humanity – Page 21 – Michael Stephen Wills Photography

ScienceCenter with Grandchildren

The ScienceCenter museum encourages learning about nanotechnology’s prevalence and unpredictable, unique behaviors.

October 26, 2023October 25, 2023 MichaelStephenWills12 Comments

Our day of science began with measurement: each grandchild’s growth is represented on this corner. Even as young adults they visit and are re-measured. Here Rory is making his mark.

Our science inspired museum, ScienceCenter, is full of fun activities.

Nothing like touching a space object: an iron-nickel meteorite.

So much to learn and discover. Here is Sam perusing a “nano” display.

Nanotechnology is pervasive, existing both in nature and within our technological innovations. Nature offers numerous instances of nanoscale phenomena. For instance, the iridescent hues seen in certain butterflies and the adhesive properties of geckos’ feet are both outcomes of nanostructures.

In our everyday products, nanotechnology plays a significant role. You’ll find it in items you use regularly, such as computer chips featuring minuscule nano-sized components and sunscreen containing nanoparticles. Looking ahead, nanotechnology will play an even more prominent role in our lives.

The question is: Where can you spot the influence of nanotechnology in your own life?

Materials exhibit distinct behaviors at the nanoscale. Tiny particles of gold appear red or purple, as opposed to their conventional shiny, golden appearance. When nanoparticles of iron are dispersed in a liquid, they give rise to a remarkable substance known as ferrofluid, which is a liquid that exhibits a magnetic attraction.

The nanoscale realm also harbors other surprising phenomena. Here, different physical forces dominate, leading to unexpected behaviors. For instance, at nanoscale the force of gravity becomes nearly imperceptible, while static electricity exerts a much greater influence.

Scientists are actively exploring ways to harness these unique nanoscale properties in the development of novel materials and cutting-edge technologies.

Nanotechnology enables us to construct structures much like nature does: atom by atom. Everything in the world is composed of “building blocks” known as atoms. In nature, varied combinations of atoms create diverse materials. For instance, diamond, graphite, and carbon nanotubes are all composed entirely of carbon atoms, but their unique properties emerge from the distinct arrangements of these carbon atoms.

In the field of nanotechnology, we are gaining the knowledge and capability to craft small, functional objects from individual atoms. Remarkably, some new nanomaterials have the capacity to self-assemble, opening up new possibilities for nanotechnology.

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Baker Lab with Autumn Trees

Double Irony

October 21, 2023October 18, 2023 MichaelStephenWills10 Comments

Baker Lab

Baker Laboratory dates back to World War I. With 200,000 square feet of space, the lab is home to Cornell’s Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department, the Chemistry Research Computing Facility, the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility, and the Advanced ESR Technology Research Center (whew!!).

Trees on a Knoll

On the right, on a knoll, is a European beech tree (Fagus sylvatica). The Latin name holds a double irony. Standing, alone, high above East Avenue on the Cornell campus (sylvatica means “of forests”) as a memory of the forests growing above Cayuga Lake is a being once worshiped as a god. In Celtic mythology, Fagus is the god of beeches.

A maple is on the left, genus Acer of unknown species. I recognize it from the shape.

Little Red Maple

First to flower, first to turn

October 20, 2023October 18, 2023 MichaelStephenWills17 Comments

Red Maple (Acer Rubrum)

The Red Maple (Acer Rubrum) is tolerant of diverse conditions, making it a perfect choice for this spot on the short of Beebe Lake.

Maple Syrup

Even though it is not a “Sugar Maple, early spring, the sap can be boiled down to syrup.

Turning Tree

The first to flower in spring and the first to turn in autumn.

From the Top Down

This maple turns from the top down and is already bare for most top branches.

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Newgrange VIII

The Newgrange facade and kerbstones consists of stones from various locations, believed to be transported by sea and river.

October 16, 2023October 16, 2023 MichaelStephenWills

The Newgrange façade and entrance of today is a creation from the large quantity of small stones unearthed and conserved during excavation given form by a steel-reinforced concrete retention wall.

The brilliant white quartz cobblestones were collected from the Wicklow Mountains, 31 miles to the south. Our guide called them “sunstones” for the way they reflect sunlight. In the following photograph is white quartz, the same excavated 1967-1975 from the Newgrange site and incorporated into the facade, I collected from “Miners Way” along R756 (above Glendalough).

You can also see in these photographs dark rounded granodiorite cobbles from the Mourne Mountains, 31 miles to the north. Dark gabbro cobbles from the Cooley Mountains and banded siltstone from the shore at Carlingford Lough both locations on the Cooley Peninsula where my mother’s family still has farms.

The stones may have been transported to Newgrange by sea and up the River Boyne by fastening them to the underside of boats at low tide. None of the structural slabs were quarried, for they show signs of having been weathered naturally, so they must have been collected and then transported, largely uphill, to the Newgrange site. The granite basins found inside the chambers also came from the Mournes.

Geological analysis indicates that the thousands of pebbles that make up the cairn, which together would have weighed about 200,000 tons, came from the nearby river terraces of the Boyne. There is a large pond in this area that is believed to be the site quarried for the pebbles by the builders of Newgrange.

