the large-circulation English-language newspaper in the UAE and the Gulf. The editors chose to title the piece “Islamic route to conservation”. Here are excerpts from it:

The author quickly reminds us that "deen" is the Arabic/Islamic term for religion, path or way of life, thus "green deen" is "living and practicing Islam while honouring the principles that connect humans to protecting the planet". He insists that he is not a scholar and that his book is not a treatment of how the Quran and the hadith address our interaction with Earth (although I counted more than 30 verses in the book), but presents the Islamic principles which, in his view, (should) govern our day-to-day relationship with the world: tawhid, which he defines as "Oneness of God and His creation"; ayat, the signs of God that are to be seen everywhere; khilafah, humanity's stewardship of Earth; amana, the trust we must honour with God; adl, the justice we must apply to everything; and mizan, the balance of nature we must uphold.

Abdul-Matin then sets out to apply these principles to various environmental topics, always relating them to people's day-to-day situations, often telling stories of how Muslims in the United States have been dealing with such issues. The book is thus divided into four parts — waste, watts, water and food — each with three or four chapters.

…

On some topics he [was] very effective but on others I was not totally satisfied with his approach…

Let me mention some of the great ideas that Abdul-Matin presents. Most notably, there was the whole "eco-mosque" idea… On each topic the author cites real examples, thus driving home the point that these steps can be (and have been) implemented and made to succeed. For example, he tells us that the holy mosques in Makkah and Madinah recycle water for wudu (ablution), Muslim scholars having authorised it, and important mosques from Arizona to Indonesia have been designed to be environmentally friendly.

I was less convinced by other views of the author, particularly his tendency to oversimplify some Islamic principles to make them applicable to the environment. For example, he has stretched the concept of tawhid to "human beings and the planet are One [tawhid]" (page 43), "we are the environment [tawhid]" (page 114) and "everything has a relationship with water" (page 118) … Likewise, he has used the hadith "the whole earth has been made a mosque for me" to insist that "everything is [thus] sacred".

You can read the whole review here.

To read the content of this post, please click here:
http://www.inspiremeasap.blogspot.com/2011/03/introducing-division-computational.html

by Salman Hameed

Human cloning is so far a fictional question only. Though, Raelians - a UFO religion, did claim to have cloned a human baby in December 2002, but most people treat their claim with skepticism. Nevertheless, there is general feeling that there is something fundamentally wrong for humans to clone themselves or to artificially create humans. Of course, the creation of Frankenstein is the first image that comes to mind. But these definitions of "artificial" are changing fast. For example  in vitro fertilization (IVF) is now mainstream - and I don't think many people have serious problems with that (yes, with the exception of the Pope).

Now here is review of a fascinating new book, Unnatural: The Heretical Idea of Making People by Philip Ball, that looks at the origins of our reaction to artificially created humans. Interestingly, it even raises the possibility that human cloning may get accepted as mainstream (I'm not sure if it is advocating this position - but it is certainly taking the idea seriously). It looks like a great out-of-the-box thinking book. Here is a review from Nature (you may need subscription to access it):

In Unnatural, science writer Philip Ball explores the history of our fascination with — and fear of — creating artificial people, from ancient folklore to today. Tracing a clear path from medieval alchemists' homunculi to routine assisted conception is a feat. Through his impeccable research, Ball successfully argues that the tenacious myths of the past that surround the making of people or 'anthropoeia' (his coinage) affect life-science research today.

Ball traces the concept that nature is good and techne is bad back to Aesop's and Ovid's Prometheus, maker of humanity from earth and water, and provider of technology to man. After Prometheus came recipes for making miniature humans called homunculi. Starting in the Middle Ages, initially as a cure for childlessness, the art of homunculi-making evolved into a debate over whether the miniscule men had a soul. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's nineteenth-century poetic play Faust raises this spectre. Deploying the biological equivalent of alchemy, Faust's former assistant, Wagner, creates his homunculus: a tiny super-being with magical powers who is trapped in a glass vessel, doomed to remain captive without the capacity to become a proper man. In 1818, Mary Shelley published Frankenstein, appropriately subtitled 'The Modern Prometheus', in which her eponymous scientist unintentionally constructs a monster, by unexplained means, from human parts. There are also golems — the animated beings of Jewish folklore, made from clay and brought to life by religious magic for the purpose of imitating God's creation.

