S

Joe Parlett Location Portraiture 757.894.3857

Welcome to this edition of Asses and

Villains. In this issue we explore the

possibility of commercial space flight

at Wallops, Rockfish poachers, In-

dustrial Moments, the effects of the

Gulf Oil Spill on our local seafood

economy, and much, much more….we

hope you enjoy it.

Left, sporting my cool new vintage

Ray Bans I picked up at the Hospice

Thrift Store for $1.75.

Photo by Rachel Creed

About the Cover:

This photo was taken during the

construction of the bridge over

Tidewater Drive in Norfolk..

We found it while rummaging

for other pictures out of the old

box in the attic. We like it be-

cause it is a 35mm print, some-

thing we want to get more into

in later issues. We like the old,

celluloid, scratchy feel you get

from a real negative.

Has the BP Spill hurt

Chesapeake Bay Oyster Processing? Can the Coastal Jobs Creation Act help?

For centuries, large areas of oyster reefs covered the bottom the Chesapeake Bay, filtering the

water and providing habitat and protection for species of crabs and fish. The Algonquin Indi-

ans named this body of water Chesapeake, meaning great shellfish bay. For centuries the oyster

industry has contributed millions of dollars to the region's economy and built a rich history and

cultural heritage. Yet, over harvesting, disease (Dermo and MSX), and pollution has continued

to push the eastern oyster closer to eradication. Recent reports have highlighted a positive

trend, that oysters, especially in the southern Bay, are getting tougher and more resistant to dis-

ease, with fewer dying from MSX and Dermo than anytime in the last decade. Despite this

sliver of good news, Bay Oysterman, and much of our seafood economy, still faces a bleak fu-

ture.

The hard fact is that the Eastern oyster, once a staple of the Chesapeake Bay seafood industry, is

still at an all time low. For the last few years, as our Oyster population has struggled, bivalves

from the Gulf of Mexico have supplemented our local population, keeping our sea food proces-

sors up and running. With the Gulf oyster harvest limited due to the BP spill, it has put more pres-

sure on our already struggling local seafood industry. Claims have been filed with BP for com-

pensation while the Gulf recovers, yet few state claims (VA and MD) have been processed to date.

Locally, even with best case scenarios, it

will be several years before Virginia‘s oys-

ter population, or aquaculture industry is

big enough to again sustain our seafood in-

dustry, and our coastal populations need

jobs now while the oyster fishery is recov-

ering in the Gulf. H.R. 4914, the Coastal

Jobs Creation Act of 2010, was introduced

in March by Representatives Pallone (D-

NJ), Shea-Porter (D-NH) and Pingree (D-

ME) to create jobs for fishermen and

coastal communities nationwide as de-

pleted, or harmed fisheries rebuild.

While no one bill will solve all of the prob-

lems (especially in the wake of the Deep-

water Horizon oil spill), the Coastal Jobs

Creation Act can ease some of the pain by

creating jobs for watermen and coastal

communities. The Coastal Jobs Creation

Act authorizes $80 million a year over the

next 5 years for grants that will be adminis-

tered through existing programs to employ

fishermen and benefit coastal communities,

for a total of $400 million.

While not drafted as a response to the Deepwater Horizon spill, the Coastal Jobs Creation Act

includes provisions that would facilitate post-spill assessment, mitigation and restoration pro-

grams that are urgently needed in the Gulf, and would also allow for local funding in the fol-

lowing areas:

Cooperative Research Programs- The Virginia Sea Grant Office coordinates cooperative re-

search between scientists and commercial fishermen through their Sustainable Fisheries

Program. The program employs fishermen to conduct research with scientists to improve

fishing gear and reduce bycatch such as Whelk & the Horseshoe Crab, Sharks, Sea Turtles

and Black Sea Bass.

Habitat Restoration- The Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program (Virginia CZMP) has

the authority to fund a variety of habitat restoration projects through the Coastal Resource

Improvement Program. Recently, the Virginia CZMP and several partners created 55 new

jobs through the Virginia Seaside Bays Restoration Project that will restore oyster reefs,

scallops and seagrass beds in Chesapeake Bay. In addition to these programs, additional op-

portunities for research and restoration are available through the Chesapeake Bay Virginia

National Estuarine Research Reserve, located on the York River Estuary.

Virginia marine Mammal Stranding Centers- The Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science

Center and VIMS are official marine mammal stranding centers, and are qualified to re-

ceive Prescott Grants to improve our understanding and response capabilities during marine

mammal stranding events. In 2009, the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center re-

ceived approximately $200,000 to develop better stranding response techniques in Virginia,

and collaborated with commercial fishermen to reduce dolphin entanglements and mortality

in pound nets near Cape Henry, Chesapeake Bay.

