Mushrooming

 

Let me start off with the fact that I'm not getting paid off by the mushroom people.

Sometime in February, I picked up a mushroom kit from a big box store.  As soon as I opened it, I realized two things: 

1.  It looked nothing like the other two kits I've bought in my life.

2. The store had left it outside so that it had frozen and  thawed most days of the past two months.

It did say on the box that the mushrooms were guaranteed to grow, so I shot them an email.  To my surprise, after getting the information about the box, they simply sent me a new kit, completely free!

And boy, did it grow!

One reason I wanted the kit was that the last time we had grown mushrooms, they convinced Choclo that he didn't hate mushrooms - he hated button mushrooms, but oyster mushrooms are delicious!

I was reading the information that came with the kit, and they said they grew the mushrooms in used coffee grounds.

I decided to experiment with our spent kit by burying the mycelium in some of our own spent coffee grounds (in a large plastic container.  

To our delight, over the course of a a few weeks, we saw the mycelium grow to turn all of our coffee grounds white.

I popped the whole thing out of it's tight fitting container and started giving it extra water.

On the left is that mycelium, now budding new fruiting bodies (mushrooms).

On the right is the older plastic container.  Some of the mycelium stuck to the sides, so I've started filling it with more coffee grounds, and you can see the white patches growing along the sides.

Where will it end?  I have no idea!

But it's been a super fun experiment while it's still too cold to garden, and, the fact is, we all love oyster mushrooms!

Chemistry

 

Believe it or not, we aren't done with the high school chemistry class yet!

Usually I do two classes a week, both of which are lecture and lab, and I finish by mid December at the latest.  

This time I am doing one class most weeks because...2020-21 is life on hard mode?  I also only have one other student besides Choclo and Oob, and he has been attending via Skype with his mom as his lab partner.

 

 

That's actually about to change now that most of us have been vaccinated, and not a moment too soon.  

We only have three classes left, but they are the classes I've been super worried about how to do over Skype.

This week's class, for example, has us splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen gases which we then light on fire!

Great time to go in person (with masks and social distancing).

Guest Blog by Mxyl: Fact Checking the Future Part 2 - The Great Outdoors and Beyond!

Fig 1. Our priorities, apparently.

 It's been a bit, but we're heading on a field trip from the virtual home of 2020 to the book's other predictions, some specific to this year and some beyond! Without further ado, let's get to the elephant in the room:

Population: We're actually pretty much on track for the book's population numbers (hard to say as it doesn't give numbers for our specific year), although while different articles disagree on the topic, its overpopulation worries feel pretty dated. Many suspect that what's starting in Japan now is liable to happen in other areas (decreasing but eventually stabilizing), to say nothing of moon bases and whatever other projects lie in store.

Anyway, with that out of the way, it's time for the fun parts:

Space Hotels: "By the year 2020, there will be space hotels as well as space stations orbiting the Earth, 280 miles [up]... A special shuttle service will carry guests to and from Earth as well as on sightseeing tours to the Moon (p.23)... In the 21st century, there will be bases on the moon, probably with lunar hotels (p.56).

...Did Elon Musk just read the same book I did and get incredibly disappointed that we're not there yet? Because it feels like that's what he's going for. 

Miniaturization: The book shows off that computers have gotten small enough to fit into one's hand... like the Psion Series 3c, complete with its 1 megabyte of RAM. (For what it's worth, given another 20 years an iPhone 8's ~2,000 megabytes of RAM will probably sound just as laughable.) However, we're not here to measure the late '90s, just what it thinks the future will be! They propose an Internet-connected laptop successor, an "Office on the Arm" (a 1996 prototype shown at a wearable machines exhibition) that works as a phone, calculator and alarm clock, complete with a laptop-style touch pad! Again, though, this is one of those instances where the future's out-performed the past's predictions: we can do all that and more from an Apple Watch. Still, the concept of charging it via "a special vest worn by the user, which will convert body heat into energy" still isn't in mainstream use to my knowledge.

Virtual Reality Advancements: Granted, I referenced that this came true in the last post, and it isn't really outdoors-y, but I'll just say it's simulated outdoors. Anyway, the book also mentions "virtual sensory suits" that essentially mimic the feeling of, for instance, a ride or a sport. The Teslasuit does exactly this, bringing "full body haptic feedback" and climate control to the table, while also allowing the potential for motion capture and biometrics, making it a scientific and health tool as well as a media/gaming device. Can't find a price on it, but I'm getting the impression that developer kits are being sold for around $13,000. Well, at least it's nice to know the technology exists. It's worth noting that we're still fairly into the broad "21st century" listed in the book's description, so this could definitely become commonplace within the next eighty years. 

Nonetheless, it's interesting to note that Augmented Reality didn't seem to exist as a concept by this point. I suppose it makes sense--if one's working on technology to enter a virtual world, why would it occur to people to go for only part-virtual?