Most of the 547 slabs that make up the inner passage, chambers, and the outer kerbstones are greywacke. Some or all of them may have been brought from sites either 3 miles away or from the rocky beach at Clogherhead, County Louth, about 12 miles to the northeast.

Click Me for the first post of this series.

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Newgrange VII

Approaching Newgrange for the first time

October 15, 2023October 16, 2023 MichaelStephenWills4 Comments

Michael Joseph “Brian” O’Kelly was selected to undertake the direction of the excavation of Newgrange during a 1961 meeting of “those who had a professional interest in the monument” organized by PJ Hartnett, the archaeological officer with Bord Fáilte Eireann (Irish Tourist Board) and a former pupil of Professor O’Kelly’s. Excavation commenced in 1962 and continued every summer for a four-month season up to and including 1975.

The aim of the excavation was to discover as much as possible about the archaeological and historical context of Newgrange and the people who built it and to discover what its original finished appearance was so as to direct a reconstruction, conservation and restoration of the structure to its former condition and appearance.

The last year of excavation was 1975, Michael J. wrote “We determined in 1975 that that should be our last season of excavation at Newgrange. We had investigated approximately one third of the structure and we had discovered much about it that was new, both in its structure and in its ornament, while radiocarbon had pushed its date back by 1,000 years……”

“…We felt that the other two thirds should be left for a future excavator, who, working with new knowledge and perhaps with better methods and new scientific approaches, should have large areas untouched by us in which to test, check and re-evaluate our findings.” From The Restoration of Newgrange by Michael J.O’Kelly. Antiquity LIII, 1979.

“Between the bright sky and the long glittering silver ribbon of the Boyne the land looks black and featureless. Great flocks of starlings are flying across the sky from their nighttime roosts to their daytime feeding places. The effect is very dramatic as the direct light of the sun brightens and casts a glow of light all over the chamber. I can even see parts of the roof and a reflected light shines right back into the back of the end chamber.” The recorded words of Prof O’Kelly spoken in the tomb of Newgrange on the 21st December 1969.

Click Me for the first post of this series.

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Newgrange VI

Newgrange and Knowth mounds were built and stabilized by structural experts.

October 14, 2023October 16, 2023 MichaelStephenWills1 Comment

At the same time as the passage and chamber were being built, work on the mound was going ahead.

At Newgrange, and the main mound at Knowth, an area around the tomb was left clear for a platform of stones to encase and stabilize the chamber roofs.

Once the passage roof was complete, structural experts returned to the kerb and continued to set the slabs in place — either in sockets or on prop stones, so as to achieve an even top-line all-round the mound.

Click Me for the first post of this series.

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Newgrange V

Newgrange construction involved meticulous planning, stone architecture, artistry, and astronomical understanding.

October 13, 2023October 21, 2023 MichaelStephenWills7 Comments

The initial task for the builders of Newgrange involved recording the annual alignment of the rising sun over several years, which was likely achieved using timber posts as markers. Subsequently, the dimensions of the passage and chamber were determined, and the groundwork was prepared by digging sockets for the structural stones. This excavation process was carried out using antler picks and shovels crafted from cattle shoulder blades.

After the structural stones were carefully positioned and levered into their sockets, lintel stones for the passage could be lifted into place. The corbelled roofs of the cross-shaped tombs were built with great skill and finally capped by one slab. Sturdy timber scaffolding and bracing must have been used. As the stones were set in place, carvers and artists decorated the stones.

The whole process must have been overseen by social or religious leaders; the building of the tombs shows great skill in working and building with stone and knowledge of architecture, megalithic art and astronomy.

Click Me for the first post of this series.

Newgrange IV

How we sheltered at the time of Newgrange construction

October 12, 2023October 11, 2023 MichaelStephenWills

The Brú na Bóinne Visitor Center includes this tableau of the shelter of the ancient farmers who constructed Newgrange: the monument is in the background.

Notice the wicker fence in tableau foreground.

Click Me for the first post of this series.

Newgrange III

October 11, 2023October 16, 2023 MichaelStephenWills5 Comments

How the builders of Brú na Bóinne clothed themselves

Click Me for the first post of this series.

Newgrange II

Early Irish farmers introduced crops and domesticated animals, aided by milder climate.

October 10, 2023October 16, 2023 MichaelStephenWills7 Comments

The people who built the passage tombs at Brú na Bóinne and elsewhere in Ireland were farmers, a way of life which by this time had become well established in Ireland. All the mainstays of early farming life — cereals such as wheat and barley, and domesticated animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and goats — were introduced to Ireland by early farmers. T

he climate was warmer and drier than it is today which meant that the growing season was longer and winter was shorter and milder. The main crops grown appear to have been emmer wheat and naked barley. Flint knives and blades were used for cutting meat. Simple wooden ploughs with stone tips were probably used.

The cattle were Bos taurus longifrans, large animals with forward facing horns which were kept primarily for farm work and meat. Cattle may also have been important in a ceremonial sense; cattle bones were sometimes placed in a very deliberate way in the ground. Sheep were probably like Soay sheep today, without a woolly fleece and probably used mainly for their meat. Dog and pig bones have also been found.