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Cool Blogs: Bias Effect

Erin Penn 1 Comment

Photo by Growtika on Unsplash

Another A-to-Z discovery. Some people just have amazing themes. Prakash Hegade is an Assistant Professor at KLE Technological University and for the A-to-Z challenge he choose the theme of “Architecture of Mind”, exploring hidden biases. An amazing series, with each day explaining in wonderful bite-size pieces how the mind biases work. Read them all at your convenience.

Let’s start with on of the easy ones “Framing Effect” – how presenting information can change how it is received and reacted to.

On that I complain about is how house pricing is advertised, “available in the low 600’s”. Soooo, over half a million, close to two-thirds of a million.

And then the numbers we have all been trained for “$3.99” … it is under four dollars.

These articles are top level, but they give you a place to dig deeper.

Framing effect – https://itsphblog.wordpress.com/2026/04/07/framing-effect/

And if you like that, crawl through the rest of his April blog and go from there.

Geeking Science: Chronobiology and the Circadian Clock

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I’ve previously touched base on Circadian Rhythm in Geeking Science: Internal Clocks (Oct 18, 2018). The rhythm of our planet, the heartbeat of our existence, driven by the turn of the planet and how and when sunlight hits us. Will we be able to function on any other planet? And if so, how?

In answer to that, scientists have been looking to the sea, deep into the sea where the sun doesn’t shine. How do creatures without light keep track of time? Can we learn how to use their chemistry and genetics to help us? The biological rhythms of deep-sea mussels seem to be related to tides (Mat), which won’t help us much on planets without a sister planet providing a gravity-driven clock alternative. Other deep-sea beasties seem to react to seasonal water changes between heat and cold, modifying feeding behavior to match availability of food sources. Many water animals combine diurnal (light) and tidal (gravity) cycles.

Humans work on a 24.15 hour clock, with some people having rhythms shorter and some longer, but the average is a little longer than 24 hours and resets with sunlight. (Naked Scientists) The longer-than-24-hours allow humans to adjust to the slow increase of the day during the spring and summer, when we need to function well to gather food, and “more recently” (by evolutional standards) to plant and maintain crops. Though based on circadian studies, fighting the natural lengthening of day our bodies are built for likely increased immunity issues during the winter, but the evolutionary trade-off for better and quicker access to food, providing weight gain in preparation of winter, won the day on average for humanity. The outliers provide bonuses other ways as they always do. Even so, SUNLIGHT resets the clock with precision daily so the slight difference either way from the cycle impact is minimal (but enough to have created a genetic preference over the entire species).

But in space, sunlight won’t be guaranteed, so we need information about how to survive without our special Sol-provided sunlight.  The problem is most of the creatures and plants available for us to study here on Earth evolved from the same single-celled creatures billions of years ago which lived on light flowing into the waters. To answer our questions, scientists must find creatures which didn’t derive from this united genetic line or creatures which have managed somehow to mutate away from it.

Japanese scientists recently found a species of jellyfish which work on what looks like to be a 20-hour cycle. (Starling) They do have a diurnal component related to sunrise, but in the absence of a day-night cycle, the species functions on a 20-hour cycle. (Like when humans don’t have access to a light reset, we slowly move off a perfect 24 hours since we are set up to run slightly longer.) They are studying the hormonal differences between this species and other closely related species which operate much more strongly on the day-night cycle.

The more we learn about other creatures, the more we understand ourselves. The blue light keeping us up at night. How food and gravity interact with hormones to support the normal rhythm, or oppose it, creating health problems.  How it controls our sleep and our body temperature. How time of day impacts the effectiveness of medications and our ability to perform physical activities on the job and during recreation.

Some people do much better with night jobs than others. Others have serious issues with seasonal depression as light fades. Closer to the equator, where day-night cycle varies little (and matches where humans originally evolved), the circadian rhythm functions like…clockwork. Toward the poles where the sun might not rise or set for days, humans function less well, mentally and physically.

The rhythms of day-night, moon gravity position, seasons all impact us making us happy and grumpy, awake and tired, healthy and ill. Our internal clocks change as we age from birth through old age. And we must learn how these cycles work if we are going to recreate them elsewhere without our sun, moon, and Earth spinning through our solar system.

In the meantime, if it is late, whoever is reading this, turn off the lights and give yourself a couple hours off-screen to let your sleeping cycle kick in properly.

