tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post4678136628901965326..comments2024-02-07T22:52:15.919-07:00Comments on Partial Ellipsis of the Sun: A Blog for Scientists who like Words and Writers who like Science: SEMantics and SEMiotics: A Lousy View from Different PerspectivesWord Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15491300694641304112noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-12092601955056185352014-08-12T08:00:29.099-06:002014-08-12T08:00:29.099-06:00Thank you, SS.
Interestingly (to me, anyway), I w...Thank you, SS.<br /><br />Interestingly (to me, anyway), I was on a first-name basis with Vince van Lombardi also. But he made me call him <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dipFMJckZOM" rel="nofollow">“Vincent”</a>. Whenever I slipped and called him “Vince,” he would clock me so hard that I would see stars stars, then lights out!<br /><br />LegoInvincentiblelegolambdahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18081014756741740081noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-30103384479920291872014-08-11T21:20:36.095-06:002014-08-11T21:20:36.095-06:00I thought of Vincent too. . .I did not realize you...I thought of Vincent too. . .I did not realize you were on a nickname basis with the artist though, Lego. You might have to conVince me of that. . .<br /><br />Welcome back!Word Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15491300694641304112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-55334830752490497672014-08-11T20:40:27.808-06:002014-08-11T20:40:27.808-06:00Semiotics?
Vince van Gogh? The high priest's s...Semiotics?<br />Vince van Gogh? The high priest's servant with whom St. Peter had a run-in?<br />LegoCycloticlopslegolambdahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18081014756741740081noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-81426758543959564182014-08-10T16:21:12.603-06:002014-08-10T16:21:12.603-06:00That's awesome, jan. Wonderfully warped sense ...That's awesome, jan. Wonderfully warped sense of humour. . .<br /><br />And banana peels slipped into my day coincidentally or non-coincidentally. Anyway, they're there in this short video about a 16-year-old girl from Istanbul who turns similar colored, non-bruised <a href="http://sfglobe.com/?id=2426&src=share_fb_new_2426" rel="nofollow"><br />banana peels into a bioplastic.</a><br /><br />Word Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15491300694641304112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-23346111193886821832014-08-10T15:35:07.761-06:002014-08-10T15:35:07.761-06:00Your story of watching moths reminded me there'...Your story of watching moths reminded me there's at least one species around that can detect the sonar pinging of the bats that prey on them, and when they do so, they drop into the grass to avoid getting eaten. I was told of a biologist who rigged an ultrasound generator to a rifle stock, and amuse friends sitting around in his back yard on summer evenings, sipping gin and tonics, by "shooting down" passing moths silently out of the sky.janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05927176621372532733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-62988870225890393312014-08-10T12:36:18.227-06:002014-08-10T12:36:18.227-06:00Dang autocorrect -- oughtnottocorrect friends'...Dang autocorrect -- oughtnottocorrect friends'. . .<br /><br />Here's the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XitCa2hPvcU&feature=youtube_gdata_player" rel="nofollow">Liberace Sings 'Easter Parade' to his mom</a> video.Word Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15491300694641304112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-41425525932665119892014-08-10T12:06:33.290-06:002014-08-10T12:06:33.290-06:00Why is fruit flies like a banana funnier than frui...Why is fruit flies like a banana funnier than fruit flies like a peach or fruit flies like an apple? Why is "banana" so inherently funny. . .<br /><br />Insects to snakes and back to insects. I went to "movie night" in the backyard of friend's last night. They set up 12' by 12' screen in front of their brick garage and project old movies with an 8 mm (?) projector to a crowd of 60 people and assorted dogs. We saw lots of shorts of the Andrews sisters, Liberace singing Easter Parade to his mom (worth a look), and the 1941 classic "Road to Zanzibar" with Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour. Hysterical scenes from their safari of an ape wrestling with Bob Hope ("Fearless"), an octopus squirting Bing Crosby with ink, and Dorothy Lamour swimming and pretending to be mauled by wild African animals whilst watching Bob and Bing. Oh yes, the insects...moths and other bugs would fly into the light stream from the projector creating the illusion of fireflies. Not quite as good as the movie or shorts but a close second.<br /><br />And there were vipers too. . .<br /><br />Word Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15491300694641304112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-40368546330791610182014-08-09T19:12:42.772-06:002014-08-09T19:12:42.772-06:00I absolutely refuse to say anything about windshie...I absolutely refuse to say anything about windshield vipers. Not gonna do it; wouldn't be prudent!Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11114786604125384958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-80824789388786655912014-08-09T18:45:11.543-06:002014-08-09T18:45:11.543-06:00... And fruit flies like a banana.
