How do bat biologists perceive BATS? A new PLOS One article

Bats and Academics: How Do Scientists Perceive Their Object of Study?

This is the title of a new article that was just published in PLOS One (here) by Christophe Boëte and Serge Morand.  The article (based on results from an international survey of bat biologists) suggests that many bat biologists have reached certain conclusions about what the risks to bats worldwide due to environmental change are and that the key next step is communicating this information to the public.

I think this is the key point (see below) that is worth consideration. This conclusion is not surprising but is extremely important. However, what is the most effective way to communicate this information? Reaching out to school-aged children (k12) seems to be one of the focal groups as are students in classrooms of bat biologist but is this the ideal way forward? Twitter and other online forums are great but I think people usually communicate with like-minded people.

I highly suggest giving the article a look and I would be keen to know what people might suggest a proper response to the author's 'call to action' might be!

Educational poster on bats from Bat Conservation Trust in the UK (here).

Abstract (Boëte and Morand 2016)

Bats are associated with conflicting perceptions among humans, ranging from affection to disgust. If these attitudes can be associated with various factors among the general public (e.g. social norms, lack of knowledge), it is also important to understand the attitude of scientists who study bats. Such reflexive information on the researchers community itself could indeed help designing adequate mixed communication tools aimed at protecting bats and their ecosystems, as well as humans living in their vicinity that could be exposed to their pathogens. Thus, we conducted an online survey targeting researchers who spend a part of their research activity studying bats. Our aim was to determine (1) how they perceive their object of study, (2) how they perceive the representation of bats in the media and by the general population, (3) how they protect themselves against pathogen infections during their research practices, and (4) their perceptions of the causes underlying the decline in bat populations worldwide. From the 587 completed responses (response rate of 28%) having a worldwide distribution, the heterogeneity of the scientists’ perception of their own object of study was highlighted. In the majority of cases, this depended on the type of research they conducted (i.e. laboratory versus field studies) as well as their research speciality. Our study revealed a high level of personal protection equipment being utilised against pathogens during scientific practices, although the role bats play as reservoirs for a number of emerging pathogens remains poorly known. Our results also disclosed the unanimity among specialists in attributing a direct role for humans in the global decline of bat populations, mainly via environmental change, deforestation, and agriculture intensification. Overall, the present study suggests the need for better communication regarding bats and their biology, their role within the scientific community, as well as in the general public population. As a consequence, increased knowledge regarding scientists’ perceptions of bats should improve the role scientists play in influencing the perception of bats by the general public.

Boëte C, Morand S (2016) Bats and Academics: How Do Scientists Perceive Their Object of Study? PLoS ONE 11(11): e0165969. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0165969

Distractingly Sexy!

A Twitter Storm hit the internet in response to a comment from Tim Hunt of U. College London who has since lost his job over the comment.

i.e. 
“Let me tell you about my trouble with girls … three things happen when they are in the lab … You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you and when you criticise them, they cry."  

Distractingly sexy pipetting at Organ Pipe Cactus National Park 

A few links are below if you were not witness to the storm:  
 
https://twitter.com/hashtag/distractinglysexy?src=rela

Distractingly sexy (note 'wink' shirt) karyotyping in Panama.

Female scientists post 'distractingly sexy' photos

https://twitter.com/VagendaMagazine/status/608584030032945152

http://www.gcgaviator.com/careers-for-someone-who-loves/188/

The secret of the bat genome TED talk (Emma Teeling)

Another Ted talk this one on what the genome of bats can tell us about bat evolution.

Below the talk can also be accessed by clicking this (Link)

From the Ted website:
"In Western society, bats are often characterized as creepy, even evil. Zoologist Emma Teeling encourages us to rethink our attitude toward bats, whose unique and fascinating biology gives us insight into our own genetic makeup. (Filmed at TEDxDublin.)"

