tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13364574214995863322024-03-13T14:07:41.208-07:00Smells Like PiratesJeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-36389428796104922992017-06-26T09:25:00.000-07:002017-06-26T09:25:02.977-07:00Heat Death<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>What is meant by “heat death”?</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This is a topic
that came up in class, but since it was only vaguely related to what
we were actually talking about I did not take the time to explain it
very well. Heat death is a theory about the ultimate fate of the
universe. The second law of thermodynamics states that entropy
increases over time in any closed system. In other words, available
energy is always going to decrease unless there is energy being
added. The earth has life, violent weather, and so on because the
sun is constantly pouring energy into it, so the earth itself is not
really a closed system. Meanwhile, however, the sun is slowly using
up all of its energy, and one day it will burn out. Taken as a
whole, the solar system is essentially a closed system (if you ignore
the light, heat, and radiation that reaches us from the deep
stretches of outer space). Taken as a whole, then, the universe
itself is a closed system. As far as we know, the universe is using
up energy and nobody out there is putting new energy into it.
Therefore, the theory goes, the universe will eventually use up all
the energy that is available to do work, and it will die cold and
dark.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The notion of the
universe as a closed system that is burning out raises an interesting
question, related to the most interesting question that humans have
ever asked: if the universe is constantly getting colder, and it has
been in existence forever, why hasn't it burned out already? The
obvious answer is that the universe has not existed forever.
Scientists typically identify the Big Bang as the event that brought
the universe into being. At the moment of the Big Bang event, the
universe was at maximum energy. As time passes, the energy is used
up, and it is decreasingly available to do work.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
But what happened
before the Big Bang? In a way, this is a paradoxical question. Time
began at the Big Bang, and so there is no sense talking about what
was there before. That does not stop people from trying to
understand what could have happened. One popular theory is that
there was a universe that existed before. It started with a Big Bang
of its own, expanded and expanded, but then gravity slowly brought
the expansion to an end, and then pulled that universe back together
until it made a gravitation singularity, that then resulted in our
Big Bang. According to this theory, the same fate awaits our
universe, the universe that it is thus created, and so on forever.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Even though this
theory is well known, possibly because it was popularized by Carl
Sagan's <i>Cosmos </i>book series
and television show, there are a couple of serious problems with it.
First, there does not seem to be enough mass in the universe to get
it to collapse back on itself. Maybe “dark matter,” which cannot
be detected like other forms of matter, exists in sufficient
quantities to allow the “Big Crunch” to take place. Second, the
expansion of the universe is not actually slowing down, but
accelerating! This is said to be the effect of something called
“dark energy,” which scientists do not understand well. Nobody
knows whether the universe is going to continue to expand faster and
faster, all we have to go on is our observations, since the principle
is poorly understood.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
These
two problems with the “Big Crunch” scenario leaves the question
of how the universe has so much energy to begin with. Is there
another principle that works against entropy? Some physicists
believe in a steady state theory, which says that the universe as a
whole does not operate by the rules of the second law of
thermodynamics. There are various forms of this theory, but the
proponents have not been able to observe phenomena that convincingly
demonstrate their theories.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
“Big Crunch” theory connects to an interesting time travel
paradox that I have been thinking about recently. Say that there is
a giant war that makes it hard for the planet to sustain life. A few
people, animals, and plants survive and find a way to eke out a
living. Eventually civilization is rebuilt, and technology advances
to a point where time travel is possible. A time traveler is
convinced that it would be better if the catastrophic war had never
happened, so she travels back in time to warn humanity about the
cataclysmic effects of their military conflicts. Instead of doing
what people usually do (continue on the road to self-destruction,
only to realize after the fact that they had been foolish), they heed
the warnings and destroy their extreme weapons.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
effect of this disarmament is that all the events that led to the
birth of the time traveler and the creation of the time machine are
erased. Of course this is a paradox, because now the warning can
never come. But let's pretend that it doesn't happen. What happens
instead is that the stretch of history from the time of the war up to
the when the time traveler makes her trip becomes a type of
“hypothetical loop.” That effect that all of those events have
on the course of history is that it led to the time traveler, but
other than that all of those events, people, everything that was
built, made, dreamed, thought, and done is completely erased.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Now
some people will speculate that history will continue now in two
trajectories. The people who were left behind by the time traveler
will continue in their own “universe,” while her arrival in the
past creates a new trajectory that is, in effect, a different
“universe.” Regardless of what happens to those people,
everything that happens after she leaves is completely unknowable to
the people she travels to save. Not only is it unknowable, though,
it actually is a future that does not exist for those people who
averted war. They eliminated that future when they chose peace over
war.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This
connects to the “Big Crunch” theory because, if this universe is
crushed into nothingness to become a new universe, then everything
that happens and in our future is a “hypothetical loop.” Not
only will our existence not matter to the people of the next
universe, there is no meaningful way in which we exist to those
people at all, not even as a piece of their past. Time stopped and
started again.</div>
Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-31941535512162456042017-06-26T08:02:00.004-07:002017-06-26T08:02:38.043-07:00Other jobs<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>What would you do if you couldn't be
a teacher?</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I don't know.
Here are some things that I would enjoy doing:</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Work with
developmentally disabled adults. The problem with this as a career
is that the pay is tragically low. There is definitely a lot of
money invested by the government, parents, and others in the field,
but very little of it trickles down to the people who actually work
one-on-one with clients. Do you remember this past year when the
minimum wage was increased, and they said that it would throw the
industry into turmoil? It turns out that there are trained
professionals who have been working in the field for decades who are
not taking home $10 and hour!
</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Write and
perform puppet shows. I would particularly be interested in
creating puppet shows that could be enjoyed by teenagers and adults.
The problem with this sort of job is that I don't work well with
fluid deadlines. I like daily deadlines so that I don't get too
worried about whether I am doing enough work.</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Tech support.
I have worked in this field before, and think that this is the sort
of job I could actually get. The thing I liked least about working
in this area is that I had to study every day to keep up with
changes, and I felt that knowledge in this area is too ephemeral –
you learn something only to have to replace that knowledge with
something else. If I am going to study every day, I would rather
study something timeless and meaningful.</div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The main
requirements I have for a job are that I want to work with people I
like on a personal level and admire on a professional level. That is
why I am fortunate to work where I do.</div>
Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-41880176711059025592017-06-21T08:30:00.000-07:002019-03-25T09:57:56.894-07:00Grades and Learning<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Does having grades help or hurt
students? (Because I heard of a school where going to class was
optional and for the first two weeks students didn't go to class.
After that they started going because they wanted to learn instead of
being forced. I'm not sure if it's real, though.)</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I have been
curious about this for a long time, and I have taught classes that
gave grades and others that didn't, so I have seen it from both
sides.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Probably the most
prominent critic of grades currently is Alfie Kohn. You might be
interested in <a href="http://www.alfiekohn.org/article/case-grades/">this
article,</a> in which he summarizes his analysis of the effect of
grades on motivation. Kohn argues that giving grades makes students
less interested in what they're learning, draws them to look for the
easiest possible task, and reduces the value of their thinking.
Students who are focused on getting better grades eventually come to
see the grade and purpose of education, and they often lose a love of
learning. Students at schools where grades are heavily emphasized,
or who have parents who give them monetary rewards for grades, are
more likely to cheat.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Kohn has some good
insights and research to back up what he says, and I think that
grades will often have a detrimental effect on students who are
highly motivated to learn because of their own intrinsic curiosity.
On the other hand, there are students who have low intrinsic
motivation who will learn only if there is some extrinsic motivation.