In-Car Navigation: According to the book, all-new cars will use CD-ROM maps and things called global positioning satellites to calculate the best route to take, complete with a digital voice. This is another one of the cases in which we've out-performed predictions, with zero need for CD-ROMs for maps, to say nothing of phone-based GPS systems. 

Automatic Cars and Highways: Honestly, this is probably one of the more exciting items in that we're right on the cusp on it. Automatic cars have been a thing for a while, but are only starting to enter the mainstream market--mostly in the limited form of cars that, say, guide parking work and keep drivers from drifting outside their lane (I once had the opportunity to travel in one). Whether highways will be electrified or magnetized to keep such cars in their lanes is another question; we seem to have moved past the need for that, relying more on AI recognition technology. 

Calendar of the Future: The book's listed a long-term calendar (up to 2035); there's way too much there to cover in total, but here are its predictions on 2020 (be warned, though--it places electronic shopping as becoming dominant quite accurately in 2014, but it puts the first human landing on Mars at the same year):

• 3D video conferencing: Well... does basically just enhanced VRChat for businesses count? If not, I don't think we're there yet, at least not on a widespread basis.
  
• Artificial lungs, kidneys, and brain cells: prototype artificial lungs have actually been made successfully in 2018; artificial kidneys haven't been made yet, although the University of California reports that The Kidney Project, a project dedicated to just this, was recently given a $1,000,000 grant to continue research on it. Artificial organic brain cells don't seem to be here yet either; the closest I could immediately find were machines that might reasonably fulfill a brain cell's functions.
• Cars that drive themselves on smart highways: (See above: Automatic Cars and Highways)
  
• Genetic links of all diseases identified: Uuh... heh... wouldn't that have been nice.

Interestingly, in their Could Happen at Any Time segment, they list "worldwide epidemic" right between "human mutation" and "time travel invented." Huh.

Last but not least: some relevant factoids from the book's Fascinating Facts page! 

• Scientists aim for plastic made from plants: Plant-based plastic has actually come true!
• The James Webb Space Telescope will turn its eye to galaxies' birth, launching 2011: Well... they were actually off by a bit. Like, ten years. The plan's still around, but according to the Space Telescope's Official NASA Website, the latest delay, due to a guessable health concern, has pushed the launch back to Halloween of 2021. 
• By 2020, four out of ten people could be working from home: Huh. I guess we've noticed a good chunk of that. What is it with the weirdly relevant stuff?
  
• The first manned Mars mission will be in 2019: Missed by a mile... which, since Mars is so far away, actually adds up to a whole lot. (And yes, it did mention it'd be 2014 elsewhere; maybe an update went uncaught in the revision?) On the other hand, Elon Musk (who I'm now all but convinced has read the same book I have) is aiming for the book to only be off by a mere four years. 

Overall, it's pretty easy to laugh at what they've gotten wrong, but some of its predictions are stunningly accurate. I suppose it shows the difference between an educated guess and a wild, out-in-the-dark one--you can still be wrong with either one, but knowing the data from the past and present allows one to extrapolating something far closer to the truth than going from nothing.

Guest Blog by Mxyl: Fact Checking the Future Part 1 - The Home of 2020!

Hello, everyone! One of my favorite childhood educational books was DK Publishing's "Future", a 2004 book (revised from a 1998 first printing) about predictions of the future, the past's thoughts on what it could be like, and present innovations on how to get there. However, many of its predictions focus on a specific year: 2020. I remember being amazed as a kid that, while it'd be quite a long wait, I'd eventually see the science fiction-esque world of The Future. 

Well, it was quite a long wait, but we're here! Now that we're in the future, it's time to see what the writers got right and what they didn't! (All the below images are used solely for educational purposes; I highly recommend getting a copy if possible to see it for yourself!)

First up is a massive segment on the virtual home of 2020! In 2020, it states, a "global communications network" will enable one to do nearly anything from home--which is quite true now, although I'm not sure why they didn't just say "Internet" to describe it. A bit of side content notes that automated homes in 2020 will be able to adjust temperature controls for year-long comfort, which is almost chillingly accurate with the advent of Google's Nest thermostats. However, the book also gives predictions of interactive, changing walls and holographic projectors, well... while the technology for holograph-like screens and adaptive screen-walls exist, the concept that they'd be affordable for general upper-class homes didn't age so well. With that said and done, let's jump into its details! 

• Health-Monitoring Shower: Uh... that would get so many lawsuits. Something that scans someone in mid-shower and sends it to a database? I'm not sure if this exists or not, but I hope it doesn't.  Nonetheless, it is worth noting that more recent Apple Watches can be used for similar health services, even measuring the oxygen in one's blood.
  