Ball distills out of all this a set of universal myths surrounding anthropoeia that are deeply ingrained in society, resulting in the widely held view that artificial people-making is unnatural and deeply wrong — heretical, as in the book's subtitle. His thesis is that humans fear that uncovering forbidden knowledge will result in either divine or other retribution. Prometheus, Faust and Frankenstein all pay a heavy price for their transgressions into anthropoeia. Even today, Ball points out, societal and cultural debate is pervaded by the belief that technology is intrinsically perverting and thus carries certain penalty.

But his point is that we are getting to a place where some aspects of 'anthropoeia' (I do like this new word...) are becoming reality - and yet a well-informed debate has not taken place. In particular

As scientific knowledge accumulates and makes some acts of anthropoeia more and more plausible, the challenge for the public will be to separate fact from fiction. For example, Ball ends his literary tour with Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World. In 1931, the book's in vitro production of embryos in the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre was pure conjecture by Huxley, based on the scientific forecasts of his day. Today, in vitro fertilization (IVF) is mainstream medicine — more than four million babies have been born using this technique. But the technology still has its critics, including within the Vatican. On the awarding of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to IVF pioneer Robert Edwards, Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, head of the Pontifical Academy for Life, stated that the award was “completely out of order”, as without IVF there would be no market for human eggs “and there would not be a large number of freezers filled with embryos in the world”.

...

The challenge for innovative biological research is that, until it translates into real benefits, it is often viewed with mistrust and worse-case scenario imagery. In reality, once products and services are released into society, they are adopted by a few enthusiasts and then, if successful, by the wider community. In the 1970s, for example, anxieties were rife about the unfounded threat that IVF posed to human welfare and dignity, let alone whether a test-tube baby could ever be wholly human. Yet the first IVF baby, Louise Brown, was just like everyone else, so IVF became socially acceptable. We cannot predict whether human cloning will proceed in the same manner, so the past is our only pointer.

Absolutely fascinating. As far as some recent relevant films on the topic are concerned, check out the post on the excellent film "Moon" from 2009 and Splice from last year. Of course, you can also watch countless other films on this theme. By the way, Danny Boyle is directing Frankenstein for National Theater Live - and it looks phenomenal. It will be shown in movie theaters as well. I will have a post on it after I have a chance to see it.

Thanks Jill for suggesting this recipe.  Nanci and I made a huge mess of my kitchen trying to make the perfect cinnamon roll pancake for picture sake.  OMG we almost gave up but it was the last pancake that finally worked well enough (but still isn't very pretty).  I think it's a great recipe and very tasty so if you don't care what it looks like coming off the griddle then you will love this recipe.  If you are trying to blog it,

Good Luck!

(Adaptation from Big Red Kitchen)

Ingredients:

For the Cinnamon Filling...In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, mix until smooth:
1 stick softened butter, almost melty
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 T. cinnamon

Using a rubber spatula to scrape the sides, pour this mixture into a large pastry bag that had been opened and stood up in a tall tumbler. A large ziptop bag with the edges folded over the tumbler would work too.

For the Icing...
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 T. milk

Mix until smooth and pour into a second pastry bag just like you did with the cinnamon mixture above.

For the Pancakes...
In the same bowl that you used for the filling and the icing- no need to be using or washing too many bowls now- mix together:

Let's make this easy!! Use any pancake mix you desire.

Preparation:

In a large non-stick skillet, over medium to medium-low heat, and using a 1/4 cup dry measuring cup, ladle 2 pancakes. Snip the tip off the pastry bag containing the cinnamon filling so that the opening is a scant 1/2 inch wide, swirl over cooking pancakes in a circular motion- 3 go-a-rounds should do. Continue to cook the pancakes until bubbles form evenly through each cake.

Gently flip each pancake over and cook another 30-45 seconds, remove to a serving platter and serve immediately or keep warm covered in a warm oven. Continue with the rest of the batter.

