So a few weeks ago, we had to take Noe to the vet ER because she seemed to be in acute pain. She also wasn’t eating, which for a rabbit is bad news. If they aren’t munching on something fibrous every few hours, they can go into gastrointestinal stasis and die within a day.
To keep the story short, Noe was ultimately fine. We think she had a bad arthritis flare-up, and for some reason it was painful enough that she didn’t want to eat. Since she was even refusing treats, and was in a lot of pain, and it was 7:30 on a Saturday night, we went to the ER. Where she got some x-rays taken:
Side view of Noe.Top view. Note the freakishly long claws. Only part of that actually comes out of the fur. She's like a velociraptor!
There’s no real obvious problem with her inner bits (or so the vet assured us- I can’t really interpret this). So she got a shot of an opiate and some antibiotics, and we took her home. We had to do a bit of force feeding to get food into her stomach, and she was groggy enough to actually put up with it- when she’s in a better mood, she’ll freak out at this, which is how we know she really doesn’t need it. Then a few hours later, she started eating on her own. Crisis averted!
Of course, we ended up taking her in to thee regular vet the next day for a re-check. And then she got a bladder infection (sigh) and had to go in again. But she’s fine now. Perils of having an older pet, I guess.
"I'm fine. Now either give me some parsley or let me sleep."
I’ve been trying pretty hard to think of an appropriate seasonal pun for this, but nothing seems quite right:
“Deck the hall with a clutch of ducklings”
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year…for nesting”
“O ducky night”
“Rudolph the unseasonably-timed duckling”
“Silent night, quacky night”
Yeah, not working.
Anyway, it is, obviously, December, and a pair of wild mallard/mottled duck hybrids has decided to raise a batch of babies in our pond. I’ve mentioned the apparent awesomeness of our pond for duck breeding before, but this is pretty ridiculous.
The babies are clearly only a few days old, and I saw them for the first time yesterday. I’m hoping it stays warm enough at night for them to survive. It’s been a mild winter so far, so maybe they can stay warm until they get big enough to survive before we have a freeze. It’s generally January or February before that happens, so hopefully all goes well…
Okay, so this is a belated post… I’ve been grading all weekend, and Noe refuses to learn to operate the camera to take her own photos for posts. Little princess.
Anyway, here are bunnies on the recent Obama administration decision to restrict access to emergency contraception on political grounds. If only it could be bunnies + reproductive rights FTW!
It’s hard to tell whether Noe is thankful for anything. She’s not really a creature of introspection. She’ll demand until her needs are met, then take a nap until she needs something again.
One of the questions I’m interested in is how changes in the technology available to create science visualizations have affected the final products. While there are obvious differences related to the final display media- like paper and ink vs. monitors and pixels- other “hidden” technologies also play a part in creating visualizations.
Let’s look at the case of visualizations for which you need to do some sort of math in order to create. These include graphs and charts, but also less obviously number-based visualizations, like those showing the relationships among species.
Essentially, we base our understanding of the relationships among species upon how similar they are. Today, this means classifying many traits of different species, creating a table of the different types of traits each species has, and determining what percentage of traits they share in common.* Then we compare the percent similarity among each species, and use that information to construct phylogenetic trees- visualizations of the relationships among the species.
Example of a phylogenetic tree (c) Surachit CC-BY-SA 3.0
Clearly, some mathematical calculations need to be done here. And the more traits and species you are trying to deal with, the more complex the calculations become. Today’s biologists use computers- and even supercomputers- to help them crunch all the numbers they need to be crunched. Once that step is done, other computer programs help them construct the phylogenetic trees.
So, let’s step back in time to the early days of evolutionary biology. In Darwin’s day, this mathematical approach to evolutionary biology didn’t exist. Species were classified in a more qualitative way, but one that was still based upon similarities and differences. This approach relied more on the judgement of the individual scientist in determining which species were most closely related, rather than a compilation of percentages. The visualizations that resulted relied less on math, and more on individual judgment and traditional conventions of design.
