Eastern Brazil's muriquis nicknamed “charcoal monkeys”

Like hunters, soldiers and artists, after artificially camouflaging their face with sooty charcoal, muriquis show similar looking facial features due to their natural pigmentation. Their darkened, black or black-spotted faces inspired the Brazilian nickname “charcoal monkey” [1]. The muriqui is the largest New World monkey, endemic to tropical forests north and southwest of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil—the Atlantic Forest region [2]. Contrasting with their face color, muriqui's thick coat is grayish brown, often with a tinge of yellow [1-3]. Their fur and their expertise in navigating the canopy by air acrobatics resulted in their common name, or other nickname: woolly spider monkey.

In the late 1980s two distinct muriqui species were recognized: the northern muriqui (Brachyteles hypoxanthus) and the southern muriqui (B. arachnoides) [2,3]. Note the spider reference in the scientific name of the southern species. Steve Kemper summarizes the current classification and conservation status [1]:

Once called woolly spider monkeys, muriquis occur in two closely related species that scientists didn't officially split until 2000: northern (Brachyteles hypoxanthus) and southern (Brachyteles arachnoides). Both species live only in Brazil, in scattered remnants of the once-vast Atlantic coastal forest, now greatly reduced by clearing for pasture and agricultural land. Because of extensive habitat fragmentation, both muriqui species are classified as endangered, the northern one critically: Only 1,000 of them survive, spread across about a dozen patches of forest [...]

Muriquis are of particular interest in biology and anthropology, since they are capable of great behavioral plasticity. Muriquis display a social and sexual “life style,” that differs from the ruffian behavior observed with many Old World primates. Karen Strier has been studying the critically endangered northern muriqui since 1982. She applies a comparative approach to understand the behavioral ecology of primates, gaining new insights into population viability and making significant contributions to the competition versus cooperation debate in the science of evolution [1,4].

Keywords: primatology, biological anthropology, taxonomy, nomenclature; Animalia > Chordata > Mammalia > Primates > Atelidae.

References and more to explore
[1] Steve Kemper: No Alpha Males Allowed. Smithsonian September 2013, 44 (6), 38-43. [www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Humans-Would-Be-Better-Off-If-They-Monkeyed-Around-Like-the-Muriquis-220566921.html].
[2]  Encyclopedia of Life: Brachyteles hypoxanthus [eol.org/pages/4472389/hierarchy_entries/24921143/details].
[3] Encyclopedia of Life: Brachyteles arachnoides [eol.org/pages/323939/overview].
[4] Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison: Karen B. Strier [www.anthropology.wisc.edu/people_strier.php].  

El Rio de las Plumas: Feather River

The Latin word pluma means “feather” in English. The Latin-derived English word “plumage” showcases the meaning of this root: the noun “plumage” refers to a bird's feather coverage.

The Spanish word for “feather” coincidences with the Latin word; the Spanish plural is plumas. Hence, el rio de las plumas means “the river of feathers,” or “feather river” for short. With a little imagination it can be translated as a “river with plenty of birds.” 

This imagination was reality in the first half of the 19th century, when early European explorers and gold-rush pioneers discovered and exploited the Feather River in northern California. During that time it got its beautiful name [1]:

The Feather River originally was named “el Rio de las Plumas” in 1821 by Spanish explorer Luis Antonio Argüelo for the multitude of waterfowl seen upon its waters. In about 1850, the name was anglicized to “Feather River.”

Several branches of the Feather River run through Plumas County [2]. It can be considered as Feather River County, but continues to stick with the Spanish name. Plumas County's Frazier Creek, for example, is a tributary of the Feather River: it flows from Gold Lake via the scenic Frazier Falls into the Feather River's Middle Fork by the resort town of Graeagle.

The Latin/Spanish word pluma also lives on in open-space and park names such as Plumas National Forest and Plumas-Eureka State Park, associated with the Feather River headwaters.

Keywords: geography, languages, etymology, place naming, anglicisation (anglicization), American history.

References and more to explore
[1] Plumas County, California GenWeb Project: A Brief History of Plumas County [www.cagenweb.com/plumas/hist.htm].
[2] About Feather River Country [featherrivercountry.com/about/].

“Ebbett's Pass” or “Ebbetts Pass?”

The Ebbett's Pass Trailhead is a gateway for hikers and horseback riders to the Pacific Crest Trail, connecting with scenic lakes as well as ancient volcanic peaks and rock formations on both sides of the Pacific Crest, including the Carson Iceberg Wilderness. The well-posted sign along California State Highway 4 in Alpine County, California, directs visitors to this trailhead and clearly says “Ebbett's Pass” (see picture). A historical landmark board uses the same writing and explains that this pass is named after Major John Ebbett, who, in 1853, suggested this location to surveyor George H. Goddard as a promising route for the Transcontinental Railroad [1].

Referring to the family name Ebbett, “Ebbett's Pass” is a correctly written possessive phrase. But why do we find the form “Ebbetts Pass” in so many documents?

