Sauer Kraut or Kisele Kupus, as the case may be.

I've just declared my first batch of sauerkraut complete! 'Kisele kupus' is my best guess at spelling what the serbian part of the family calls it. That's sour cabbage for those who 1) don't speak german 2) don't speak serbian, and 3) live under a rock. Actually, they usually just call it 'kupus' (meaning cabbage), just as I sometimes call it kraut. Plus, the serbs will frequently make it with unshredded heads of cabbage in big drums. They use the resulting leaves to make sarma.

This stuff is ridiculously easy to make. Simply shred a quantity of cabbage (it'll shrink a little, so be generous), then toss it with salt to get the juices flowing. Once sufficient juices have evolved (an hour or so), pack it into a clean jar or crock, and put a weight on top. The weight's job is to keep the cabbage bits under the surface of the liquid, which quickly becomes an acidic preservative due to the action of lactobacilis. Lactobacillus are used in the production of sauerkraut, yogurt/kefir, and some beers (lambic, anyone?). They are now officially my second favorite group of microorganisms (right after the yeasts, duh).

So as I was saying, the juices flow, the wild lactobacillus set up shop, ferment the sugars in the juices, and produce acids that keep nasty molds and such from setting up shop. They also produce lots of gas (they are eating cabbage after all), so you don't want to firmly cap the container. Otherwise, your sauerkraut reaction vessel will become a bomb. And I'd say you don't want to clean up the shrapnel from that blast.

So, you keep the vessel at room temp (around 75 degrees Farenheit) for at least a couple of days, preferable a couple of weeks or more. I'm impatient, so I've stopped after 11 days. Then, into the fridge. That's it. Oh, sure, you'll need to top off the liquid occassionally, since it will spill over the side when the bubbles grow in the cabbage. (NOTE: place your actively fermenting container into another container if it's remotely close to full. Fortunately, TheWife thought of that one before we started!)

I'm amazed at how good this stuff is. It's clearly related to the limp stuff you buy at the grocery store, but the difference is stark. It's supposed to be good for you, too: lots of vitamin c, plus it's probiotic (Probiotic - the official grocery industry buzzword for the first decade of the 21st century!), delicious, and according to one researcher, functions as an aphrodisiac!. I have to admit that my gut reacts a little more strongly to this stuff than it does to that sterilized stuff from the store. But heck, what are a few greenhouse gasses among friends?

PS: I'm a slacker and didn't take any pictures. I borrowed the one above from flickr. Thanks mtsofan!

Galazy Zoo

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is recording images of a large portion of the sky that will eventually encompass a million galaxies. With such a large number of galaxies, astronomers can finally begin to understand how they form and evolve by comparing various populations to each other with large enough numbers to draw real conclusions about their origin.


The problem? Each of these galaxies needs to be identified as either a sprial or an eliptical galaxy, in order to derive the relationships which the survey seeks. And there are some jobs that computers just aren't up to yet. Or at least, getting a computer to perform them requires ridiculous amounts of processing power. Among these is the determination of whether a galaxy is spiral or not, and whether a spiral galaxy appears to be rotating clockwise or counter-clockwise.

So, they're asking for our help. Sign up at Galaxy Zoo, run through the training images, take a short (15 question) test to prove that you've been paying attention, and start digging into the images. Some of them are amazing. I snagged the pic for this post from one that I was asked to categorize. I'm sure the best are still ahead. And don't worry that you'll make a mistake and screw up the project. Each of these images is reviewed multiple times in order to determine its type. If you screw up, others should catch the mistake. Give it a look!

Peace Pole Project

I built myself a peace pole a couple of weeks ago, but only just got around to taking pictures this weekend. A peace pole is basically just a pole, with the affirmation 'May peace prevail on earth.' on it in one or more languages. I think it's a pretty positive wish. Who doesn't want peace?! Sure, we pretty much all disagree on the perfect way to get there, but we all want peace. OK, it's kind of a hippy-dippy thing to do, but for some reason it speaks to me. I like it.

I pieced together a little photo collage of the pole; have a look below. We decided to represent each of the nationalities in our family on the pole, plus english, since that's what we actually speak. Left to right in the pic, the sections say 'May peace prevail on earth' in Norwegian, Scottish, Bohemian, English, Serbian, Polish, German and French. OR check out my flickr set of the pole.

While you can buy peace poles in a variety of materials (around $200 on up to many thousands), mine is just a well-dried pressure treated 4x4, coated with deck sealant, with the phrases painted on in black. A coat of poly finish over the whole thing seals it and a copper final tops it off. I trimmed my 4x4 to about 7' height, and a 3' 4x4 anchor holds it in place.

PS: Thanks to the World Peace Project for this list of translations, and for digging up this translation of their trademark phrase 'May peace prevail on earth' in Scottish Gaelic: Guma Fada Bhios Sìth air anTalamh.

Snowday art project

Portrait of TheBoy and TheGirl, drawn by TheGirl today.

TheGirl was doubly stuck at home today. First, since the sub-zero temperatures closed down the school district, and secondly because of a fever (high temperatures). She was getting bored and fidgetty. I suggested she draw me a picture of herself and her brother. I'll call that a day well used.

Durable Snowflakes

Popular Science has a great bit on how to "Save a Snowflake for Decades". It sounds pretty simple. Pre-chill microscope slides, cover slips and regular super glue. Catch a snowflake on the slide, add a drop of superglue, drop on the cover slip, and store in the freezer for a couple of weeks while the glue sets. voila! I've got to try this next time we get a good dendrite snow. The pic at right is from the popscience page.