Freshman Research Initiative at UT Austin

Description (from UT): The Freshman Research Initiative offers first year students the opportunity to initiate and engage in authentic research experiences in chemistry, biochemistry, nanotechnology, molecular biology, physics, astronomy and computer sciences while being supported and mentored by faculty and graduate students.

The FRI creates new scientists like no program before it and at a scale that has never been attempted. It provides an authentic research experience and all its benefits to a large number of students early in their careers. It completely transforms students' lives by empowering them to conduct and contribute to modern science—design experiments, perform data analyses and publish peer-reviewed papers—as freshmen. They start becoming innovators their first year.

Science... it's a girl thing

I haven't decided how I feel about this ad that cause a big stir.  You tell me!

Here is one reply

And another:

Why Stevie Nicks inspires me – a female biologist.

I’m not sure when it was that I fell in love with the chanteuse Stevie Nicks but it certainly was at least in high school when I first heard the moving song ‘Dreams’.  Stevie is but one magnificent part of the musical tapestry that makes up this beautiful song.  The composition of this and other songs by Fleetwood Mac is haunting and somehow inspiring - and so too is the fairy godmother of female rock stars - Miss Stevie Nicks.

Fairy muse for women in the sciences? 

So why is someone like Stevie Nicks relevant to a blog post on a blog about biology, bats and all things science?  Stevie represents the courageousness, strength and powerhouse attitude required to succeed in the sciences and she does all this as a feminine muse that grasps at the dreams and hearts of most of those who hear her music.  She’s talented - sure - but from everything I’ve read and seen she also works VERY hard.  Indeed – I think that the description often used for James Brown fits – she is ‘the hardest working woman in music!’  But what gets me the most is that she does not force herself into an over sexualized nor into a ‘gotta be a man to succeed in a man’s world’ persona.  And this - has historically been a challenge for women in a variety of fields including academia.

No Miley Cyrus get-ups to grab attention- in fact I'd call this outfit downright graceful and even a little masculine!

An amazing book that touches on the topic but in the context of a WOMAN SCIENTIST is ‘the Molecules of Emotion’ by Dr. Candace Pert.  Which tells the inspirational story of Dr. Pert’s career in the sciences which includes the discovery of opiate receptors, being passed up for a Nobel Prize and what it was like to be a woman in the sciences wearing ‘the uniform’ i.e. looking as unfeminine as possible to ‘blend in’ to the man’s world that academia was at that time.

The late Dr. Candace Pert

To me at least there is as common thread between Dr. Pert’s and Stevie’s stories both were at one time or another in the shadow of someone else- in Dr. Pert's case it was her adviser and for Stevie's it was Lindsay Buckingham.  Stevie started out as one part of the duo ‘Buckingham and Nicks.’  The band was far from a success and Stevie was working as a waitress and considering going back to school.  At her father’s suggestion she decided to ‘give it 6 more months.’  From this emotional place that sounds a lot like the struggles of trying to ‘make it’ in the sciences - Stevie wrote the song Landslide which carries words of wisdom that seem to come from a much older person.  Apparently Landslide was written in my home state of Colorado with the following inspiration:

“I had been a waitress and a cleaning lady, and I didn’t mind any of this. I was perfectly delighted to work and support us so that Lindsey could produce and work and fix our songs and make our music. But I had gotten to a point where it was like, “I’m not happy. I am tired. But I don’t know if we can do any better than this. If nobody likes this, then what are we going to do?”

So during that two months I made a decision to continue. “Landslide” was the decision. it’s the only time in my life that I’ve lived in the snow. But looking up at those Rocky Mountains and going, “Okay, we can do it. I’m sure we can do it.”

Before the 6 months were up the multi-record Brit blues group Fleetwood Mac heard a Buckingham and Nicks recording and contacted Lindsay Buckingham to see if he would join the group.  Lets be clear on this -they wanted Lindsay NOT STEVIE.  Stevie was ‘just the girl’ in a band that she didn’t really interest Fleetwood Mac at the time.  Yes- Lindsay was (and is) a skilled guitarist but boy is it tough to envision not getting goosebumps listening to that voice of Miss Nicks! 

