neonvincent

Decided to share this after Michigan won the (no longer mythical) national championship last night.

While I was in the hospital, I had access to my wife's tablet. I was able to not only surf the internet and watch shows on Netflix and Hulu (I watched an episode of "The Good Place" when I had it for the Coffee Party Board Retreat a couple weeks earlier), I was able to compose and post short blog entries. Here are links to the three that I managed to write while sitting next to my hospital bed.

September 9 R.I.P. Jerry Pournelle

September 10 Vox on hurricanes, climate change, and storm surge

September 11 Dinosaurs dancing to 'Jurassic Park' theme and more science fiction music on a football field

That's as much as I wish to dwell on my morbidity and eventual mortality today, which happens to be my birthday.

Just as I started last month on Crazy Eddie's Motie News with a good news post based on a press release that assumed Business as Usual (BAU) will return, so I ended last month with a post based on another optimistic BAU press release, this time from one of my alma maters.

University of Michigan: Oakland economy is in the early stages of sustained recovery

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—After posting modest job losses last calendar year following an abysmal 2009, the Oakland County economy should add nearly 29,000 jobs over the next three years—the best years since 2000, say University of Michigan economists.

That looks really good, doesn't it?

In their annual forecast of the Oakland County economy, George Fulton and Don Grimes of the U-M Institute for Research on Labor, Employment, and the Economy say that Oakland will add nearly 11,000 jobs this year, another 8,000 next year and more than 9,700 in 2013.

This year looks like the best of the three and next year the worst of the three. If you're a politician up for re-election in 2012, that may not be the best news, but at least the projection isn't for job losses that year, either.

Last calendar year, Oakland County lost less than 1,200 jobs after losing nearly 60,000 jobs in 2009, and is currently adding jobs—the majority in sectors most tied to the New Economy.

Now does adding 29,000 jobs in three years look that good? Not when you realize that more than twice as many were lost in one year.

( Even so, the good news continues. )

It's the weekend, which means it's time for me to select this week's news from midwestern universities about food and sustainability. Once again, Michigan State University has pride of place as the first Michigan university mentioned with the only two food stories.



Food

Michigan State University: MSU class building a better popcorn kernel

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A group of Michigan State University students is taking a course this semester that has the official title of “Science of the Foods we Love.” But most everybody knows it as the “popcorn course.”

That’s because in addition to teaching the students the finer points of scientific research, and how the worlds of science and industry come together, another result of the course might be a better kernel of popcorn.

With the help of a gift from ConAgra Foods, the maker of, among other things, Orville Redenbacher popcorn, the class is studying different aspects of popcorn (e.g., explosivity, hull thickness and kernel size distribution) as they relate to the overall quality of a popped bag of microwave popcorn.

Later this month the class will travel to ConAgra headquarters in Omaha, Neb., to present their findings to the company’s scientists.

As I wrote in one of my early linkspam posts:

The flip side of Purdue's concern with food is that it's very much in the pocket of industrial agriculture, and this article shows that relationship in unapologetic detail. Honestly, I find Michigan State University, where there is a program in organic agriculture that was created by student demand, to have a more progressive perspective, and MSU is also a land-grant agricultural college.

They may be more progressive, but they are still strongly connected to industrial agriculture.

Michigan State University: Oxygen sensor invention could benefit fisheries to breweries

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Monitoring oxygen levels in water has applications for oil spills, fish farming, brewing beer and more – and a professor at Michigan State University is poised to help supply that need.

The concept of oxygen sensors isn’t new. The challenge, however, has been manufacturing one that can withstand fluctuations in temperature, salinity, carbon dioxide, phosphates and biological wastes. Ruby Ghosh, associate professor of physics, was able to overcome those obstacles as well as build one that provides real-time data and is relatively inexpensive.
...
Constantly testing dissolved oxygen is critical in industries such as:

• Aquaculture – where fish are raised in oxygen-rich, high-density environments.
• Beverage manufacturing – which constantly monitors dissolved oxygen levels during the fermentation and bottling processes.
• Biomedical research – which could use probes to further cancer research by detecting changes in oxygen dependence in relation to tumor growth.
• Petroleum manufacturing – to monitor ocean oxygen levels and detect/prevent oil leaks in rugged, saltwater environments.