Since a modern classroom has students of all types of motivation,
grades seem to be a necessary evil. Probably the best solution is to
give grades, but not to focus on them as the sole goal of education.
This is a hard balance to create, especially since parents have the
central role in creating expectations, and so the school's role is
limited. <a href="http://www.eera-ecer.de/ecer-programmes/conference/3/contribution/4245/">This
summary of research</a> has a good bibliography if you want to read
further.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I used to teach
non-credit classes at community college. Most of the pupils in these
classes were senior citizens, but there were some younger people,
too. Students are drawn to these classes for the purpose of
learning, and there are no grades. I found these classes to be very
enjoyable, and the students always did extra work to keep the
discussions lively. If I could make a living teaching this type of
class, I would enjoy it.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The difference
between the students in a non-credit class and a public school
setting is that the non-credit classes are completely voluntary, and
the students are paying to attend. They therefore are made up of
students who are intrinsically motivated. Since middle school and
high school are compulsory, you have to develop the class to account
for both types of students.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I should also say
that I know of students who start school with a great deal of
internal motivation, but who struggle in one or two areas makes it hard
for them to get exemplary grades, which causes their love of learning
to deteriorate. Students like this can often start to feel like they
are not valued because they repeatedly get sub-optimal grades, and it
is hard to engage intellectually with a community that you feel does
not value you. Evaluating students on their “sense of wonder”
and “depth of inquiry” is designed to combat this deterioration,
but it is hard to prevent in all cases. It would be nice if we could
give grades only to those students who are not intrinsically
motivated, but that is not possible.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There are also
students who come to school brimming with curiosity who DO do well in
school, but who attach their ego so strongly to the notion of “being
an A student” that they replace their love of learning with a
desire to do better than other students in the class. I hope that
they get their curiosity back when they are older and are not
constantly being evaluated.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I think the school
you are referring to is Summerhill, which is an English school that
has been around for almost 100 years. Classes there are optional,
but tend to be well attended. There have been schools in many
countries, including the U.S., that are based on the program. The
school has supporters and detractors, but there is no denying that
there have been numerous successful graduates. The reason the school
is not necessarily a good laboratory for determining the best
education for everybody is that it is a very expensive boarding
school, and the students who are there tend to come from families
that value learning enough to select a school like that. In other
words, it is a selected community that does not represent the variety
of students that wind up in a public school (or public charter
school).</div>
Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-62902728835982545222017-06-20T10:20:00.002-07:002017-06-20T10:20:34.577-07:00Why Do We Study Latin and History?<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I received several
questions that center around the theme of why we learn Latin or
history, when very few students will use them.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Students often
have a utilitarian view of education; if a class can be applied to
your career, then there is a good reason for taking it – otherwise,
no. For example, if you were planning to repair watches for a
living, then a bezel-polishing class would be just the thing; if you
were planning to be a police officer, it would be a complete waste of
time. Likewise, very few students are going to “use” Latin or
history (although definitely those who are going into medicine or
politics clearly might), so what is the point of taking them in
school?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The beauty of a
liberal education is that it is not strictly utilitarian in intent.
The word “liberal” comes from the Latin word “liber,” which
means “free.” You would know this if you had spent as much time
studying Latin as you do kvetching about taking it. In this case, a
liberal education was created for “free” citizens – meaning
those who are wealthy enough that they are free from having to have a
vocation. Therefore, the object of a liberal education is to learn
for the sake of learning, not to hone skills that a person needs in
the workplace.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The subjects of
Latin and history are important to free citizens because they connect
us with our roots; they allow us to explore the great ideas of the
past and to come to a better understanding of the foundation of our
culture. They also give us a peek into the human mind. Everybody
knows who Julius Caesar was, but who can tell us what he thought?
What assumptions did he make about the people he fought against?
What was his understanding of fate? Nobody can really think like
another person, but reading Caesar in Latin can – to a certain
extent – give you the ability to step outside of yourself and come
closer to understanding somebody from a time far removed from our
time.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The questions that
a scholar of Latin and history studies are important because they
give us a better perspective on truth itself, not because they are
particularly useful in a specific job.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
That being said, a
liberal education has been shown to be a great foundation for further
education in all fields. Every year graduates from our school get
accepted to the most prestigious and competitive schools in the
world. The upper echelons of scientists, artists, writers,
mathematicians, engineers, and entertainers are populated by numerous
people who have a classical foundation. The Latin Language Blog put
together an interesting <a href="http://blogs.transparent.com/latin/famous-people-who-studied-latin/">little
list </a>of people in various fields who studied Latin. Some of
them, such as J.K. Rowling, use Latin in their work, while others
merely use the intellectual tools they developed in the study of the
classics and apply them in other fields.</div>
Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-16103613354183373942017-06-20T09:35:00.002-07:002017-06-20T09:35:49.437-07:00More on Video Games<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Another issue with
video games that is of particular concern to educators, particularly
in a liberal-arts school, is that it may affect the ability to focus
on tasks that require extended focus without immediate payoff, such
as reading long books. Video games can be long and involved, but
they tend to be exciting throughout. Some people speculate that the
brain might become accustomed to constant excitement, and therefore
less able to deal with long, dry passages. I could not find any good
research on this issue; so far most of what I found was speculative
and not scientific.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
A similar issue
that comes up is “video-game addiction.” The human brain can
become dependent on constant stimulation, and this looks a lot like
addiction in the brain. There is a lot of research on this going on
right now, and it looks like it is another reason to put a limit on
the amount of time you spend playing.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I think the reason
people find video games so compelling is that the tasks you complete
in a game are similar to tasks you would complete in the wild. My
dog loves hunting, digging, and chasing. In the wild, this is how a
dog would make a living – and she LOVES it. If she could spend her
whole day hunting for animals, she would.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
While not all
people hate their jobs, it is rare to find people who love their jobs
as much as my dog loves chasing rabbits. I think that this is
because our jobs are so far removed from the jobs we had when we were
hunting and gathering. Video games give us a chance to do the jobs
that our brains are wired to do: looking for things, running from
danger, hiding, chasing, throwing, fighting, and so on.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Now, we live in
civilization, and we have to adapt to more civil ways of getting by
in the world. Maybe the reason our brains become “addicted” to
video games is because we have a natural proclivity towards that mode
of existence. Wouldn't it be cool if we could find a way to make our
actual careers more similar to the careers of our “wild”
ancestors?</div>
Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-15361966053370218122017-06-20T09:33:00.004-07:002017-06-20T09:33:55.202-07:00Effects of Video Games<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Do video games have any benefits for
things like on-the-fly thinking?</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Before I attempt to answer this
question, let me say that this is an area of inquiry that is
interesting to many different people for varying reasons, so there
are studies updating and refining our understanding of the effect of
video games coming out all the time. What I write here is
provisionally based on the research I have done so far.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Moderate video game playing has
numerous important benefits. The most well-researched of these
benefits is an improvement in hand-eye coordination. It is most
noticeable in tasks that are similar to video-game activities, such
as firing a weapon and operating vehicles. Young adults who play
video games are more likely to score high on military sharp-shooter
tests, for example.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Another important benefit is that
children who play video games learn new schools more quickly. The
practice of adapting to changing situations makes the brain more
flexible. This <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ana.24745/abstract;jsessionid=0D77051FB705384C77CBD15A6C6A790D.f04t02">article</a>
describes neuroimaging results that show that the brains of children
who play video games are better developed in areas related to
learning than in children who play no video games. This has a
noticeable effect on academic performance, as moderate video-game
players typically do better in school.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There are also some bad effects of
video games, particularly among children who play excessively. The
best known of these effects is that video gamers typically are more
aggressive, defiant, and report more conflicts with their peers.
