Tuesday, February 3, 2009

The Lesson: Learn from Nature

Canadian Geese

Scientists have studied this question "Why do Canadian geese fly in a V-formation when they migrate?"

The conclusion: Flying in the V-formation is easier on the birds than flying alone. The first bird must fly against the full strength of the wind, but each succeeding bird in the formation has less air resistance to push against. Since the birds take turns being the leader (and having the hardest flight), they can fly longer distances without getting tired. The geese also honk to encourage each other to keep going.

Another interesting insight: When a goose gets sick or wounded and has to land, two other geese land with it. They stay with the injured bird until it dies or gains enough strength to fly again. Then they catch up with their flock.

Source: Harvey O. Bennett

Redwood and the Tan Oak

The north coast of California is home to the world’s tallest trees. A walk through a virgin old-growth redwood forest can be one of the most awe-inspiring experiences you’ll ever have. These trees sometimes live to be over 2,000 years old and can reach heights of 300 feet and more. The tallest redwood tree ever recorded was 367 feet in height. The gigantic redwoods dwarf their other softwood and hardwood neighbors, thus becoming “the Mount Everest of all living things.”

The coastal redwoods are truly lords of their realm. They reign over associated trees because of their overwhelming height and majestic beauty. However, there is another feature of these towering giants that is truly remarkable and somewhat unknown to most of us. Even though they grow up to heights of 300 feet and can weigh more than one million pounds, these trees have a very shallow root system. Their roots only go down three to six feet but can spread out several hundred feet. As these roots extend out, they intertwine with their sibling redwoods and other trees as well. This intertwining of roots creates a webbing effect. Most engineers would tell you with a shallow root system it would be impossible to keep the redwoods intact and protected against strong winds and floods. However, the interconnecting root systems are the secret of their strength and teach us a great lesson.

First, let’s acknowledge that these magnificent giants simply could not make it alone. Without being connected to other family members and helpful neighbors, they would not survive.

One of the other abundant species under the redwood canopy is a little-known hardwood tree called Lithocarpus densiflorus. It is also called tan oak. The tan oak fits into the same general family as the true oaks but is a little different. There are several billion board feet of this species growing amongst the popular redwoods, and it has many fine qualities, but it’s almost completely overlooked and unused.

The mind-set: We’re doing just fine with the old standbys; why change?

Source: Richard H. Winkel

Riptides Kill Some People

Riptides kill hundreds of swimmers on ocean coasts each year. As the riptide takes the swimmer further away from the shore, the swimmer panics and tries to swim as fast as they can to shore, only to discover that they are farther away then when they started. In the panic, the swimmer becomes fatigued and eventually drowns.

A swimmer can survive a riptide, if they know what to do. As the riptide takes a swimmer out to sea, the swimmer must fight the natural instinct to swim the shortest distance to shore, against the strong ocean current. They must instead, remain calm and ride out the riptide. As soon as they feel the current has weakened they must then swim parallel to the shore until they can break free of the pull of the current. With the current resistance gone, the swimmer can then swim safely back to shore.