Speaking of ve...... And fruit flies like a banana.<br /><br />Speaking of veterinary fertility issues, you've heard of the herpetologist who couldn't get his snakes to reproduce until he built them a platform out of tree trunks, because it's easy for adders to multiply with a log table.janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05927176621372532733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-65643918055416346042014-08-09T18:43:34.270-06:002014-08-09T18:43:34.270-06:00Do fruit bats, advertently or inadvertently, eat f...Do fruit bats, advertently or inadvertently, eat fruit flies?Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11114786604125384958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-83532284474198819422014-08-09T18:32:10.429-06:002014-08-09T18:32:10.429-06:00Time flies like an arrow, doesn't it, WW?Time flies like an arrow, doesn't it, WW?Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11114786604125384958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-78264775375043665352014-08-09T14:46:08.145-06:002014-08-09T14:46:08.145-06:00Since we are talking bugs:
A scientist was compla...Since we are talking bugs:<br /><br />A scientist was complaining to a fellow scientist that her colony of fruit flies, for some unknown reason, had never mated in her glass enclosure. Given that her experiment required several generations to complete, this was causing quite a problem. The visiting scientist told her that he had experienced a similar problem at his lab and it resulted from the slick glass walls of the enclosure. Apparently the flies mate while crawling along the glass walls of the enclosure. "Your glass is too slick," he told her, "but I have just the remedy". The second scientist asked for a bottle of table salt and some flour and water. He mixed the concoction and brushed it on the glass walls. The flies began crawling along the surface and mated immediately.<br /><br />"My problem is solved," exclaimed the first scientist, "If only I had known that flies need<br />monosodium glue to mate!!"<br /><br />Groan, groan, groan. . .<br />Word Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15491300694641304112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-28962628876982088412014-08-09T11:21:47.705-06:002014-08-09T11:21:47.705-06:00The bioluminescent animals or plants could solve t...The bioluminescent animals or plants could solve the nuclear semiotics problem perhaps? Place them around the nuclear waste for a glowy warning!<br /><br />There are many animals that eat their own species. The damselfish sometimes eat their young; seems dam selfish ;-).Word Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15491300694641304112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-13720845728861145342014-08-09T08:20:15.547-06:002014-08-09T08:20:15.547-06:00Back to semiotics, it's curious that firefly l...Back to semiotics, it's curious that firefly larvae ("glow worms") also flash, with apparently different meaning. They don't mate, of course, being larvae, and don't seem to pay attention to each other's flash. In their case, it seems to be a warning to potential predators that they're noxious tasting. You can (if you're lucky) train a naive bird (I forget the species) in a lab to eat gelatin capsules filled with food, but after giving it one containing a firefly larva, it'll reject ones containing food and a flashing LED.janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05927176621372532733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-1987008470056742112014-08-09T08:09:53.591-06:002014-08-09T08:09:53.591-06:00It's not cannibalism if you're eating anot...It's not cannibalism if you're eating another species, though pigs and cows might beg to differ. Likewise, the aforementioned bushmeat, which is often even more closely related to us. Ditto, our cousin Neanderthals. No photo of the apparatus, which was just a Plexiglas enclosure with an LED and PM tube at the top, connected to a PDP-8/e.janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05927176621372532733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-9859709391927149032014-08-09T07:55:13.311-06:002014-08-09T07:55:13.311-06:00Fascinating about fireflies and cannibalism (is th...Fascinating about fireflies and cannibalism (is there another word?). Pretty sophisticated way to get the meal to come to you.<br /><br />Do you have a photo of your artificial firefly? Quite curious. And a red filter sounds good . . .Word Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15491300694641304112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-22330774852730538492014-08-08T16:57:39.638-06:002014-08-08T16:57:39.638-06:00I studied fireflies in grad school. Each species ...I studied fireflies in grad school. Each species in our area has a specific flash pattern. The males fly around flashing their species-specific flash, and the females in the grass respond with their species-specific flash. Except for <i>Photuris versicolor</i>. Those females behave in the usual way until they've mated. Then, they stop responding to conspecific males, but they start responding to <i>Photinus pennsylvanica</i> males, with a flash that mimics <i>P. pennsylvanica</i> females. She lures the males in, and eats them. A good high-quality protein meal for the egg-laying femme fatale.<br /><br />Good luck with the flashlights. I suggest a red filter. I built a computer-controlled artificial firefly, with LEDs and photomultiplier tube, to study this behavior, but, of course, under laboratory conditions, any given experimental subject is going to behave just as he damn well pleases. One of many reasons I left Bio and became a computer person.janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05927176621372532733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-81812972641997264582014-08-08T15:32:37.229-06:002014-08-08T15:32:37.229-06:00Sadly true.