Lindsay in his defense said he would only consider joining Fleetwood Mac if Stevie was going to be added as well.  Maybe he was being a good band-mate, a supportive boyfriend, felt owed it to Stevie as she had been working to support them both while they tried to ‘make it’ or just maybe-just maybe he knew Stevie was going places and it would be a mistake to miss out on her natural talent –who knows.  In any case, the final decision ultimately came down to the other woman in the picture namely the very talented Christine McVie who was ‘the girl’ in Fleetwood Mac.  If she met Stevie and didn’t get along with her then the deal would never happen.  As luck would have it the two were fast friends and the rest is well- a legacy of music that never fails to put me in a good mood or allows me to really feel the way only a good piece of music can.  Take for example the song GYPSY…. I’ve already written about how the post doc life is that of the academic gypsy…. But let these words inspire you in the context of whatever it is you try hardest to achieve:

“Back to the gypsy that I was
- And it all comes down to you
Well, you know that it does
Well, lightning strikes, maybe once, maybe twice
Ah, and it lights up the night
-To the gypsy that remains faces freedom with a little fear”

Now- most people have heard bits of the story in the midst of their early success with Fleetwood Mac- Stevie and Lindsay broke up- but always the professional she stuck it out- the band was important.  Despite dealing with the end of a relationship that had spanned nearly a decade - surely a trying time - both Stevie and Lindsay put all that into it’s compartment when they went in to work so that they could get on with the job at hand- making beautiful music. And that is what they did.

Fleetwood Mac

Stevie wanted to continue writing songs and creating music but felt she could not contribute as many songs as she would have liked to each Fleetwood Mac album (which makes sense as there were many prolific members all excited to have their music included).  So what did she do?  She made a very diplomatic decision to produce solo albums AND stay in Fleetwood Mac.  How often dear reader does THAT decision pan out for artists?  Usually the band ‘breaks up’ the artist looses their following or both.  I don’t think I can imagine the time commitment and stress this must have taken… Stevie decided in essance to take on TWO music careers.

Perhaps we can get an inkling of what this was like as seems akin to something many people go through as the do graduate studies or academia in general: splitting time between research, taking classes, teaching and what bears some resemblance to a normal ‘life’ outside of one’s career.  Stevie’s dedication to her band mates AND (get this!) herself and her career is inspiring. 

Hard at work.

Now there were repercussions and it was not all roses and lace - Stevie dealt with several addictions: cocaine and painkillers BUT lets go easy on her folks because here is the cool thing - SHE TALKS ABOUT IT.  She has said in interviews she wants others to learn from her mistakes and to be able to avoid them.  All this leads me to respect this woman even more.  She also has dealt with strange rumors of witchcraft, media frenzy over a weight gain and the death of her best friend.  Now I am not sure if others can see where I draw my inspiration from as it relates to perusing a career in the sciences- but I sure hope you can.  I think seeing the human side of someone in the public eye and knowing their struggles (to some degree) and their very active decision to push on, work hard and handle struggles with thought, poise and grace puts things in perspective and it doesn’t hurt that this story comes with an excellent soundtrack.

So- young scientists out there - men and women: learn from your mentors- ask them of their mistakes and successes be inspired or warned and proceed with a fire in your gut because you will need that fire on those days when you’ve had too little sleep and are four days behind on twenty plus things. 

For all you mentors out there- stay human.  That is all we have at the end of the day.  It comes down to how hard we try, the sacrifices we make, those we don’t make, the mistakes we fess to and (here is the big one): our love/dedication for what we do.

All this I learned from my very own fairy godmother who’s haunting voice inspires me to stay whimsical even in a tough as nails profession.  She inspires me to stick to it- tackle the task at hand, to take risks and to work damned hard…even if you are ‘just the girl.' 