Note- Using a damp paper towel, wipe your skillet after each pancake is made. This will keep the next pancake from sticking to any of the cinnamon filling that has leaked onto your skillet or griddle.
After I swirled each pancake with the cinnamon filling, I returned the pastry bag, tip down in the tumbler. This kept it from leaking all over.

by Salman Hameed

One of the key misconceptions regarding evolution lies in visualizing diversity of life as a ladder - with humans on top. The correct way is to think of life as a branching tree, with humans occupying one of the multitude of branches. Here is a fantastic display of the tree of life by David Attenborough:



Enjoy!

 Truffle of the Week

Again, I can't get away from the combination of chocolate and mint, it's my favorite.  These are super easy to make and a great treat for anytime.  I made them as a dessert for my daughter's family birthday party.

Ingredients:

1-11 oz bag of white chocolate chips (ghiradelli)
1/2 cup of heavy cream
2 drops of green food coloring
1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract
1-11 oz bag of milk chocolate chips (ghiradelli)

Preparation:

Place white chocolate chips in a medium glass bowl. Heat cream, peppermint extract and food dye in a small saucepan until simmering (but not boiling).  Pour hot cream mixture of white chocolate chips and stir until chocolate is fully melted and smooth.  If needed you can put white chocolate mixture in the microwave for 30 seconds to melt completely.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hrs and up to overnight.  One mint ganache is set portion out with a small scoop and place on a silpat lined baking sheet.  Once all ganache is portioned out, roll quickly into balls and then place ganache balls in the freezer for 1 hr to hard.  Melt milk chocolate in the microwave in 30 second incremements stirring inbetween until  fully melted and smooth.  Take ganache balls out of freezer and dip in melted milk chocolate and place back on lined baking sheet.  Once all completed place truffles back in freezer or refrigerator to set.  In the meantime melt 1/4 cup of white chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second increments until melted and smooth.  Stir in 1 drop of green food coloring until fully incorporated.  Place green colored chocolate in a small piping bag and snip of a tiny bit of the end.  Decorate the top of the truffles with a little piping of green white chocolate.

Hello from David & Sheri Burns from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms in Central Illinois. It’s nice to be with you again for another beekeeping lesson.
This is lesson 99, which means our next lesson will be Lesson 100, a mile stone no doubt!  We want to make Lesson 100 something special. If you have something special to suggest for lesson 100, let us know!
Watch our recent Bee Dance Video below. If you cannot see it below, click here to go to our lesson directly.




We’re knee deep in honey bees, and we love it! In one week I taught and spoke at 4 different clubs and classes. It was great.
Our outstanding colonies headed up by our own Pioneer Queens all survived the winter. Yea! It’s always a good feeling to go out and find the hives strong and healthy in Illinois after such a bad winter. We do not treat our colonies and they go through the winter on screen bottom boards. Again, this year there was no difference between the hives that we wrapped and the ones we did not. Every year we provide larger upper openings for ventilation on our hives and each year they do better!
I’m leaning toward the opinion that most winter hives die from the following in this order:
1) Lack of proper fall and winter management (Froze or starved out)
2) Varroa mites – the diseases they vector
3) Nosema
4) Trachea mites



