10 Inventions Inspired by Nature

 10 Inventions Inspired by Nature 

 Dr Abe V Rotor 

Living with Nature School on Blog

Pinawa (brown rice) hand mill, Farmers' Museum, NFA Cabanatuan

Who were the first inventors?

The otter playfully lies on its back in water, crushes its food shells with stones on its chest. The eagle takes up in the air a piece of bone, aims and drops it accurately hitting a rock in order to break, then comes down and eats the bone marrow. The macaque uses a stick which it probes into a termite nest to gather termites which it eventually eats. Birds do the same in extracting the larvae of tree borers.

Then there is man, the inventor; his teacher - Nature.

If we look at man's invention there is a semblance of Nature's ways, from the web of spider to become fishing net, the sounds of breeze on trees and waves lapping the shore into sweet sound of music, the flight of the bumblebee into helicopter. But all these were not planned, deliberate and well understood. They came from providential discovery called serendipity. Alexander Fleming did not actually discover antibiotics from his specimen - rather from a contaminant that destroyed it. Macaroni was started from a spilled durum wheat dough in the sun.

Can anyone become an inventor or a discoverer?

If you think you cannot do much, and that the little you can do is of no value, think of these things:

1. A lantern swinging in a tower as the beginning of a pendulum.

2. A shirt waving on the clothesline was the beginning of a balloon, the forerunner of the Graf Zeppelin.

3. A spider web strung across a garden path suggested the suspension bridg

4. Thomas Edison made thousands upon thousands of trials before he got his celebrated electric light to operate.

5. An apple falling from a tree led to the discovery of the law of gravity. (Newton)

6. Physicist Rene’ Laenvec observed children tapping signals to one another from opposite ends of a hollow log – gave him the idea to invent the stethoscope (wooden tube with an earpiece that transports the sounds from the heart and chest more clearly than any means formerly used)

7. Chester Greenwood 15, dropped out of grammar school invented earmuffs in 1877 at age 19, earned a fortune as he produced millions during WWI.

8. Graham Bell invented the telephone which carries through wire and be heard many miles away. It took years to convince people that this is possible.

9. Joseph Mainer, a French gardener, is credited with inventing steel-reinforced cement after observing a 3-foot straw of wheat was able to hold heavy grains upright in high wind.

10. A tea kettle singing on a stove was the beginning of the steam engine. 

And, the first tool of man which is flint stone must have been inspired by natural fragmentation of rocks by heat and cold, and avalanche.

Invention builds on another like the sled developing into something more efficient, into wheel. And yet the Aztecs and Incas, the Inuits and American Indians did not use wheels, but relied on sled instead?

We may not know who first discovered fire, invented the wheel or fish hook, or thought of the idea of a pyramid. We can only wonder on the ingenuity of the inventor of the scissor and the sewing needle.

And thank the mother of invention and serendipity - Nature. ~

Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class Monday to Friday

Ways to Conserve Our Sloping Lands through SALT

 Ways to Conserve Our Sloping Lands through SALT

           SALT (Sloping Agricultural Land Technology)*

Dr Abe V Rotor

Upland in Silang, Cavite, typical of farms on sloping land. Erosion does not only reduce soil fertility; it strips off the fertile "skin and flesh" of the land permanently. Here the slope has been sliced by rills and gullies, footprints of runoff water. Through years of neglect and mismanagement the land is now marginalized, a step away from becoming a wasteland. (Photo by the author)  

These are ways to conserve sloping lands. 

1. Don't disturb the natural vegetation that has preserved the state of the land, say forest or grassland, for years if not generations. Nature knows what is best in keeping the land in a state of dynamic balance, which is the key to long term stability (homeostasis).   

2. A slope does not exist as an independent piece of land - it links two terrains, the upper part is usually a watershed that catches the rain, and the lower part which deposits the net runoff in rivers, ponds and lakes. 

Destruction of the slopes leads to desertification (wasteland formation) as the land is stripped of its cover, predisposing it to repeated brush fire and erosion. Below the rivers run dry, so with the ponds, that irrigate the fields. The lake shrinks and form a swamp around it.  