Excessive video game playing can also lead to social isolation.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The take-away is that video games are
good, but you should limit your exposure to them. All of the
positive benefits of video games seem to be available to people who
play as little as an hour a week. The bad effects are seen most
dramatically in children who play more than nine hours per week. So,
if you can keep your gaming to a little over an hour a day, you are
likely to avoid serious problems. If you do notice that you are
getting short of temper, you may want to cut back a little to see if
the problem stops.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-29849080272088641652017-06-13T15:55:00.002-07:002017-06-13T15:55:51.507-07:00Can Giraffes Vomit?<b>Can giraffes throw up? If so, how long does it take?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
A quick internet search will reveal that this is a question that numerous people can ask, but few can answer. One of the main problems is that giraffes are very picky eaters; they take leaves one-by-one and taste them thoroughly before sending them down the neck. Therefore, they have little reason to vomit. That being said, they do have the physical apparatus necessary to vomit.<br />
<br />
Giraffes are ungulates, and so they have to regurgitate their cud to re-chew it. Ungulates do vomit occasionally, but since they have four stomachs it is most common for them to vomit from one stomach into another one. It is much rarer for them to expel food from their first stomach into the open air for us all to enjoy. It does happen occasionally that a deer or a cow has to spew regurgitated food out of their mouths, but this has not been observed in giraffes. If a giraffe did have to get rid of nasty food that way, it could simply use peristalsis and hack up food and spit it out. Since a giraffe's stomach ferments food instead of breaking it down with acid, the result would not be repulsive vomit like people spew out, but more like a chunky mass of fermented leaves and grasses. Quite pleasant, actually. By comparison, I mean. Also, it would not spray forth like our puke, because the giraffe does not have the muscles necessary to violently expel their vomit like that. There are a lot of positive perks to being a giraffe, but having the ability to spew a glorious rainbow of regurgitated food onto the heads of the members of the more altitude-challenged species is not one of them. Sorry.<br />
<br />
How long would it take? Not very long at all. If you have the time, it is possible to watch riveting videos of giraffes hacking up their food. The cud comes up in a big wad, so you can watch it travel up the neck into the mouth. Even with their enormous necks, the process takes between 1 1/2 seconds to about 3 seconds. Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-88078914406619250462017-05-01T12:24:00.001-07:002017-05-01T12:24:18.034-07:00Jeopardy Black Death<a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tttwA3gHD0TiJxE6sqDKnbyVOdPnwXgeRrUxXIYcZDQ/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000" target="_blank">Black Death Jeopardy</a>Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-74533949886636584552016-07-05T18:37:00.002-07:002016-07-05T18:37:21.482-07:00Other Causes of HallucinationsI should have mentioned that hallucinations are also frequently related to cerebral cortex problems such as epilepsy and migraines. About 1/3 of migraine sufferers see auras preceding the onset of the headache. <br />
<br />
In addition, people frequently report having hallucinations as they are falling off to sleep, known as "hypnopompic hallucinations." They can be frightening, particularly if they are accompanied by sleep paralysis (as they often are). These are often images of faces floating over the person.<br />
<br />
<br />Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-50375069396626540902016-07-05T11:40:00.001-07:002017-02-23T07:45:49.849-08:00Illusions and Hallucinations<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Why do we sometimes see things that
are not there?</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The phenomenon of
“seeing things” comes in two varieties: illusions and
hallucinations. If you see something but misinterpret what you are
seeing, it is an illusion. If you see something that is unrelated to
visual stimuli, then that is a hallucination.
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There are, of
course, non-visual illusions and hallucinations. Any sense that you
have can be fooled. You can learn how to experience some tactile
(sense of touch) illusions by clicking <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/round-up/tactile-illusions/" target="_blank">here</a>. An example of a tactile hallucination would be the phantom limb phenomenon, in which people who have had an amputation still feel the missing limb. I am now experiencing another type of tactile hallucination caused by neuropathy in my left foot resulting from Achilles' tendonitis. My left toes and the front part of my foot constantly feel as if they are in heated water. For the most part it is not too unpleasant, although I miss feeling other sensations in my toes. Another sense that is often subject to illusions and hallucinations is the sense of smell. People often misidentify smells (illusion) or smell things that simply are not there (hallucination).<br />
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Visual illusions are caused by misinterpreting visual stimuli. Since humans are visual animals, we make sense of our world primarily based on what we see. We are constantly taking in images and trying to fit them into the world we construct in our mind. Every time we see something new, we tend to compare it to things that we already know to make sense out of it. So, for example, visible heat waves rising in the distance might be interpreted as water in classic illusion known as a "mirage." Since faces are so important to our lives we tend to see faces even in inanimate objects, which is another classic type of illusion called "pareidolia." (Strictly speaking, pareidolia does not merely mean seeing faces, but seeing the familiar in the unfamiliar - but we usually use it for seeing faces.) There are many websites that give cool examples of pareidolia.<br />
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The reason behind seeing illusions is pretty well understood. People will try to make sense of the world in accordance to learned patterns, and if something does not fit into those patterns, we try to make it fit. For some cool examples and an explanation of how our mind tricks us, click <a href="http://brainden.com/optical-illusions.htm" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Hallucinations are less well understood. Hallucinations can happen at any time, but most frequently are caused by physiological conditions brought about by stress, exhaustion, drug intake, starvation, repeated rhythmic activity, etc. Hallucinations are typically individual phenomena, although there are many interesting cases of shared hallucinations related to "mass hysteria."<br />
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Visual hallucinations are a fertile field for investigation, and scientists still debate what exactly is going on during hallucinations. The famous neurologists Oliver Sacks dedicated much of his life to understanding hallucinations, and his work was still in progress when he died.<br />
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That being said, scientists are pretty sure that hallucinations are related to dreams. The physiological impetus that leads to hallucination seems to allow the brain to dream while you are still awake. In other words, you see the dream at the same time that you can interact with the ordinary world. Most people who are hallucinating can tell which are the hallucinatory images and which are not, although in cases of severe schizophrenia or under the influence of certain drugs (such as the daturas), the person is unable to distinguish. It is not unusual for people who recover from an episode of such hallucination to have little or no memory of it, much as people rarely have memories of their dreams. <br />
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In fact, it seems that forgetting dreams is necessary for maintaining a healthy sense of reality. If people are consistently awoken during their dreams and made to write down what they dreamed, they can start to show symptoms of schizophrenia. Schizophrenics often can remember their own dreams, and can't always tell whether their memories were of things that actually happened.<br />
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Finally, let me take a minute to implore you not to experiment with any of the daturas. They are extraordinarily poisonous, and people who have used them "recreationally" report the experience as extremely unpleasant. Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-82599868671259356072016-07-05T09:55:00.002-07:002016-07-05T09:55:30.100-07:00Flatulence
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<b>Why do farts stink?</b></div>
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I am answering this unsavory question mostly because the student who
asked it asked me to answer it, and he was a student who demonstrated
an admirable spirit of inquiry throughout the year.