Local waterfront improvement projects- whether in Cape Charles, St. Michaels, or York-

town, funding for harbor, channel and waterfront improvement are available through the

act.

reeling from the effects of

the Gulf disaster. Even as most of the flow has been stemmed from the Deepwater Horizon

well, the effects on the Chesapeake Bay watermen and our local seafood industry are still be-

ing felt. Faced with unprecedented economic and environmental uncertainty, Congress should

take decisive action that will improve the ocean environment and preserve our coastal heritage.

Just as the fortunes of the

Blue Crab seem to be

turning, there also ap-

pears to be a glimmer of

hope that the Eastern Bay

Oyster may also rebound.

Yet, until that happens,

we must look after our

watermen and our coastal

communities as well. The

Coastal Jobs Creation

Act, by containing provi-

sions to employ the maxi-

mum number of fisher-

men possible will ensure

the most benefit for the

coastal economies and

ocean ecosystems still

Fruit Fly Females say

―Men Make Me Sick!‖

When fruit flies mate, the females'

genes are activated to roughly the

same extent as when an immune reac-

tion starts. This is shown in a study at

Uppsala University that is now appear-

ing in the scientific publication Journal

of Evolutionary Biology.Using a com-

bination of behavioral studies and ge-

nomic technology, so-called microar-

rays, researchers at Uppsala University

can show how fruit fly females are af-

fected by mating.

"We monitor how genetic expression

is impacted by mating and show that

the most common process that is af-

fected is the immune defense system,"

says Ted Morrow at the Department of

Ecology and Evolution, Uppsala Uni-

versity.

"Previous research findings show that if this cost were not a factor, females would produce 20 per-

cent more offspring,‖ says Ted Morrow.

It is costly for females to mate because competition among males has led to behaviours and adap-

tations in males that are injurious to females, such as harassment during mating rituals and toxic

proteins in their sperm fluid.

"Our results are the strongest evidence that the cost to females is probably tied to the cost of start-

ing an immune reaction. In other words, the males are like a ‗sickness' to females," says Ted Mor-

row.

We can thus conclude the following from the study: the immune defence has developed to combat

not only pathogens but also substances produced by males.

The female fruit flies,

though tiny, have one more

thing in common with their

human counter parts...

Female fruit flies will have

sex more frequently if they

think there is more food

around.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by A&V staff) from materials

provided by Wiley - Blackwell.

Journal Reference:

1. Innocenti et al. Immunogenic males: a genome-wide analysis of reproduction and

the cost of mating in Drosophila melanogaster females. Journal of Evolutionary Biology,

2009; DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01708.x

Wiley - Blackwell (2009, February 20). Fruit Flies Sick From Mating. ScienceDaily. Re-

trieved September 10, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /

releases/2009/02/090219081040.htm

Wiley - Blackwell. "Fruit Flies Sick From Mating." ScienceDaily 20 February 2009. 10

September 2010 <http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2009/02/090219081040.htm

―Cyberspace was a consensual hallucination that felt and looked like a physical space but actu-

ally was a computer-generated construct representing abstract data. A graphic representation of

data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complex-

ity…………Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data.

Like city lights, receding.‖—Willian Gibson, from Neuromancer

The constant hum of media inspired concepts such as Web 2.0, the computational Cloud, the Noo-

sphere (see http://noosphere.princeton.edu/ ), and The Singularity (non biological intelligence will

match the range and subtlety of human intelligence and will then soar past it) has aided a subtle,

yet willing de-humanization as people attempt to adapt their lives to less than optimal software

architectures and designs. In the field of computer science, a deification of the machine, even if

rhetorical, has been a major underpinning amongst some segments of the community.

Since Computing Machinery and Intelligence, Alan Turing‘s seminal paper on machine intelli-

gence, and the Turing Test, the idea ‗can a machine think (we will avoid impossible definitions of

thinking here!)‘ has been a steady current in and around computer science for many years. Yet, if a

machine can, via the ‗Imitation Game‘, make you believe that you are interacting with a person

and not a machine, what does that say about the machine, or you? Turing‘s counterpart, I.J. Good,

spoke of an ‗Intelligence Explosion‘, a point where machines might become a bit smarter than

humans, and thus could begin to improve on their own designs in ways unforeseen by the

‗creators‘. Verner Vinge, taking it further, suggested that humans could never conceive of an intel-

ligence greater than their own, and that would mark the beginning of humanity‘s breakdown—

similar to the physical breakdown that occurs beyond the event horizon of a black hole

(gravitational singularity, where quantities that used to measure gravity, instead become infinite,

scalar invariant curvatures of space-time). For many in the field of computer science, the coming

of this singularity has almost taken on a mystical, rapture-like quality—moving beyond the limits

of human intelligence and the body, into transhumance. Verner Vinge, in his article "The Coming

Technological Singularity: How to Survive in the Post-Human Era", says "Within thirty years, we

will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly thereafter, the hu-

man era will be ended."