3. The slopes serve as buffer and storage of water and soil nutrients.  If it is destroyed, rainwater will be lost quickly as it rushes down with little amount absorbed and kept for future use specially in summer. 

The aquifers (porous rock layers) will not be filled up to feed the streams and springs. Plants will dry up under the sun to fuel a spark into conflagration as what is has happened to many arid parts of the world - Indonesia, Australia, Green, China, and the Philippines.     

4. In the Cordillera (Mountain Province and Ifugao) terraces have been built on mountain slopes where there is a rock core, on contiguous and graded slopes that span from a cloud rich summit down to rice fields that sustain a community. Ultimately a natural waterway becomes the catchment.  The scenario starts with rain cloud from the summit slowly and continuously moving over the terraces in the shape of a giant funnel. 

Terrace building took centuries, terrace after terrace, linking the generations and cultures, unifying agriculture and ecology, and it is for these underlying reasons that the Banaue rice terraces has gained the prestige of one of the wonders of the ancient world, and today's honor as a UNESCO heritage.  

6. For privately owned sloping areas, if  one wishes to go into farming, say an orchard or woodland (agro-forestry), or as a pasture - or in combination - it is important to consult the present Land Use Policy. Consultation with the DA and DENR is important.

 

Typical sloping land farming (Internet)

SALT (Sloping Agricultural Land Technology) is a program of the government patterned after those of China, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan and many other parts of the world. Author's Note: SALT  has limited applications, typically feasible on gently sloping land, and seldom in areas above 45 degrees.  Where rainfall is limited and irregular SALT is not recommended. SALT is not the answer to wasteland conversion, rather it is a wasteland prevention measure. 

7. Where agriculture is not feasible, sloping lands should be preserved as ecological sanctuary, to compensate for the shrinking natural habitats of wildlife. Ecology tourism is a boost to such areas.  More and more tourists are coming out from cities at weekend, and tourists searching for the richness of tropical greenery, the famed setting of John Milton's sequel, I saw Paradise Lost and I Saw Paradise Regained. ~

* Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT) is a package of technology of soil conservation and food production, integrating differing soil conservation measures in just one setting. Basically, SALT is a method of growing field and permanent crops in 3-5 m wide bands between contoured rows of nitrogen fixing trees.

Are you a narcissist? Take this test.

Are you a narcissist? Take this test.

Narcissism is sometimes a cradle-to-grave affliction, with family members, co-workers, lovers and others paying a price. (Jeffrey Kluger, The Narcissist's Next Door)

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature - School on Blog

 

Here are two photos from the Internet to illustrate the two faces of narcissism syndrome - extreme love of oneself, typically "the Narcissus in Greek mythology looking at his image on the lake all day," (left photo), and conceitedness as to be too cold to feel the love of another, as in the case of Echo the nymph of the forest who was deeply in love for Narcissus only to be tragically unreciprocated.  (Acknowledgement: Internet)  

Never in recorded history of mankind had Narcissus the symbol of self-centeredness ever possessed so many people, particularly the young, as he has today - what with the invention of the selfie (other-directed camera), fashion unlimited (Lady Gaga, Madonna), flashy cars (move over Old Ford), explosion of knowledge (Computer Age), social media (Cell phone, Tablet et al), urbanization (Metropolises, megapolises), consumerism (lifeblood of capitalism). 

What and where is the origin of this egocentrism?

In The Little Narcissists, small children, by their very nature " ... are greedy, demanding, violent, selfish, impulsive and utterly remorseless." They fight with playmates and siblings but scream in pain and indignation if they are attacked in return. They expect to be adored but not disciplined, rewarded but never penalized, cared for and served by parents and family without caring or serving reciprocally.

But it is also a kind of narcissism that babies need for their very survival.  Sigmund Freud in his book His Majesty the Baby called this as primary narcissism, which is not true narcissism because babies are not moved by greed and guile but the primal need to live. Psychologists explain that the seeds of the behaviors that turn into genuine narcissism aren't scattered throughout the baby's temperament.  Just like seeds of other personality disorders - tantrums that, if not brought to heels, become histrionic personality disorder later in life, the deep need for love and attention, and the rage at their absence, that in an adult is called borderline personality disorder.  

