Fibre: soluble, insoluble?
The tutor has wondered about fibre ever since he heard about soluble fibre. Back in the early 90s, when I was in university so cut off from day-to-day culture (no TV, no money, no time), a few snippets still did …
Category: biology
Botany: identifying a plant from a field guide
Plant identification is an area of study to which the tutor should devote more time. He does have background in it…. Growing up, I lived in several farming locales. While I don’t now, I follow several traditions thence. I maintain …
Ancient grains, cont: quinoa vs durum wheat
The tutor offers a quick comparison: the ancient grain quinoa vs a modern favourite. In yesterday’s post I started about ancient grains and why they might be growing in popularity. As I mentioned, quinoa is one my we’ve adopted to …
Nutrition: ancient grains, part 0
With ancient grains closing in, the tutor decides to investigate. I recall being in a grocery aisle with my wife, where she picked up a cereal box labeled ancient grains. “You might like this. Do you want to try it?” …
Biology and Nutrition: Complete Protein from Plant Sources
The tutor discusses complementary proteins, a topic that has long fascinated many. If protein is complete, it provides all 20 amino acids required for proper body function. From my reading, animal protein is automatically complete; by contrast, no single plant …
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Radioactive dating: half life, continued
The tutor continues about the phenomenon of half life and one of its well-known applications. In my post from yesterday I introduced the topic of carbon dating and the principles that make it feasible. Today I’ll give a few more …
Radioactive dating: half life
Tutoring science, and also for general interest, this topic is relevant. The tutor introduces it with an example. Most people realize that scientists can “date” animal or plant remains – that is, discover, approximately, when they died. How is it …
Math and biology: tree growth, part II
Continuing from his previous post, the tutor assesses whether the sequoia tree’s growth is exponential. Normally, tutoring doesn’t encompass this topic; it’s interesting nonetheless. Growing a foot (in height) per year, the tree is growing arithmetically, rather than exponentially. …
Math and biology: tree growth
Recently in Victoria, the tutor noticed a sequoia tree in front of the Parliament Buildings. The plaque said it grows, on average, 1 foot per year. Is that exponential growth? I’ve introduced exponential growth in a couple of contexts: see …