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People have a symbiotic relationship with numerous bacteria that live
in our intestines. In fact, there are more bacteria cells in our
bodies than human cells. Many of these bacteria live in our
intestines and help is to break down food. There are many gasses
produced as a byproduct of these processes, and farting (flatulence)
is our main way of expelling these gasses. It has long been debated
which of these gasses were most responsible for the smell, but recent
research has shown that it is caused by hydrogen sulfide and other
volatile sulfur compounds. This is why eating high-sulfur foods such
as cabbage or eggs can result in stinky flatulence.</div>
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There is also the question of why people find sulfur compounds so
malodorous. Flatulence does not have much sulfur in it, but we are
able to smell it quite easily. Most likely our sensitivity to
volatile sulfur compounds is adaptive because it helps us to avoid
eating rotten meat and eggs.</div>
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There are a couple of other interesting compounds that contributes a
little to the smell of flatulence, but quite a bit to the smell of
feces: skatole and indole, both of which are produced by the
bacterial breakdown of tryptophan in the intestines. In small
amounts these compounds have a flowery fragrance, and they are found
in many flowers – most notably jasmine and orange blossoms. In
larger amounts they smell like feces. They tend to be most prominent
in the feces of carnivores, and that is one of the reasons carnivore
feces generally smells worse than that of herbivores. (Another
reason is that many carnivores have glands that add distinctive
aromas to their feces to help them mark their territories.)</div>
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One of the most interesting characteristics of skatole and indole is
that they make smells linger. This is why it is so hard to get the
stink off of your shoes when you step on dog poop. It is also the
reason that people who make perfume add these chemicals to their
products. If you make your own fragrance from pure essential oils,
it will be strong at first, then will quickly fade. Commercial
perfumes can last all day, largely due to the addition of skatole and
indole.</div>
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I once speculated that animals that harbor a large amount of skatole-
and indole-producing bacteria do so because it is adaptive; it would
make the territory-marking characteristic of their feces last longer.
I cannot find any research to back up my hunch, and there seems to
be some animals (Homo sapiens, for example) that produce large
amounts of skatole but who are not known to mark their territories
this way (although we may have in our past).</div>
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Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-85871195619706855902016-06-22T14:33:00.003-07:002016-06-22T14:33:46.112-07:00Hisatsinom
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<b>What happened to the Anasazi?</b></div>
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This is an
enduring question, and I become less certain the more I look into it.</div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="yui_3_17_2_3_1466614439071_1647"></a>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">The term “Anasazi” is derived
from a Din</span>é (Navajo) term that means “ancestor of my
enemy.” Since this is an exonym (a term applied by an outside
group) that is often considered derogatory by their modern
descendants – the Pueblo Indians – it is now more common to refer
the Anasazi as “Ancestral Pueblo People” or “Ancestral
Puebloans.” Of course, the term “Pueblo” originated with the
Spanish, so I think it is best to use the Hopi term “Hisatsinom”
– which means “ancient people” – although other Pueblos have
their own terms.
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The Hisatsinom lived in communities in
the Four Corners region from around 1200 BCE to 1250 CE. Their
architecture varied quite a bit, but the most distinctive
characteristic of their towns and cities is the kiva, which likely
served a ceremonial role similar to that served by the kiva among
modern Pueblos. Various settlements had housing that included pit
houses, elaborate pueblos, and cliff dwellings. They often used
stone for their houses rather than the adobe that was common later,
and many of their structures are well preserved.</div>
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What happened to the Hisatsinom is
relatively easy to determine: they left their communities and settled
in the nearby pueblos, which were already populated by related
peoples. This explanation is satisfactory because it is consistent
with traditional stories of the Puebloans and with the archaeological
record.
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The place where it gets sticky is when
you try to find out why they did this. For decades, the story has
been that Hisatsinom settlements were founded during a period in
history with above-average rainfall. Since they relied on dry-land
farming (farming without elaborate irrigation systems), their lives
became increasingly difficult as the wet period came to an end in an
event called the “Great Drought.” As they found it harder and
harder to produce adequate food, the Hisatsinom slowly left their
settlements and moved to the pueblos, which were close to major
rivers and reliable seasonal streams.
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There are a couple of problems with the
Great Drought theory. At first, tree-ring data seemed to indicate an
enormous drought that came without precedent. Further research
indicates that the Hisatsinom had survived many droughts before, and
it is not clear that they were experiencing widespread famine at this
time. Also, the Hisatsinom had actually started to leave before the
Great Drought, which indicates that something else might have been
happening.</div>
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The departure from the Hisatsinom
settlements was also accompanied by other changes. Stone habitations
were closed up or dismantled. Pueblo tradition holds that their
ancestors had found ways to manipulate the weather, and that this
brought unexpected and disastrous consequences. They tried to
reverse these changes by destroying their sacred buildings.</div>
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Some recent research finds evidence of
warfare and cannibalism that began a few decades before the towns and
cities were abandoned completely. Some people speculate that this
was caused by the scarcity of food, but there are other
possibilities. Christy and Jacqueline Turner propose the possibility
that Meso-American invaders may have taken over the Hisatsinom
territories. They required offerings of food that would be stored in
Great Houses (large, centrally located structures that seem to have
had ritual and storage uses). The Turners proposed that the ritually
prepared human bones that were found at several sites could be
victims that were offered as tribute to the invaders, who had
established themselves as the rulers. In this view, the Hisatsinom
left because they were escaping.</div>
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The Turners' theory has not been
universally accepted by scientists, and most Pueblo leaders have
rejected it. Anthropologists claim that there are other reasons to
ritually prepare bones. Most Pueblo elders say that the Hisatsinom
were peaceful, and they had no tradition of cannibalism. That being
said, I have a vague memory of a man who came from San Ildefonso
Pueblo to tell us stories at campfire program at Bandelier National
Monument. He said that the horrors that took place when the
Hisatsinom were practicing black magic before they dispersed were
“unspeakable.” If I remember what he said correctly, it seems
possible that there is some oral tradition that is consistent with
cannibalism and warfare.
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Among the descendants of the Hisatsinom
there are many stories about the reason they migrated to the pueblos,
but the best known is that told by the Hopi. They say that the
Hisatsinom left because they had a spiritual dedication to a life of
movement. They started to experience bad luck caused by staying in
places that were meant to temporary, so they left to respect the
practices of their ancestors.
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Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-26660855015808397622016-06-21T08:32:00.000-07:002016-06-21T08:32:09.827-07:00Wheel of Fortune, Ficino
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<b>What is the medieval Wheel of
Fortune? Who was Marsilio Ficino?</b></div>
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I shall attempt to
answer both of these questions, unrelated as they are, in a single
essay. For the record, the latter question was asked by a student
who should have known who Ficino was.</div>
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While there are
several important medieval figures who are little known today, the
two whose reputations have diminished the most are Boethius (who
wrote very early in the middle ages – the sixth century), and
Ficino (who wrote late in the middle ages, and helped inspire the
Renaissance). Both of these philosophers were quite famous in their
times, but today few people could tell you who they are.</div>
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Boethius was an
important member of the court of Theoderic the Great, the Ostrogothic
ruler of Italy. Boethius was a Nicene (Trinitarian) Christian, while
Theoderic was an Arian – meaning he was a member of a branch of
Christianity who believed in a type of Trinity, but in which the
Father was superior to the Son. Even though the time in which
Boethius lived was characterized by conflict between Nicene
Christianity and Arianism, Boethius and Theoderic were very close
until Boethius stood up for another member of Theoderic's court who
was accused of treason for corresponding with the Byzantine Emperor
Justin I. This resulted in Boethius himself being accused. He was
imprisoned and eventually executed.</div>
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While he was in
prison, he wrote <i>The Consolation of Philosophy, </i><span style="font-style: normal;">which
is written in the form of a dialogue between Boethius and Sophia
(“wisdom”). The </span><i>Consolation </i><span style="font-style: normal;">starts
with Boethius complaining of the injustice of his situation. Sophia
tells him that he should not despair because nobody knows the will of
God. As long as people are subject to fate, they will undergo
injustice. It is useless to rail against the ways of the world;
trust in God and live a life of virtue, and you will know true
consolation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">In
order to illustrate the unexpected whims of fate, Boethius
reintroduced the ancient concept of the Wheel of Fortune (Fortuna).
