"You can find magic in places you never thought to look."
December 2003
These are the nine routes of the new map set of Forest Park just released by Friends of Forest Park.
Have you Noticed...

Something new in Portland:
City View
Big Stump
Avenue of Trees
Maple
Hole in the Park
Heart of the Park
Wild-Leif
Stone House
Old Growth
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What are they?  Where can you find them?
November 2003
"Energy is the capacity to do work" speaks about a metaphorical "energy."

"Energy can be unavailable for doing work," speaks about a scientific, mathematical "energy."

Two very different "energies," almost always confused.  Understand the difference and you have seen some of the magic of science.

Learn the science.
Understand the science.

Have you Noticed...
"Energy is the capacity to do work."
"Energy can be unavailable for doing work."

Your physics textbook probably has both of these statements.  We need to identify and resolve this contradiction. 

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What is it?  How to resolve?
October 2003
Look here
Have you Noticed...
One of Portland's parks has a tricycle track
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Where is it?
September 2003
Look here
Have you Noticed...

Everybody knows about the Washington Park Rose Gardens where the Portland Rose Society maintains this Gold Medal display, the Rose Festival queens have their honorary tiles, and musical events are presented in the adjacent amphitheater.  But Portland Parks maintains two other formal rose gardens.

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Where are they?
August 2003
Explore
Have you Noticed...
that the simplest science can be more difficult than the more complex, and we can miss seeing the obvious.
Da Vinci Days, 2003
Oregonians for Rationality Booth
Amusing. Confusing. Baffling. Teaching.
Amazing.  Deceiving.  Revealing.  Magical.

Throughout August explorepdx will seek the magic found in places we never think to look...

...and search for ways to help a person 
understand the concepts that underlie
modern high-tech knowledge.
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Why should we want to?
This will be ongoing throughout the summer.
July 2003
Explore
Have you seen...

Da Vinci Days
Oregonians for Rationality Booth
How might our perceptions deceive us?
How might others deceive us?
How might we deceive ourselves?
How can we see the magic of science?
How might we become able to use science?
Math, too?
Why should we want to?
Surf this site for some answers.
Details will appear here throughout the summer.
June 2003
Pi, in the underground Zoo MAX station?

Not exactly!  Look again.

Have you Noticed...
.Where is it?
What is it?
What's wrong with it?
Why?
May 2003

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Have you Noticed...

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"One of the longest pedestrian skybridges in the world is located in Portland.
Where?
April 2003.
This is an aerial photo of Marquam Hill, the home of OHSU.  The wooded area is in Marquam Nature Park (MAP)—steep-walled ravines.  The red overlay indicates the streets that are on the map but not on Marquam Hill.  MIORE (plus why)
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Have you Noticed...

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"Creative cartography" is the curse of the curious when you want to explore some place you've never been.  This map has a lot of errors.
...What are they?  Why are they there?
March 2003
The error in common to the first three statements is the failure to see the reversal  of the negative by another negative—a multiplicative negative.

Negation is a slightly tricky concept.  Negation of  negation is even  trickier, tricky enough to frequently trip up a lot of people.  And a lot of science requires a good sense of negation of negation.

Mutual reciprocity (exemplified by the Golden Rule) is a symmetry concept which  conceptually stems from a  system of potential negations and negations of negations.  In physics, the concept of irreversibility  is usually misunderstood, demonstating the difficulty of understanding negation of negation.  The usually misunderstood concept of Newton's third law of motion (action and reaction) demonstrates the difficulty of understanding mutual reciprocity.
 

Click on the balance...See deeper.
Have you Noticed...
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A significant fraction of people don't see much, if any, difference between, "He hasn't got no food on his plate," and "He has got no food on his plate."

Similarly, "He could even care less," and "He couldn't care less."

“It got to minus ten degrees below zero,” and "It got to ten degrees below zero."

"Do unto others as they would do unto you." and "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

All of these share a common error.  That error involves a simple abstraction—of the kind that is the heart and soul of modern science and mathematics.

...What is that error?
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February 2003.

The cable trail connected Leif Erikson Dr near Mi 8.6 to the south end of Saint Johns Bridge.  It is now history.  An excellent new pedestrian route into this part of Forest Park took its place in the latter half of 2003.  It is an extension of Ridge Trail down from Wildwood Tr, mi 20.89 20.81 (rerouted, June, 2004), crossing Leif Erikson Dr at mi 8.50 to 8.52 (it jogs), and descending to the old concrete reservoir just above the bridge access road.  Explore from either of the two trails shown on the map—about 100 yards to either side of the end of the bridge.
Have you Noticed...

Somewhere in Portland is a trail so steep that a cable assist has been provided to help us negotiate the trail.  On wet days when the ground underfoot gets muddy and slippery, that cable—which seems to go forever, climbing from about 200 feet elevation to about 500 feet elevation—is very welcome. 

...Where?
January 2003

On the East side of Parkhill Dr,
on top of a cliff over Barbur Blvd.
(a little east of Himes Park).
The herbicide spray seems to have gotten it.
(For now.)

45.4782° N
122.6791° W

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Have you Noticed...

Kudzu!
(Pueraria lobata)

An alien invader that can grow a foot a day, and in the South has created havoc by smothering everything in its path.  This member of the pea family has now invaded Oregon.  One location was in SW Portland.

...Where?

We will grow this list monthly.

YEAR 2004+
YEAR 2002

Explore!

 Portland
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