And before our lesson today, let me tell you about a few new products we are carrying that are great!
First, Bucko Goat Skin Beekeeping Gloves. Wow, what a nice glove! The goat skin is a better, less clumsy fit, and it has extended ventilated sleeves. We are selling these $5 cheaper than most places for only $15.
And for all of you Top Bar Hive Enthusiasts we are now selling TBHs!!! (Pretend you hear a loud crowd applauding). Do not be tricked by tiny TBHs made of plywood. This is a full 46” TBH made from 3/4” pine. Even the top is made with pine, and covered with aluminum. Comes with 30 top bars (frame starters) with wooden splines. This TBH also comes with a screen bottom board with a slide in board to open and close the bottom. This TBH also has three holes in the side and two follower boards. Stand and bees not included. Click on the image or click here to purchase your TBH. Have some fun with a Top Bar Hive!
LESSON 99: BEE-KEEPER or BEE-HAVER
A BEE-HAVER is someone who can say they “HAVE” bees but they do not want beekeeping to consume their time or interest, so they spend little to no time keeping bees, they simply have bees. That’s certainly one approach.
Then there are those who want to evolve from just having bees to truly doing all they can to make sure their bees are as healthy as possible.
Probably somewhere between these two groups is where most beekeepers find themselves.
I recently held a class on “Pest & Diseases” and SO MANY BEEKEEPERS NEED TO TAKE THIS CLASS.  In order for beekeepers to overwinter colonies, produce more honey from colonies and have overall stronger colonies, beekeepers must know pests and diseases. There are many practical ways to prevent many pests and diseases, but until you are taught and trained, you will probably experience avoidable problems .
Let me show you what I mean by taking you on an inspection of a hive. A friend asked me to inspect his hive in the fall. Join me and let me demonstrate how easy it is to “think all is well” when it is not. As we inspect the hive, you’ll need to click on each image so that it will enlarge to its original size. Look at this comb of brood and bees. Click on it and see what you think?
Most beekeepers would feel okay about this comb. The brood looks fine, though it is a small area of brood, it’s fall and queens are cutting back laying so it’s fine. But if we look closer we’ll several things that are wrong, this hive will not make it through the winter. In fact, nothing was done to my friend’s hive and it died in the winter from the major two factors visible upon the above image, both could have been prevented. So let’s zoom in.
Do you see the two major problems? I’ll give you a hint. Look at the bees, not the brood. Ah ha…see it now? Among several female workers we see DWV, deformed wing virus and one has K-wing. Let me zoom in and show you.
Her wings have been damaged by this virus (DWV) usually transmitted by the varroa destructor mite. In the larger image above, you can find two with DWV. MITE INFESTATION! That’s the first major problem that will kill this colony during the winter. But, there is even a greater threat to the hive surviving winter. Let me show you the image, by zooming in from our initial larger image:

This image reveals further evidence of varroa infestation because you can see mite feces on the bottom and walls of open cells. Small white particles. Another bee with DWV is in the upper center, but what is unusual to you about the bee below the one with DWV? Her back wing has slipped forward to advance in front of her front wing, forming what looks like the letter K, thus K-wing. Damage is done to the flight muscle area by the Tracheal mite. So in this image, we are probably looking at symptoms from two different mites. Usually K-wing always demands a further investigation for Tracheal mite testing.
Most beekeepers do not have a microscope or the patience to pull out the bee’s trachea tube and look for the tiny tracheal mite in the tracheal tube, a bit smaller than a speck of a tiny dust particle. But you can buy a microscope and learn to do the dissection yourself or send in your bees to the Beltsville, Maryland Bee Lab. So here I have pinned down a bee, removed the head and first two legs and collar to pull out the trachea tube. It is lots of work but I never found any. Two pins in a pencil eraser works well to hold the bee in position during surgery.
While I was doing Tracheal mite testing I went ahead and inspected the bee further.
One thing in particular that was interesting was the honey stomach. Where else, but here, will you finally see what a honeybee’s honey stomach looks like? Rather than thinking of it as a human’s digestive stomach, think of it as a flexible holding tank. I went ahead and dissected the bee and pulled out a nearly fully expanded honey stomach, and I’m holding it between my fingers.
Now, back to our hive that we are examining. So here are our two signs that my friend’s large hive, with plenty of honey, will not see spring and it didn’t. VARROA & TRACHEAL MITES. It died leaving plenty of stored bee bread and honey. So to become a beekeeper who desires to know more to better assist your bees in overcoming these possible problems---I want to help you. But remember, almost all bees have varroa mites, but not all mites vector diseases to such a level as seen in the hive we are inspecting.
To help your bees have a fighting chance against what we have seen above, consider a few essential techniques. First, let’s deal with tracheal mites. Tracheal mite resistant bees are the best defense. Certainly it is nearly impossible to develop bees that are 100% resistant. However, if a colony survives the winter, it is probably a good indication they have some degree of tracheal mite resistance. That’s why the queens we sell are only from hives that have been overwintered without any treatment. Hives that suffer from tracheal mite infestation are unable to properly thermoregulate their hive during the winter and the hive simply freezes out.

