Wheels were introduced by Celtic peoples during the Roman era, and the mouldboard plough, a major innovation in plough technology, was invented in the 18th century.  Modern ploughs are usually reversible ploughs, mounted on a tractor.  The painting, Ploughing in the Nivernais, was completed by the French artist Rosa Bonheur in 1849 and is now in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.  Read more and see graphics at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ploughing_in_the_Nivernais

September 18, 2018  Greater than the sum of its parts by Savannah Mitchem   When it comes to designing and optimizing mechanical systems, scientists understand the physical laws surrounding them well enough to create computer models that can predict their properties and behavior.  However, scientists who are working to design better electrochemical systems, such as batteries or supercapacitors, don't yet have a comprehensive model of the driving forces that govern complex electrochemical behavior.  After eight years of research on the behavior of these materials and their properties, scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the University of Colorado-Boulder have developed a conceptual model that combines existing theories to form a more general theory of electrochemistry that predicts previously unexplained behavior.  The new model, called the Unified Electrochemical Band-Diagram Framework (UEB), merges basic electrochemical theory with theories used in different contexts, such as the study of photoelectrochemistry and semiconductor physics, to describe phenomena that occur in any electrode.  The research began with the study of alpha manganese oxide, a material that can rapidly charge and discharge, making it ideal for certain batteries.  The scientists wanted to understand the mechanism behind the material's unique properties so that they could improve upon it.  "There wasn't a satisfying answer to how the material was working," said Argonne scientist Matthias Young, "but after doing a lot of calculations on the system, we discovered that by combining theories, we could make sense of the mechanism."  Extensive testing of several other materials has helped the scientists develop the model and demonstrate its usefulness in predicting exceptional phenomena.  "The model describes how properties of a material and its environment interact with each other and lead to transformations and degradation," said Young.  "It helps us predict what will happen to a material in a specific environment.  Will it fall apart?  Will it store charge?"   https://phys.org/news/2018-09-greater-sum.html

The Reference Library and Education and Engagement Department at the Toledo Museum of Art have joined forces to place two Little Free Libraries in the David K. Welles Sculpture Garden, making them the first Little Free Libraries located in the downtown Toledo area.  People can take books, then return them, or put in a different book.  Librarian Alison Huftalen and Archivist Julie McMaster will present a Preserving Your Family Treasures Workshop on Saturday, December 8, 2018 at 11 a.m.  Participants may bring examples of personal books, papers, photographs and small artifacts.  Cost is $20 members, $25 nonmembers.  Sign up at toledomuseum.org.  For questions, please contact Head Librarian, Alison Huftalen at ahuftalen@toledomuseum.org or (419) 255-8000 x7386

September 19, 2018  SOUTHWEST HARBOR, Maine   In an effort to be more humane, the owner of a roadside lobster shack on Mount Desert Island is selling lobsters that have been exposed to marijuana smoke before they are cooked.  Charlotte Gill, owner of Charlotte’s Legendary Lobster Pound in the Southwest Harbor village of Seawall, has treated lobster by blowing marijuana smoke into a plastic box with a lobster in it before the lobster goes in the cooking pot.  She said killing the lobster by stabbing it through its head or by electrocuting it can be quicker, but also can be cruel if not done correctly.  Gill, a licensed medical marijuana caregiver, said Wednesday that the practice is “kinder” for the lobster, which in addition to being boiled alive has to endure a stressful environment of being kept in a crowded tank with other lobsters before it is killed.  This past March, Switzerland banned the practice of boiling lobsters alive over concerns that the crustaceans feel pain when cooked.  Gill said that in an experiment, she put a lobster in a box with a few inches of water in the bottom and then blew marijuana smoke into the water, letting it bubble up into the air in the sealed box.  The lobster, named Roscoe, appeared to be more relaxed for the next three weeks.  She later released him back into the ocean.  “The fear is gone,” she said, describing Roscoe’s state post-treatment.  “Everything wants to feel safe.”  Gill said research indicates lobster do have cannabinoid receptors that make them feel the effects of the drug, but there is no effect on people who eat lobster that have been treated with marijuana before the crustaceans are cooked.  It makes the meat taste better, she said, because the lobster are not stressed in captivity leading up to being eaten, and there is no buildup in the lobster’s muscle tissue of THC, which is the primary psychoactive chemical compound found in the marijuana plant.  Bill Trotter  http://bangordailynews.com/2018/09/19/news/hancock/maine-lobster-pound-uses-marijuana-to-calm-crustaceans-before-boil/  Thank you, Muse reader! 

Are You an Extravert, Introvert, or Ambivert?  What is an ambivert, and why does it matter? by Ronald E. Riggio  November 27, 2017   Research by psychologist Adam Grant (and others) has focused on those individuals who are neither strongly extraverted, nor strongly introverted—what has been termed “ambiverts.”  Whereas extraverts enjoy being with and interacting with others, and introverts enjoy solitude, ambiverts are characterized as being ambivalent about social situations—sometimes enjoying the company of others, but also enjoying being alone at times.  See also What is an Ambivert? (and take a quiz) at https://www.scienceofpeople.com/ambivert/

Researchers led by Northwestern Engineering’s Luis Amaral sifted through data from more than 1.5 million questionnaire respondents to find at least four distinct clusters of personality types exist—average, reserved, self-centered, and role model—challenging existing paradigms in psychology.  “People have tried to classify personality types since Hippocrates’s time, but previous scientific literature has found that to be nonsense,”said co-author William Revelle, professor of psychology at Northwestern University’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.  The new study appears in Nature Human Behaviour.  The new research combined an alternative computational approach with data from four questionnaires, attracting more than 1.5 million respondents from around the world.  The questionnaires, developed by the research community over the decades, have between 44 and 300 questions.  People voluntarily take the online quizzes, attracted by the opportunity to receive feedback about their own personality.  These data are now being made available to other researchers for independent analyses.  Average people are high in neuroticism and extraversion, while low in openness.  This is the most common personality type.  The Reserved type is emotionally stable but not open or neurotic.  They are not particularly extraverted but are somewhat agreeable and conscientious.  Role models score low in neuroticism and high in all the other traits.  They are good leaders, dependable and open to new ideas.  Self-Centered people score very high in extraversion and below average in openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness.  Read more, including descriptions of character traits, at https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2018/september/are-you-average-reserved-self-centered-or-a-role-model/

Banned Books Week 2018 is September 23-29.  It brings together the entire book community—librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types—in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.  The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted with removal or restricted in libraries and schools.  http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/banned  The American Library Association (ALA) won't release the top ten challenged books for 2018 until after the year is over.  ALA will publish it in April 2019.  Explore banned and challenged books by topic, genre, time, and audience at http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1957  September 23, 2018   Word of the Day  gamboge  noun   One of several species of trees of the genus Garcinia found in South and Southeastern Asia, especially Garcinia xanthochymus.  The resin of the gamboge tree; a preparation of the resin used as a pigment or for medicinal purposes.  A deep yellow colour.  Today is Constitution Day in Cambodia.  The Constitution was signed by King Norodom Sihanouk on this day 25 years ago in 1993.  See gamboge color sample at Wiktionary