A Little More Land

First Beam for the LHC

Samuel Huckins — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:28:55 +0000

Today the first particle beam was successfully sent around the Large Hadron Collider! This utterly amazing piece of equipment, the largest, most powerful, and most expensive scientific experiment ever undertaken by humanity, will undoubtedly result in many profound revelations about the structure of matter and the universe. Some breathtaking statistics: 27km circumference, located underneath France and Switzerland Over [...]

Beauty and Sadness at the National Zoo

Samuel Huckins — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 05:29:54 +0000

It has been many years since I have been to the National Zoo. Much has changed, not just in the exhibits, but also how I think and feel about things such as zoos. There are several aspects I find undividedly positive. One is that the placement of such amazing creatures within the reach of so [...]

Jug Bay Natural Area

Samuel Huckins — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 04:37:27 +0000

Today I took my first trip to the Jug Bay Natural Area, one of a number of parks within the Patuxent River Park. While there was a lot more to explore than I got a chance to see, what I did see was pretty amazing! The trails are very well kept, my favorite part being [...]

More beautiful bugs

Samuel Huckins — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:54:07 +0000

Last weekend, I got to hike around Cooper’s Rock State Forest. It’s a pretty amazing park, with a wide variety of terrain, from sprawling vistas, to rapids, to strange small canyons and fallen rocks. Check out this Flickr set for images taken at the park. I came across an insect I had not seen before (at [...]

Photos from Wheaton Regional Park

Samuel Huckins — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 02:31:32 +0000

Today we took a trip to Wheaton Regional Park. We intended to check out the “Wings of Fancy” live butterfly exhibit, but after visiting the Brookside Nature Center, we decided to hit the trails instead. It was unbelievably perfect weather. This, combined with strolling through beautiful forests, made for an amazing experience. Aside from a [...]

Thoughts on The Battle Over the Meaning of Everything

Samuel Huckins — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 04:04:24 +0000

Gordy Slack’s unwieldily named The Battle Over the Meaning of Everything: Evolution, Intelligent Design, and a School Board in Dover, PA is an account of the people, ideas, and events surrounding the 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial. Occasionally beleaguering with details and descriptions, often jocular, and informative throughout, it provides a thorough [...]

Hairs and spikes

Samuel Huckins — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 04:31:48 +0000

Here are two beautiful caterpillars I photographed in my backyard recently. I believe they were attracted to the large amount of Virginia Creeper growing on one side of the yard. Eight-spotted Forester Caterpillar (Alypia octomaculata) Common Buckeye Caterpillar (Junonia coenia)

A Glimpse into the RNA World

Samuel Huckins — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 04:23:19 +0000

A recent ScienceDaily article summarized a July 18 paper in the journal Science that described the mechanism by which a type of RNA is able to regulate gene expression in some bacteria. It was already known that this RNA, cyclic di-guanosine monophosphate (di-GMP), was a so-called second messenger molecule in bacteria. Basically, di-GMP is generated [...]

Common Whitetail

Samuel Huckins — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 02:11:19 +0000

A beautiful specimen of a female Common Whitetail dragonfly (Plathemis lydia), taken yesterday at Sandy Point State Park: More detailed, original image here. The females can be distinguished by having three black patches on their wings, while the males only have one, larger patch. This page shows many examples of the different sexes. The mature males of [...]

Phylogenetic Supertrees

Samuel Huckins — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 04:43:52 +0000

Phylogenetic trees are tree-like diagrams showing the relationships among a group of creatures, often with their most recent common ancestor serving as the base of the trunk (rooted versus unrooted). They illustrate how groups of organisms originated, divided, and endured or died off over time. An example of a very low resolution (i.e. only showing [...]