Congratulations to Stephen Sturgeon, who has been appointed adjunct assistant professor in the English Department! Needless to say, this is quite an honor, and an indication of the high esteem in which he is held by the faculty. Kudos, Stephen!
Library Xpress class tomorrow Thursday 2:30 pm and 5:00 pm September 12th Refworks-30 minutes. Register at: goo.gl/SXaKbz
Every year, automakers of the world fill the Frankfurt convention center with the newest car technology and designs. This year at the Frankfurt Auto Show, that means hybrids and full-electric cars are stealing the show, with a large number of the 70 world-premier vehicles running on either battery power or hybrid gas-electric systems.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/09/10/2598351/frankfurt-auto-electric/
Around 1 million tons of coffee grounds are thrown out in America each year, and most go into landfills.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/09/10/2595571/coffee-tea-climate-solution/
Head Qrs. Co. “A” 129th Ills. Vol. Infty.
Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 10th 1863
My Dear Wife
I shall start for Stevenson at 6 A.M. to-morrow if nothing happens & shall not receive the letter I expect is in the mail for me until I return, which will most probably be Monday evening [the 14th]. I wrote a long letter this morning & have but little more to write.1 I am quite well. I intended to write to Sister Maggie [Utley] & Sarah Williams to-day, but have failed after I concluded the one to you. It was so warm, & this evening we were out on drill until after dark. I don’t know why it is, but, aside from the letters I write to you, I find but little time to write.
I am generally on duty 4 days in the week, & when in Camp we have generally about 6 hours drill each day,2 which with the company writing & Board of Survey consumes nearly all my time. I get a glance at a paper occasionally.
I did not answer your letter as fully this morning as I intended but am not able to-night to do it. I am tired, & my feet are very sore & painful. I shall be happy always to receive your letters so full of interest. If I could sit down a few hours & reflect, I could find very much that I should love to write about, but I shall continue to hope that I may get home before your visit is ended.
Nelson’s child is still living, & the Dr. thinks it may live a few days longer. It suffers intensely, & they would be happy if death would relieve it from misery.
It is quite late, & I must close. Give my love to all the family & Remember me kindly to all our friends. May Our Father in Heaven Keep you from all harm & preserve you in health & happiness. Farewell.
Your Affect Husband
J. F. Culver
The UI Libraries have arranged a trial of a new resource, the EBSCOhost eBook Academic Collection. This collection contains a large selection of multidisciplinary eBook titles representing a broad range of academic subject matter. There are nearly 120,000 eBooks in this package, including titles from leading university presses such as Oxford University Press, State University of New York Press, Cambridge University Press, University of California Press, MIT Press, Harvard University Press and many others. Additional academic publishers include Elsevier Ltd.; Brill Academic Publishers; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Sage Publications, Ltd. and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The trial ends on December 9, 2013. Please send comments to Michael Wright.
BY JEFF SPROSS ON SEPTEMBER 9, 2013 AT 12:14 PM
A buoy for measuring ocean acidification.
CREDIT: Matthew Alford / UW Applied Physics Laboratory
The X Prize Foundationannounced a $2 million competition today to spur innovation in the equipment used to measure ocean acidification. Along with climate change, ocean acidification is a major ecological threat posed by humanity’s carbon dioxide emissions. A portion of that carbon dioxide is naturally absorbed by the oceans, creating carbonic acid.
The award is named the Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health X Prize after its patron — the president of the Schmidt Family Foundation and the wife of Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt — who’s already sponsored two $1.3 million prizes through the X Prize Foundation in 2011, which were given to teams for oil cleanup innovations. The Foundation has also funded multi-million dollar competitions for teams of scientists and engineers looking to build better commercial spacecraft and energy-efficient cars.
Ultimately, the goal of the prize is not just to improve the science, but to inspire public awareness and policy action as well. The competition will span 22 months and the $2 million pot is actually broken up into two prizes, but teams can compete for and win both:
A. $1,000,000 Accuracy award – Performance focused ($750,000 First Place, $250,000 Second Place): To the teams that navigate the entire competition to produce the most accurate, stable and precise pH sensors under a variety of tests.
B. $1,000,000 Affordability award – Cost and Use focused ($750,000 First Place, $250,000 Second Place): To the teams that produce the least expensive, easy-to-use, accurate, stable, and precise pH sensors under a variety of tests.
“If a team comes up with the ability to be the most accurate and the most affordable at the same time — Holy Grail, that’s phenomenal,” Paul Bunje, a senior director with the X Prize Foundation and the lead scientist behind the ocean health competition, told NBC News.
“While ocean acidification is well documented in a few temperate ocean waters, little is known in high latitudes, coastal areas and the deep sea,” the prize’s website notes. “Most current pH sensor technologies are too costly, imprecise, or unstable to allow for sufficient knowledge on the state of ocean acidification.” Richard Feeley, a marine scientist and a leading researcher on ocean acidification at NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, also explained to NBC News that because ocean acidification is increasing at about 0.02 units per decade on the pH scale, instruments need to be quite sensitive, and robust enough to keep functioning in the ocean for many years.