Avatar

Visually stunning, at times breathe taking, James Cameron‘s Avatar is the fusion of live action

film and Computer Generated Imagery (CGI). Computationally, Weta (Avatar‘s visual team)

used a 10,000-square foot server farm made up of over 4,000 Hewlett-Packard servers with

35,000 processor cores. The server (render) farm is on the TOP 500 list of the world's most

powerful supercomputers (over a petabyte of digital storage; each minute of the final footage

required 17.28 gigabytes of storage. Source: sorry, I used Wikipedia). Director James Cameron

notes that hardware and new software (including an improved method of capturing facial ex-

pressions, enabling full performance capture) allowed for the transfer of 100% of the actors'

physical performances to their digital counterparts (which one is the avatar now?). Watching

the film, it is almost impossible to tell which the real actor Sam Worthington is, and which his

digital counterpart is.

The story line follows the protagonist Jake

Sully, a paraplegic Marine bound to a wheel-

chair. Circumstances arise that create the op-

portunity for him to travel to the planet Pan-

dora, where he will become part of an experi-

ment: they can leverage technology to trans-

port his consciousness into an Avatar (this

level of experience is the holy grail for Virtual

Reality (VR)). The twist, however, is that it is

not a computer generated avatar that exists

only in a goggled and gloved up VR (if you‘ve

mucked about in the game ‗Second Life‘, you

have a bit of the idea), but an organic, living

‗Navi‘ humanoid. actual, living, breathing

Navi body, in the world. As he moves through

Pandora and the Navi, his ‗real‘ self, his actual

body, begins to have less and less meaning than his second life.

When technologists, such as Ray Kurzweil yearn for the coming Singularity, there is the implicit

notion of moving beyond humanity, away from this cumbersomeness of the body, into an essence,

a realm of pure consciousness, or spiritualism, to use Kurzweil‘s title, an age of spiritual ma-

chines. Cameron rejects this notion, and in fact, Avatar revels in the sensory, the feel of the

body—the transcendence here is with the same mind, same soul, but into a much better body in a

much better world! When Sully is told that when he returns to earth, he will have surgery to get

back his ‗real legs‘, after experiencing a Navi body in the world of Pandora, the offer rings hol-

low.

So what does this say of technology, consciousness, the computational hive mind, the noosphere,

the so called collective intelligence of computers connected through the net, and if this is leading

to a singularity event, where does this leave humanity? It should be noted that, so much more of

our lives is being forced to adapt to the machine and its limiting software; this has much to do

with the inherit problems of creating complex

software, and having to interact with tired and

aged operating systems, kernels developed 30

years ago (see UNIX, LINUX. Even the ele-

gance of the iPhone, Apple Laptops, and also

the garbage of Google Chrome and Android, are

based on UNIX, which can account for some of

the annoying slowness and lack of response to

the needs of human interaction).

Is the Singularity really a transcendence, or will

humans, due to atrophy, just numb down more

and more in order

to better interact

with more com-

plex ( and proba-

bly more poorly

architected soft-

ware) network

(cloud?) based

applications? Are

we relinquishing

our humanity,

cracking our lives

into fragments

and bits that can be combined and sent as packet

data across the network and re-assembled or

mashed-up in any infinite number of combina-

tions by a teenager sitting in his mom‘s Akron,

Ohio basement?

Ambiguous side note: Vishnu is the Hindu god of goodness. He has

come to Earth when needed in the past in a series of so-called de-

scents or avatars. These are incarnations. (from the Bhagavad

Gita).

James Cameron used a mountain of computational power to create a myth that mostly rejects

its creation (the irony and hypocrisy of describing Avatar outside of its computational com-

pound is not lost on the writer!). For all that, transcendence is not for the machine—the web,

and for that matter, all technology, is a peripheral, tools that, if useful, humanity can leverage

for its own evolution, or its own de-evolution. Sully, in his final videologue, rejects the sub-

universe of bits, and willingly exchanges his former body (along with it, the technology back

home that might have the power to prolong a life much long than a Navi) to be able to live and

die in Pandora—for all this talk of the web, the hive mind and ultimate singularity, Cameron

reminds us not to forget biology, our living, chemical bodies, and a connection to the world

(Heideggar‘s Dasein?). For all the hyper speak of connecting through the net, as if a billion

Cisco routers will somehow create intelligence, consciousness, or life, Avatar reminds us that a

network (a natural, biological neural network, like the film‘s Hometree) may already be there,

each blue spark of consciousness firing out from deep within the cortex of our brains, making

connections we can‘t detect or don‘t understand—we just haven‘t taken off our shoes and

walked far enough into the woods yet.

