12-year old Jameson
Normally, I stick to Scotch, but in honor of the patron saint of Eire, I had some mighty fine Jameson today. One of the members of the Fab 5, BS, just accepted a job at the University of TN, and brought with him a half-empty bottle of some of Ireland's finest with him. Those interviews must have been rough! While we celebrated his success at getting a job, I tried to get him and DS to start blogs. We will all need to rely upon something in a year's time to keep some sort of tab on each other. JM, the fifth member of our posse has a blog that he will be adding to soon.
The past few days I have been using a spectral radiometer to examine what light is doing when it hits leaves. When light hits a leaf, it has three routes it can take: 1) it is reflected off of the leaf surface, 2) it is transmitted through the leaf, or 3) it is absorbed by the leaf. I'm looking at how much individual salt crystals, as would be deposited by ocean spray, increase the amount of reflected light. YAWN. Actually, it is a cool part of a bigger picture. What I want to comment here is about the technology. The machine is circa 1985 and the ancient software that I use on it is about the same age--running on an old laptop. So, after I run all the samples, I have to remember how to use DOS in order to save the data files onto a 3.5" floppy. My laptop doesn't have a floppy drive, so I have to hunt down another computer (luckily an ancient one in the greenhouse), download the files onto it, and then e-mail them to myself. I complain a bit, but it isn't THAT much of a pain. What is a pain is that things go out of date SO often. The spectral radiometer and integrating sphere are expensive pieces of equipment, and they work perfectly fine, so no need to replace them. However, the company that made them (LiCor), no longer makes/supports them or the software, so we have to keep around old computers just to access and use things. Things go out-of-date so quickly; too quickly. I heard that the National Archives has to maintain a whole army of people who know how to use old technology (as well as the old machines themselves), just to access all of the millions (billions? trillions??) of documents that are stored electronically. I'm not anti-technology; far from it. But, it does make one nostalgiac for books, which are pretty easy to read and last for 100s of years. Or, stone tablets, which can last 1000s.
Spring is around the corner, or at least they tell us that it is. One of the vernal harbringers I look forward to isn't appreciated so much for its flowers as it is for its colorful bark in late winter/early spring. The shrubby dogwoods, as a group, are spectacular this time of year, with the red osier dogwood (Cornus stolonifera) being one of the most commonly planted. However, Cornus sanguinea, the bloodtwig dogwood, is even more brilliant. In many cases, its individual branches are suffused with multiple intensities of the same color, or even different colors all together, as can be seen here in the selected clone 'Midwinter Fire' (which is pretty darned close to and often confused with 'Midwinter Flame'; I cannot tell the bloody things apart). The basal portions of the stems are yellow, which then darken and deepen to become orange and then red at the tips. Quite the show stoppers, particularly if there is a bit of dark green as a backdrop. Normally, snow is required to get the best effect, but because these have lighter colors in their stems, they can stand out even amidst the mulch.
Why the colorful stems, and why only in late winter, you ask? Well, recall that when light hits a surface, it can do one of 3 things (reflected off, absorbed, or transmitted through). When excess light is absorbed, it can actually cause a lot of damage to a stem, or a leaf, or even your skin (hence our prolific use of sunscreen). Certain pigments (such as anthocyanin and xanthophylls) actually act as 'sponges' and mop up the excess energy, preventing the build-up of free radicals. This time of year, as the sap starts moving through the stems and the plants begin to initiate growth, they can be particularly susceptible to damage. However, by the time May rolls around, a full canopy of leaves has been produced and the stems are sufficiently shaded that the expensive pigments are no longer needed -- and the bright and brilliant stems become dull.
Cool stuff.
Normally, I stick to Scotch, but in honor of the patron saint of Eire, I had some mighty fine Jameson today. One of the members of the Fab 5, BS, just accepted a job at the University of TN, and brought with him a half-empty bottle of some of Ireland's finest with him. Those interviews must have been rough! While we celebrated his success at getting a job, I tried to get him and DS to start blogs. We will all need to rely upon something in a year's time to keep some sort of tab on each other. JM, the fifth member of our posse has a blog that he will be adding to soon.
The past few days I have been using a spectral radiometer to examine what light is doing when it hits leaves. When light hits a leaf, it has three routes it can take: 1) it is reflected off of the leaf surface, 2) it is transmitted through the leaf, or 3) it is absorbed by the leaf. I'm looking at how much individual salt crystals, as would be deposited by ocean spray, increase the amount of reflected light. YAWN. Actually, it is a cool part of a bigger picture. What I want to comment here is about the technology. The machine is circa 1985 and the ancient software that I use on it is about the same age--running on an old laptop. So, after I run all the samples, I have to remember how to use DOS in order to save the data files onto a 3.5" floppy. My laptop doesn't have a floppy drive, so I have to hunt down another computer (luckily an ancient one in the greenhouse), download the files onto it, and then e-mail them to myself. I complain a bit, but it isn't THAT much of a pain. What is a pain is that things go out of date SO often. The spectral radiometer and integrating sphere are expensive pieces of equipment, and they work perfectly fine, so no need to replace them. However, the company that made them (LiCor), no longer makes/supports them or the software, so we have to keep around old computers just to access and use things. Things go out-of-date so quickly; too quickly. I heard that the National Archives has to maintain a whole army of people who know how to use old technology (as well as the old machines themselves), just to access all of the millions (billions? trillions??) of documents that are stored electronically. I'm not anti-technology; far from it. But, it does make one nostalgiac for books, which are pretty easy to read and last for 100s of years. Or, stone tablets, which can last 1000s.
Spring is around the corner, or at least they tell us that it is. One of the vernal harbringers I look forward to isn't appreciated so much for its flowers as it is for its colorful bark in late winter/early spring. The shrubby dogwoods, as a group, are spectacular this time of year, with the red osier dogwood (Cornus stolonifera) being one of the most commonly planted. However, Cornus sanguinea, the bloodtwig dogwood, is even more brilliant. In many cases, its individual branches are suffused with multiple intensities of the same color, or even different colors all together, as can be seen here in the selected clone 'Midwinter Fire' (which is pretty darned close to and often confused with 'Midwinter Flame'; I cannot tell the bloody things apart). The basal portions of the stems are yellow, which then darken and deepen to become orange and then red at the tips. Quite the show stoppers, particularly if there is a bit of dark green as a backdrop. Normally, snow is required to get the best effect, but because these have lighter colors in their stems, they can stand out even amidst the mulch. Why the colorful stems, and why only in late winter, you ask? Well, recall that when light hits a surface, it can do one of 3 things (reflected off, absorbed, or transmitted through). When excess light is absorbed, it can actually cause a lot of damage to a stem, or a leaf, or even your skin (hence our prolific use of sunscreen). Certain pigments (such as anthocyanin and xanthophylls) actually act as 'sponges' and mop up the excess energy, preventing the build-up of free radicals. This time of year, as the sap starts moving through the stems and the plants begin to initiate growth, they can be particularly susceptible to damage. However, by the time May rolls around, a full canopy of leaves has been produced and the stems are sufficiently shaded that the expensive pigments are no longer needed -- and the bright and brilliant stems become dull.
Cool stuff.
posted by guy among the trees at 8:50 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home