Welcome Home Sweetie

Back home again.

I'll try to post a few reflections. .. after the laundry and such.

Thank YOU for following this wonderful adventure!

Farewell to IAMO

Bags are packed, tickets are printed. Looking forward to going home, but not looking forward to leaving.

Making dumplings with a little dumpling

It is a Chinese tradition when a friend is leaving to spend some time together making dumplings for dinner. Here,  Dr. Zhang's daughter  (a cute and clever dumpling, herself) is helping.

And, despite the limited structural integrity of the dumplings I constructed,  they were amazingly delicious!

I very much hope I may travel to China soon. The combination of friends, scholarship, and food is irresistible! !

The light at the start of the bridge

As my Fulbright specialist project draws to a close, I wander once more through the park. This time, I cross over the Salle River and catch this view at the end of the day.

Some look for the light at the end of the tunnel. And some (halfway) joke, or simply fear, that it may be an oncoming train.

Here, poised between day and night is where we are balanced with structure and light. Consider, if you will, that there is no tunnel we have not created for ourselves. And, when guided by light, supported by structure, and possessed of humility for learning and a sense of determination, there is no chasm we cannot cross.

The light at the start of the bridge.

Frontiers in diplomacy

Here, the red - wiged Julia and the blond-wiged Inga revise the standards of fashion for your humble Fulbright specialist. Good thing they have ticklish toes, or I would have no recourse at all... they are so cute!

Dinner or downpour?

The "continental" weather in Salle is very different from Petaluma.  I was just settling down to a picnic dinner by the river (to read some articles) when I heard some thunder.

Taking the better part of valor, I packed up and began walking back home to IAMO. Along the was, the wind knocked a large branch off a tree... only 60 feet (20 meters) from me! I was primed to panic!

Made it home alive, although a little wet, and witnessed an amazing display of thunder and lighting!

More weather in 20 minutes than my home town gets in 20 months!

Fryberg

Did I mention Fryberg? Lovely town with delicious wines!

Doing swimmingly, thank you

Not sure where that expression comes from, but today it involves a very nice and cool dip in the river!

Happy Fourth, and a toast to freedom.

Celebrating the 4th  of July work a brat... oops, hot dog. ;)  and a bit of  champagne... oops sekt. .. and, my favorite, reading interesting papers.

Today, a paper by James Smith who is striving to develop an ontology integrating the sum of human experience.  A difficult,  yet nobel goal. Indeed,  developing this kind of integrated understanding is an important task for our age.

Science and art

Well, IAMO is an agricultural research center. And, another dimension of that is seen in the acrylic paintings of Franziska Apple - PhD student and research associate. Check out her art work here:

Www.franziska-appel.de

Science and music

These two create quite the 'stones concert'  some of the instruments are obsidian. Rubbing them (as you would the rim of a wine glass) makes some cool tones!

Musik-mit-steinen.de

I look hot!

And you would too if you had one of the thermal images taken of you!

But this was just for fun. Not sure what they do with the camera during their off hours... but during the day, they are developing cool new applications (not APPS). For example, scanning solar panels for defects to improve product quality.

The fly

Another stop on my Long Night of Science tour. Here, we are looking at an electron scanning microscope showing very very detailed pictures of parts of a fly that you never knew existed (and, probably don't want to know about, either).

What a cool tool. They can even identify thing like the type of metal being scanned. Helpful hint here, it's all in the backscatter. Remember that for the test!

One word: Freakin Lasers!

OK, that was two words. But one reason I am in the social sciences is because the math portion of my brain was removed at a young age.

Here I am wearing safety goggles so my eyes don't get fried (again). Remember kids, safety first, last, and always.

Anyway... the lasers used in this part of the amazing Max Plank institute are merely for vaporizing metal. Then they condense the vapor into a layer only two atoms thick. Sounds cool? The fun has only just begun!

Here, they are working to develop ways to use those molecules for data storage. Think your smartphone has a lot of memory now? Just wait!

Long night of science

YES this is one of the greatest things in the world. YES, I am taking a break, YES having a Pims cup in Germany. And YES of course, I am wearing my 'Spock socks' because it is the long night of science.  More pics after a she night of sleep!

Workshop

Steve Wallis in action.  Photo by Dr. Jerry. Here, we are conducting a Gap Analysis and exploring the possibility of integrating two theories to create a better one.

Here's the picture of Dr. Jerry and his very systemic theory!

IPA workshop using ASK MATT

Dr. Shemei Zhang places concepts on her map of understanding farm output while Dr. Zhanli " Jerry " Sun draws causal connections on his map of agricultural challenges.

Participants had great conversations around improving their theories. I am honored to work with such talented scholars!