Our time here has been too short, and it may be too late.

I have a fairly large pond in my backyard, and each year, we await the emergence of the giant

bullfrogs. This year has been slow. Even the toads some diminished. It may be due to the

drought, but if there is a problem, the Eastern Shore isn't the only place where

frogs are in danger. A report from the University of California, Berkeley indicates that many

amphibian species are facing severe declines worldwide, and that the die-offs of amphibians

are part of a mass extinction happening all over the planet.

"There's no question that we are in a mass extinction spasm right now," said David Wake, pro-

fessor of integrative biology at UC Berkeley. "Amphibians have been around for about 50 mil-

lion years. They made it through when the dinosaurs didn't. The fact that they're cutting out

now should be a lesson for us."

The study, co-authored by Wake and Vance Vredenburg, research associate at the Museum of

Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley and assistant professor of biology at San Francisco State

University, offers that new species arise and old species die off all the time, but sometimes the

extinction numbers are much more than the numbers of emergent new species.

Current data indicates that extinction rates have dramatically increased over the last few dec-

ades, and this mass extinction event, which Wake and others argue is happening currently, is

different from extinction events in the past. In 2004, researchers found that nearly one-third of

amphibian species are threatened, and many of the non-threatened species are on the

wane."My feeling is that behind all this lies the heavy hand of Homo

sapiens," Wake said.

The main suspect cause of the mass deaths is a pathogenic fungus that causes the disease chy-

tridiomycosis. The fungus was discovered in Sierra Nevada frogs in 2001, and has been killing

amphibians around the world, even in the tropics, where amphibian biodiversity is particularly

high. like a one-two-three-four punch."

The National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health helped support this study.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by A&V staff) from materials provided by University of California - Berke-

ley.University of California - Berkeley

(2008, August 17). Dying Frogs Sign Of A Biodiversity Crisis. ScienceDaily.

Retrieved September 10, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­releases/2008/08/080812135654.htm

University of California - Berkeley. "Dying Frogs Sign Of A Biodiversity Crisis."

ScienceDaily 17 August 2008. 10 September 2010 http://www.sciencedaily.com­

/releases/2008/08/080812135654.htm

Our work needs to be seen in the context of

all this other work, and the news is very, very

grim," Wake said.

Egyptian mythology

To the Egyptians, the frog was a symbol of life and fertility, since millions of them were

born after the annual inundation of the Nile, which brought fertility to the otherwise barren

lands. Consequently, in Egyptian mythology, there began to be a frog-goddess, who repre-

sented fertility, named Heget (also Heqet, Heket), meaning frog. Heget was usually de-

picted as a frog, or a woman with a frog's head, or more rarely as a frog on the end of a

phallus to explicitly indicate her association with fertility.

The Ogdoad are the eight deities worshipped in Her-

mopolis. They were arranged in four male-female

pairs, with the males associated with frogs, and the

females with snakes

Hapy, was a deification of the annual flood of the

Nile River, in Egyptian mythology, which deposited

rich silt on the banks, allowing the Egyptians to grow

crops. In Lower Egypt, he was adorned with papyrus

plants, and attended by frogs, present in the region,

and symbols of it.

Ancient Greece and Rome

A frog being eaten by King Stork, an illustration by

Milo Winter in a 1919 Aesop anthology

The Greeks and Romans associated frogs with fertil-

ity and harmony, and with licentiousness in associa-

tion with Aphrodite.

* The combat between the Frogs and the Mice (Batrachomyomachia) was a mock epic,

commonly attributed to Homer.

* The Frogs Who Desired a King is a fable, attributed to Aesop. The Frogs prayed to

Zeus asking for a King. Zeus set up a log to be their monarch. The Frogs protested they

wanted a fierce and terrible king, not a mere figurehead. So Zeus sent them a Stork to be

their king. The new king hunted and devoured his subjects (as many human kings also do).

* The Frogs is a comic play by Aristophanes. The choir of frogs sings the famous line:

"Brekekekex koax koax."

The Mythology of Frogs

Ancient China

The frog represents the lunar yin, and the Frog spirit Ch'ing-Wa Sheng is associated with

healing and good fortune in business, although a frog in a well is symbolic of a person lack-

ing in understanding and vision.

Indochina

To Vietnamese people, toad is the uncle of the Sky. According to a Vietnamese ancient

story, whenever toads grind their teeth, it is going to rain.

Scotland

In Scotland the frog is

seen as an item of luck.

Households often keep

stone frogs in their gar-

dens and they are often

given as house warming

presents. The associations

are believed to date back

to Pictish times.

East Lancashire

In East Lancashire the

frog is also seen as an

item of luck (as in the

Scottish entry above). In

this region ornamental

frogs are often given as

Wedding presents, and in

addition are seen as an

aid to fertility and virility.