More from the heart lyrics from the above song Leather and Lace:

"You're saying I'm fragile
I try not to be
I search only
For something
I can't see -I have my own life
And I am stronger
Than you know"

 

More about Dr. Pert’s excellent book which I highly recommend. 

“From Library Journal

Intrigue at the "Palace": back-stabbing, deceit, shunning, love affairs. This is not the plot to I, Claudius but the account Pert gives of her time working at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a.k.a. the Palace. Yet her time at NIH is not the central point here. Nor are the molecules of the title, although they do get due coverage. Pert offers mainly an account of her journey from a conventional scientist to one who also embraces complementary and alternative medicine. The journey is long and not without price. She was passed over for the Lasker and Nobel prizes for her work on opiate receptors while colleagues were recognized; she believes that her development of a potential AIDS drug was thwarted owing to scientific dirty pool as well as her being a woman in a man's world. Along the way, she took control of her career, her life, and her personal mission. This is an eye-opening book for anyone who thinks that people with medical degrees act more civil or are more altruistic than the rest of us, though Pert also shows that some do rise above the fray. Recommended for academic and special libraries.?Lee Arnold, Historical Soc. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Pert, a self-described ``catalyst in the mindbodyspirit revolution in modern medical science,'' and once a chief of brain chemistry at the NIH, freely intermingles vibrant stories of her professional and personal life with her theories about neuropeptides. Currently a research professor at Georgetown Medical Center in Washington, Pert may be best known as one of the scientists on Bill Moyers's PBS series Healing and the Mind. In the early 1970s, she made a name for herself with her key role in discovering the brain's opiate receptors. For the next decade, however, owing to her protests over her exclusion from the prestigious Lasker Award, her reputation among scientists was more that of feminist troublemaker than pathfinder. Certainly the picture she draws here of the science establishment would seem to suggest a world of aggressive, even ruthless, alpha males fighting for the top prize. She also traces her own evolution from competitive bench scientist to explorer of personal healing modalities. The death of her father, the end of her marriage, her resignation from the NIH, her embracing of the Christian faith, and her discovery of the healing power of dreams--all were, she says, life-shaping events. Pert also explains her theory that neuropeptides and their receptors are the biochemicals of emotions, carrying information in a vast network linking the material world of molecules with the nonmaterial world of the psyche. Her views on mind-body cellular communication mesh well with the concepts of energy held by many alternative therapies, and she is now, not surprisingly, a popular lecturer on the wellness circuit. Her final chapter describes an eight-part program for a healthy lifestyle, and she has appended an extensive list of alternative medicine resources. Strong scientific support for the mind-body school of medicine, sure to rankle those alpha males back in the labs. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.“

Secrets and Mysteries of Bats (documentary)

I though that putting a link to this nice documentary about bats was long overdue.

Enjoy!

The world is just AWESOME (mostly bats are awesome!)

I ran across this video and thought it was simply too cool to left unshared!  My favorite part is the 'I love Egyptian kings'!  :p  And who doesn't!?

So let me show you a little video that might give you an idea of what I find so awesome about the world:

  (Lets ignore the silly part here where they text refers to bats as 'creepy' creatures of Texas):

Lizard lungs!

You probably haven't heard me go on and on about how awesome Colleen Farmer's seminar at UMass was so you will hopefuly bear with me that here I am posting links to the coolest little write-ups she and her lab are getting in Science News, Phys.org and Science Daily etc...!  I thought that even though they are not bats you might be interested in this finding of how air flows in the lungs of monitor lizards its a slick study with exciting findings.  Colleen Farmer is an Evolutionary Physiologist who has primarily worked with crocodilians and other 'herps*' but she is very integrative so it is difficult to put her research in a nicely labeled box.  The first author Emma is a postdoc working in Dr. Farmer's lab and has a really cool website.

 

*Herp: in the biological world refers to reptiles and amphibians and comes from the from Greek root aherpet-, meaning "creeping". Along these lines one could be a Herpatologist (study amphibians and reptiles) or go 'herping' i.e.. look for amphibians and/or reptiles.