• A Dining Table with News & Communication-Based Screens: ...Huh? I mean, score one for Internet of Things predictions (I don't think the term existed then), but while we could make this, I think we've mostly chosen not to. (Klenda notes that smart fridges do exist, though.)
  
• "By the year 2020, [cell phones] will all be videophones": Wooow. They're pretty spot-on here, although this is one of the few instances in which 2020 has actually out-performed predictions. Looking back at SF and other items, it really is stunning that just about no one saw casual touchscreens coming. 
• Holographic Homework Helpers: To be honest, we're closer than I'd thought we were (slim-panel holographic technology is a pretty impressive step in the direction of Star Wars), but nope. We don't have mini-holograms in all our houses.
• Robot Servants: Prediction on robot vacuum cleaners? Definitely called it. Prediction on robot dishwasher loaders? Well... that's a bit more complicated. Boston Dynamics made a "SpotMini" in 2016 that has the capability to do so, but only one quick test was shown and it doesn't seem specialized for it. More specialized dishwasher robot technology was revealed from the Toyota Research Institute in 2019, but TRI's Robotics Research VP Russ Tedrake felt it still needed improvement before making it to practical home use, calling it "one of the most advanced manipulation systems in the world. But it's still not good enough [for commercial use]." They're also focusing more on software than hardware for now, so we may have to wait a bit longer for a commercially viable one.
  
• Smart Watch: Apple is known for doing two things: forging a path to the future and dragging everyone else kicking and screaming with it. (No standard USB ports on Macbooks? Really, Apple...?) Seriously, though, smartwatches have been around in some form or another since before the book was published, but getting sports and traffic information from a watch is pretty easy with a Siri-equipped Apple Watch or an equivalent service/device. 
• VR Headset: Have to hand it to them, they nailed it on this one. (Although one brief side note refers to headsets having "thought recognition sensors." Huh?)
• VR Trainer/Simulation Machine: I guess this one's closer to the dishwasher-loading robot one: we're getting there, but we're not there yet. Destin of Smarter Every Day (one channel we at Zoom Times particularly like) has done the bulk of this work in 2018, noting a VR glove (Part 1 | Part 2) and, most relevantly, an infinite movement treadmill system. Still, though, that's nowhere near the level of immersion the prediction was looking at, to say nothing of the noise level. (It's possible I'm missing something with this one, though.)
• Relaxation Service/Massage-Giving Couch: Another point for predicting smart devices, but I haven't seen this in widespread use. There are sorta-massaging sofas and somewhat "smart", TV-integrated ones, but no roboticized sofa so far.
  
• Working from Home: "Working from home is already a popular alternative for many people... [In 2020], small work stations will provide full access to everything needed... from e-mail to video conferencing." ...Maybe a little too close to home.

Lightning round for the shorter notes: self-cleaning furniture material does exist as of 2012 via titanium dioxide within plastic, and hydrophobic materials are being tried out; flexible-screen devices do exist but aren't commonplace; taking classes virtually is a thing (if not hologram-based); and nanobot-scale cleaning, while far from the Home of 2020's prediction, are being worked on as described in a journal released just this year!

Wordless Wednesday: Early Autumn Hike

 

Wordless Wednesday: Bladensberg Hike

 

iNaturalist

Eastern click beetle

Have you run across iNaturalist? 

It's a free app that lets you upload photos of living things with a function that helps you identify whatever it is. 

Fowler's toad

It then connects to a community of experts that verify or correct the identification. 

They do birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, plants, and insects very well, and fungi, crustaceans, and protists, well, better than I could. 

This may have more to do with my photography and the relative lack of experts, of course!

Blue eyed grass

Eastern towhee

Common crayfish

For someone like me who is always wondering "What is that thing?", it's brilliant!

Did I mention you can also look at what other people are identifying around the world?!

Wordless Wednesday: Water Hike

Cells at Work

We have binge watched this immunology anime twice over the last few weeks - it's amazing!  It's only 13 episodes of about 20 minutes each and we would do 2-3 episodes a day.

As someone who worked on killer T cells, helper T cells, immunological approaches to cancer, and B cells, all I can say is: WOW!  It's so fun and so incredibly accurate!  Not only are they showing and telling you how the immune system and blood cells work, there is just so much real stuff going on in the background!

My favorite example is when they show the red blood cells "graduating" from the bone marrow.  They lose the pompom on their cute little red hats to show they are "mature."  Well, guess what?  That's the point in their life cycle where the immature red cells lose the ball shaped nucleus and take on their usual shape- the shape of the hat all the working red blood cells wear!

It's just phenomenally clever like that, while also being fantastically entertaining.  I will say, they play up the violence on the death of bacteria, so I'd recommend it to kids 12 and up if they're sensitive.  The first episode is a good guide to what it's like.

It is currently on Netflix and Crunchy Roll.  We watched it subtitled, but it's available with English dubs also.

Wordless Wednesday: Pautuxent Wildlife Refuge