This association is be-

lieved to date back to medieval times.

Source: NGU License, Wikipedia

The Potomac River Fisheries Commission voted in August to revoke or suspend the fishing

privileges of eight watermen convicted in federal court in the largest rockfish poaching scheme

in the history of the Chesapeake Bay.

The harsh nature of the fines was a clear departure, and was meant to send a message. The com-

missioners clearly were disturbed by the

sweep of the 12-year scheme, which in-

volved watermen stealing striped bass, un-

scrupulous check station operators falsify-

ing catch records and seafood distributors

willing to pay for fish out of season and

fish over and under legal size.

The fish, worth millions of dollars, were

shipped all over the country from 1995 to

2007. "It sends a strong signal," said Tom

O'Connell, Maryland's Fisheries Service di-

rector and vice chairman of the commis-

sion. "This cannot be tolerated." "It's clear

we take violations of this significance very

seriously," said Steven Bowman, one of Virginia's representatives and head of the Virginia Ma-

rine Resources Commission. "People who conduct themselves in this manner deserve no public

trust."

The eight-member commission regulates all fishing on the Potomac between Washington and

the Chesapeake Bay, exclusive of the tributaries on either side of the river. The poachers were

caught after a five-year investigation by an interstate task force formed by the U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service and undercover officers from Maryland Natural Resources Police and the Vir-

ginia Marine Police.

"Only one guy really expressed any regret," said O'Connell.

"That was really the most disappointing thing."

Prosecution of those arrested in the poaching scheme is wind-

ing down. Sentencing of some of the participants is scheduled

for Nov. 8 at U.S. District Court in Greenbelt.

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission this year re-

voked the licenses and permits of five of the convicted water-

men for two years--the maximum allowed under state law.

Good on ya‘ Mates!

Commercial Space Flight: Is It Coming to Wallops?

In the last 55 years, 16,000 rockets have been launched from Wallops. With the Mid-Atlantic Re-

gional Spaceport (MARS) upgraded and fully operational, if the money is there, privately devel-

oped spacecraft will be blasting off from Wallops on a routine basis. A new chapter in space ex-

ploration and research is coming of age, as NASA comes to rely more on private companies for

the technology to put manned and unmanned vehicles in space.

SpaceX, headquartered in Hawthorne, CA, and founded by Internet millionaire and energy entre-

preneur Elon Musk, is most ready to take advantage of this new environment. SpaceX is develop-

ing a reusable

spacecraft,

called Dragon,

and a launch ve-

hicle, the Falcon

9. The Falcon 9

had a successful

test flight in

June, going into

orbit at 250

kilometers.

The Dragon

spacecraft, suc-

cessfully com-

pleted a high-

altitude drop

test using its re-

entry parachutes

in August.

After tests are completed later next year, the first resupply mission to the International Space Sta-

tion is planned in 2011. Dragon will initially just transport cargo, it is also being designed for hu-

man passengers.

Orbital Sciences (based in Northern Virginia) is constructing an expendable, cargo-only vehicle.

Orbital is using as many commercially available components as possible to minimize the develop-

ment risk.

The pressurized cargo module of the company's Cygnus spacecraft is being supplied by French

firm Thales Alenia, which also builds pressurized compartments for the European Space Agency's

cargo supply spaceship, the ATV. Orbital Sciences is also building a new launch rocket, the Taurus

II, again using many off-the-shelf components. The first stage of the Taurus II is equipped with

modified Russian engines originally built for the Soviet Union's ill-fated manned lunar program.

Taurus II and Cygnus to have their first launches in 2011, with the first resupply mission to

the ISS in 2012. Orbital believes the modular design of the Cygnus will allow it to adapt the

spacecraft for a number of uses, including flying experiments in its pressurized compartment,

or using the propulsion and navigation module as part of a satellite.

Sierra Nevada Corporation in Nevada is developing a spacecraft called Dream Chaser that in-

corporates two hybrid engines similar to those the company is supplying to Virgin Galactic

for the suborbital SpaceShipTwo. The basic structure of the first Dream Chaser has been built,

and Sierra Nevada plans to begin orbital flights in 2014, launching atop the workhorse Atlas

V rocket. Sierra Nevada's executive vice president and chairman, Mark Sirangelo, says the

company hopes to use the Dream Chaser to service satellites, with astronauts conducting

space walks to perform maintenance.

Boeing, is building a space capsule (the CST-100) designed to fly on a Falcon 9, Atlas V, or

Delta IV rocket. It‘s launch escape system uses rocket engines mounted beneath the spacecraft

to send it clear of danger.