I recently wrote an article on formic acid and the Mite Away Quick Strips that will soon be approved in many states. It is not a harsh treatment and only requires 7 days and can be used with honey supers on. It will take care of both varroa and trachea mites.
To address the tracheal mite naturally use a grease patty in the hive. Mix 2 parts powdered sugar with one part Crisco vegetable shortening. You can add a bit of honey-b-healthy or lemon grass oil extract. Compact this mixture between two sheets of wax paper and lay on the top bar of each deep brood body. Keep it on all year! As the bees nibble at the sugar in the patty, they will track traces of the vegetable oil around thus it is enough to make it nearly impossible for the tracheal mite to find a young bee as a new host. It is difficult for a tracheal mite to enter an older bee because of the more developed hair near the first breathing airway on the mature bee.
Remember, tracheal mites are not usually a serious problem, certainly not like varroa mites. This is partly because bees in America are becoming more resistant, but also because beekeepers are  treating for varroa which is also knocking out tracheal mite populations. But if you want to become a better beekeeper, this lesson is for you!
Lastly, you HAVE to keep your varroa mite levels down as much as possible. I am always amused at beekeepers who say they do not have mites but their only test is a quick visual glance. These are the same beekeepers who can’t spot queens but they can spot varroa mites?? You cannot see tracheal mites and most beekeepers find it very hard to see varroa mites. Do not assume you are mite free simple because you cannot see mites. Become more aggressive toward mites to save your hive.
If you don’t like formic acid, then use IPM (Integrated Pest Management) methods for varroa such as 1) Freezing drone comb traps 2) Screen bottom boards 3) Powdered Sugar Drop and 4) Removing the queen temporarily to break up the bee’s (and varroa’s) brood cycle.
If you lost bees this winter, do not assume it was the cold winter. It could have been, but it is very possible that with a little more perfected management, your hives could have survived the winter. So move over and become a beekeeper, not just a bee-haver.
These lessons are free, but they do cost to research, write and publish and post. If you cannot afford a donation, no problem and please enjoy. If you can help support our ongoing research and lessons, we would certainly use your gift wisely to further freely sharing these valuable lessons which help others successfully keep bees!  Please see the link below to make a donation or send your gift to our address at the end of this Lesson. And thank you in advance.

Thanks so much for joining us again today, and please know that we appreciate your business. When you purchase from Long Lane Honey Bee Farms it helps us pay the bills and make a living and to continue our research on honey bees. So keep us in mind next time you need a hive, a queen or any beekeeping equipment. Our phone is: 217-427-2678
One of our most dearly loved hives that customers enjoy so much is our copper top garden hive. Looks absolutely beautiful in any garden or yard. We sell these with a cypress hive stand and these are 8 frame garden hive, so they are just alittle bit easier to handle and sure look cute. Click on our garden hive image to purchase one today. Click here for more information on our copper top garden hives.

Also we are now carrying a new style of top feeders, an all wooden top feeder with two large reservoirs. Each reservoir has a wooden platform where the bees can stand and eat and not drown. Place it on the top hive box and place the top cover on the feeder. Works great! Click on the image to purchase.
One more item is a queen mansion.
Queen Mansions is just what it sounds like, a hive body that allows you to raise 3 queens at one time, or keep three queens in one deep hive body. We use them in our queen rearing operation and they work nicely. There are three separate areas in one deep hive body.
Each section is completely sealed from the other sections so each queen has her very own three frame section with separate entrance. Three top pieces made for 3/4" pine serve as the individual top pieces so you can remove one at a time to work one section while the other two remain sealed closed. This is a great flexible unit, because once you no longer want to hold queens, simply slide out the dividers and use it as a regular deep hive body and a regular screen bottom board. 9 Frames included. Top cover not included.
Here’s our contact Information…
Phone: 217-427-2678
Email: david@honeybeesonline.com
(Please call us rather than emailing us about orders)
Web: www.honeybeesonline.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/longlanehoney
Podcasts: www.honeybeesonline.com/studiobeelive.html
Mailing Address: Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
14556 N 1020 E. Rd
Fairmount, IL 61841
See you next time,
David & Sheri Burns
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
In Central Illinois

Nidhal had a post last month on Statistical Analysis to Predict the Next Revolution(s). Well...today's NPR had an interesting story of using Google Trends to predict what is going on in a country. In talking about Egypt its says:

"Google Trends allows us to get a sense of atmospherics," Koehler-Derrick says. "There are approximately 16 million Internet users in Egypt. Now, this is undoubtedly a demographic that is biased toward younger people. If you put Google's market share at 10 percent, which I think is absurdly low, then that is 1.6 million users that we have essentially surveyed for 30 days."

