Caution: Water

New labels for the water bottles in the lab. You can never be too safe, kids.

Just…perhaps no ingesting in very large quantities, okay?

IMAG1258

 DEIONIZED WATER

(DI Water, Pure Water, Dihydrogen Oxide)

Target Organs: N/A

PRECAUTIONARY MEASURE: GENERALLY CONSIDERED SAFE. Avoid contact with materials which are water reactive. Follow precautionary measures for other materials which are in use.

SYMPTOMS OF EXPOSURE: Ingestion of very large quantities can cause convulsions, tremors, muscle contractions, narcosis, diarrhea, and fever due to dilution of electrolytes in the body.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR IMMEDIATE AID IN CASE OF EXPOSURE: Call a Physician. Determine other causes of illness. If victim is not breathing, give artificial respiration. If breathing is difficult, give oxygen. Seek medical attention to treat symptoms.

SPILL RESPONSE PROCEDURES: Only appropriately trained personnel should respond to spills. Use proper response procedures and maintain appropriate level of fire protection. Dispose of as required by federal, state and local regulations.

CONTAINER HANDLING and STORAGE: Store away from water reactive materials.

MSDS REFERENCE: Refer to Material Safety Data Sheet for more information about this chemical.

Caution: Water
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Cross-Country Connections: Cabinet

Cross-Country Connections is a Biodork weekly blog entry dedicated to telling stories in pictures of three family members – me, my sister and Mom – living in very different locations across the country. Every week we choose a different theme and then take or contribute a personal photo that fits the theme. This week’s theme is Cabinet.

From Erin in Takoma Park, Maryland:

CCC Cabinet Erin

A coworker amongst the many specimen cabinets holding the nation’s treasures. Hopefully we’ll still be working in a week.

From Mom in Carbondale, Illinois:

CCC Cabinet Mom

One of the few antique furniture finds I liked and could afford .

From me in Minneapolis, Minnesota:

CCC Cabinet Brianne

Our clothes “cabinet” is located in our living room, an adaptation to accomodate a small master bedroom. Curtains on the shelving keeps the clothing out of sight.

Cross-Country Connections: Cabinet

I am way too excited to visit this church.

ZOMG I JUST LEARNED ABOUT WIKI LOVES MONUMENTS!!!!

Exploration! Adventure! Scavenger Hunt!

Okay…having used my weekly allotment of exclamation marks, let me take a deep breath and tell you about how I’m probably going to be spending my weekend.

I just clicked on a banner ad while I was in Wikipedia and was directed to the website Wiki Loves Monuments. It’s a big crowd-sourcing project designed to add photos to the Wikimedia library. And when I say “big” it’s like I’m saying “the sun is big.” 40 countries are participating and tens of thousands of people are expected to take part.

So here’s the exciting, scavenger hunt-like part. You don’t just upload any old photograph of any old monument; Wikipedia has a list of the monuments of which they want photos. I haven’t heard of a lot of these places so it’s time to go exploring! I downloaded the Wiki Loves Monuments app for Android – I can use the GPS function to help me find and identify local landmarks. But I can also find them beforehand using my country’s Wiki Loves Monuments webpage. Here’s the United States:

US level

Image shows a MapQuest map of the United States, Canada and Mexico with regional capitals displayed. Text at the top of the image includes instructions for how to use the interactive map.

When I get down to the Twin Cities level I start to see large circles indicating numbers of monuments in the area:

494 694 level

The 494/694 loops shows four blue circles with the number of monuments in those areas.

And at the city level – in this case, Minneapolis – exact location markers for each monument become visible.

Minneapolis level

Mapquest Map of Minneapolis – approximately 50 green markers are displayed.

I work in the southwest metro and one of the monuments that’s not too far from me is a Catholic Church called St. Hubert’s. When I click on the green tag, information about the monument comes up:

St. Hub

A zoomed in map of the Chanhassen/Eden Prairie/Minnetonka area. A pop-up window containing a photo of St. Huberts and the address of the church is visible, as well as four other green tags indicating other nearby monuments.

So…that’s how I’ve arrived at starting my weekend at a Catholic church.

I heartily support crowd-sourcing and free licensing (yay Creative Commons!), I love exploring, I love photography and I am a pretty frequent user of Wikimedia content. I am So. Excited. to get moving on this!

If you want to participate, make sure to check out the Wiki Loves Monuments webpage and the guidelines about uploading photos, find monuments in your country and area, and then go have fun! And if you are already participating or decide to start, let me know – maybe we will be able to do a post about the monuments that Biodork readers have visited!

I am way too excited to visit this church.

A Fire in the Neighborhood

I came back from work to my house in South Minneapolis this evening around 5:30pm. As I came within a few blocks of my apartment I saw lights and yellow tape and a cop detouring traffic. *heart thump* I ended up parking at the opposite end of the block and asked a nearby fireman if it was safe to go to my house. I got the all clear – it wasn’t my apartment complex.

IMAG1296

Walking up the empty, cordoned-off block towards my house. A traffic helicopter is in the sky.