 

Bibliography

Cleveland Clinic. “Circadian Rhythm.” 2024 March 14. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/circadian-rhythm – last viewed 5/11/2026.

Louis, Victoria and Patrick Emery. “Biological rhythms: In the sea, two clocks are better than one. 2025 June 23. https://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(25)00596-2 – last viewed 5/11/2026.

Mat, Audrey M. et al. “Biological rhythms in the deep-sea hydrothermal mussel Bathymodiolus azoricus” nature communications. 2020 July 10. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17284-4 – last viewed 5/11/2026.

Naked Scientists, The. “Why is our circadian rhythm not 24 hours?” 2017 August 8. https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/questions/why-our-circadian-rhythm-not-24-hours – last viewed 5/11/2026.

Starling, Marlowe. “The Jellies That Evolved a Different Way to Keep Time.” Quantamagazine. 2026 March 20. https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-jellies-that-evolved-a-different-way-to-keep-time-20260320/ – last viewed 5/11/2026.

Book Review: Three BIPoC Children Books

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Today’s Book Review blog is a little different. I am recommended three non-fiction children books by BIPoC authors. Informative, innovative artwork, and fun, children non-fiction books give one time to read non-fiction, becoming informed on history and science. I highly recommend working your way through the non-fiction children section of your local library. Added bonus is picking up materials on BIPoC history, artists, and authors.

Today’s books are:

The Girl Who Heard the Music: How One Pianist and 85,000 Bottles and Cans Brought New Hope to an Island words by Marni Fogelson with Mahani Teave and pictures by Marta Álvarez Miguéns

One Wish: Fatima al-Fihri and the World’s Oldest University by M.O. Yuksel (Author) and Mariam Quraishi (Illustrator)

Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré by Anika Aldamuy Denise (author) and Paola Escobar (Illustrator)

 

Amazon Cover

BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON FOR The Girl Who Heard the Music

Imagine living on a tiny island more than a thousand miles from any other inhabited place! That’s where a girl named Mahani lived―on Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island. Mahani grew up taking music lessons on the island’s only piano. She had the talent to become a great pianist, but pursuing that dream meant leaving the home she loved.

As Mahani toured the world as an acclaimed concert pianist, Rapa Nui stayed close to her heart. She knew the island struggled with problems like ocean trash and wondered how she could help. So she returned to Rapa Nui with a new dream―to build a music school! The unique building is constructed with recycled trash and has solar panels and a food garden. Now Mahani is helping build a more sustainable future for her island home―where the music continues.

The perfect choice for parents looking for:

  • Inspiring nonfiction about women making a difference
  • Stories about sustainability and saving the environment
  • Kids STEAM books.

MY REVIEW FOR The Girl Who Heard the Music

Do you have a young musician in your home? This non-fiction autobiographical children’s book tells the story of Mahani Teave (who co-authored this book with children’s book author Marni Fogelson, illustrated by Marta Alvarez Miguens).

The line that got me was “In the teacher’s living room, Mahani practiced the notes…until one day, CLICK!” I have seen that happen when a child is learning to read. And it is true for anyone who has found their passion, be it sports, music, painting, or embroidery. At some point something just clicks, and this, this is your love! It might even be Legos or gardening.

The pictures are beautiful, making it easy to fall in love with Rapa Nui (Easter Island). The book ends with two pages of facts, making this book a great choice for home schooling on a variety of subjects from how the Pacific islands were settled, to different languages, the the Moai (the Easter Island heads), to ecology, and social planning.

Amazon Cover

BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON FOR One Wish

Fatima had one wish . . .

Fatima al-Fihri loved to learn. She wanted to know everything, like how birds flew, why the sky was blue, and how flowers grew. But more than anything, she wanted a school for all, where anyone could study and become whatever they wanted, like teachers, scientists, and doctors.

As she grew older, Fatima carried her one wish inside her, through good times and bad. Fueled by her faith and her determination, she worked hard to make her one wish come true. For over a thousand years, Fatima’s one wish—her school—served students and scholars from around the globe, and it continues to do so today!

With lyrical text by M. O. Yuksel (author of In My Mosque) and stunning illustrations by Mariam Quraishi, this true-life portrait of an extraordinary Muslim woman shows the importance of never giving up on your dreams and how we all have the power to change the world for the better.