He and Goldstein searched Google using Arabic because that would better measure what locals are interested in. Using the search term "Tunis," they wanted to see how many Egyptians were following the demonstrations in Tunisia. They compared the number of Google searches for "Tunis" with the number of Google searches for pop stars in Egypt.

"Typically, as I think you'd find in the United States, pop stars trump almost any search you can think of," Koehler-Derrick says. "But the search for Tunis prior to the demonstrations that kicked off in late January were surprisingly high."

Wait a minute. Even a small Charlie Sheen rant can throw all this statistics out the window. Now this particular story is mostly about intelligence. But it also mentioned this fascinating use of Google Trends for predicting pandemics:

Google Trends is basically a way of looking at what people are focusing on by mapping out their Google searches. Marketing firms have been using Google Trends for some time. The government has, too. Back in 2009, during the swine flu epidemic in the U.S., the National Institutes of Health used Google Flu Trends to track outbreaks of the disease.

It turns out that when people started to feel feverish and nauseous, they would go to Google to check out their symptoms. While it wasn't a perfect indicator, Google Flu Trends often beat government predictions about flu outbreaks by a week or more. Imagine using the Internet to do the same thing in predicting political unrest.

Fascinating! I don't know how robust these connections are, nevertheless, this is really interesting.

Listen to the full story here.

(Added Mar 26: Here is the link to Google Flu Trends. Thanks - Emre)

To read the content of this post, please click here:
http://www.inspiremeasap.blogspot.com/2011/03/sugar-shock.html

This was a fun dinner to make, although I am not as good at rolling out pizza dough as I thought I would be. My dough was not exactly round. It was more of a free form shape, like those cool pools that you see in famous peoples backyards. But once it came out of the oven it looked pretty damn good. And the taste was fabulous. My kids loved it!!

Ingredients:

1 package hot Italian turkey sausage
2 large peppers sliced (I used yellow and orange)
2 small onions sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup marinara sauce
pizza dough (divided into 4 pieces)
8 oz package of shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice sausage, onions, and peppers. Place in a glass or ceramic baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Bake in oven until caramelized, about 45 minutes. (sausage, peppers and onions should be browned and soft). Add marinara sauce and bake 10-15 minutes longer. Remove from oven and set aside. Roll out pizza dough into a round. Sprinkle 1/4 of the cheese in the middle of the dough. Place 1/4 of the sausage mixture on top of cheese. Fold over dough to form a semi circle. Tuck ends under. Bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes or until dough is browned.

As part of our Science & Religion Lecture Series at Hampshire College, we have archaeologist John R. Hale as our speaker on March 31st (next Thursday). He will be talking about the Delphic Oracle, and how science has unearthed information about ancient religious practice (actually - the discovery that he is going to talk about is quite fascinating). Yes, this topic also falls under the broad category of science & religion. Often times, science & religion issues are only seen through the narrow lens of origin debates. But there are many other facets - and this is a fantastic example. By the way, Dr. John Hale also has couple of Teaching Company courses. Last year I listened to Exploring the Roots of Religion, and it was very good.

If you are in the area, please join us at the talk next week. Here is the full announcement and abstract for the talk:

Hampshire College Lecture Series on Science & Religion Presents

Mysteries of the Delphic Oracle

Ancient Religion, Modern Science

by

Dr. John R. Hale

Thursday, March 31, 2011

5:30p.m., Franklin Patterson Hall, Main Lecture Hall

Hampshire College

Abstract:

The Delphic Oracle was the most influential religious site in the ancient Greek world.  Speaking from a tripod in a crypt under the temple of Apollo at Delphi, the priestess called the Pythia acted as a medium for the god, and spoke the divine prophecies while in a state of trance or possession.  The testimony of eye-witnesses linked the oracle's prophetic power to geological features in the rock under the temple: a mysterious chasm or cleft, a natural vapor or gaseous emission, and a sacred spring.  Although long doubted by modern scholars, these ancient traditions have recently been put to the test by an interdisciplinary team of researchers -- a geologist, an archaeologist, a chemist, and a toxocologist -- with surprising results.