Apparently, authors didn't simply got tired of including the possessive-indicating apostrophe. Instead, they refer to “Captain” John Ebbetts [2]:

It wasn't until 1850 when John Ebbetts—Captain of the Knickerbocker Exploring Party of New York—crossed this pass with a large train of mules, guiding a party of miners into the then gold-frenzied California.

A few years later, John Ebbett, let's call him John Ebbetts from now on, led a survey party for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Company to this high mountain pass in search of a possible route for the Transcontinental Railroad. His friend and lead surveyor George H. Goddard eventually named the pass Ebbetts Pass in honor of the “Knickerbocker pioneer” [2,3].

Referring to the surname Ebbetts, the genitive case seems to be dismissed: I haven't seen the writing “Ebbetts' Pass” or, worse, “Ebbetts's Pass.”

Keywords: grammar, spelling, writing, name places, history.

References and more to explore
[1] Wikipedia: Historical Landmark: Ebbett's Pass.JPG [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:R39287918565_Sign_-_Historical_Landmark%EF%BC%9A_Ebbett%27s_Pass.JPG].
[2] Sierra Nevada Geotourism MapGuide: Ebbetts Pass National Byway [www.sierranevadageotourism.org/content_detail.php?uid=sie6DA429BAE628F80E3].
[3] Judith Marvin: Ebbetts Pass History [www.calaverashistory.org/overview/ebbetts-pass-history].

A term in biology: constructive neutral evolution

The rise and evolution of novel, complex structures and operations in biological organisms is typically explained by processes involving random mutations followed by natural selection: complexity is emerging from environmentally driven, essentially non-random processes discovered by Charles Darwin and illustrated, for example, by Richard Dawkins in his book The Blind Watchmaker [1].

But is evolution completely directed by natural selection or do non-Darwinian factors (non-selective factors: chance, neutral changes, bio-molecular side effects) play a significant role? Currently, the possibility of constructive neutral evolution (CNE) is discussed [2-5]. The CNE idea opens additional routes in biological inquiry that allow the development of neutral models, which can anchor molecular-evolution studies—designed to explain complexity as well as biodiversity—on grounds free of a priori adaptionist explanations. The scheme of CNE will supplement or may revolutionize our understanding of the origin, direction and meaning of life. 

Carl Zimmer instructively put the origin of the term “constructive neutral evolution” into context [4]:

In the 1990s a group of Canadian biologists started to ponder the fact that mutations often have no effect on an organism at all. These mutations are, in the jargon of evolutionary biology, neutral. The scientists, including Michael Gray of Dalhousie University in Halifax, proposed that the mutations could give rise to complex structures without going through a series of intermediates that are each selected for their help in adapting an organism to its environment. They dubbed this process “constructive neutral evolution.”

Keywords: life science, evolutionary theory, neutral theory, neo-Darwinian thinking, evolutionary genetics, bio-molecular complexity.

References and more to explore
[1] R. Dawkins: The Blind Watchmaker. Penguin Books, London, England, reprinted (from the 1986 Longman publication) with an appendix 1991.
[2] A. Stoltzfus: On the possibility of constructive neutral evolution. J. Mol. Evol. August 1999, 49 (2), pp. 169-181 [www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10441669].
[3] A. Stoltzfus: Constructive neutral evolutionary theory: exploring evolutionary theory's curious disconnect. Biology Direct 2012, 7:35. doi: 10.1186/1745-6150-7-35. 
[4] C. Zimmer: The surprising origins of life's complexity. Sci. Am. August 2013, 309 (2), pp. 84-89 [www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-surprising-origins-of-evolutionary-complexity].
[5] Entropic Existence: Selection, Neutrality, and the Appearance of Design. April 23, 2010 [entropicexistence.blogspot.com/2010/04/selection-neutrality-and-appearance-of.html].

Talus, meaning “rock debris” or “slope of rock debris”

The word talus refers to rock debris at the base of a cliff, crag or valley shoulder. This word may also specify a slope covered with such rock debris [1,2]. In the latter case, one often speaks of a talus slope. A good example are the talus slopes below the south-facing cliffs of Castle Peak in the Sierra Nevada northwest of Truckee, California. The picture above shows Castle Peak seen from nearby Andesite Peak: concave talus slopes are skirting the cliffs keeping vegetation away from the upper mountain belt. The lower, less steep areas have some single conifers (survivors of rock slides). The forest begins where the slopes turn into a saddle and plateau topography, on the surface of which the impact of rolling rocks is becoming less powerful.   

Talus is created by weathering and fracturing of granite and other types of rock. Talus accumulates through periodic rockfall. F. J. Smiley, in 1915, briefly described the degrading process of Sierran mountain walls—while studying the Lake Tahoe region—and pointed out “the immense heaps of angular talus, which skirts the bases of Mt. Tallac, Maggie's Peaks and Castle Peak” [3]. 

A talus slope is always ready for a slide—triggered by an earthquake, an animal or a reckless mountaineer. Needless to say that a talus slope is dangerous terrain to walk across or to climb up or down on.