The narcissism that babies exhibit is a phase that passes, so that as they grow up they become aware of the limits of their behavior - though it is a lesson that they must learn through their formative years. 

Is narcissism hereditary?  A study of identical twins showed that when one member of the pair was narcissistic, there was a 77% chance the other would be too - something that was not true of fraternal twins, whose genes are more similar than those of other siblings.  

A commonly accepted theory is a mask model of narcissism, the idea that the self-absorption and egotism of the narcissist are a pose to mask their opposite: a deep well of self loathing and low self-esteem. An opposing theory is that the grandiosity of the narcissist is just what it seems: a consuming self-regard, perhaps fostered by overindulgent parents. 

---------------------------------------------------------
Narcissism is psychopathology.  It is characterized by a virtually bottomless appetite for attention and rewards, and numbness on how others suffer. Narcissism however, is a built-in evolutionary tool for survival starting at birth and nurtured through the years of growing up. This is where proper guidance comes in from the family, school, community, and through education and proper environment. There's one little consolation though - narcissism, like any personality disorder may also simply mellow a bit with age. 
---------------------------------------------------------

Check the answer in each pair that comes closest to describing you.  Don't leave any pairs blank. 

1.
A  I have  natural talent in influencing people. 
B  I am not good at influencing people.

2. 
A When people complement me, I sometimes get embarrassed.  
B I know I am good because everybody keeps telling me so. 

3.
A I am no better or worse than most people. 
B I think I am a special person. 

4.
A  I will be a success.
B I am not too concerned about being a success.

5. 
A The thought of ruling the world frightens the hell out of me. 
B If I ruled the world, it will be a better place. 

6. 
A I try not to show off.
B I usually show off if I get the chance.

7.
A Sometimes I tell good stories.
B Everybody likes to to hear my stories.

8. 
A I expect a great deal from other people.
B I like to do things for other people 

9.
A I will never be satisfied until I get all that I deserve.
B I take my satisfactions as they come.

10.
A I wish someday somebody would write my biography.  
B I don't like people to pry into my life for any reason.

Scoring Key
Score one point for each time you checked A in Nos. 1,4,8,9, or 10.
Score one point for each time you checked B in Nos. 2,3,5,6, or 7.

What it Means
The average score is 4.  The higher your score above that, the more narcissistic you might be. 

     

Romantic paintings of Narcissus endlessly admiring his beauty day after day until he fell into the lake and drown. Echo, the nymph of the forest seduces the proud Narcissus only to be coldly unreciprocated. In deep sorrow she vanishes and becomes the echo of the mountains. (Acknowledgement: Internet photos)

Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio

738 DZRB AM, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

Excerpted from the narcissistic personality inventory developed by Robert Raskin and Howard Terry as reported by Jeffrey Kluger, The Little Narcissists, Time September 1, 2014 ~

The Month of May - When AMIHAN and HABAGAT Meet

                   When Amihan and Habagat Meet 

Celebrating the Passing of Seasons in Paintings and Verses  

Dr Abe V Rotor

Sunlight Stream Through the Forest, 2015

                                 May, the parting of seasons:
                                      summer bids goodbye,
                                 welcomes the rainy habagat;
                                     wakes the trees in sigh.

A Wholesome Bouquet  2015

May, the month of flowers and blossoms,

bright and shy and stern,

offers to the Creator but His own gifts,

man's thanksgiving in return. 

Red Fish and Brood 2015

Wonder what the month of May is in the deep;

it's a mother fish with a brood in her keep.

Rainbow Trees 2015

Wonder what the rainbow is in May

when the sky is clear and blue;

how these trees mimic the rainbow,

like the heart longing and true.

A Camouflage of Moth 2015

Hidden safe in disguise and design

from jaws and sting and beak

by nature's law of deceit to defend

the defenseless and weak. ~

Spider on the Wall

 Spider on the Wall   

Dr Abe V Rotor 

In my room one peaceful evening came a spider.

Welcome, gladly I said, as it paused for a moment

on drawings on the wall my grand children made,

its legs tapping a message for whatever it meant.

Ah, you are an artist too, I guessed, as it moved 

along and across swiftly I thought it would fall,

Instead it embraced a make-believe companion;

I looked into this creature a mirror on the wall.