But does this mean that early biologists didn’t use math when creating visualizations? Not at all. Most probably used math at least in some amount to help them figure out relationships between species. And (to get a bit off-topic) they also used complex math for other aspects of biology, such as determining population densities. To help them in this task, they actually had a fair array of tools, such as logarithmic tables, Napier’s bones, slide rules, and possibly even mechanical calculators.**
Modern slide rule (c) ArnoldReinhold CC-BY-SA 3.0
But were these tools really widespread among biologists? And did the introduction of more powerful calculating devices help spur the change in biology that led to the number-heavy world of today? I suspect the answer to the latter question is yes.
So, getting at the title of this post, did Darwin use a slide rule? My (admittedly limited, so far) research hasn’t been able to turn up any examples of this. However, I did find an autobiography of his fellow biologist, Alfred Russel Wallace, that talks about using a slide rule as a boy:
“My brother had one of these rules, which we found very useful in testing the areas of fields, which at that time we obtained by calculating the triangles into which each field was divided. To check these calculations we used the slide-rule, which at once showed if there were any error of importance in the result. This interested me, and I became expert in its use, and it also led me to the comprehension of the nature of logarithms, and of their use in various calculations.” (From Wallace, A. R. 1905. My life: A record of events and opinions. London: Chapman and Hall. Volume 1. via Charles Darwin Online)
If Wallace used a slide rule, it’s reasonable to think Darwin might have too. And early visualizations of evolution probably did use tools other than pens, ink, and straight brainpower.
* I’m oversimplifying this a bit, because another important thing to consider is whether the traits are based on shared ancestry, rather than convergent evolution, and some other factors. Because of these factors, some of the traits in your table are more important than others, so are “weighted” more heavily in your calculations.
** Charles Babbage of Difference Engine fame was a contemporary of Darwin’s, and they even corresponded about his calculating devices.
Last weekend, we took a short break from working and drove out to Orlando Wetlands Park. We only had about an hour and a half in the park before closing, but it was still good to get out of the house (and away from grading!)
The really obvious change at the park is the big expansion in flooded pond area. OWP is a water treatment facility that slowly filters treated wastewater through a series of ponds and marshes, before discharging it into the St. Johns River. Plants, algae, and natural microbes do the job of pulling excess nutrients out of the water. After treatment, the water is actually much lower in nutrient levels than the water in the St. Johns, but the nutrients have to go somewhere, and that ends up being the rotting remains of the plants and algae.
We're not talking about a shovelful or two of dirt, here... (Photo by OWP staff.)
Apparently, the time had come to remove some of the nutrient-containing (mainly phosphorus) muck from part of the wetland. After the muck removal, managers planted more native plants, and re-flooded the area. There’s a description of the process here. It certainly gives the place a different “feel.”
Since we didn’t have much time to explore the park before closing, it was quite disorienting to see the new expanse of pond with little cypress tree “islands” where before there had been marsh. I guess my surprise a testament to how long it’s been since I’ve visited, because I think this work was done a few months ago (where does the time go…?). It’s a bit sad that the mapsI helped make for them are now out of date! (Though I think the berms and paths are pretty similar…)
Newly-planted ponds. (Photo: OWP staff.)
Anyway, the park closes for the season on Nov. 15th, so I’m going to try to get out there again before that point- maybe bike around a bit to see what’s changed.
Here’s my bird list- not too bad for a breezy hour of walking around. The highlight was probably the whistling-duck families, which have the obvious cute appeal of being, well, ducks that whistle.
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Wood Stork
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle
Red-shouldered Hawk
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Downy/Hairy Woodpecker (moved too fast to tell)
Eastern Phoebe
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Common Yellowthroat
Palm Warbler
Savannah Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Boat-tailed Grackle
This week, Noe got a festive Halloween-themed orchard grass wreath from Bunny Bytes.
Noe's festive autumn wreath.
She was all excited about it until she realized that we’d also bought some bunny biscuits. Yan made the mistake of feeding her one and letting her see the bag, which he put onto the small table (which she can easily climb onto) while she ate.
Next, it was all “OMG, I know you have more, I saw the bag, where is it, I saw it, I want it, is it up on the couch, it’s not on the couch, is it under the couch, I want it, it was on the table, why can’t I go on the table, it must be on the table, it’s not on the table, where did it go, I know I saw it, you are freaking me out you guys, where is the bag, I WANT IT, BUNNY BISCUIT!” (with crazy nose-twitching)
