A Village Comes to Life: The Interpretation of Henry Ford\u27s Greenfield Village

Of all American living history sites, Greenfield Village, in Dearborn, Michigan, is one of the most interesting. Founded by Henry Ford and opened in 1929, Greenfield Village consists of 90 acres of nearly 100 historic buildings, all moved to the site from around the country and reassembled in a vague village formation. Unlike Colonial Williamsburg, the site is not historically significant and represents no one geographic location or time period. While in keeping with Ford’s vision of celebrating small-town life and the humble origins of many great thinkers and innovators, this structure has presented challenges for both the staff and the public to settle on a particular interpretive theme. When combined with the more universal criticisms regarding training, equipment, and messaging, these challenges make Greenfield Village a veritable microcosm of the strengths and weaknesses of living history interpretation. The history of interpretive programming at Greenfield Village demonstrates that weaknesses commonly criticized by academic historians are not inherent in living history programming. In fact, well-educated and trained park staffers saw living history as the solution to these problems and to finally find a way to unify Greenfield Village’s unique structure under a cohesive and effective interpretive theme. The 1982 implementation of the Edison/Saltbox project was a direct response to the most current scholarship on museum education and represented a continued dialogue with other open-air history museums. More recent attempts to improve the interpretation of African American history at Greenfield Village echo similar strategies at Colonial Williamsburg and respond directly to calls within the academy to address the prevalence of nostalgia in presentations of the past. While Greenfield Village’s programming continues to face the funding and staffing problems that plague living history programs nationwide, its story should remind scholars that nostalgia and antiquarianism are not problems inherent to living history

Modeling and validations of control parameters for material extrusion-based additive manufacturing of thixotropic aluminum alloys.

Additive Manufacturing (AM) with metals has been accomplished mainly through powder bed fusion processes. Initial experiments and simulations using Material Extrusion Additive Manufacturing (MEAM) have been performed by various researchers especially using low melting alloys. Recently Stratasys Inc. submitted a patent application for the use of their Material Extrusion technology also called Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) where they describe the process using thixotropic semi-solid alloys. Currently this process using semi-solid, engineering type alloys such as A356 or THIXALLOY 540 aluminum have not been researched to evaluate the control parameters. This research combines the in-depth knowledge of applying thixotropic semi-solid aluminum alloy processing as used in thixocasting and thixoforming with the MEAM research. Successful implementation of this metal AM process category besides powder bed fusion would result in the gain of certain MEAM process advantages like speed and ease of material handling (filament) for metal AM. In this dissertation thixotropic aluminum alloys have been identified for their applicability for MEAM and optimal pre-processing as well as thermo-mechanical handling in a nozzle has been identified. A review of the optimal heating temperature for an aligned quality of microstructure were completed to provide experimental proof of thixotropic aluminum alloy applicability. As further research aging of such alloys during isothermal holding while pausing or pure movement of a MEAM nozzle will help to derive the required cleaning processes in case the alloy develops an in-adequate microstructure. The research results build the basis for the next phases towards a larger project goal of developing a successful MEAM machine for producing aluminum alloy parts

Allerton Park Solid Waste Action Plan

The goal of this plan is to ultimately divert at least 90% of landfill-bound waste produced at Allerton into sustainable recycling and composting streams, thus reducing park greenhouse gas emissions and moving Allerton further toward net zero energy use.Ope

Hinweise für die Lärmaktionsplanung: Informationsbroschüre für Städte und Gemeinden: Hinweise für die Lärmaktionsplanung nach EU-Umgebungslärmrichtlinie

Die Broschüre bietet Hilfestellung bei der Vorbereitung und Umsetzung der Lärmaktionsplanung und erläutert die Ziele sowie die rechtlichen und fachlichen Grundlagen. In übersichtlicher und verständlicher Form werden Hinweise zu den sieben Planungsschritten bis zur Bekanntmachung des Lärmaktionsplanes gegeben

Hawai'i's Thirty Meter Telescope: Construction of the World's Largest Telescope on a Sacred Temple