Similar spacecraft typically

use an escape tower at-

tached to the nose of the

capsule to pull it to safety in

an emergency. These escape

towers must be jettisoned

once the spacecraft is under

way. The new pusher sys-

tem doesn't have to be jetti-

soned, and so could be re-

used, reducing costs. Test

flights are due to begin in

2013; Boeing claims the

CST-100 could be opera-

tional by 2015. On the exhi-

bition floor, Boeing is dis-

playing an ambitious model

of a private space station

made of inflatable modules

(built by Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace) that could be serviced by CST-100 spacecraft.

Finally, there's Blue Origin, a Kent, WA, company founded by Jeff Bezos, CEO of Ama-

zon.com. Blue Origin began testing a suborbital spacecraft design, called New Shepard, in

2006 as a precursor to an orbital vehicle, currently known only as the Blue Origin Space Vehi-

cle Concept. Some hardware for this new vehicle has been built, including the escape system,

which uses a design similar to Boeing's CST-100 system.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by A&V staff) from materials provided by www.technologyreview.com/

business/26179/

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

Key to Healthy Ecosystems

Agriculture has been the main economic driver on the Eastern Shore, and it will to con-

tinue to be for many more years. Ag though, has a significant impact on the diversity of

beneficial microbial fungi known to play important roles in crop productivity, soil recov-

ery and maintenance of healthy ecosystems. This, according to new research published

today in the journal Environmental Microbiology. This research could have important

implications for the way Eastern Shore agriculture manages the landscape.

The new study is the work of Dr Christo-

pher van der Gast at the Centre for Ecol-

ogy & Hydrology (CEH) and Dr Gary

Bending from the University of Warwick.

study indicate that farm management has

a significant impact on AMF richness,

with organic farming shown to promote

higher diversity relative to conventional

farming.

The research focused on the distribution

of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF)

with soil collected from both organically

and conventionally managed fields. AMF

work by forming symbiotic relationships

with plant roots. They are a vital compo-

nent of terrestrial ecosystems, represent-

ing a dominant microbial group in most

soil habitats. This relationship has a major

impact on above ground ecology and pro-

ductivity.

According to Lead author Dr Christopher van der Gast,―Our research demonstrates that

the way humans manage the landscape can play a key role in determining the distribu-

tion of microbial communities at both the local and regional scales.‖

Co-author Dr Gary Bending, from the University of Warwick, said, ―The work provides us

with new understanding which we can use to promote these fungi in agricultural systems.

This in turn could improve crop production. With the proportion of the earth‘s surface which

is managed by humans increasing rapidly, this understanding is essential if we are to predict

and manage microbial functioning in the environment to meet many of the major challenges

faced by human society, such as food supply and the mitigation of climate change.

"Addressing these challenges,

whilst maintaining environ-

mentally sustainable agricul-

tural practices, requires an un-

derstanding of microbial diver-

sity.".

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with edito-

rial adaptations by A&E staff) from materi-

als provided by Centre for Ecology & Hy-

drology, via EurekAlert!, a service of

AAAS.

Journal Reference:

1. Christopher J. van der Gast, Paul Gosling, Bela Tiwari, and Gary D. Bending. Spatial scaling of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal

diversity is affected by farming practice. Environmental Microbiology, 2010

Lumenhaus Lumenhaus is Virginia Tech‘s 2009 entry to the US Solar Decathlon competition, an edu-

cational project of the U.S. Department of Energy supported by DOE's National Renew-

able Energy Laboratory. This green house was inspired by the Farnsworth House by Mies

Van Der Rohe. It features glass walls facing the north and south to maximize daylight, and

the fully automated Eclipsis System of independent sliding layers filters light in through-

out the day.

Lumenhaus is a zero-energy home completely powered by the sun. Other sustainable

features include the use of passive energy systems, a rainwater and greywater recycling

systems, radiant heating and building materials that are from renewable and/or recycla-

ble sources. The modular design means multiple units can be connected to create a space

tailored to the needs of the owners, and the rectangular open design has a small footprint

but still creates a perception of greater space. The Lumenhaus represents almost two

years of labor by the design team at Virginia Tech

General concepts for sustainable architecture – compact volume, lit-

tle air infiltration, strategic insulation, natural/cross ventilation,

passive heating, and integrated geothermal energy sink – are articu-

lated with appropriate technologies. Design decisions and material

selection aim to reduce indoor pollutants, minimize global warming,

reduce waste, include recycled content, represent low embodied en-

ergy in manufacture and harvest, limit destruction to habitat, and

rapidly renew resources. —www.lunenhaus.com

LUMENHAUS epitomizes a ―whole building design‖ construction ap-

proach, in which all the home’s components and systems have been de-

signed to work together to maximize user comfort with environmental

protection. LUMENHAUS uses technology optimally to make the

owner’s life simpler, more energy efficient and less expensive.