Fortuna was a Roman goddess of fate. She was shown turning a wheel
with people moving up and down in a circle. As people move up in the
wheel, they encounter unexpected luck and happiness, but they
inevitably will start to go down after they reach the pinnacle.
Boethius makes it clear that all people – rich and poor, virtuous
and wicked – are subject to these turns of fate. Since there is
nothing a person could do to change one's own fate, the correct
attitude to have to misfortunes and inequalities is tranquil
acceptance. Even though the Wheel of Fortune was known before
Boethius wrote about it, it seems that the widespread appearance of
the wheel in medieval art is due to the influence of the </span><i>Consolation
of Philosophy. </i>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Boethius'
writing was well-known in the middle ages, and his doctrine of stoic
resignation was widely accepted in those times. The striking
inequalities and injustices of the middle ages were largely placidly
accepted throughout much of the middle ages. Peasant uprisings were
quite rare until the Black Death led people to question the propriety
of the status quo. </span>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">The
philosophy of Marsilio Ficino was quite different than that of
Boethius, although both drew heavily on Plato. During most of the
middle ages, art and music were mostly commissioned by the Church,
and the purpose was to communicate religious lessons. While the
notion that medieval artists did not think art should be beautiful is
an exaggeration, beauty was not the prime objective of art. Ficino
revived the classical notion that beauty was the true objective of
poetry, painting, music, and other arts. While Ficino was a
Christian who believed that sublime experiences brought about by
experience of beauty would bring one closer to God, his writings
renewed interest in the philosophies of pre-Christian thinkers –
particularly Plato. </span>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">Ficino's
influence is clearly seen in the art of the Renaissance. Beauty –
particularly the beauty of the human figure – again became the
object of art. Artists became the most well-known figures of the
age, and churches, cities, and wealthy individuals competed to
commission the most striking works of art. </span>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">The
theme that ties these two philosophers together is that we can see
the influence their philosophies had on their respective eras even
though they, as individuals, are mostly forgotten. </span>
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Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-764277383113644512016-06-16T11:08:00.000-07:002016-06-16T11:08:13.609-07:00CommentsI changed the settings on this blog so that you do not need to sign in to leave comments. Please keep it clean and be nice!Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-59815337276921619402016-06-14T11:09:00.000-07:002016-06-14T13:32:56.197-07:00Sloths<b>What is your favorite type of sloth - two-fingered or three-fingered?</b><br />
<br />
There are currently two families of sloths and six species. While it is customary to designate the two families as "two-toed" and "three-toed," in fact all sloths have three toes on each foot. The distinction is in their fingers - so it is good that the student who asked this question did not make that mistake.<br />
<b> </b><br />
People typically are most familiar with three-fingered sloths, and they love the sort of black mask they have on their faces. Two-fingered sloths are less flashy in appearance. They typically have brown fur that is lighter in color on their faces. They have a bunch of moss growing on their fur that they graze on from time to time. The fur also provides a habitat for moths. Recently scientists have discovered that the moths provide nutrients for the moss, which then is more nutritious when the sloths eat it. In exchange, the moths get a nice, warm home and some protection from predators. Sloths are fascinating animals. <br />
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I personally met with some two-fingered sloths at the <a href="http://www.chasing-tail.com/" target="_blank">Zoological Wildlife Center</a> in Rainier, OR. For the most part, they were pretty friendly, although I did spend quite some time getting a particular old grump to warm up to me. My family had a better experience feeding and petting some more personable sloths.<br />
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I usually say that I prefer the two-fingered sloths. Mostly, I like them because they look cool, they are less popular, they are friendlier (I think), and Mr. Sloth (my puppet) is a two-toed sloth. <br />
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Recently, though, I have developed a soft spot for a particular species of three-fingered sloth: the pygmy sloth. This is the most endangered of all the sloths. These sloths are endemic only on one island near Panama. They have coloring similar to that of other three-toed sloths, but are much smaller. An adult pygmy sloth is 19 - 21 inches long. I like these sloths because they are small, cute, and people need to know about them so we can try to save them. <br />
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Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-34356419163716299902016-06-14T10:25:00.001-07:002016-06-14T10:25:32.812-07:00Africanized Bees<b>How do bees become Africanized?</b><br />
<br />
There are many different varieties of honeybees (<i>Apis mellefera), </i>and any of them can hybridize if they are put together. While there are native bees in the Americas, the honeybees that are kept for pollination and honey production are all imported. The most common variety is the European honeybee. These bees are pretty hardy, but they are best adapted to cooler climates that one finds in the tropics. Their honey production and the stability of the hives is lower in the hotter areas of the Americas.<br />
<b> </b><br />
In the 1950s, a biologist named Warwick E. Kerr, tired of merely being a guy with a cool name, decided he would interbreed bees from Africa that were adapted to a hot climate with honey-producing European bees. He was working in Brazil, and he figured that he could benefit from the combined traits of these two bees: the large capacity for creating honey of the European bees, and the heat tolerance of the African bees.<br />
<br />
The bees that Kerr created were good at tolerating heat. They were also more aggressive than European honeybees, more likely to swarm, and more persistent in pursuing invaders. In fact, they can chase an animal a quarter of a mile. This is pretty good stamina (although you can still outrun bees if you keep it up for long enough - click <a href="http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/insects/ahb/inf18.html" target="_blank">here</a> if you don't believe me). Kerr managed these hives as an experiment, and he did not intend for them to be set free in the wild. He put a special type of screen on the hives called "queen excluders" on the hives. These are meant to allow the worker bees to enter and leave the hives, but hold the queens and drones - who are larger - in the hive. This will keep the hives intact and prevent swarming. Somebody removed the excluders, and 26 colonies swarmed and started to spread.<br />
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Since the bees were quite suited to the tropical heat of Brazil, they started to spread. Due to their aggressiveness, people became afraid and started calling the Africanized honey bees "killer bees." There was a lot of sensationalism about the possible spread of Africanized bees, including a popular movie in 1974 called <i>Killer Bees. </i>It is still common to hear people use the term "killer bees," although most bee experts object to the term. Africanized bees are more aggressive than regular honey bees, but bees who do not feel threatened are not a danger to anybody. There are definitely precautions you should take around bees - particularly near their hives - but you have probably seen hundreds of Africanized bees without incident.<br />
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Africanized bees did spread, and they are quite common in the southern United States. Exactly how common they are is a matter of some debate. A recent study in California showed that among managed colonies, 13% have DNA of African bees, while the percentage of non-managed bees who are at least partially Africanized is over 60%. Thorough research has not been done on bees in Arizona, but most bee experts believe the percentage will prove to be higher here. <br />
<br />
Africanized bees have likely reached their northernmost boundary by now. They thrive in places with mild winter temperatures because they do not store enough food to make it through a long, cold winter. In places like Arizona, though, it is likely that bees will increasingly show Africanized traits because they are so suited to hot climates.<br />
<br />
Bees become increasingly Africanized in three different ways:<br />
<br />
1. Existing hives will swarm and form new colonies;<br />
2. Their drones will interbreed with European honeybee queens;<br />
3. and they will take over existing honeybee hives.<br />
<br />
This last method is fascinating, and it was only recently discovered. Africanized bees can go into an existing colony, kill their queen, and replace her with one of their own queens.<br />
<br />
