Strawberries

Some Thoughts on Intellectual Honesty

I'm a sucker for buying books at the airport, I think it's because so much free time beckons not only at the airport while waiting to board but then also in the airplane itself.

So I recently bought at SeaTac the book "Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know" by Adam Grant (helpfully subtitled #1New York Times Bestseller).  It's about rethinking your own assumptions which seems like a good topic to read about.

A striking passage about midway into the book I think is worth sharing here, and that is the idea that it is one thing to admit to yourself that you are wrong, but then yet another to confess that you are wrong to others which can open the door to ridicule, loss of reputation and even status in your social circle.

To which author Grant shares the following story, I quote it directly out of the book since it has quite an impact:

"In the early 1990's, the British physicist Andrew Lyne published a major discovery in the world's most prestigious science journal. He presented the first evidence that a planet could orbit a neutron star - a star which had exploded into a super nova.  Several months later, while preparing to give a presentation at an astronomy conference, he noticed that he hadn't adjusted for the fact that the Earth moves in an elliptical orbit, not a circular one.  He was embarrassingly, horribly, wrong. The planet he had discovered didn't exist.

In front of hundreds of colleagues, Andrew walked into the ballroom stage and admitted his mistake.  When he finished his confession, the room exploded in a standing ovation.  One astrophysicist called it the most honorable thing he'd ever seen."

Author Grant draws from this the point that admitting we were wrong doesn't make us look less competent, but rather it's a display of honesty and a willingness to learn.  In fact people can be judged more favorably if they acknowledge the new information or the information they have missed.

 

My own opinion on this is that obviously its important to be honest with yourself and with others, but it is striking to confess a mistake in front of hundreds of people.  It might have been because the erroneous work had lot of impact and was already published in a major journal that Dr. Lyne made the decision to make it widely known what had gone down. The cynic in me also says, since the elliptical nature of Earth's orbit has been known since the early 1600's, he would have gotten found out so it was pretty clear that owning up to it fast was the best route to take anyway.

Those who have worked together with me know that I've certainly had my share of research washouts and monster mistakes and I've owned up to them (and also expect those working with me to do the same), but fortunately they became obvious before the official publication or presentation stage.  If any of these errors had been found out later, and most certainly if others were basing their own work or decision-making on them, I think Dr. Lyne provides a good example on how to deal with it.

Any thoughts?

Not a Raspberry, So What is It

Out for a run in Bellingham last week to maintain my strength for the rigors of the CA berry industry when I spied a tree sporting raspberry-like fruit like those pictured below (and hence my senses being drawn to it immediately).  I've done some internetting on it, but not quite sure.

Thoughts? Anyone want to take a shot at identifying it?  Family is good, genus or even species would be better.

 

Mandrin-Melonberry-HS-Female-1

Announcing Plasticulture Field Day July 30

 

Mark here - I've got an admin responsibility on the same day, so won't be at this meeting, but nevertheless encourage one and all who are interested in seeing firsthand our team's trial of various biodegradable plastics in the field to attend.

The flier for this event is attached below.

 

I am sharing that there will be FREE in-person Plasticulture Field Day, titled Enhancing Plasticulture Sustainability, scheduled for July 30, 2024 in Moss Landing, CA. Spanish Interpretation will be available.
Join us as we cover agricultural plastic recycling, plastic mulch alternatives such as soil-biodegradable mulches, and the latest research on the impacts of plasticulture on soils. See first hand, a commercial trial of soil-biodegradable mulches. We will also hear about mechanical mulch retrieval and the dry-wash processing line that makes mulch recycling possible. Get insights from ReGen Monterey, about local opportunities to recycle drip tape and hoop house plastics. Flyer is attached for more information and for posting. Please share this event with others that might be interested. Don't miss out on this exciting event! Register here:https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/mhuzuy8

Coffee and snacks will be provided. If you have any questions email Alena Anousinh – alena@californiamsf.orgor Jazmine Mejia-Munoz at jazmine@californiamsf.org.

Enhancing Plasticulture Sustainability
Registration: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/mhuzuy8
Date: July 30, 2024
Time: 8:30-11AM
Location: Satsuma Farms, Moss Landing, CA 95039
GPS Pin: 36.860269, -121.762852

Sunscald on Blackberry

I made a visit to a beautiful blackberry field a few days ago and was shown this example of sunscald, in this case on mature Ouachita blackberry. Notice these are not tunneled, and also one observes immediately that only the part of the fruit facing the sun is affected.

While today it started to become quite warm - thinking it'll be hitting a toasty 80 degrees here before long - this was not the situation when the damage occurred on these fruits a few days ago.  More likely, this is a case of ultraviolet radiation (UV) striking and engendering dysfunction in those druplets (the juice filled sacs which compose in aggregate what people know as the blackberry fruit) which are now discolored.   

It is not uncommon to see this disorder right around this time of year, coming so soon as it does after the summer solstice, which we all know is June 21 and the longest day of year.  Which means the greatest amount of UV exposure of the year for everything outside.

This is also the time of year when I get the most calls about aborted flowers in strawberry, and sure enough one photo already floated into my phone this morning, some varieties are more sensitive to UV.  Meaning that the lengthy exposure of flowers to this radiation during the day of and days before and after the solstice is the time that people tend to see this type of damage. 

 

 

Sunscald on Ouachita blackberry.

UC Cooperative Extension Santa Cruz County Has Moved!

Just to let you all know we completed our move from our office we've been at for 56 years into a new facility at 500 Westridge Drive which while on the other side of town.  This is part of a re-organization by the County of Santa Cruz to provide more services to the people residing in the south part of the County.

Our main telephone line is unchanged at 831 763 8001, and obviously email contact remains the same.

 

Signs on the door indicating our change of address

Map showing our new UCCE address and how to get there from the old one. Please call 831 763 8001 before you go.

Read more