Dr. John R. Hale received his Ph.D. in archaeology from the University of Cambridge in 1979. He has conducted fieldwork in England, Scandinavia, Portugal, Greece and the Ohio River Valley, and is currently director of liberal studies at the University of Louisville, where he is studying such diverse subjects as ancient ships and naval warfare, and the geological origins of the Delphic Oracle. Professor Hale's work has been published in Scientific American, Antiquity, The Classical Bulletin, and the Journal of Roman Archaeology.

For more information on the Lecture Series, please visit http://scienceandreligion.hampshire.edu/

This is a great, light pasta dish that is so simple to make.  I served it as a side dish with a lemon garlic turkey roast but it would be a great main dish as well.

Ingredients:

8  ounces  uncooked pappardelle (wide ribbon pasta)
1  tablespoon  kosher salt
1/3  cup  whole-milk ricotta cheese
3  cups fresh baby spinach leaves (I used regular fresh spinach chopped)
1/4  cup  chopped fresh chives
1/4  cup  chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3  tablespoons  grated fresh pecorino Romano cheese
2  tablespoons olive oil (I omitted this)
1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
1/4  teaspoon  kosher salt

Preparation:

Cook pasta with 1 tablespoon kosher salt according to package directions. Drain in a colander over a bowl, and reserve 1 cup cooking liquid.  Combine 1/2 cup reserved hot cooking liquid and ricotta cheese in a food processor or blender, and process until well blended.  Combine hot pasta, cheese mixture, spinach, and remaining ingredients in a large bowl; toss gently to coat. Add additional cooking liquid to moisten, if needed

When I tasted this recipe at a work function, I was instantly in love!! LOL This is just the most decadent and delicious dessert ever. It totally tastes like a peanut butter cup. I made it for my niece Rachel's 16th birthday party. She is a huge fan of the peanut butter chocolate combo. It was a big hit!!

Ingredients:

1 box fudge brownie mix
1 cup peanut butter
3 cups milk
2 boxes instant chocolate pudding mix
2 8 oz tubs Cool whip
8 Reese's PB cups, coarsely chopped

Preparation:

Bake brownies according to package directions, Cool completely, cut into cubes or crumble. Melt peanut butter in microwave, approximately one minute. let Cool slightly. Whisk milk into melted peanut butter and then mix in pudding mixes (it will get slightly chunky). Place half the brownies in bottom of trifle bowl. Then layer half the peanut butter mixture, 8 oz. Cool whip, and half of the peanut butter cups. repeat all layers again. let refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.

To read the content of this post, please click here:
http://www.inspiremeasap.blogspot.com/2011/03/wanted-more-school-supplies.html

SXSW was amazing and exhausting. We'll have slides and video from our Lean Startup track posted soon. Don't forget to vote to help choose a Lean Startup SXSW Challenge winner. (You can follow the slide presentation on Slideshare here.) Next week, I travel to New York, where I'm especially excited to see the entrepreneurial renaissance that is in progress, first hand.

I am declaring next week to be officially Lean Startup Week in New York City. Here's why:

NYU, Tues. 3/29 6-9pm - Demo Competition & Interview with Eric Ries

NYU's Himelberg Speaker Series brought to you by the NYU Stern Berkley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation with help from Tech@NYU

Columbia, Weds. 3/30 6-9pm - Discussion with Eric Ries, brought to you by the Columbia Venture Community

The Columbia Venture Community and the Columbia Journalism School are pleased to bring Eric Ries to campus on Wednesday, March 30th at 6pm for an evening of frank conversation.