Each colony of bees has its own personality, and there are Africanized colonies that are relatively docile. Since Africanized bees are so well adapted to our environment, maybe the best way to deal with their increase is to replace hostile queens with less aggressive ones. The colony will quickly take on the personality of their new queen. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /><i> </i> Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-9149198704921991152016-06-10T09:20:00.001-07:002016-06-10T09:20:36.762-07:00Favorite Color<b>What's your favorite color?</b><br />
<br />
<b> </b>There were a lot of questions like this. Even though I dress in a drab manner, I love colors. My favorites are blue, green, and purple.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QLKK6hRBteg/V1royTomE0I/AAAAAAAAACU/89ojPymSPwYwGfYRseqY8U-mcA7Y3p6OgCLcB/s1600/purplegreenblue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QLKK6hRBteg/V1royTomE0I/AAAAAAAAACU/89ojPymSPwYwGfYRseqY8U-mcA7Y3p6OgCLcB/s320/purplegreenblue.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-86213678255162214052016-06-10T08:45:00.000-07:002016-06-10T12:04:47.923-07:00Tutankhamun's Tomb<b>Do you have an update on the secret chambers in Tutankhamun's tomb?</b><br />
<br />
Yes, I do. A couple of students asked about this, and it is gratifying that they care about these historical mysteries.<br />
<b> </b><br />
It has long been known that many of the grave goods were not originally crafted for Tut, but were re-purposed goods made for someone else. Nicholas Reeves, a highly-regarded Egyptologist from the University of Arizona, claims that most of the grave goods were originally for a mysterious female pharaoh known as "Neferneferuaten," who was probably Nefertiti. The most famous artifact from the tomb, Tut's death mask, was clearly retrofitted by cutting the face off and replacing it with Tut's face. Reeves found evidence that there was originally an inscription inside identifying Nefertiti as the owner; that inscription was scratched out and replaced with Tut's name.<br />
<br />
Other people have pointed out that Tut's tomb itself seems to have originally been made for someone other than Tut. They had to cut into the walls to make room for the sarcophagus, and the shape of the tomb is more typical of a queen's tomb than a king's. Since we haven't located Nefertiti's tomb, some people speculate that Tut's tomb was originally meant for her, and that she may have been hastily buried somewhere else (or some other random thing happened to her mummy).<br />
<br />
Reeves developed a theory that the tomb is actually Nefertiti's, and that she is not buried elsewhere - but she is still inside that tomb! He looked carefully at images of the walls and noticed evidence that there might be hidden chambers behind a wall in the same room where Tut's sarcophagus was. He started to believe that the ancient Egyptians took an existing tomb and built walls to retrofit it into a new tomb for Tut.<br />
<br />
Evidence to support Reeves' theory mounted earlier this year when Japanese radar expert Hirokatsu Watanabe used ground-penetrating radar to show that there may be hidden chambers. Watanabe said the images shows the presence of metals and organic material within the chambers, which obviously would be consistent with a hidden tomb.<br />
<br />
Some Egyptian tourism officials were excited about these findings, since visits to Egypt have dropped off as a result of political turmoil. Perhaps a major discovery would be able to bring people back.<br />
<br />
Other experts were not convinced. Former Egypt Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass was skeptical of the claims, and other radar experts interpreted Watanabe's scans as being inconclusive. In March and April of this month there was a large, well-coordinated effort to duplicate Watanabe's results.<br />
<br />
Egyptian officials stalled on issuing the results, and they have been reticent to publicize them, mainly because the more detailed scans indicate that there are no hidden chambers.<br />
<br />
As for me, I still hope they find something, but I doubt it. I am especially disappointed in further research into Watanabe's scans. He enthusiastically claimed that there almost certainly were hidden chambers, although most experts say that his scans don't show any evidence. Watanabe has an eccentric way of interpreting results that he refuses to explain to anybody. It seems Watanabe may have been using this as a means of self-promotion and not as a serious attempt to further scientific inquiry. Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-48347187390237575722016-06-09T14:44:00.002-07:002016-06-10T12:07:16.602-07:0021<b>Why is the drinking age 21? Where did the 21 come from? It seems like an arbitrary age.</b><br />
<br />
In 1984, Ronald Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age into law. This law told the states that if they did not change the drinking age to 21 they would lose 10% of their federal highway funding. Eventually all the states fell into line, and this led to a reduction in the number of drunken-driving deaths, so it seems the law had a good effect. I know you may be wondering why a person who found this sneaky way of forcing states into changing their laws to align with federal policies - even though the 21st amendment defers the power to regulate alcohol to the states - is considered to be the hero of limiting federal control over the states, but I don't want to argue about it. <br />
<b> </b><br />
The question here is how did 21 come to be seen as the age of majority in this case. Why not 20 or 22? The absolute origin of 21 as a magic age is lost to antiquity, but it is clear that it came to our country from English Common Law, which was once the law of land here in the states, where our legal heritage originates with the original 13 colonies, which were all bound by British law.<br />
<br />
You may ask, What is English Common Law? A quick answer two this is that the British do not have a constitution like we have: a document that was written down and you can go and read. Their law consists of statutes that have been passed by kings and parliaments throughout history (known as "statute law"), and various legal judgments and conventions (known as "common law").<br />
<br />
English common law gave people increasing responsibility as they aged. Common law took into account the fact that girls mature more quickly than boys, so they do not always get rights at the same age. Men began to gain rights at the age of 14, while girls would begin at 12. For example, a man could sign a contract at 14, but could choose not to ratify it at 21, even though an adult who entered a contract with a minor was bound to follow it. It raises the question of why anybody would enter a contract with a child since the child could so easily abrogate it, but that is the law. A man could marry without parental consent at 21. An interesting rundown of various rights by age can be found <a href="http://usgenweb.org/research/misc.shtml" target="_blank">here;</a> I can't vouch for its accuracy, but it is pretty interesting. <br />
<br />
Outside of England and its colonies, the age of 21 doesn't have the magic power as it has here. There are a handful of countries that have a minimum drinking age of 21. All of these countries are either former British colonies, Islamic countries who have additional restrictions concerning who can purchase alcohol, Pacific islands that have a history of close ties with the United States. Taking a world-wide perspective, a drinking age of 21 is very rare. 18 is the most common, although some places have 19 or 20. Because of our success in reducing accidents by raising the drinking the age, there have been attempts in places like New Zealand, Australia, and the Philippines to increase the drinking age, but we are still relative outliers. <br />
<br />
An interesting sidenote is that the original Selective Service Act of 1917 required men to register at 21. The age was lowered to 18 in 1918. Since some people object to men being required to register at 18 even though they are not allowed to drink until 21, maybe Selective Service should be changed back.<br />
<b> </b><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-89768858006311543402016-06-07T09:15:00.000-07:002016-06-07T09:15:11.089-07:00Allergies<b>How did ancient people fight off the first allergies?</b><br />
<br />
This is a good question, and there is not much information. In fact, there is not much mention of hay fever type allergies in ancient sources, although ancient people were aware of allergic reactions to animals and foods. According the <i>Psychoneuroimmunology </i>by Robert Ader, the earliest report of an allergic reaction was King Menses of Egypt, who died of a wasp sting some time between 3640 - 3300 BCE. Ader also reports that Britannicus, the son of emperor Claudius, was so allergic to horses that his eyes would swell shut and he couldn't see where he was going. In these cases, the remedy was to avoid horses as much as possible.<br />
<br />
Hay fever - which is an allergic reaction to dust, mold, and pollen - was not formally described until 1906. This does not mean these did not exist (although see below), just that it was not recognized as a specific phenomenon. The ancients did know about breathing problems (asthma), and there are numerous treatments mentioned in ancient sources. These fall into two categories - inhaling steam that has been scented with herbs, and taking tea that includes stimulants known to cause bronchodilation (particularly ephedra in China). Both of these methods are somewhat effective.<br />