Mauna Kea is located on the Big Island of Hawai i. It is a dormant volcano and the highest mountain in the world measured from sea bottom. Mauna Kea first attracted astronomers in the 1960s. Since then there has been a total of 13 telescopes built on Mauna Kea. Mauna Kea is considered to be the preeminent site in the world for ground-based astronomy. On April 12, 2013, the Thirty Meter Telescope Observatory Corporation was granted a Conservation District Use Permit (CDUP) to build and operate the US $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on Mauna Kea. The TMT will have the most advanced technology of any telescope on Earth. Paradoxically, Mauna Kea is also considered to be the most sacred place in all of Hawai i for Native Hawaiian people. Mauna Kea is the spiritual center of the Native Hawaiian people, connecting them to their original creators, Papahānaumoku, the Earth Mother, and Wākea, the Sky Father. For astronomers, the TMT is a necessary next step for science and the future of humanity itself. For Native Hawaiians, the TMT threatens their sacred mountain and culture. The dispute between proponents and opponents of the TMT represents a fundamental difference in philosophy between two disparate views on the TMT—science in general, and the role of history, culture and spirituality in determining the outcome of a difficult and sometimes contentious issue. In this thesis, I will first present a detailed analysis of the history of Hawai i, as it provides a background into the importance of Mauna Kea to the Native Hawaiians and why they are standing up to protect their revered Mauna. I will then examine the subject matter by highlighting the current court cases challenging the legality of the TMT. In doing so, I will investigate the following questions: How and why was Mauna Kea selected for the TMT? What are the actual and perceived benefits of building what will become the world s largest and most powerful telescope on Mauna Kea? What is the nature of the opposition to the TMT? How have the cultural beliefs, practices, and myths of the Native Hawaiian people been treated in the quest to build and operate the TMT? Although the TMT may be instrumental in unraveling the mysteries of the universe and benefitting humankind , is it also symbolic of a deeply ingrained disconnect from the Earth? How has the Cartesian separation of the mind and body influenced this apparent disconnect between man and the Earth? How has the TMT been granted a use permit to build when it is clearly violative of not only Hawaiian culture, history and land, but the Native Hawaiians themselves

Stingless bees in Miocene amber of southeastern China (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Among the many inclusions from the exceptionally rich fossiliferous amber of Zhangpu, China (Middle Miocene: Langhian), stingless bees (Apinae: Meliponini) are particularly common, analogous to the merely slightly older amber sites of Mexico and the Dominican Republic. While there is a large number of workers in Zhangpu amber, only two species are represented. The systematics and morphology of the tribe Meliponini is outlined, including a revision to terms of orientation and direction when discussing surfaces and features of appendages, all in order to better discuss the traits of the fossils as well as place them into a broader context in the global systematics of stingless bees. The two amber species are representative of two Old World genera of Meliponini: Tetragonula Moure and Austroplebeia Moure. While the former is widespread across southern Asia, Malesia, Papuasia, and Australia, the latter is today known only from New Guinea and Australia. Neither genus occurs in the environs of Zhangpu today. Tetragonula (Tetragonula) florilega Engel, new species, is a generally typical species of the subgenus although it intermingles traits otherwise found in two large species groups of non-Australian Tetragonula s.str. The species of Austroplebeia from Zhangpu is sufficiently distinct to place in a new subgenus, Anteplebeina Engel. Austroplebeia (Anteplebeina) fujianica Engel, new species, shares a long list of character states with Austroplebeia s.str., including the presence of yellow maculation on the face, mesoscutum, mesoscutellum, and metepisternum, found only in this clade among Asiatic Meliponini. Nonetheless, the species differs in the length of the malar space and various features of wing venation. Keys are provided to the genera in Zhangpu amber and the subgenera of both genera. The diversity of stingless bees in amber is discussed, as well as the presence of these two fossils in the Middle Miocene of mainland Asia in relation to prior divergence time estimates, phylogenetic relationships, as well as the paleogeography of the region and potential biogeographic hypotheses. The biological association of stingless bees with resins, particularly the collection of dipterocarp resins, is discussed as Zhangpu amber is a Class II resin likely produced by an extinct species of Dipterocarpaceae (Malvales). Also discussed are the ecological preferences of modern Tetragonula and Austroplebeia relative to the reconstructed paleoenvironment of the Zhangpu amber rainforest. Emendations to the classification of Meliponini are appended, with the following new taxa proposed: Atrichotrigona Engel, new subgenus of Axestotrigona Moure; Lispotrigona V.H. Gonzalez & Engel, new subgenus of Nannotrigona Cockerell; Asperplebeia Engel, new genus; Nanoplebeia Engel, new subgenus of Plebeia Schwarz; Aphaneuropsis Engel, Koilotrigona Engel, Necrotrigona Engel, Dichrotrigona Engel, Nostotrigona Engel, Ktinotrofia Engel, all new subgenera of Trigona Jurine; Chapadapis Engel, new subgenus of Schwarziana Moure. The following higher groups are also established: Hypotrigonina Engel, new sutribe; Heterotrigonitae Engel, new infratribe; Trigoniscitae Engel, new infratribe