 These events all have limited availability:

• NYC Lean Startup Circle, Thurs. 3/31 6:30-9pm - sold out!
• Google Tech Talk, Friday. 4/1 noon-3pm - private
• Lean Startup Machine, Friday. 4/1 7-9pm - apply while you still can

If you can't make it to one of those events, here are some upcoming opportunities on my speaking tour:

• Portland - PDX Lean Startup Circle - April 5, 6pm
• Seattle - Seattle Google Technology Users Group (GTUG) - Monday, April 11
• Michigan - The Michigan Lean Startup Conference - Thursday, May 19
• Baltimore - RailsConf keynote - 9:15am Tuesday, 05/17/2011

And you certainly will not want to miss the Startup Lessons Learned Conference 2011, which will take place on May 23 in San Francisco. That will be my last major public appearance for a while, as I'll need to take some time to recover before the book comes out. It will feature an amazing lineup, which we'll announce shortly.

Hope you can make it to one or more of these events. If so, be sure to come say hello.

(Special thanks to Trevor Owens for helping to organize my New York trip.)

Here is a fantastic short animated film, The Incident at Tower 37, made by my colleague Chris Perry at Hampshire College. What is amazing is that he made this film in collaboration with students in a number of his classes. He has a special knack of teaching project-based courses - and this is perhaps his finest example. Just check out its animation and the fantastic story telling. This movie has also been screened at numerous film festivals, including at last year's Imagine Science Film Festival. Very cool!

Here is the short film (it is about 10 minutes long): 

This is the easiest, throw together no bake, cookie/candy and it is absolutely decadent and delicious. If you like peanut butter this is for YOU!

Ingredients:

1 package of peanut butter chips
1 cup of potato sticks
1 cup of roasted peanuts
1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted for drizzling

Preparation:

Put peanut butter chips in a medium size glass bowl and melt in the microwave in 30 second increments stirring in between until melted and smooth. Add potato sticks and peanuts and stir to coat completely. Drop peanut butter mixture by spoonful onto a cookie sheet lined with parchments paper or another non-stick surface (I used a silpat liner). Place in the freezer to harden. Melt semi-sweet chocolate chips in a small bowl in the microwave in 30 second increments stirring inbetween until chcolate is completely melted and smooth. Place melted chocolate in a small piping bag (a zip lock plastic bag would work too). Snip off a tiny piece at the end of the pastry bag and pipe zig zag lines of chocolate on each peanut butter cluster. If necessary place clusters back in the freezer for chcolate to harden.

By Salman Hameed


Things in the Middle East are still in turmoil. I'm sure everyone is getting a tutorial on the complexity of local politics. Bahrain, Yemen, Syria - all with very different types of uprisings, and none similar to Tunisia and Egypt. And then, of course, you have Gadhafi and his unique brand of brutal craziness. Nidhal and I have written multiple posts here on Tunisia and Egypt (for example, see On the use of social media in the uprisings in the Middle East, Statistical analysis to predict the next revolution(s), How important is the internet in Tunisia uprising?

During all this, I have been following articles and blogs on Foreign Policy Magazine. They present an interesting analysis (some from US perspective and some more general), and now they have a special report (an e-book), Revolution in the Arab World, that collects some of their articles related to the uprisings from the past year. What? Past year? Actually the first section of the book is quite interesting and it looks at the rumblings of the revolutions in the months preceding the Tunisia uprising.

I think this is a fantastic way to take advantage of e-publishing. This book is timely and provides a nice guide to the current politics in the region. Here is a short blurb:

Where did this wave of anger come from? Why did it begin in Tunisia, and what does it mean? FP's special report starts with a revelatory first chapter that shows how the revolutionary rumblings were ignored, dating back to Issandr El Amrani's prescient warning to Barack Obama in January 2010: Egypt, he wrote, could be the ticking time bomb that overwhelms your international agenda. The coverage also includes a dramatic day-by-day retelling of the battle to hold Tahrir Square, insider accounts of Washington's flip-flopping and struggle to keep up with events, and some of the world’s leading authors and experts, from James Traub to Gary Sick to Robert D. Kaplan, on where we go from here.

Consider it a guidebook for these revolutionary times. 

You can find the table of contents here. You can buy it here.