PRIMARY FACULTY ADVISORS at VIEGINIA TECH

Joseph Wheeler

Lead Project Coordinator

School of Architecture + Design

Robert Dunay

Director, Center for Design Research

School of Architecture + Design

Robert Schubert

Associate Dean for Research

A coil spring is an open helical metal spring that offers resistance to a compressive

force applied axially. Coil springs are usually coiled as a constant diameter cylinder.

Compression springs are the most commonly used spring. The required load is

reached by compressing the spring down to the matching height. Photograph of ten-

sion springs on one of Bay Coast‘s transport cars. Photo by Wayne Creed

Industrial Moments

Dawn on the Empire State Building, taken by Daniel Norman in 2007.

The site of the Empire State Building

was first developed as the John Thomp-

son Farm in the late 18th century. At the

time, a stream ran across the site, empty-

ing into Sunfish Pond, located a block

away.

Over the years, more than thirty people

have committed suicide from the top of

the building. The first suicide occurred

even before its completion, by a worker

who had been laid off.

Source: NGU License, Wikipedia

Industrial Moments, Cont‘d

Industrial Moments, Cont‘d

On May 1, 1947, 23-year-old Evelyn McHale leapt to her death from the 86th floor

observation deck of the Empire State Building and landed on a United Nations lim-

ousine parked at the curb. Photography student Robert Wiles took a photo of

McHale a few minutes after her death. The police found a suicide note among pos-

sessions she left on the observation deck: "He is much better off without me … I

wouldn‘t make a good wife for anybody".

The photo ran in the May 12, 1947 edition of LIFE Magazine and is often referred

to as "The Most Beautiful Suicide".

Later, Andy Warhol would use the photograph in his work, ―Fallen Body‖, creating

an industrial moment.

MUGSHOTS

Chloe and Joey Creed

Ah, Yes. It‘s Dave Gomer. Say no more.

If you‘ve ever been to the now extinct Dowdy‘s amusement park

in Nags Head, you probably remember Mr. Dowdy, who for

many, many years, operated the kids Barbie car ride. We miss you.

Photo by Wayne Creed

Turkish Coffee by Rachel Creed

Barbie® Fashion Model Collection

Mad Men

Designed by Robert Best, the Mad Men Barbie Collector doll collection embodies the Mad

Men series' couture fashions and accessories, and its iconic '60s style and aesthetic. Don

Draper wears his classic, polished red-lined suit and comes accessorized with a hat, overcoat

and brief case; Betty Draper's classic look is captured with unparalleled detail, from her faux

pearl necklace to her pumps; Joan Holloway looks chic in a purple skirt suit and perfectly

styled coif with her staple accessory - a pen necklace; and Roger Sterling is looking dapper in

his monogrammed shirt.

Iconic Moment

TATS: Angelina Jolie

A Buddhist Pali incantation made in the form of Khmer script, Cambodia‘s official language.

Jolie acquired the tattoo to give protection to both her and Maddox, her adopted Cambodian

son.

May your enemies run away from you. If you acquire riches, may they remain yours always.

Your beauty will be that of Apsara. Whenever you may go, many will attend, serve and pro-

tect you, surrounding you on all sides.

James Dickey 2 February 1923 – 19 January 1997

Above: James Dickey in a cameo appearance as the sheriff in the film adaptation of his novel

‗Deliverance‘.

Abandoning advertising work for Coca-Cola and Lay's Potato Chips campaigns he returned to

writing poetry in 1960, and his first book, "Into the Stone and Other Poems", was published in

1960 and "Drowning with Others" was published in 1962. ―Drowning with Others‖ landed the

Guggenheim fellowship and ―Buckdancer's Choice‖ earned him a National Book Award in 1965.

Remembering his advertising days, Dickey said "I was selling my soul to the devil all day...and

trying to buy it back at night".

His literary career reached its apex after ―Deliverance‖ was adapted to film. Dickey also wrote the

screen adaption for the film. Source: NGU License, Wikipedia

Story 150:

The

Haunting

A story in 150 words or less

By

Wayne Creed

"Some people swore that the house was haunted."

I was born there, yet it wasn‘t until my 10th birthday that I found out about my brother. That

was when I was finally strong enough to break into the attack, and where I found the chains. I

confronted my grandmother, and she brought out an old photograph of him. She said his

mind was deformed, and they kept him locked up and hidden from me. They fed him from a

tin pan. He died when he was fifteen. I was three. My father got the cancer that same winter,

and distraught, my mother left me with my grandmother. Her body was found two years later

in a small town in Mexico. Ghosts are ghosts, and lost boys live forever. I keep his picture in

the Bible. I know why I hear his chains.

"Nothing was ever the same again after that."

Note: This story was somewhat stringent, in that it was part of an NPR submission guideline

that required that the first and last lines be the ones that appear in this piece.