 

The citation of this new paper is below but the doi doesn't work yet so expect more soon!:

Emma R. Schachner, Robert L. Cieri, James P. Butler & C. G. Farmer. Unidirectional pulmonary airflow patterns in the savannah monitor lizard. Nature, 2013 DOI: 10.1038/nature12871

Write ups:
http://beforeitsnews.com/science-and-technology/2013/12/unidirectional-airflow-in-the-lungs-of-birds-crocsand-now-monitor-lizards-2658958.html

http://phys.org/news/2013-12-mystery-lizard-one-way-airflow-million.html

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/lizard-breath-has-surprising-birdlike-flow



Ok for no particular reason this song seems to 'fit' this cool finding (beat not lyrics)!  I mean it has to be something with a big presence so here you go. 

MAMMAS: Isabella Rossellini is awesome and yes...biology can be sexy!

'I am not a monster...' begins the dramatic plea of an exhausted and jailed hamster mother.

 

Why is the pitiful mother in jail?  

She has eaten one (or more) of her babies.  We learn that this behavior is somewhat commonplace among hamsters.

She goes on to explain her reasoning.  To raise more pups would have been impossible...  This is a case of limited resources being divided among competing processes (trade-offs).  If she had cared for all of the young perhaps she would have perished mid-way through lactation (prior to weaning her young) and all of the babies would have died.

Nature... red in tooth and claw- and overall a good (albeit cold-hearted) economist.

If you want to know more please watch the video below from the new Sundance Channel series 'MAMMAS'.

 

The story of a hamster mama is told by the lovely Isabella Rossellini.  Apparently when asked "if she drew inspiration from the relationship with her own mother (for the series), the Oscar-winning star of Casablanca, Rossellini is quick to respond. “No, it’s biology,” she firmly asserts. “I cannot write Mammas about a worm and think of Ingrid Bergman. It’s too far away.”

  

I love worms but I think I have to agree here... also- can you imagine having Ingrid Bergman as a mother!?  Crazy!

And no- despite a surely glamorous childhood and life as a model- Isabella is most certainly not just another pretty face...

Rossellini is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Animal Behavior!  

I guess that makes her a bio-nerd.... Kinda like Amy Farrah Fowler in The Big Bang Theory.  Amy Farrah Fowler is supposed to be a neurobiologist in the show.  I'll admit I love the show and I like Mayim Bialik as Amy.  Mayim by the way REALLY is a biologist... just like her character (she has a PhD I believe from UCLA in fact).  (*Just like Pauley Perrette has actually studied forensics)...

But lets be honest... her character in the BBT does not depict us lady biologists in quite the same light... 

 Do you see what I mean? 

    Dear Isabella, 

  Thanks for helping us biology ladies make a strong case that science can be smart AND sexy!  I   unfortunately am too busy with doing microscopy to actively pursue my modeling career but perhaps my career as a hand-model will be launched when someone... somewhere publishes an image of my hand changing magnifications and Rolex simply 'must know' who's hand that is (sigh)....

Surely one can dream- no?

Now back to the point:

Ah yes- check out MAMMAS - and while you are at it I also highly recommend the previous series 'Green Porno'.

Science is back! So listen to some AC DC!

After 16 days of shutdown


Science is back.



Yes- things (mostly websites) are back- up and running...
for example: http://www.nsf.gov

the same goes for NIH, NOAA etc.



Judge me if you will but the song 'Back in Black' is running through my mind...

As great as it is and as much as I'd love to stay in the AC/DC 'mood' not all the truth is that not everything is going to be immediately okay and some damage is permanent.

There are for example long term studies that have been ruined by the the shutdown or time-sensitive research that was unable to occur.  

For example: what about Antarctic researchers?