Giant house spider (Aratigena africa) is also known as Wolsey spider (Tegenaria parietina), sometimes referred to as Cardinal spider, named after Cardinal Wolsey during the time of  Henry VIII of England. Giant house spiders have been recently  classified under genus Aratigena. 

Books written by Dr Abe V Rotor

       Books written by Dr Abe V Rotor

avrotor@gmail.com

Winner of National Book Award 2007, Living with Nature in Our Times, 

a sequel to The Living with Nature Handbook [Winner of Gintong Aklat 

 (Golden Book) Award 2003]

 
AVR views award-winning books at Yuchengco Museum, Makati

Philippine Literature Today: A Travelogue Approach (co-authors Abercio V Rotor and Kristine Molina-Doria, C and E Publishing Co.) aims at guiding students, in the light of present day trends, to trace back the foundation of literature’s basic tenets and principles and preserve its integrity and true essence.  Four pillars of Philippine literature stand sentinel to help the students answer the question “Quo vadis?” To where are we heading for? 

Four great Filipinos are acclaimed vanguards of Philippine Literature. The cover of the book, conceptualized and made by artist Leo Carlo R Rotor, depicts the theme of the book - travelogue in literature with these heroes.   Jose Rizal on politico-socio-cultural subjects, including ecological, Rizal being an environmentalist while in exile in Dapitan, Misamis Oriental, Mindanao; Francisco Baltazar or Balagtas on drama and performing arts in general, fiction novels and plays, evolving into stage show and cinema; Severino Reyes or Lola Basyang on mythology, children’s stories, komiks, and a wealth of cartoons and other animations and Leona Florentino, the Philippines’ Elizabeth Browning, Ella Wilcox, Emily Bronte et al, epitomize the enduring classical literature. 

 

"The humanities hold the greatest treasure of mankind."  Co-authored with Dr Kristine Molina-Doria, the book, in summary, makes Humanities, a basic 3-unit subject in college, interesting and attractive to students. The book is distinct from conventional textbooks by being experiential in approach - meaning, on-site, hands-on, and encompassing of the various schools of art - old, new and postmodern.  Learning is further enhanced by viewing an accompanying compact disc (CD), and by having easy access to a wide range of references principally from the authors' works on Facebook and Blog. [avrotor.blogspot.com] It is a publication of C&E, one of the country's biggest publishers and distributors of books. Launched in February this year it is now adapted by several colleges and universities.

" 'Do unto the land as you would the land do unto you. Treat the land with request, if not with reverence.' xxx The tree is taken to represent the environment. Each poem and each painting is like a leaf of a tree each revealing a little of the many marvels of this unique creation. Each poem and each painting is a plea on behalf of this new vision and of this new ethics." (Excerpt from the Message by Dr. Armando F. De Jesus, Ph.D. former Dean, Faculty of Arts and Letters, UST 2010)

"What makes this poetry collection specially significant is its ecological slant which gives it an added dimension rarely attributed to other poetry collections. xxx to “get out of the house” and bond with nature. It is a departure from the usual stale air of solitariness and narcissism which permeates most poetry today. Every poem indeed becomes a “flower in disguise” using the poet’s own words." (Excerpt from the Foreword by the late Ophelia A. Dimalanta, Ph.D. Director, Center for Creative Writing and Studies, UST). 

The book contains 170 poems and verses with accompanying photographs and images, 190 pp, in easy reading font, Times New Roman, bold type. 

Published by University of Santo Tomas, launched 2008 Manila International Book Fair, SMX Mall of Asia, 220 pp. 

"The book is a compendium of indigenous technical knowledge complemented with modern scientific thinking. The narratives offer an exploration into the world of ethno-science covering a wide range of practical interest from climate to agriculture; medicine to food and nutrition..: (Excerpt of Foreword by Dr Lilian J Sison, dean UST Graduate School).

" For the science educator and communicator, here is a handy volume to help you reach the popular consciousness. You will find here more than ample number of examples for making connections between lived experience and scientific information." (Dr Florentino H Hornedo, UNESCO Commissioner)

 

Winner of the Gintong Aklat Award 2003 by the Book Publishers Association of the Philippines. The book has 30 chapters (189 pp),divided into four parts, a practical guide on how one can get closer to nature, the key to a healthy and happy life. Second printing, 2008.

