Weekend Ramblings: Must see 2011 science videos

"Looking for viral videos with some scientific substance to them? Check out 11 must-see clips from the past year."  Which science video(s) of 2011 is/are your favorites?  While watching the videos, read the text below the video screen.  The information about AI (artificial intelligence) vs AI is fascinating.  The videos can be viewed at:

     MSNBC Cosmic Log

1. AI vs. AI. Two chatbots talking to each other (my second favorite).
2. What does it feel like to fly over the planet earth?
3. Dance your PHD
4. A day made of glass
5. Octopus walks on land (my favorite)
6. Soft robot takes a walk
7. Alpha dog proto
8. Faster than light neutrinos
9. Quantum levitation
10. Pi is (still) wrong
11. Weaver ants (my 3rd favorite)

Have you seen an interesting video(s) on the web?  Please send me a link to it either through blog comments or email.  Tell me something about the video.   I will compile them, then post them in an upcoming "Rambling" post.  

Now, what does 2012 have in store (Mayan calendar aside)?  Click on 12 must-see skywatching events in 2012 to see these events from MSNBC.  The first event is just days away.  On Jan. 4, the Quadrantid meteor shower peaks the predawn hours of Jan. 4 for eastern North America.  Best viewing time is after the moon sets at 3 AM.

Weekend Ramblings - U.S. Civil War Re-union

Here is a link to an old video that I received from my cousin Bob.  It show north and south civil war veterans getting together at Gettysburg in 1913 and 1938.  Although they fought each other, there seems to be a comrade amongst the soldiers, a shared experience that brought them together.  An interesting video for many reasons.

Civil-war-veteran-soldier-footage-captured-between-1913-and-1938

Sat in the living room this morning as I do every morning appreciating the view.  Thought I would share it with you by sketching my view in less than 1 hour.

Weekend Ramblings - TED Presentations

I discovered "TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Ideas Worth Sharing" several years ago.  It is time that you too learn about and watch TED.  Want to hear about changes that are taking place or about to take place in the world?  Chances are, you will learn about them on TED first.  The mission of TED in their own words is to "bring together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes or less)."  To get you introduced to TED, I will share with you two of several TED talks that I watched this week.  I think you will find each interesting.
  

Luis von Ahn is the inventor of "Captcha".  Captcha is the program that displays random characters, then asks you to type the same characters into a box to access a web site.  Okay, so it has something to do with security, but what does it have to do with books being scanned for on-line libraries?  You will be impressed.  Also, you may want to participate in the newest use of Captcha and learn a language at the same time.  (BTW - Captcha was purchased by Google.)  You won't want to miss this video! Massive-scale online collaboration.

Britta Riley uses hydroponics to grow food in her apartment.  She and collaborators on the web are developing the best approach to growing your own foods indoors. They call it R&D-I-Y.  Listen to her talk on TED Britta Riley: A garden in my apartment.  If the TED video interest you, go to the Window Farms web site.


If you found these two TED talks interesting, your sure to find many more of interest.  Give it a try.

Here is a non-TED video that I am sure you will enjoy Animator vs. Animation.

Plymouth Rocks!

Plymouth rocks: Okay, we have all heard about and perhaps seen the famous but unimpressive Plymouth Rock.  However, this is not the only rock of interest in Plymouth.  So far, I have found several other rocks, Sacrifice Rock, Cleft Rock, Diamond Rock, Flag Rock/White Horse Rock, Pinehills Rocks, and Turtle Rock.  All of these rocks have stories as impressive as Plymouth Rock.

PLYMOUTH ROCK

Plymouth Rock is located on the waterfront in downtown Plymouth at the foot of Cole's Hill. Could this really be "the" rock where the Pilgrims stepped ashore in Plymouth? It is if you believe Thomas Faunce.  In 1741, this rock was about to be destroyed to build a new wharf.  Faunce, 94 at the time, came forward to stop it's destruction.  Faunce's father arrived in Plymouth a few years after the original Pilgrims.  Thomas Faunce maintained that his father claimed that when the Pilgrims stepped ashore, they stepped on this rock.   Faunce was elder of the church and was the town record keeper for most of his adult life.  The rock has been moved several times and is about a third the size of the original rock.   For many years, it was located outside Pilgrim Hall Museum.  Pilgrim Hall Museum used to sell little rock chisels so people could take chips off the rock for keepsakes.

