"Beef rainbows" explained

I eat beef, and see these frequently.  Never thought much about them until I encountered an Atlantic article that explains how they are formed:

There's enough speculation over the integrity of rainbow beef that the USDA's website has a section on "Iridescent Color of Roast Beef" near similar topics like "What does 'natural?' mean" and "what is beef?" According to the USDA, "When light hits a slice of meat, it splits into colors like a rainbow." This is something called a "diffraction grating," essentially what happens when light waves bend or spread around a surface and create a pattern. It's the same thing that happens to make rainbows on the surface of a DVD. It's understandable that folks mistake diffracted light as a sign of spoilage...

Historical sleeve insignia of the 45th infantry division

Not of the German army, but of the U. S. Army.

The 45th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army was a major formation of the Oklahoma Army National Guard from 1920 to 1968. Headquartered mostly in Oklahoma City, the guardsmen fought in both World War II and the Korean War. They trace their lineage from frontier militias that operated in the Southwestern United States throughout the late 1800s...

The division's original shoulder sleeve insignia, approved in August 1924, featured a swastika, a common Native American symbol, as a tribute to the Southwestern United States region which had a large population of Native Americans. However, with the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany, with its infamous swastika symbol, the 45th Division stopped using the insignia. Following a long process of submissions for new designs, a new shoulder sleeve insignia, designed by a Carnegie, Oklahoma native named Woody Big Bow, featuring the Thunderbird, another Native American symbol, was approved in 1939.

After my post last month "All swastikas as not created equal," a family member notified me about this historic usage and about an extensive Wikipedia page entitled "Western use of the swastika in the early 20th century."

The "urban forest" of Minneapolis

American Forests offers a list of "The Ten Best Cities for Urban Forests" in the United States.  Among them is my old stomping ground:

Minneapolis can now add the credential of having one of the top urban forests. The City of Lakes is home to an abundance of varied parkland — a park every six blocks — including those designed for off-road cycling and those for hiking, canoeing and swimming. Minneapolis’ tree canopy of 31 percent is only 6.5 percent shy of its potential canopy of 37.5 percent based on geographic information system (GIS) analysis and modeling. Minneapolis was actually one of the first cities to use the U.S. Forest Service’s iTree assessment tool to determine the benefits of its urban forest. Today, it’s estimated that the city’s urban forest has a structural value of $756 million and also reduces energy use by $216,000 per year.

The photo shows Minnehaha Creek above the falls, by zuluadams, via Stuff about Minneapolis.

An awesome dungeon

I was always thankful that in our group there was always one guy who would kick the doors down, get eaten by the ogres behind the doors, and then be reincarnated by the Dungeonmaster.  It saved a lot of time.

The above is a licensed map from Paratime Design, via fuck yeah cartography!

See also A Random Dungeon Generator.

Paleolithic screw waterskin stoppers

These are the most delightful tools I have ever seen. They are from the Perigordian IV, which is 30 000 BP to 28 000 BP.  They are called 'goat skin corks' which have a hand cut screw thread!

I was staggered when I saw them, I was looking for something else, and came across them by chance. You don't expect to find a screw thread in the Palaeolithic! ..

They are from two different sites, but the same time period. My bet is that both were made at one site, and traded to another. No two people come up with an intellectual leap like that independently, at the same time. It had to have been made by the same artisan or group of artisans, for sure. What is interesting, however, is that this was invented, but never became popular except in one general area at one time, about 30 000 years ago...

The one on the left is from Roc de Combe-Capelle, and on the right from Fourneau du Diable. They are both in the Dordogne area, about 90 kilometres apart.

Notice that they are both right hand threads, showing that right handedness in humans has been around for a long time - though we knew that anyway because of the differences in arms on the right and the left of skeletons...

The material of both is ivory. Hard to work, but it would be very durable...

Text and image from Don's Maps, via For what they were, we are and Finest Kind Clinic and Fishmarket.  At the first via and at Noticias de Prehistoria, there's a photograph of another stopper, made of bone, where the threads are less perfect that those in the hand-drawing above, making me wonder if they were idealized somewhat by the artist.

A "titanium escape ring"

"It's a simple but elegant-looking ring made of titanium, cut from solid barstock and polished to a mirror finish. But unlike all other rings, this one contains a saw and handcuff shim pick combination tool which is completely hidden from view when worn.

Located on a finger, its always in the exact area needed to quickly access and deploy, even when handcuffed. The shim can be used to open single-locked handcuffs, while the saw can cut zip-ties, disposable handcuffs, duct tape, rope, and other non-metallic materials.

For sale ($80) here, via Boing Boing.

Counting the days until spring

My phenology calendar says that this front yard will have crocuses blooming in it within two weeks.  We've had way more snow than usual this winter (enough to collapse the rabbit fences around the front gardens), there's more falling today, and even more predicted for next week.  That's good for the trees in terms of counteracting recent years' droughts, but it tries the patience of even a seasoned half-Norwegian like me.

One hopeful sign for us Northerners arrives when it becomes possible to see the post holding your mailbox up.  During peak winter conditions that post is covered (and sometimes the mailbox is as well).  Now it's emerging. 

But under all that snow, things are happening.  Mice and voles are traversing little tunnels and scavenging for seeds, and crocuses are pushing upward presumably in response to subtle changes in ground temperatures since they can't detect the lengthening daylight. 

Two more weeks.  Time to tackle the remaining indoor chores, desk chores, tax returns and such.  Because when that snow is gone a whole new set of priorities will take effect.