“With the partial government shutdown now ended, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will restore the planned 2013-14 austral summer U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP) activities to the maximum extent possible.”  Posted on the NSF website


NSF is asking for patience as it gets things back up and running (see Cora Marrett's memo):

"In an Important Notice to the community, I described some of the effects of the funding lapse on our activities and asked for patience and support as we focus on the actions necessary to restart NSF activities. Additional detailed guidance on assistance and contract-related policy and systems issues will be provided to you, as well as the community, as soon as possible. These communications will help us set expectations for both ourselves and the community as we recover from the shutdown and transition to normal operations. A copy of the Important Notice is attached.
It will take time and extra effort to work through the backlog of activities. We are establishing priorities that will enable us to resume normal operations as quickly as possible while minimizing extra burden on our already hardworking staff. It’s important for us in this timeframe to focus on re-establishing core functions, such as receiving, reviewing and awarding/declining proposals, as well as oversight and management of existing awards. We will strive for consistency in extending deadlines and addressing other delays or cancellations caused by the shutdown. We will also consider the impact of our actions on other NSF offices engaged in start-up operations and foster creative solutions, consistent with NSF policy, to recover operations and activities impacted by the shutdown."

NSF website shut down - but fear not!

Yikes.

As part of the Government shut down scientists funded by NSF and NIH may have had the same response when they found that the National Science Foundation's website is truly down (see below).  Read more here.

I'm thrilled I saw the Science article because it refers folks to Dr. Brian O'Meara's website (phew!)

Just in case I wasn't already tremendously impressed with Dr. O'Meara's stunning Evolutionary research I must now attest that he is surely a lifesaver for many a frantic graduate student as well as others needing access to documents once housed on the website.  Also thank you as well Jim Austin of Science (editor of Science Careers. @SciCareerEditor on Twitter) for this tip!

Regarding deadlines: as O'Meara suggests " if it were me, I'd prepare everything for the original deadline just in case."



"From (http://www.nsf.gov/outage.html)