"Once upon a time, nature was pristine, undefiled, and unspoiled. We used to live in a dreamlike world of tropical virgin forests, and purer hidden springs, calm ponds, and serene lakes with majestic purple mountains, crowned with canopied trees. That was when people took only what they needed, caught only what they ate, and lived only in constant touch with a provident earth." (excerpt from the Introduction by Dr Anselmo Set Cabigan, professor, St Paul University QC and former director of the National Food Authority)

 

A Sequel to the Living with Nature Handbook (312 pp), it was launched at the Philippine International Book Fair. It won the 2006 National Book Award by the National Book Development Board jointly with The Manila Book Circle and the National Commission for the Culture and the Arts. Published by UST Publishing House, the book has 35 chapters divided into four parts. The book can be aptly described in this verse.

"Nature shares her bounty in many ways:

He who works or he who prays,

Who patiently waits or gleefully plays;

He's worthy of the same grace."

The principal author is Dr. Belen L Tangco who wrote the verses and prayers. Each verse or prayer is accompanied by an appropriate painting by AV Rotor. Full color and handy, it is useful as a prayer book and reference in the Humanities.

"Indeed, God speaks to us in the little details of nature - through the trees and the flowers, in the drip of rain, in the blow of the wind. He speaks to us in all of His Creation..." (Excerpt from the Foreword by Fr Tamelane R Lana, UST Rector)

A coffee table book, full color, published by Megabooks in 1995. It was dedicated and presented to the Holy Father, John Paul II, on his visit to the Philippines by the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, Sister Teresita Bayona SPC, and Fr. James B Reuter, SJ.

" Doctor A.V. Rotor is an extraordinary man - scientist, painter, musician, photographer, poet. With these verses he becomes something more than an artist. He is an apostle - trying, in his own gentle way, to bring man to God. and God to man, through beauty." (Message by Fr James B Reuter, SJ in his own handwriting)

A collection of 18 essays about life and living, 216 pages. Published by UST in 2000 with the Preface written by Fr. Jose Antonio Aureada, regent of the Graduate School.

"What is considered a religion of disconnection betrays man's inability to see sensuality through divinity and divinity through sensuality... It was Victor Frankl, a Jewish psychotherapist-philosopher, who popularized logotherapy, a word of Greek origin which literally means healing through meaning. Dr Abe. the poet-musician-painter-scientist rolled into one, reminds us of the Franklian inspired principle: The unheard cry for meaning if only well-heeded in all aspects of life - from the least significant to the extremely necessary, from the most commonplace to the phenomenally sublime - can only restore authenticity back to living life beautifully."

The book is in full color, 75 pages, written by a very young student of then St Paul College QC. In the words of Sr Mary Sarah Manapol in the Foreword, "Viva is a youthful poetess who thinks and writes about pain and loss, friendship, joy and love, music and the arts, nature, math and literature, war and piece - these belie her age of 17 summers."

Dr AV Rotor as co-author, provided the photographs and paintings that fit harmoniously with the poems. More than this, he encouraged the young poetess to write her first book which was launched on her debut. Here is a verse from an anonymous admirer.

"After reading Light of Dawn, 
How can I live without poetry and art?
From the love that I shall find, 
Shall not my heart depart."

Poems, poems, poems, 72 pages, a handy book, colored and black and white, published by Megabooks 2000. The late secretary of justice Sedfrey A Ordonez wrote in the Foreword "... it is inescapable that after reading his poetry and after examining his paintings which accompany his verses one is led to the conclusion that the man who created the multi-disciplinary tour de force is a Renaissance man, one who reveals his reverence for nature by means of music, verse, and painting."