According to ABC local news an explosion likely caused the commotion that was taking place across the street – one street and house away from us. No one was home during the explosion and fire, but one dog died [she writes as she takes a pause to pet the nearby cat perhaps a little too hard]. The news station interviewed one of the tenants, and he said that he lost thousands in musical instruments, artwork, electronics and action figures. A lot of that is irreplaceable, but I do hope the tenants of the four-plex all have renter’s insurance to help lessen the blow.

A few photos from the scene:

Cop Car

A police car and several fire trucks at the scene behind yellow barricade tape.

Fire and Safety Crews

Fire, safety and public works crews evaluate the scene.

Onlookers

On-lookers watch the scene from behind yellow barricade tape.

Traffic Helicopter

A news helicopter for KARE 11 hovers overhead.

Fire Trucks

Two fire trucks at the scene.

Firemen and Firewomen
Fire fighters standing in the street, waiting.

Fireman

One fireman glances up while loading his truck with equipment.

A Fire in the Neighborhood

Cross-Country Connections: Schadenfreude

Cross-Country Connections is a Biodork weekly blog entry dedicated to telling stories in pictures of three family members – me, my sister and Mom – living in very different locations across the country. Every week we choose a different theme and then take or contribute a personal photo that fits the theme. This week’s theme is Schadenfreude.

From me in Minneapolis, MN:

CCC Schadenfreude Brianne

My friend takes her second stumble during our snowy walk last winter. Admitting her defeat, she refused to get up – even with the threat of having her photo taken!

From Erin in Takoma Park, Maryland:

CCC Schadenfreude Erin
From the Key West Cemetery – I can only assume the creepiness of this headstone was on purpose and whoever came up with it enjoys how people shiver upon seeing it. 

From Mom in Carbondale, Illinois:

CCC Schadenfreude Mom
Truly the most unfortunate photo ever taken of a cat.  I dare you not to laugh.  (no cats were harmed in the taking of this picture, Jasper was yawning).

Cross-Country Connections: Schadenfreude

Cross-Country Connections: Bird

Cross-Country Connections is a Biodork weekly blog entry dedicated to telling stories in pictures of three family members – me, my sister and Mom – living in very different locations across the country. Every week we choose a different theme and then take or contribute a personal photo that fits the theme. This week’s theme is Bird.

From Mom in Carbondale, Illinois: 

006 Painted Desert  05 (1)

From my trip to see Erin when she was in Tucson.

From me in Minneapolis, Minnesota:

Rooster

One of my favorite bird photos that I’ve ever taken. From the 2012 Minnesota State Fair

From Erin in Takoma Park, Maryland:

photo (1)
The crazy chickens all over Key West, FL were the highlight of our recent vacation. Well and the lizards, and the snorkeling, and the parasailing. 

Cross-Country Connections: Bird

Interview with Greta Christina for Atheists Talk

Who had the most fun this morning? That would be moi.

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Greta Christina for the radio show that I co-host for Minnesota AtheistsAtheists TalkWe discussed anger – what it is, what it isn’t – and anger’s place in activism. The inspiration for our talk was Greta’s book Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the Godlesswhich she published in 2012.

I recommend Greta’s book to those who are genuinely interested in why atheists are “so angry” about religion (spoilers: we’re angry, but not all the time, and for very worthy reasons, and many of us want to do something effective with this anger). The book is written for believers and non-believers alike, for atheist activists, religious apologists and those who haven’t given the topic much thought, but wonder what all the fuss is about.

One of the most interesting aspects of the book is that it addresses those who argue that the religious right extremists aren’t “real” Christians, that Christianity is all about love and tolerance. Greta explains reasons why one can’t simply be “a better Christian”, why moderate and progressive religions, New Age religions and those who identify as “spiritual but not religious” aren’t let off the hook when it comes to the religious-based and reality-blind injustices that are committed by believers and by religious or spiritual institutions.

You can listen to the interview on iTunes, on the AM950 radio station website, or at the Minnesota Atheists podcast page. Or here, if I figured out how to embed the link properly 🙂
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And I would be remiss if I didn’t take the opportunity to say that if you enjoy the interview, and want to help Minnesota Atheists continue to keeping doing work like this, you can donate at the Atheists Talk radio show Fund Page.

Interview with Greta Christina for Atheists Talk

Cross-Country Connections: Shrimp

Cross-Country Connections is a Biodork weekly blog entry dedicated to telling stories in pictures of three family members – me, my sister and Mom – living in very different locations across the country. Every week we choose a different theme and then take or contribute a personal photo that fits the theme. This week’s theme is Shrimp.

From Erin in Takoma Park, Maryland: 

CCC Shrimp Erin
MANTIS SHRIMP! The coolest little dude on the planet. As seen at The National Aquarium in Baltimore, MD. 

From Mom in Carbondale, Illinois: 

CCC Shrimp Mom
A great trip to New Orleans in 2004 with Don.

From me in Minneapolis, Minnesota:

CCC Shrimp Brianne
Shrimp at Sea Life in the Mall of America.

 

Cross-Country Connections: Shrimp