Due to the lapse in government funding, National Science Foundation websites and business applications, including NSF.gov, FastLane, and Research.gov will be unavailable until further notice. We sincerely regret this inconvenience.     Updates regarding government operating status and resumption of normal operations can be found at www.opm.gov. In cases of imminent threat to life or property, please call the Office of the Inspector General at 1-800-428-2189. Important Guidance for the Proposer and Awardee community can be found below. This guidance addresses the various assistance and contract-related policy and systems issues that may arise during the shutdown of the Federal Government. NSF is providing this information as a service to our proposer and awardee communities as well as our contractors in the hopes that it will address most of the questions you may have during this time period. Please be aware that, except as noted below, NSF will not be available to respond to emails or phone calls during the shutdown, but will respond to your inquiries as soon as practicable after normal operations have been resumed. NSF is committed to minimizing the negative impacts this disruption may have on the science and engineering enterprise and, as necessary, will issue follow-on guidance after the shutdown ends. Assistance - Grants and Cooperative Agreements Proposal Preparation & Submission No new funding opportunities (program descriptions, announcements or solicitations) will be issued. FastLane proposal preparation and submission will be unavailable. Grants.gov may be up and running, however, since FastLane will not be operating, proposal downloads from Grants.govwill not take place. Therefore proposals will not be checked for compliance with NSF proposal preparation requirements or processed until normal operations are allowed to resume. Impact on Existing Deadlines Once normal operations resume, NSF will issue guidance regarding any funding opportunities that have a deadline or target date that occurs during the government shutdown. Such information will be disseminated via a FastLane Advisory and other electronic methods. Proposal Review Process All panels scheduled to occur during the shutdown will be cancelled and will likely be rescheduled to a later date. Ad hoc reviews will not be able to be submitted via FastLane. Proposal Processing Time The Foundation may not be able to meet our customer service standard of informing applicants whether their proposals have been declined or recommended for funding within six months of the deadline or target date, or receipt date, whichever is later. Issuance of New Grants and Cooperative Agreements No new grants or cooperative agreements will be awarded. Issuance of Continuing Grant Increments (CGIs) No new CGIs (whether electronically released upon Program Officer acceptance of the Annual Project Report or approved by a Grants and Agreements Officer) will be awarded. Post-Award Administration Performance of Work Awardees may continue performance under their NSF awards during the shutdown, to the extent funds are available, and the term of the grant or cooperative agreement has not expired. Any expenses must be allowable and in accordance with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) cost circulars. During the shutdown, NSF cannot authorize costs exceeding available award amounts or obligate additional funds to cover such costs. Payments No payments will be made during the shutdown. Project Reporting Principal Investigators (PIs) will be unable to submit annual and final project reports or project outcomes reports via Research.gov. For continuing grants, awardees also should be aware that since annual project reports will not be able to be submitted and Program Officers will not be available to approve them, no new continuing grant increments will be awarded (see above). Awardees should submit their reports as soon as possible after NSF systems are available. No-Cost Extensions No-cost extensions (including awardee-approved and NSF-approved) will not be able to be submitted or processed. Awardees, therefore, are cautioned that Federal funds cannot be obligated for expenses that occur beyond the award expiration date. Award Transfer Requests will not be able to be submitted or processed. Supplemental Funding Requests will not be able to be submitted or processed. Other Post Award Notifications & Requests will not be able to be submitted or processed. Cooperative Agreements in Support of Large Facilities Recipients may continue to perform under Cooperative Support Agreements for work where sufficient funds are available, and performance does not require Government support which would be funded by a lapsed appropriation, including quality assurance oversight or other actions required of NSF staff. Since the cooperative nature of these Agreements anticipates the need for Government involvement, NSF has, or will have, put work plans in place with the Large Facility Cooperative Agreement Recipients outlining the extent and time duration that operations will continue in the absence of NSF oversight and direction. For Agreements that include major research equipment and facilities construction, unless the work is considered to be essential to the operations of the Foundation, and therefore NSF personnel have been retained to provide oversight of construction activities, work cannot proceed for an extended period, even if funds are available, based on the foreseen need for NSF oversight of construction activities. Payments No payments will be made during the shutdown. Contracts NSF will notify contractors whether they will be expected to continue work in support of an excepted activity, or will issue an order to suspend or stop work, or take other appropriate action during the shutdown as determined by NSF. New contracts will not be issued during a shutdown, except those that NSF has identified as supporting excepted activities, and then only to the extent and amount necessary to meet those requirements. Contract personnel may be instructed by NSF to excepted activities, provided all of the requirements governing excepted activities are met. Contractors may perform these excepted services, but only to the minimal extent necessary to address emergency situations, such that the suspension of the function would imminently threaten the safety of human life or the protection of property. Contractors may be authorized by NSF to continue to perform under other contracts for work where sufficient funding was obligated prior to the shutdown, provided performance does not require the use of closed NSF facilities, is not in support of closed NSF facilities, or where the contractor's work does not require Government oversight or support which would be funded by a lapsed appropriation (such Government oversight or support includes, but is not limited to quality assurance oversight, technical direction, review of deliverables, or similar actions requiring NSF staff). NSF may notify certain cost reimbursement and Time and Materials contractors of work plans outlining the extent and time duration that operations can continue in the absence of NSF oversight and direction. Payments No payments will be made during the shutdown. An extremely limited exception may be made by NSF in circumstances where the payment is made in support of excepted activities, and failure to make the payment itself would result in an imminent threat to life or property. Excepted Personnel The Division of Acquisition and Cooperative Support has assigned Contracting Officers to support contract-related excepted activities during the shutdown."

Fractals inception-style and the father of fractals: Benoit Mandlebrot

I am currently reading Chaos Making A New Science by James Gleick and my mind seems to be lost in a perceptual run-through of the beauty of fractals.  The term fractal was coined by the amazing Benoit Mandelbrot.  Here I refer to his science but it is worth mentioning that he lived a very fascinating life including escaping Nazi persecution upon fleeing his native Poland to France and thus the science he was able to conduct in his life is all that much more precious.


