When The Science Hits The Fan - Vampire Lamp

I read this story the other day and thought it was very interesting. I was always under the impression that the way to get people to care about something is to show them how it impacts their wallet. But, I think this guy may be on to something. Basically, a British designer named Mike Thompson has developed a lamp that runs on blood. It's a single-use device that requires the addition of blood to initiate a chemical reaction in order to light up. Taken from Thompson's website :

The average American consumes 3383kwh of energy per year. That’s equivalent to leaving the light on in 4 rooms for a whole year. The simple flick of a switch allows us to power appliances and gadgets 24/7 without a thought to where it comes from and the cost to the environment.

For the lamp to work one breaks the top off, dissolves the tablet, and uses their own blood to power a simple light. By creating a lamp that can only be used once, the user must consider when light is needed the most, forcing them to rethink how wasteful they are with energy, and how precious it is.

I realize that this is a little extreme but, the thought process is interesting. How do you think we can get people to be more conscious of personal energy consumption? How do you and your family conserve energy?

Shot In The Arm

Nothing terribly exciting to report today. I got my flu shot yesterday. My arm hurts a little. But, it's a small price to pay for peace of mind. I really don't want Harper to get the flu, so we are all getting our shots. Last year was the first year that I got one. The year before, I didn't get the shot because I was pregnant and didn't want to expose Harper to the vaccine (yes, they do recommend that pregnant women get the shot, but I thought I knew better). I ended up coming down with a horrible case of the flu which caused me to go into labor and have Harper. She was fine and I was fine, but I could have done without all of the puking. So...the moral of that story is that I am getting the flu shot from now on. It makes sense for me. I work in a hospital setting and I have a little kiddo. What about you? Are you getting the flu shot? How about the H1N1 shot. I haven't made my mind up about that one, but I'm leaning toward getting it.

On a completely unrelated note. Here's a picture that I took at work. It's a cross section of a blood vessel. The blue dots are the nuclei of the cells that make up the vessel. The bright red staining is marking a protein that makes up the muscle of the vessel. I like my job.

Pink Toes

It was an interesting night at our house last night. To spare those of you with weak stomachs, I'll keep it brief. Harper pooped in the tub again. Then she peed on the floor. Fun stuff. Oh well. It happens. However, last night wasn't all bad. In fact, we had a lot of fun. We painted our toenails.

If you ask her what color they are, she'll tell you they're blue. She says everything is blue. We're working on that...We also watched one of Harper's favorite TV shows - Dancing With The Stars. She literally dances along as she watches it. It's pretty cute.

Bring It On

It's Fall! I love fall. It's my favorite season. I love the trees, I love the smell of burning leaves and pumpkin pie. I love wearing sweaters. I love going to pick out pumpkins. I love apple cider. Last night I celebrated the beginning of fall by getting one of my favorite fall treats at the store - Concord Grapes. Yes, they do have seeds and they are kind of like slimy eyeballs, but I love them.

I'm taking the easy way out today. I'm sick. I've been sick for 17 days and counting. Some days I feel like I'm turning the corner and getting better. Other days, like today, I feel like crap. So, I'm taking the easy way out. I'm not posting anything clever or profound. I'm just going to put up some more pictures of my cute baby. The end.

Picture Perfect

You know what's awesome? When people who aren't related to you love your kid as much as people who are related to you. This past weekend, Harper and I took a trip up to Cincinnati to visit all of our friends who have recently had babies. It was a great trip - but way too short. You just can't see everyone that you want to see and spend as much time as you want to spend with them when you're trying to cram it into the timeframe of a weekend. One of the highlights of the weekend was a photo shoot. I asked my friend Andrea if she would take some pictures of Harper (we need a picture to use for our Christmas cards, you know). Not only did she take pictures, but our friend Kelly - who is a professional photographer - also took some. They came out absolutely great! I am so grateful for all of our Cincinnati friends who love us and make us feel like family.

Birds on a Wire

Once again NPR has provided me with a blog post. I heard this story the other day and I think it's one of the coolest things I've heard in a long time. A Brazilian composer named Jarbas Agnelli saw a photograph in his local newspaper of birds sitting on five parallel wires. He immediately thought that the birds looked like notes on a music staff. He sat down at the piano and played what he saw. Below is a video of the photograph along with the music that came of it.