The authors have embarked on this task of providing people with more information about the many uses of some plants. While herbal plants have long been recognized because of their nutritional and medicinal qualities, their other uses are not fully exploited... May we continue to promote alternative medicine... The prices of medicine and health products remain unaffordable to most of our countrymen and herbal plants are the best alternative as most of these have been proven to be effective." (Excerpt from the message of Dr Juan M Flavier, former senator and secretary of health)

A Giraffe Book, it contains 72 verses, mainly four-liners, each verse  accompanied by a photograph or painting. Most of the photos were taken by students in the Humanities at then St Paul College QC. The school president wrote the Foreword, an excerpt of which reads as follows:

"It takes deep reflection to arouse one's inner child to take notice of the undistinguished buds, hyacinth, date palms... and it takes a trusting, affirming, and enlightened teacher-artist to lead and inspire..." 

Peacemaking in Asia (350 pp), contains papers presented in the 7th General Assembly of different religions in Asia held at UST in 2008. The proceedings were compiled, edited and published into a book by AVRotor, now in circulation among participating religions.  Copies were made available at the Interfaith Center, TARC Building, UST. 

Celebrating the Gospel of Life - Basic issues in Bioethics - editor and contributor (Anthropological Perspective of Environmental Ethics: Human Life and the Environment.)

Other books and manuals written by Dr Rotor

• Farm Marketing in Asia and the Pacific, Asian Productivity Organization Tokyo Contributor and book editor, 1992
• Our Generous Fragile Earth. Mimeo 1991
• Economic Entomology Manual, De La Salle University (Araneta) 1965
• Plant Morphology and Physiology, De La Salle University (Araneta) 1965
• Farmers' Digest (publisher and editor 1963-66)

 Book Manuscripts of Dr Abercio V Rotor

These book manuscripts have been derived and organized from my website which comprises three blogs Living with Nature, Naturalism the Eighth Sense, and A Naturalist's World. 

Although the theme is Nature, the topics are varied and based on multiple intelligence, sciences and the humanities, and other fields of human interest. I invite you to open my website avrotor.blogspot.com and enjoy reading five thousand articles and lessons.

Ilocano versions of a lot of articles contained in these manuscripts have been published in Bannawag, a weekly Manila Bulletin magazine, under the column of the author, Okeyka, Apong, thanks to Mr Ariel S Tabag whose patience and dedication over the years have made the column accessible to Ilocano speaking readers here and abroad.  There are selected articles used in writing for local publications, technical papers, lectures (UST, DLSU-D, SPU-QC, UPH)  

Many articles contained in these manuscripts have been aired for thirty years until 2015, on Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School on Air) 738 DZRB (Radyo ng Bayan) Monday to Friday, 7 to 8 in the evening, with Dr Abe V Rotor (Ka Abe) as instructor and Ms Melly C Tenorio (Ka Melly) as program host.

 

Annual volumes of the articles since 2006 are now being organized into manuscripts for future publication. Other than these manuscripts, thirteen (13) have been published into books, briefly described in the second part of this article. To date at 80 years old, I continue to write new articles, update and edit previous ones, on my blog avrotor.blogspot.com and its extension Naturalism - the Eighth Sense.  I also invite you to visit  A Naturalist World - Dr Abe V Rotor.  

 

  

   

  

  

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

 

AVR receives first copy of Don't Cut the Trees, Don't
from UST Fr Vice-Rector, and Secretary General

       Philippine literature greats, among them Sedfrey Ordoñez, Ophelia 

Dimalanta, Hortencia Santos Sankore, Larry Francisco,  and Jose Garcia Villa 

 AVR (center) with Ka Melly C Tenorio (seated) co-host of Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid, co-authors Dr Felipe Briana and Dr Kristine Molina Doria, and Mrs Cecille Rotor (in yellow) at DZRB radio station.

AVR with veteran journalist Larry Henares, and Mrs Cecille Rotor

 

 AVR with the late Fr James Reuter SJ, author, dramatist, 

spiritual adviser, at age 94.

With Senator Edgardo Angara, author of National Book Development Board, sponsor of  the annual National Book Awards.  AVR won the National Book Award for Science for 2007 

AVR with Dr Alfredo Co., internationally acclaimed author, and the late 
Dr Micheline Manalastas, former director  of the UST Publishing House 

 

                         With nationally famous authors Abdon Balde and Isagani Cruz, 

                                      National Book Awards 2008

1 comments:

Ariel Sotelo Tabag said...

Nagadu gayamen a libroyo, Manong! Lugay, lugay!

June 28, 2011 8:30 AM