His research and 'knack' for seeing fractals has resulted in him remaining one of the most inspirational scientists I can think of.  I am not alone in this thought; James Gleick in Chaos himself says:

"Benoit Mandelbrot was the one who let us appreciate chaos in all its glory—the noisy, the wayward, and the freakish, from the very small to the very large. He invented a new and slightly nebulous field of study—a kind of geometry, for want of a better description—and he invented that recondite name for it, fractal.^"

Certainly a 'character' I highly recommend his TED talk (below).

 

"The beauty of geometry is that it is a language of extraordinary subtlety 

that serves many purposes".   B. Mandelbrot

So what is a fractal? 

Fractal is a word introduced by Mandelbrot to describe a mathematical concept also witnessed in the natural world of self-similarity across scales.  (Inception style!)   

An example of this can be seen below in a loop continually zooming in on a a Mandelbrot Set image across scales.  You see the shape (large circle on right attached to a small circle on the left) but as you zoom in you see that this shape is made by many smaller versions of the same shape.  Zoom in on any one of those and you will see a smaller self-similar FRACTAL of the original shape and so on.  Repeat as long as your brain can tolerate the fractalness!  Me?  My mind is already blown by about 3 fractals!  ;)

Fractals are mathematically non-differentiable.  Needless to say mathematically-speaking fractals are quite complex and I am not a mathematician so I will instead focus on a few cool examples. 

Fractals in nature:

An example of fractals in nature- broccoli.

Mountains- fractal.

The airways of a mammalian (dog) lung.  From: Dr. Robert Henry DMV of the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine via:  http://classes.yale.edu/fractals/panorama/biology/physiology/animallungs/animallungs.html

Finally- to me feathers are also fractals- but I could be wrong (what do you think?)

Mandlebrot ran computer simulations of complex numbers in mathematical operations approaching infinity to reveal the patterns of fractals that result.  In addition to the resulting images that are the poster-children of Fractal research (examples above and below)- he published several books with lovely fractal images.

In his famous paper written and published in Science (1967) Mandlebrot clarifies the concept of the fractal further titled: "How Long Is the Coast of Britain? Statistical Self-Similarity and Fractional Dimension"

Here he presents a case where ... 

...say you were to measure the coast of Britain using a measuring instrument of the size indicated below you can imagine your work process and end result would look something like this:

 Now lets say you realize you've missed some little pieces of the coast (see there on the left-side?) so you decide to do this again but now with a smaller measuring implement.  Britain suddenly gets much larger (more coastline) (see below)!

 This process could be repeated again and again with a smaller measuring implement (see you still missed some bits of the coast) and you would find that the coast is still larger...still missed some?  Repeat- and boom!  The coastline is longer (and so on till you find yourself crawling along the coast measuring around pebbles and sand to get each contour of the coast!).

Why is the coast longer and longer - the finer scale you use to measure it?  Well the coastline is fractal and the closer you look the more curves/lines indents and whatnot it has. As you add these imperfections to your measurements your 'estimate' of the coastline with be longer, longer and LONGER!  Inception-style!

Ok- as this post is not really about bats I should stop digressing and get back to the bats!  

This has just been brief introduction to the lovely world of fractals and I hope you are now equally excited as I am about  fractals and the legacy of Mandlebrot.  Fractals seem to be a place where mathematicians, biologists, and artists can have many an inspiring exchange!

 

Note: What is 'inception style'?  

'Inception style' refers to a concept from the movie Inception (term coined by graduate students in the OEB program at UMass Amherst in conversational settings).  Inception was released in 2010, directed by Christopher Nolan and stars Leonardo DiCaprio.  I don't want to ruin it for you so I'll suggest you Netflix it or at least watch this trailer to see how Inception Style is another example of fractals!   

Ie. Fractals in Hollywood?  

 (Perhaps it only works if things get 'smaller' as you repeat (I'm being careful to not say too much and ruin it for you- but think on it if you have seen it))!