Five Acres with a View

I was shocked the other day to read the other day that only 38% of Americans could give blood if they wanted to. The CBS article Number Of Americans Eligible To Give Blood Overestimated By 60 Percent  explains why.  When I started donating in college, I think they asked potential donors about seven questions, including about how the donor was feeling that day.  I think there were several dozen questions that I answered to today before I donated.  Without working at a place with a regular visit by a blood bank, I hadn’t donated in four or five years.  With my new job, I now drive past a hospital with a blood bank four days a week, so I decided to schedule an appointment there.  I am pleased to report that the juice and chocolate chip cookies were very good.

March 25, 2007 – Click on image for higher resolution version.

Wikipedia has an article on Bighorn Sheep, two herds of which I was thrilled to see on our Sunday trip.

Like many others, I just went to our pantry and verifed that we didn’t have any of the peanut butter mentioned in FDA Recall.

If you are tired of buying batteries, use these instructions for a Potato powered mp3 player.

February 02, 2007 – Click on image for higher resolution version.

Yesterday morning, it was cold enough for us to see ice bows not long after sunrise. I was amazed by how close they appeared.

When I first heard about caffeinated doughnuts, I thought it was a joke.

According to Maybe Two Snowflakes are Alike, the old adage that “no two snowflakes are alike” might not hold true, at least for smaller crystals, new research suggests.

Astronomy Picture of the Day has a gorgeous photo of
Comet McNaught Over Catalonia today.

PZ Myers, of pharyngula, explains How the Cavefish Lost Its Eyes.