MY REVIEW FOR One Wish

The learned are the heirs of the Prophets, and the Prophets do not leave behind gold or silver coins but rather they leave behind knowledge. (Hadith 3641)

Some children crave learning; Fatima was once such child. More than that was a desire to have a place of learning for everyone. Thanks to growing up in a rich family who managed to survive a displacement and a short time as refugees plus a beneficial marriage, she was able to do something beyond wish. She built a university and a community center – one whose history and activities have continued from 859 C.E. to its integration into the modern Moroccan university system. A University impacting history and the world. She built with purpose and the world has benefited.

This biography picture book includes three pages of history and a glossary at the end. The pictures are colorful without being overwhelming.

 

Amazon Cover

BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON FOR Planting Stories

An inspiring picture book biography of storyteller, puppeteer, and New York City’s first Puerto Rican librarian, who championed bilingual literature.

When she came to America in 1921, Pura Belpré carried the cuentos folklóricos of her Puerto Rican homeland. Finding a new home at the New York Public Library as a bilingual assistant, she turned her popular retellings into libros and spread story seeds across the land. Today, these seeds have grown into a lush landscape as generations of children and storytellers continue to share her tales and celebrate Pura’s legacy.

Brought to colorful life by Paola Escobar’s elegant and exuberant illustrations and Anika Aldamuy Denise’s lyrical text, this gorgeous book is perfect for the pioneers in your life.

Informative backmatter and suggested further reading included.

A Spanish-language edition, Sembrando historias: Pura Belpré: bibliotecaria y narradora de cuentos, is also available.

MY REVIEW FOR Planting Stories

Some people report things can’t be changed, then you stumble across a story like Pura Belpre who through one simple action following another introduced the Latinx community to the public library system in the 1920s, starting children librarians performing puppet shows, and publishing bi-lingual children books.

This book features many Spanish words mixed in with English. If you are reading this to your children and you have not studied Spanish for some time, you might want to practice before reading it.

The pictures are colorful, show representation and clothes appropriate to the times, and are fun. Paola Escobar does a wonderful job as illustrator.

You can make changes by planting seeds.

Flash: One Sunny Day

Erin Penn 1 Comment

Photo by Johny Goerend on Unsplash

I love the window seat when flying on a plane. Living in the greater Seattle area involved clouds more often than not (only Anchorage Alaska beat us on cloudy days), and the chance to break through and get above them for once made me feel like I conquered the world even if it was a simple commute to Buffalo New York for our twice-a-year meet-up of all the virtual employees at World-Connected. Being the manager of the western seaboard meant I had extra in-person meetings with the big-wigs and couldn’t skate by in a nice top and pajama bottoms from home even if half of the meetings would be virtual break-out groups with my team members on satellite delay.

The rain against the window on the runway as we coasted into position quickly turned into a gray wall of fluff streaking water as I was pressed against the seat during our initial climb. Light flickered in-and-out the higher we climbed; the cloud varying between cotton ball white and melancholy charcoal as we passed through mountains of atmospheric moisture. Until, finally, we leveled out with the world below stretched as far as I could see a rolling landscape of white hills and a brilliant sky of blue except for the burning ball of brilliance far too close to look at long.

I won again. The cloud cannot hold me down! I smiled at my whimsy, but the truth is, I also felt it in my soul, like a release from gravity.

I should probably move away from a place where clouds cover the sky over sixty percent of the time, but I had scored a house secured between three major cable carriers and also came with a satellite dish in the backyard leftover from the eighties. It had only needed a little tweaking to get working, and with the generator I added, I never had downtime. My bosses loved it.

I saw a plane shadow race past below us, likely the one I will be using to return back home in four days. I half-lowered the window shutter at the request of my seat companion, who started snoring almost immediately thereafter even though we had a mid-morning flight. Pulling out a book on the ethics of generative AI from my smaller carry-on, I divided my attention between the clouds as we passed over the Rockies and work reading.

We were passing over the patchwork quilt of the Midwest where scrub-brush brown was broken by wheels of irrigated green crops when the light dropped, making it hard to read though I no longer was being mildly cooked by the nearby sun. Annoyed, I looked out the window; it wasn’t even lunch time, though we were working against the clock with this passage from west to east.

No clouds above or below. The mid-summer heat dome had pushed the moisture up to Canada.

Instead, something passed slowly in front of the sun.

There was no eclipse scheduled.

And the object eclipsing the sun wasn’t disc-shaped.

(words 502; first published 8/16/2026 – created for Writer Workshop Prompt: Set your story in or on a car, plane, or train. Let the journey, destination, or confined space shape the characters and events. – word limit of two pages or less)