...
To test her prototypes, Ghosh and her students worked with Michigan’s fish farmers to see how they would hold up in a year-round, outdoor environment.

“My lab focuses on solving real-life problems through our technology,” Ghosh said. “Raising trout for recreational fishing is economically important to Michigan, and our prototype proved that our sensor performs well in the field and could help that industry thrive.”

Since the most read posts this month so far has been Detroit Food and Sustainability News for 4/4/11 and its popularity has been driven by Google searches for people searching for the news story about Russ Allen of Seafood Systems in Okemos and his proposal to raise shrimp in Detroit (Let's see what that phrase does for this post's Search Engine Optimization--muahahahahaha!), I decided to put this story about aquaculture above the fold as a food story.

More news stories about sustainability, science, economy, politics, and law at Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

April Fools is over, and so is focusing on "business as usual." It's time to return to what this blog is about, which is fighting off or surviving collapse.

Since it's Saturday, it's the day when I survey scientific, environmental, and economic research news from the local universities. This week, Michigan State University receives top billing, as they have a plethora of environmenal news.

Top Story

MSU kicks off Earth Month with weekly ‘Dim Down’

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University will kick off Earth Month festivities this Friday, April 1, with the annual Dim Down program.

Sponsored by the MSU Office of Campus Sustainability, the program is designed to encourage faculty, staff and students to engage in collaborative energy conservation.

Faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to participate in voluntary energy conservation each Friday from noon to 1 p.m. throughout the month of April by turning off lights, computer monitors, speakers and other nonessential items.
...
“The Dim Down program has very successful in the past several years at MSU,” said Ashley Hale, senior communication undergraduate and founder of the Dim Down Program. “In 2009, Dim Down events equated to a 3 percent decrease in overall energy usage on campus.”

That's not much, but it's better than nothing.

Each week an event will be hosted by the Office of Campus Sustainability to encourage participation and facilitate discussion on environmental issues.

Oh, cool. What's on the agenda?

*April 1: Turning Trash into Treasure — A crafting activity designed to help participants learn how to reuse household materials and reduce land-filled waste. The event will take place from noon to 1 pm. in the Union lobby. Craft materials will be provided.

Darn, missed it--and it looks like it would have been fun, too.

What else?

*April 8: Sustainability Research Symposium — Research conducted at MSU with a focus on sustainability will be presented in Wonders Hall Kiva from noon to 2 p.m.

*April 15: State of the State Energy Discussion — Learn more about statewide energy policy, MSU’s Energy Transition Planning Process and energy efficiency at home from noon to 1 p.m. in Wonders Hall Kiva.

*April 22: Take-a-Tour — Stop by the MSU Surplus Store and Recycling Center from 12-1 and take a tour of the facility which has earned LEED gold certification.

*April 29: Dim Down Walk — Celebrate a month of energy conservation and enjoy the sunshine. The walk starts at noon in front of the Hannah Administration Building.

Fridays look like good clean green fun at MSU.

More at Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

Following up on my previous posts in my LiveJournal and fandom_lounge on JournalFen on university teams playing Quidditch, a case of life imitating art.



Right now, the video above has more views than either of the videos UCLA posted about their men's basketball team in the NCAA Tournament within the same 24 hour period.

UCLA Quidditch

Inspired by the famous "Harry Potter" book and film series, Quidditch is the newest sport to sweep the UCLA campus and the rest of the world. UCLA is actively involved in the International Quidditch Association's Western Regional Division. Learn about this unique sport and its players who made Quidditch a bona fide club sport team at UCLA. "Fantasy becoming a reality does not happen nearly as often as it should."

The video above shows that Eastern Michigan University isn't the only one of my four alma maters that plays organized Quidditch. UCLA does as well. The University of Michigan also has a team Even California State University, Northridge, which has the least school spirit of any of my four alma maters, has a Facebook page for people trying to organize a team.

So, three of my four alma maters have Quidditch teams and the fourth is trying. How about yours?

A less graphics-intense version posted at fandom_lounge on JournalFen.