I am working on a semiotic unit for n...Sadly true.<br /><br />I am working on a semiotic unit for next week with the kids. Any ideas that spring to mind, fall into your head or summery experiments. <br /><br />Today we did a fireflies game with the kids flashing flashlights with Morse Code so we touched on semiotics a bit.<br /><br />Of course, they all have grown up in a cell phone and GPS world so the idea of needing to communicate with flashes of light is, how shall I say, "quaint!"Word Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15491300694641304112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-51924401949505229112014-08-08T13:36:51.824-06:002014-08-08T13:36:51.824-06:00Speaking of semiotics, all those old hieroglyphic ...Speaking of semiotics, all those old hieroglyphic bumper stickers that said, "ANKH IF YOU LOVE ISIS" just became uncomfortably ambiguous....janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05927176621372532733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-13741707815205884942014-08-07T19:32:56.651-06:002014-08-07T19:32:56.651-06:00I know what the swirly sign represents!
Worlds o...I know what the swirly sign represents! <br /><br />Worlds or blogs swirling together:<br /><br />There's <a href="http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html" rel="nofollow">This is not Magritte's Pipe</a> from a guru of Semiotics, Daniel Chandler over at <a href="http://puzzleria.blogspot.com/2014/08/euro-dixie-tasteful-tunesmiths.html?m=1" rel="nofollow">Puzzleria</a>.<br /><br /><br /><br />And then there's:<br /><br />Sabotage>>>sabot>>>wooden shoes >>>The Netherlands>>> answer over at <a href="http://puzzles.blainesville.com/?m=1" rel="nofollow">Blaines</a>, <a href="http://www.crosswordmanblog.com/?m=1" rel="nofollow">An Englishman Solves American Puzzles</a>, and <a href="http://www.npr.org/series/4473090/sunday-puzzle" rel="nofollow">NPR</a><br /><br />It couldn't be Coincidence, could it?Word Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15491300694641304112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-38866767322074416652014-08-07T14:24:44.927-06:002014-08-07T14:24:44.927-06:00Hmmmm. "Maybe we'll even get a Wal-Mart.&...Hmmmm. "Maybe we'll even get a Wal-Mart." and "We wouldn't be missed if something happened." I'm decidedly <i>not </i>Loving it. . .But I do like your semiotics, jan.<br /><br />Still shocked the Feds ever considered Yucca Mountain, NV, as a nuclear waste repository. They spent all that money to get it ready and decided not to use it after all. Semiotic? No, just idiotic!Word Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15491300694641304112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-58629894874940550882014-08-07T14:03:09.330-06:002014-08-07T14:03:09.330-06:00This makes the semiotics much easier. If we put t...<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/08/us/a-texas-county-sees-opportunity-in-toxic-waste.html" rel="nofollow">This</a> makes the semiotics much easier. If we put the nuclear waste in Loving County, TX, the warning signs just need a (rather unromantic) big, red (not red, big) heart in a circle with a slash through it.janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05927176621372532733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-10625085478939191902014-08-06T17:13:22.107-06:002014-08-06T17:13:22.107-06:00Very exciting. The photos of the comet tweeted tod...Very exciting. The photos of the comet tweeted today are quite amazing. Well done, Rosetta Team. What a day/decade!Word Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15491300694641304112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-39264601772754799102014-08-06T16:50:17.263-06:002014-08-06T16:50:17.263-06:00Enjoy a 9-minute DLR video on the Rosetta missionEnjoy a <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/24/CHASING_A_COMET_-_The_Rosetta_Mission.webm/CHASING_A_COMET_-_The_Rosetta_Mission.webm.480p.webm" rel="nofollow">9-minute DLR video on the Rosetta mission</a>janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05927176621372532733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1915875085991225575.post-84084954006506606942014-08-06T15:01:45.255-06:002014-08-06T15:01:45.255-06:00David, that could be. . .
How about one for Rumi&...David, that could be. . .<br /><br />How about one for Rumi's street "Whirling Dervish Ahead?"Word Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15491300694641304112noreply@blogger.com