<br />
For a while, I lived in a place called Johnson Mesa, New Mexico. I never figured out what it was, but I was extraordinarily allergic to something there. I read in a book that a common folk remedy for allergies was to take the resinous sap of a plant and paint that inside your nose. Supposedly this remedy went all the way back to Plains Indians. The theory is that the sap causes pollen to stick so you don't inhale it. It did not work so well.<br />
<br />
While we find that there are symptoms described in ancient sources that are similar to allergies, it definitely was not very important to them. In fact, research shows that allergies are much more common among industrialized nations, and that they are becoming more and more common as people become increasingly urbanized. The cause for this seems to be related to the reduced incidence of parasites. Our immune system evolved to fight off parasites, and if you do not have parasites it will turn against things like pollens and molds. Allergies are essentially an over-reaction to these relatively harmless irritants. People can reduce their allergies by infecting themselves with parasites. If you are interested in ordering some hookworms, click <a href="http://wormswell.com/faqs/" target="_blank">here</a>. There is an interesting article about parasites and allergies from <i>Smithsonian Magazine </i>that you can read <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-do-humans-have-allergies-parasite-infections-trigger-180957101/?no-ist" target="_blank">here</a>.Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-78459835738565214202016-06-06T13:35:00.001-07:002016-06-07T13:11:08.157-07:00Name of the Blog, Antony and Cleopatra<b>Why did you name your blog <i>Smells Like Pirates</i>? Why? Do you know what pirates smell like? Have you ever been a pirate?</b><br />
<br />
I have never been a pirate, but do have a pretty good guess what pirates smell like, mostly based on how other people smell when they do the sort of work pirates do. As to why I gave the blog this name, I answered that (more-or-less) in the first post, but I will give a little backstory that should make it clearer.<br />
<br />
Several years ago I was teaching that class, and during that class we were talking about sewage systems. I don't remember why, but that was a topic of discussion. I pointed out that in places where the sewers depend on gravity to bring the sewer waters to the treatment plant, it is not unusual for a clog to cause the sewage of people living in the hills to flood into the houses of people living in the valleys. Most of the students understood instinctively, but somebody wanted me to draw a picture. I drew a house on a hill and said it was Matthew Padgett's, and a house in the valley and said it was mine. I drew the sewer lines under the house and showed where the clog was. I then said, "At first it is not a big problem, but as the sewage gets more and more backed up it will eventually start to fill up my bathtub and sinks. One day I will come home, open the door, and say 'It smells like Padgett in here.'"<br />
<br />
As a result of this story, the phrase "It smells like Padgett" became one of the catchphrases of that class.<br />
<br />
When I submitted my proposal to travel to museums to study how pirates are portrayed, I remembered how catchy the phrase about Padgett was, so I just replaced "Padgett" with "pirates." The name does cause some confusion, but it has proven to be rather memorable.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Is the story of the deaths of Antony and Cleopatra in Shakespeare historically accurate?</b><br />
<br />
I think what the student is wanting to know here is related to Cleopatra's motivation in telling Antony that she is dead. In the play <i>Antony and Cleopatra</i>, Antony becomes angry at Cleopatra after he is abandoned by his cavalry. He believes it is a result of Cleopatra betraying him. Cleopatra runs to a mausoleum and locks herself in. There here servant Charmian tells Cleopatra that she should send a servant to tell Antony that she (Cleopatra) is dead, so she does. She then wants the servant to return to tell her how Antony took the news.<br />
<br />
The clear implication is that Cleopatra is trying to see if Antony still loves her. She wants to know if he will mourn her or callously claim that he is relieved. Cleopatra's insecurity was previously seen when she was taken aback that Antony did not mourn more passionately for his wife Fulvia; she wonders if he will act the same when she herself dies.<br />
<br />
The historical records we have, even those used by Shakespeare, do not make such a clear case for her wanting to test his love. Shakespeare's main source for the play was Plutarch's <i>Life of Antony</i>. Shakespeare's description of the death of Antony is very similar to the one in Plutarch. The main difference is that Plutarch does not make it clear that she is trying to test his love. In fact, Plutarch implies that she sends the message so that Antony, who believes he had been betrayed, will stop pursuing her. In other words, she is lying to him to save her own neck.<br />
<br />
I think the notion that Cleopatra wants to see if Antony still loves her is mainly Shakespeare's idea, and I can't find it clearly stated as a motivation in any of the historical documents. On the other hand, it seems at least - which is why that is how I wrote it into the puppet show that I created to review this story.<br />
<br />
As an interesting side note, almost all of the people who wrote a summary of the story of Antony and Cleopatra for the final included the detail that Cleopatra did it to test to see if Antony still loved her, even though I barely mentioned it in class. The puppet show seems to have been influential on how my students viewed the historical event. It is always best to look stuff up for yourself, and not to trust a puppet show too much. Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-76002577626788758982016-06-03T08:38:00.001-07:002016-06-07T13:10:37.366-07:00Two new questionsMany students asked me personal questions. If you don't find these sorts of questions interesting, just drop me a message below.<br />
<br />
<b>What is your favorite dessert?</b><br />
<br />
Probably brownies with dark chocolate chips. It really depends on my mood.<br />
<br />
<b>What is your favorite place that you have visited?</b><br />
<br />
This is a hard question to answer. I teach and live in Mesa, so I travel during the summer when it is over 110 degrees much of the time. Any place that is cooler than here (almost anyplace) is a welcome break. I think, though, I will say Prince Edward Island. It has an interesting history, the people were nice, and the kids enjoyed it. We saw many of the sites relating to <i>Anne of Green Gables</i>, and it is interesting to see how people preserve the memory of Lucy Maude Montgomery. The air there smells great, it is cool, the prices are pretty reasonable in the summer (it is a winter vacation spot for many Canadians),<i> </i>and the temperatures were really nice for summer. Also, I was waiting to use a computer in the hotel lobby one evening and there was a group of high school students having a heated discussion of the <i>Iiad. </i>Apparently their public schools include a pretty strong classical element.<br />
<br />
Another student asked a similar question, "What is your favorite place to visit?" The question is worded a little differently, and is easier for me to answer. My favorite place to visit is Los Alamos, where I grew up. Some people don't have an enormous affection for the place they are from, but I do. I dream of Los Alamos at night, and daydream of it in the day. I love the piñon trees, the mountains and mesas, the cool evening breeze, the arroyos, the views, and the people. It is a bit disheartening to see how different it looks after the Sierra Grande fire, but I still love it there. My father lives there, and he is the nicest man I know. I have a lot of memories there, some of them quite poignant, but I do enjoy returning for a visit. As a resident of Mesa, I appreciate that it is considerably cooler there. I can remember it getting to 90 degrees there, but that is rare. Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-21787413743124797112016-06-02T10:30:00.000-07:002016-06-07T13:11:26.031-07:00The Hardest Sport<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>What is the hardest sport?</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I am glad that I got this question,
because it was the topic of discussion on <i>Coast to Coast AM </i><span style="font-style: normal;">at
one point, and I did not like the reasoning the callers were using.
I can remember one guy said that it was baseball because of how hard
it is to hit something so small that is traveling so fast with a
little ashwood stick. I know that what he says is correct, as I saw
a show in which they were trying to make robots hit a baseball and it
was almost impossible. People are amazing, and it is good to reflect
a while on how many remarkable things you see every day without
thinking about it. That being said, a lot of people can hit a
baseball. I can hit a baseball, and I have hit baseballs that were
thrown by college players at high speeds, so it can't be the hardest
sport.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">I have
two criteria for a sport being hard:</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">1.
Hundreds or thousands of people try to master the sport.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">2.