Precisionism Moments:

Alfred Stieglitz

Precisionism (Cubist Realism), was an artistic movement that began after World War I. It was

an entirely American movement that celebrated industrialization and the modernization of the

America. The imagery relied on 'precise', sharply defined, geometrical forms. The work was

strongly influenced by the streamlined architecture and machinery of the early 1900s. Preci-

sion artists considered themselves strictly American and tried to avoid European artistic influ-

ences.

In many ways, Alfred Stieglitz can be considered the father of the Precisionism movement.

Through his work, he attempted to bridge the continental experimental mainstream with a new

American Aesthetic, as well as his embracing photography as a ‗serious‘ art form―he became

a mentor for many future Precisionists including Paul Strand and his future friend and lover,

Georgia O‘Keefe.

Georgia O‘Keefe

Obadiah

In the style of necessary violence,

he is alone, holding

flowers for his girl.

His eyes betray the self-imposed

brooding as something that will endure

and will pass directly to

its unimpeded communion.

The joy, the violence, the terminal despair

hurdle towards the dawn of bad faith; and

as he beats and tears at the old poets body,

The spirit embraces him, wills

and sustains him.

He means to possess, to negate, to create;

and words and time force the transfiguration.

As I walk home alone

the cycle escalates, and men cry

and my father sits alone on his wooden porch

refusing to acknowledge

the fire burning the world around him.

Wayne Creed

Courtesy of R Crumb, www.philipkdickfans.com and Weirdo Magazine

COMIC MOMENTS: R. Crumb’s…..

...comic moment to be continued

―Today at the Techonomy conference in Lake Tahoe, CA, CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo sat down

with a panel including Bill Joy, Kevin Kelly, Nicholas Negroponte, and Willie Smits. The topic

was basically the future of technology. And Negroponte had the most interesting (or at least the

most controversial) thing to say.

The physical book is dead, according to Negroponte. He said he realizes that’s going to be hard

for a lot of people to accept. But you just have to think about film and music. In the 1980s, the

writing was on the wall that physical film was going to die, even though companies like Kodak

were in denial. He then asked people to think about their youth with music. It was all physical

then. Now everything has changed‖.- http://techcrunch.com

This statement, coming on the heels of Amazon stating that e-books are now outselling hard

copy tomes, is this true? Are real books dead?

Christopher Mims says not so fast. And here‘s why:

ebooks are only six pecent of the total market for new books.

Amazon is only 19 percent of the total book market. Also, Amazon has something like 90 per-

cent of the world's ebook market.

In Clearwater, Florida, the principle of the local high school recently replaced all his students'

textbooks with latest-gen Kindles - without, apparently, any awareness that formal trials of the

Kindle as a textbook replacement led universities like Princeton and Arizona State University to

reject it as inadequate.

As the ranks of the early adopters get saturated, adoption of ebooks will slow. The reason is sim-

ple: unlike the move from CDs to MP3s, there is no easy way to convert our existing stock of

books to e-readers. And unlike the move from records and tapes to CDs, it's not immediately

clear that an ebook is in all respects better than what it succeeds.

So the world is left with an unconvertible stock of used books that is vast. If the bustling, reces-

sion-inspired trade in used books tells us anything, it's that old books hold value for readers in a

way that not even movies and music do. That's value that no ebook reader can unlock.

In fact, it remains to be seen whether legions of readers raised on 99c titles at their local used

bookstore (or $4.00-$5.00 titles delivered via Amazon.com) will be so eager to start buying

brand new books at $10 a pop. And then there's libraries--who gets left behind when owning an

ebook reader, and not merely literacy, is a requirement to borrow a book.

Will Kindle kill the Book?

What's more, having learned their lessons from other industries a little too well, publish-

ers have largely made it impossible, or at least difficult, to loan, trade or re-sell ebooks,

for fear of piracy. Paradoxically, this could have the eventual effect of lowering custom-

ers' willingness to buy new books - because there's no chance they'll ever recoup a por-

tion of the cost by selling or sharing the book.

Finally, and most importantly, as a delivery mechanism, Ebooks are nothing like music

or even movies and television, and the transitions seen in those media simply don't apply

to the transition to electronic

books.

Books have a kind of usability

that, for most people, isn't

about to be trumped by bour-

geoisie concerns about port-

ability: They are the only auto

-playing, backwards-

compatible to the dawn of the

English language, entirely self

-contained medium we have

left.

Original article, with

minor changes by

A&E Staff, taken by

permission from

Mim‘s Bits, Christo-

pher Mims blog

Next issue...a look at Type IV Nuclear, cool sunglasses, mugshots and

more, more, more…..until then…,MORE COWBELL!

The bottom 4 inches

of the back cover will be covered

by the MagCloud address label

on single orders