Direct evidence for eudicot pollen-feeding in a Cretaceous stinging wasp (Angiospermae; Hymenoptera, Aculeata) preserved in Burmese amber

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.Angiosperms and their insect pollinators form a foundational symbiosis, evidence for which from the Cretaceous is mostly indirect, based on fossils of insect taxa that today are anthophilous, and of fossil insects and flowers that have apparent anthophilous and entomophilous specializations, respectively. We present exceptional direct evidence preserved in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber, 100 mya, for feeding on pollen in the eudicot genus Tricolporoidites by a basal new aculeate wasp, Prosphex anthophilos, gen. et sp. nov., in the lineage that contains the ants, bees, and other stinging wasps. Plume of hundreds of pollen grains wafts from its mouth and an apparent pollen mass was detected by micro-CT in the buccal cavity: clear evidence that the wasp was foraging on the pollen. Eudicots today comprise nearly three-quarters of all angiosperm species. Prosphex feeding on Tricolporoidites supports the hypothesis that relatively small, generalized insect anthophiles were important pollinators of early angiosperms

Effect of diagenesis on compaction of reservoir rocks

Predicting sediment porosity-depth trends and ultimately the quality of reservoir rocks requires an understanding of mechanical and chemical compaction mechanisms during diagenesis. In many siliciclastic sediments porosity versus depth profiles can be predicted from the sediment’s stress history. In carbonates such predictions are more difficult because chemical diagenesis is prevalent even within a few meters of the seafloor. We used a systematic laboratory approach to investigate the influence of early diagenesis in a meteoric environment on compaction of oolitic carbonates. Aggregates were synthesized in an autoclave from loosely packed natural aragonite ooids and fresh water, to mimic phreatic conditions. Time and temperature were used to control the degree of chemical diagenesis. Constant stress-rate, uniaxial strain compaction tests were performed on the aggregates to track mechanical properties as a function of chemical alteration. Samples were characterized before and after compaction with electron and optical microscopy, X-ray tomography, and X-ray diffraction. The aragonite ooids dissolved preferentially inwards from their rims, and blocky calcite precipitated in the original inter-ooid pore space with little change in porosity. This progression results in an inverted structure with moldic pores inside a foam-like structure of calcite. With deformation, all samples exhibited elastic to plastic compaction typical of granular aggregates. With increasing alteration, the elastic moduli appear to increase, the transition to plastic behavior occurs at progressively higher stresses, and the elastic-plastic transition becomes more abrupt. At high stresses the plastic behavior was similar for all samples. X-ray tomography with micron-scale resolution tracks grain displacement and void and cement compaction. These experiments and results help us understand the complexities of chemical-mechanical interactions during diagenesis and improve our ability to predict porosity changes with depth for basin modeling, reservoir quality prediction and reservoir management

A microfluidic device for investigating crystal nucleation kinetics

We have developed an original setup using microfluidic tools allowing one to produce continuously monodisperse microreactors ($\approx 100$ nL), and to control their temperatures as they flow in the microdevice. With a specific microchannels geometry, we are able to apply large temperature quenches to droplets containing a KNO$_3$ solution (up to 50$^{\circ}$C in 10 s), and then to follow nucleation kinetics at high supersaturations. By measuring the probability of crystal presence in the droplets as a function of time, we estimate the nucleation rate for different supersaturations, and confront our results to the classical nucleation theory