Almost nobody does.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">The
reason for the first criterion is that there are some sports that
only about eight people have tried. For a sport like that, maybe the
reason nobody really mastered it is that no skilled people have
dedicated adequate effort into trying. The reason for the second
criterion is obvious; if there is something that seems really hard if
you look at the physics of it, such as hitting a baseball, but
thousands of people can do it, then it can't be the hardest.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">That
being said, I don't think you can say there is a hardest sport. In
this age of extreme sports, probably any athletic competition that
can done anywhere can be taken to an extreme level that only a
handful of people can compete at. Take holding your breath, for
example. Kids compete at it all the time. Probably anybody who has
access to a swimming pool has tried this sport at one time or
another. On the international level, though, there are very few
people who can hope to compete. Most people know about magician
David Blaine, who combined intense self-discipline and excessive
self-promotion to make himself famous by breaking the record for
extreme submerged breath holding (17 minutes and 4 seconds) – a
record that was broken by less well-known Stig Severinsen in 2012 (22
minutes). </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Extreme
sports qualify for the title of “hardest sport” for the reasons I
gave, but also because you can die competing in them. In one famous
example, extreme diver Nicholas Mevoli died soon after a dive to a
depth of 236 feet. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Another
example of an extreme sport that many athletic and dedicated people
try is the ultramarathon. Perhaps the most grueling is the Badwater
Ultramarathon, which is 135 miles run in Death Valley in July. I
live in Mesa, AZ – which is HOT, but not as hot as Death Valley –
and it is hard for me to imagine running water, much less running a
race, in July. Everyone who competes in this race is an
ultramarathoner who has trained years in various extreme conditions,
but very few people complete the race. I know sometimes baseball
players can't finish a game, but it would be an entirely different
sport if almost the entire team didn't make it through the ninth
inning. </span>
</div>
Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-69032847372526478952016-06-01T09:19:00.001-07:002016-06-10T09:36:48.671-07:00Armenian GenocideI recently asked my students to ask me a question for my blog as
part of their final. I received well over 100 new questions!
I do not have over 100 students; many students asked several
questions. I had originally intended to cull the most
interesting questions to answer and dispense of the rest, but now I
have decided to answer the questions at the rate of about one per day
until I lose energy.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Today's question: What do you know about the Armenian Genocide?</b><br />
<br />
<br />
Among scholars of modern history, the Armenian Genocide is widely
studied and discussed. It is not well-known among non-scholars,
and most of my students say they have never heard the phrase
"Armenian Genocide."<br />
<br />
<br />
The modern country of Armenia is located in Western Asia,
bordering Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic, and Nakhchivan. Although occupying a small territory,
Armenia has had an immense influence on the history of the world.
Although the Persian Empire was centered in Persia (Iran), it had its
roots in Armenia, as did the Persian Zoroastrian religion – which
is regarded as the first world religion because it was spread through
Western Asia and Eastern Europe by the Persians.<br />
<br />
<br />
Armenia is predominately Christian, and it was the first kingdom
to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 CE. In fact,
the Armenians' tenacious adherence to Christianity is connected to
much of the persecution they have suffered throughout the ages. As
Islam spread through Eastern Europe and Western Asia, traditionally
Christian ethnic groups like the Armenians and Assyrians have been
persecuted, dislocated, and virtually exterminated.<br />
<br />
<br />
For the most part, the Armenian Genocide did not occur where the
modern day country of Armenia is, but where Turkey is now located.
By the 1800s, there were large communities of Armenians living in
Constantinople (now known as Istanbul) and in the Eastern region of
the Ottoman Empire. These Armenians had been there for centuries at
this time, and the Ottoman Empire largely tolerated them. There were
limits on their right to travel, to do business, and there were
special taxes, but the Armenians mostly kept to the regions that they
had traditionally held and everybody was happy.<br />
<br />
<br />
This changed in the 1890s. The Ottoman Empire started to crumble,
and Sultan Abdul Hamid II blamed this on Christians within the
empire, saying that Christians were likely to prefer being ruled by
Russia and they couldn't be trusted. At first he merely cracked down
on their travel and trade, but eventually authorized the military to
kill as many Armenians as they could. Nobody knows how many were
killed at this time, but it amounts to hundreds of thousands.<br />
<br />
<br />
This was definitely a hard time for Armenians, but it got worse.
In the early 20<sup>th</sup> century, the Young Turk revolution
replaced the totalitarian monarchy with a constitutional democracy.
At first, the Armenians welcomed this change because they saw in it
the possibility that they would be able to have a voice in the
government. In fact, the Young Turks were the worst thing that
happened to the Armenians.<br />
<br />
<br />
The Young Turks believed that Turkey should be for the Turks, and
not for non-Turkish, non-Muslim people like the Armenians. Even
though the Armenians had been living in their territories for
centuries upon centuries, the Young Turks viewed them as foreigners
who did not belong.
<br />
During World War I, the Ottomans made an alliance with the Germans
and joined the Central Powers. Many Ottomans suspected that the
Armenians would be disloyal, so they called for removing Armenians
from the military. Also, the Ottomans began removing various
Christian groups from their ancestral lands, arguing that their
loyalty could not be trusted.<br />
<br />
<br />
Until this point, most Armenians had loyally served the Ottomans
militarily, but now that their loyalty was being questioned and many
non-Armenians were being killed, many of them teamed up with Russia
to oppose the Ottomans. The Russian Empire, which was Christian, was
seen by many Armenians as their best hope for liberation.<br />
<br />
<br />
On April 24, 1915, the Ottomans officially began their attempt to
“cleanse” their lands of the Armenians. They forcibly removed
them from their homes and forced them to march through the desert to
concentration camps. Many of them died in the intense heat. People
who stopped were shot on the spot. Bands of thugs went through the
neighborhoods of Armenians and other Christians, killing the adults
and taking the children to be raised by Turks. The genocide lasted
until the end of World War I.<br />
<br />
<br />
By the end of the war, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians had been
killed in massacres, worked to death in concentration camps, or
marched to death in the desert. To put that number in perspective,
it is almost exactly the population of Phoenix. Next time you are
driving through Phoenix, look around and imagine what it would mean
if every person you see – every old man, every baby, every teenager
– were brutally murdered. Really, do it. This is as close as you
can come to imagining the horror of this event.<br />
<br />
<br />
The Turkish government still resists referring to this mass
killing of Armenians as “genocide.”
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1336457421499586332.post-69382100814104376052016-05-23T18:40:00.002-07:002016-05-23T18:40:37.315-07:00Jeopardy GamesHere are the links to the three Jeopardy games we played in class today. <br />
<br />
8th Grade<br />
<br />
Florentine Renaissance Jeopardy<br />
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1PJ6O-JdieyUT4bYXat1NtjciblKtEsNjx-Mc0zfoz7I/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000">https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1PJ6O-JdieyUT4bYXat1NtjciblKtEsNjx-Mc0zfoz7I/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000</a></div>
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Florentine Renaissance Double Jeopardy</div>
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1KJGQOksosdP2VAWBjzliKEMnajgfvl1KYQ1o5N0yBG0/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000">https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1KJGQOksosdP2VAWBjzliKEMnajgfvl1KYQ1o5N0yBG0/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000</a></div>
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7th Grade<br />
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Roman Empire<br />
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1fGtOZSC2U0dj8X7pgu6xRmPp-7w13dAdRWpnWPcIVEw/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000">https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1fGtOZSC2U0dj8X7pgu6xRmPp-7w13dAdRWpnWPcIVEw/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000</a>
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Jeffreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18295952513455208355noreply@blogger.com0