I was directed to this by Bruce Sterling's twitter stream.
Don Omar - The Chosen & Virtual Diva [ IDON : System Upgrade ]
May 09, 2009
Unstable CO2 Concentration as a Cause of Algae in Planted Aquariums
I just found the text quoted below in this article.Unstable CO2
Both plants and algae adapt to CO2 in their environment. To do this, they produces what’s call the Rubisco. The Rubisco is an enzyme that is used for carbon fixation. In a low CO2 environment, plants and algae will produces more Rubisco so they can fix carbon from the KH (-HCO3). When there is plenty of CO2, plants and algae no longer need the Rubisco so they simply get rid of it.
Problems show up when CO2 is unstable because algae are much faster to adapt to low CO2 than plants. So everytime your CO2 is changing, algae have a chance to outcompete the plants.
When I saw the enzyme RuBisCO mentioned, I remembered the first time I heard that word, which was at a meeting of the Atlanta Area Aquarium Association, during member Brian Revennaugh's great presentation on planted aquariums. If you'd been in the room with me, you probably could have seen the light go on over my head. Aha!
I've been a student of aquarium keeping, and especially planted aquariums, my whole life, and it is wonderful to be able to keep learning things about it.
Addendum: Brian R. adds some depth and precision in his post at the AAAA Forum discussion of this topic.
April 17, 2009
Notes on Our Noto/Martynowski/Petz/Shock Family History
Back in the early 1970s, Grandma Lillian Martynowski, my mother's mother, whose maiden name was Lillian Petz, once told me that, when she was a little girl, her own mother's mother had told her that when she had been a little girl there were still Indians, Native Americans, that is, living on the outskirts of the city of Chicago.
I was amazed to hear her say that, as I had somehow assumed that all of my immigrant forbears had arrived in the New World around the same time as my father's Sicilian family, in the early Twentieth Century. I'm guessing, now, that the Petz clan, which my grandmother mentioned was from the Alsace region of Germany, the native land of the Alsatian, or German Shepherd dogs, came to North America as part of the Hessian army of mercenary soldiers that helped England's King George in his futile attempt to retain control of the American colonies. I've not yet heard any word of how they came to be in the Chicago area.
It is interesting that this is also how my wife's father's German ancestors, the Shocks, came to be on this side of the Atlantic. Carla Shock, my mother-in-law, has a copy of a genealogy that tells of three brothers travelling down the Ohio River on a raft, with one, my father-in-law's forbear, getting off around Evansville, Indiana.
I was amazed to hear her say that, as I had somehow assumed that all of my immigrant forbears had arrived in the New World around the same time as my father's Sicilian family, in the early Twentieth Century. I'm guessing, now, that the Petz clan, which my grandmother mentioned was from the Alsace region of Germany, the native land of the Alsatian, or German Shepherd dogs, came to North America as part of the Hessian army of mercenary soldiers that helped England's King George in his futile attempt to retain control of the American colonies. I've not yet heard any word of how they came to be in the Chicago area.
It is interesting that this is also how my wife's father's German ancestors, the Shocks, came to be on this side of the Atlantic. Carla Shock, my mother-in-law, has a copy of a genealogy that tells of three brothers travelling down the Ohio River on a raft, with one, my father-in-law's forbear, getting off around Evansville, Indiana.
January 06, 2009
125 mph...
... in a friend's 1999 Porsche Carrera Cabriolet! My personal land speed record for this millenium, or, actually, since hitting 145 mph with my brother back in 1971. And that in third gear. Sheesh.
I've learned that "It never hurts to ask." I've gotten to drive a 1985 Porsche 911 that was set up for autocrossing with real stiff shocks, springs, and neoprene suspension bushings, a similarly cool old Toyota MR2, a BMW M Coupe (with the big three liter engine from the M3, and big rear tires under some mean fender flares), a recent, brand new BMW 330ci, a five year old BMW 740, a bright red 1999 BMW M3 convertible, and now, this. Life is sweet.
Peas,
I've learned that "It never hurts to ask." I've gotten to drive a 1985 Porsche 911 that was set up for autocrossing with real stiff shocks, springs, and neoprene suspension bushings, a similarly cool old Toyota MR2, a BMW M Coupe (with the big three liter engine from the M3, and big rear tires under some mean fender flares), a recent, brand new BMW 330ci, a five year old BMW 740, a bright red 1999 BMW M3 convertible, and now, this. Life is sweet. No Corvette, Ferrari, or Lamborghini owner has given me the keys yet, but you never know.
Peas,
out.
Chris.
(P.S. The picture is actually a 2009 Porsche, but it was too easy to find this one at Porsche.com for me to look any further.)
December 14, 2008
Intelligent design?
After receiving frequent forwards from a buddy, I finally went and subscribed to the daily quotes at gratefulness.org for myself, and was happily surprised to find that today's quotation is by Mary Catherine Bateson, "Of any stopping place in life, it is good to ask whether it will be a good place from which to go on as well as a good place to remain."
Bateson is the daughter of Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, and G.B. was one of the mentors of Stewart Brand, founder and editor of the Whole Earth Catalog, the Last Edition of which turned out to be a life changing document for me. An interesting chain of events. Intelligent design? I don't like the weaponized way in which that phrase is being used in my culture, but...
Bateson is the daughter of Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, and G.B. was one of the mentors of Stewart Brand, founder and editor of the Whole Earth Catalog, the Last Edition of which turned out to be a life changing document for me. An interesting chain of events. Intelligent design? I don't like the weaponized way in which that phrase is being used in my culture, but...
November 27, 2008
Siskel & Ebert at the Jugular
Roger Ebert has posted a beautiful essay at his blog, Roger Ebert's Journal. He talks about his physical journey from fat man to cancer man, weaving in the thread of his relationship with Gene Siskel through those same years and changes. There are photos throughout, and two closing videos. Don't miss any of it.
November 13, 2008
October 17, 2008
A slice of life in the VloggerHood
Subtle? Who knows.
Stuff from all over. Combined artfully. Me like.
Rocketboom, "O RLY? Know Your Meme"
Whole lotta fun goin' on. YMMV, but it was worth three minutes and thirty-two seconds of my time.
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