SACRIFICE ROCK

In Ancient landmarks of Plymouth by William T. Davis (1883), Sacrifice Rock is one of two rocks on Sandwich Road in Plymouth, MA where Native Americans would stop on their journeys and leave items such as branches and feathers to the Great Spirit. In 1928, Sacrifice Rock was gifted to the Plymouth Antiquarian Society.  In the 1960s, the society placed an historic marker on the rock.  The marker reads "Sacrifice Rock, Manittoo Asseinah, Indian Name Meaning, God's Rock/Plymouth Antiquarian Society".  There is nothing unusual about this and several similar rocks, other than there is a spiritual aura given off by them.

CLEFT ROCK

Cleft Rock is an interesting rock formation located in the Pine Hills (of which the Pinehills community is a small part).  The rock formation may have been used as a lookout spot by the Native Americans, and it offers a panoramic view of Cape Cod Bay on a clear day. Some day when my knee feels better, I will climb atop the rock to check out the view.  (The turnoff to Cleft Rock is almost directly across from Serious Cycles on Route 3A.)

WHITE HORSE ROCK (or Flag Rock)

Two stories on this rock of two names.  

White Horse Rock: A local legend says that in 1778 a young woman named Helen died in the surf, at what is now known as White Horse Beach, either as a suicide or searching for her lover, Roland Doane. Doane was aboard the privateer General Arnold that had gone aground and broken up in Plymouth Bay.  Helen's ghost reportedly sometimes appears on the granite boulder called "White Horse Rock."

Flag Rock:  During World War II, somebody painted a Nazi swastika on this rock. Soon thereafter, someone painted over the swastika with an American flagI has since been repainted many times.

DIAMOND ROCK

Diamond rock can be found on old Diamond Rock Road.  Good luck finding this hidden gem!

PINEHILLS ROCKS

Standing rock sculptures can be found throughout the Pinehills community.  These sculptures along with pine cones symbolize life at Pinehills.  There are a lot of similar but smaller rock sculptures popping up on many trails.

TURTLE ROCK

Okay, so there really isn't a "turtle rock" per se but this past spring, we had a snapping turtle sunning itself on a rock steps away from our back deck.  After sunning herself, she dug up my plants to lay her eggs.  Unfortunately, her eggs never hatched.  I looked all summer for signs that the baby snapping turtles left their nest, but it didn't happen.

Welcome to my blog

Welcome to my blog! 

Let me start by introducing you to my blog.  There will be several recurring themes within my posts including: genealogy, photography, and local (Plymouth, MA) history.

 

Why did I named my blog “Morning Dew”

Many years ago, early in my genealogy research, I came across a poem about Admiral Dewey (a distant relative) written by Eugene Ware in 1899.  I am a morning person and the title of my blog reminds me of the first line of Ware’s poem:

O Dewey was the morning

Upon the first of May;

And Dewey was the Admiral

Down in Manila Bay;

And Dewey were the Regent's eyes,

"Them orbs" of Royal Blue;

And Dewey we feel discouraged?

I Dew not think we Dew!

Admiral George Dewey (1837-1917)

1^st cousin 4 times removed

Blog topics

Monday “Mumblings”

When I post genealogy information, it will be on Mondays.  The posts will contain stories and pictures, if available, related to my ancestry.   The name “Mumblings” is appropriate for these Monday posts because my great grandfather Rev. Herbert F. Milligan published a history of his family titled “A Few Mumblings” in 1960.  I will post mumblings on many of my ancestral families.

Reverend Herbert F. Milligan (1878-1970)

Great Grandfather

Friday’s Fotos

On Fridays, I will share some of my pictures or write on topics related to photography that I come across and want to share.  Dedicating a weekday post to photography will hopefully get me out more often to take pictures.

Weekend Ramblings

The ramblings posts will be on topics other than genealogy or photography.  Subjects will vary.  They may stem from:

·         Stories found during my volunteer work at the Plymouth Library

·         Web sites that I think others would enjoy

·         Places of interest that I have recently visited

·         Or general posts that don’t fall into any of the other categories.

I hope you enjoy my blog and if you read something of interest, be sure to leave a comment.