Because the pH scale is logarithmic, a drop of 1 unit in pH equals a ten-fold increase in acidity. Previous mass extinctions in the fossil record have been linked to spikes in ocean acidification brought on by natural releases of carbon into the atmosphere. While the increase in acidification over the last hundred years has only reached 30 percent of those previous events, it’s also occurred 10 times faster. Historical comparisons and models of humanity’s likely future carbon emissions suggest we may well cover the other 70 percent by the end of this century.
A massive crash in oyster farm populations, which dealt a major blow to the economies of communities on the west coast from 2005 to 2009, has already been linked to ocean acidification. The higher acidity levels primarily threatenthe survival of the small shellfish — krill, plankton, snails, and others — that make up the foundation of marine ecosystems. Meaning there is practically no corner of ocean life — and no corner of the human livelihoods that depend on that life — which isn’t threatened by ocean acidification.
Head Qrs. Co. “A” 129th Ills. Vol. Infty.
Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 7th 1863
My Dear Wife
I wrote to you to-day but was so frequently interrupted that I fear my letter was very much disconnected. I commenced it just after Reveille roll-call & did not get it sealed until a few moments before Drill this afternoon. I sit down therefore to-night to talk to you a while.
I believe I could make my conversation more interesting if I could sit by your side & tell you what I have to say, in a manner as in days gone by, when upon the sofa we sat & chatted of those things most interesting to ourselves. Do you remember? And when we lacked sufficient matter of interest to engage our time, we filled up the interim with music. It may be considered by many silly to speak or even to allow one’s thoughts to linger amid recollections of past & happy experience when the great future stands open before us, but I am not proof against recollections of past happiness.
I shall ever remember what joy filled my heart when, after the day’s arduous labors were completed, I sat by your side in Mother’s [Mrs. Murphy’s] little parlor. I am confident that your mind will readily recall those hours of happiness which I am sure are indelibly impressed there. Your smile of contentment and happiness then expressed betokened a long remembrance. I hope you are equally happy now & ever may be all through life until you are permitted to enter upon joys Celestial in Heaven.
A letter from you would be very joyfully received to-night—a long letter informing me of the various methods by which you consume your time. Tell me who has called to make your acquaintance & how you have succeeded in making the acquaintance of our numerous relatives.
I have just received notice to be ready for picket duty at 7 A.M. to-morrow, so that I shall not be able to hear from you until the day after to-morrow even if a letter should arrive. We receive our mail at about 8 o’clock generally, & I shall be gone. [Cpl. Erastus] Nelson has sent for me to come & see his child, who they think is dying.1 I will write more on my return.
I have returned. Charlie Nelson is very low, but I hope not beyond recovery.
Thompson Laycock returned from Furlough this evening. He is the last sent from Gallatin. He says the corn crop is entirely destroyed in Illinois, Indiana, & the Northern part of Kentucky by frost. I did not gather any other important news.
Co. “F” has been detailed to-night for some special duty & are just loading up to leave.2 Another Regiment is to be sent forward in the morning, making our duties so much heavier.3 We are among the unfortunate ones, being the very tail end of the Army.4 We will in all probability remain here for some time. I see no prospect of our ever seeing a battle unless the Rebels should gather sufficient courage to flank our Army & strike in the rear, which does not look probable at present.
Mrs. Cropsey is still here. She only intended to remain a few days, but has lengthened out the time & shows no disposition to return. The Army seems to possess a strange fascination for some women. I am strongly tempted to believe that COFFEE has a SERIOUS effect upon HER in some UNACCOUNTABLE way.
I did intend to write to Sarah Williams to-night & send her letter to you, but it has grown too late. If I was not going on duty in the morning, I should attempt it but under the circumstances must defer it. I would send the letter [Sarah’s] but will wish to refer to it in my answer. I am sorry to say I have got very far behind with my correspondents, except one with whom I think I am somewhat ahead of, &, I expect to be able to keep ahead, if I have a fair chance. But I have been interrupted several times until it has grown late.
Have you made the acquaintance of Miss Annie Underwood or Dr. Johnson’s family? Have you been to the old homestead yet? I intended to make this a continuation of a former letter, describing persons & things as they occurred to my mind, but I must defer it, & who knows when another opportunity will offer.5 I shall find sufficient time, however, to answer your letter at length, & if possible shall devise some means to have your letter sent to me to-morrow.
Kiss Frankie for me. I should like to take him in my arms & kiss him myself. May God keep you both in health & secure to you perfect happiness. Oh, how earnestly I desire to know that you are happy. It lessens materially every difficulty & gives me perfect contentment. There is nothing gives me more pleasure than a knowledge of your condition & satisfactory evidence of your happiness; & now, as the continuous conversation of different persons continually interrupts, I must close. Hoping to hear from you very soon. Remember me kindly to all Good night—
Your affect. Husband
J. F. Culver
P.S. Sept. 8th/63 Dear Mary, I am well this morning & am about to start on duty. May God bless you.
J.F.C.