In addition to its meaning in topography and geology, the word talus means ankle or ankle bone in anatomy [1,2]. How the word and its meanings derived, is not completely clear. Old French, Latin or Celtic origins are typically mentioned. The plural form of talus is tali. Another word for talus is scree, probably from Old Norse skridha, meaning landslide [4].

Keywords: geology, etymology, synonyms.

References
[1] Merriam-Webster: talus [www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/talus].
[2] The Free Dictionary: talus [www.thefreedictionary.com/talus]. 
[3] F. J. Smiley: The Alpine and Subalpine Vegetation of the Lake Tahoe Region. Botanical Gazette April 1915, 59 (4), pp. 265-286 [www.jstor.org/stable/2468057].
[4] The Free Dictionary: scree [www.thefreedictionary.com/scree].

Acronym in scent detection and civil security: EDC for explosive detection canine

Explosive-sniffing dogs are trained and employed to detect hidden reactive substances with a destructive potential. Such dogs are called bomb dogs,  or—more formal—explosive detection canines (EDCs) [1,2]. They are becoming best friends of security officials and safety personal who are in charge of protecting public places and controlling conflict zones.

EDCs do not smell bombs. But they can be trained to be highly alert to the ingredients of explosive materials. At the MSA Security Training Academy, for example, odors of chemical vapors are imprinted on the olfactory cortex of the dog's brains—Pavlov-style by task repetition and reward [2]:

MSA's dogs begin building their vocabulary of suspicious odors working with rows of more than 100 identical cans laid out in a grid. Ingredients from the basic chemical families of explosives—such as powders, commercial dynamite, TNT, water gel and RDX, a component of the plastic explosives C4 and Semtex—are placed in random cans. In addition, urea nitrate and hydrogen peroxide—primary components of improvised explosive devices—have joined the training regime.

EDCs learn not to scratch a potentially threatening material or device (avoiding a possible blow-up), but to respond by just sitting down when they sense one. Today, EDCs at airports, train stations, stadiums, fairs and banks are not even noticed by travelers and visitors; and if, they are greated with a friendly look or smile. The simple presents of EDCs hopefully keeps people safe and threats away. 

Keywords: threat protection, chemistry, sensory system, dog's nose, Canis lupus.

References and more to explore
[1] MSA Security: Bomb Dogs [www.msasecurity.net/bomb-dogs/].
[2] Joshua Levine: The education of a bomb dog. Smithsonian July-August 2013, 44 (4), pp. 72-78 [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ideas-innovations/The-Education-of-a-Bomb-Dog-213881241.html#Bomb-Dogs-explosive-detection-canine-training-1.jpg].

Silicene: a honeycombed, atom-thick sheet of silicon named to recall similarly structured graphene

Silicene sheets can be epitaxially grown on a close-packed silver surface, Ag(111), via silicon atomic flux under ultrahigh vacuum conditions [1]. The condensed atoms arrange themselves within a two-dimensional honycomb lattice, geometrically resembling the structure of carbon atoms in graphene sheets. Chemists like to indicate structural and functional similarity of compounds in the ending of their names:  hence, the name silicene, which rhymes with graphene.

Equal or similar topology, however, does not necessarily imply property similarity. So far, many silicene properties have been predicted rather than measured, since the graphen-like form of silicon proves hard to handle [2].  Whereas graphene is very stable, silicene is reacting with other molecules and materials in its neighborhood. Silicene sheets also show a tendency to crinkle. Yet, the interest in silicene, its properties and potential applications is rapidly growing [3-5].

And to continue with the analogy of chemical elements of the carbon group (Group IV or Group 14), germanene—the planar, hexagonal germanium allotrope—could then be the next thin sheet.   

The CurlySMILES notation for silicene is [Si]{alall=silicene}, in which the square bracket code (SQC) for silicon is annotated with al for atomic layer and all for allotrope. The analogous linear notation for graphene and germanene are [C]{alall=graphene} and [Ge]{alall=germanene}, respectively.

Keywords: inorganic chemistry, material science, nanotechnology, epitaxy, spontaneous organization, honeycomb lattice, allotropes.

References and more to explore
[1] B. Lalmi et al.: Epitaxial growth of a silicene sheet. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2010, 97, pp. 223109-223110. doi: 10.1063/1.3524215.
[2] G. Brumfiel: Sticky problems snares wonder material. Nature March 14, 2013, 495, pp. 152-153. doi: 10.1038/495152a.
[3] B. Feng et al.: Evidence of Silicene in Honeycomb Structures of Silicon on Ag(111). Nano Lett. 2012, 12 (3), pp. 3507-3511. doi: 10.1021/nl301047g.
[4] Z. Ni et al.: Tunable Bandgap in Silicene and Germanene. Nano Lett. 2012, 12 (1), pp. 113-118. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nl203065e.
[5] Foresight Institute: Silicene: silicon's answer to graphene [www.foresight.org/nanodot/?p=5642].