My mother, working on her dissertation in the field of agricultural sciences, conducted a series of experiments in the university greenhouse in 1948. I don’t think I ever learned the details of the experimental set up – differences in light exposure, application of fertilizers, varying combination of seedlings? – but I do remember her strong affect even in the repeat retelling of the tale: one night towards the end of the experiments, a rabbit snuck inside and consumed the crops, nothing left to measure and document the effects of independent variables, a full year of work down the drain. Or into the bunny’s belly, as the case may be.

The memory emerged when I got notice about an ongoing art project that sounds fascinating – and vulnerable to similar and other external forces. London-based artist Almudena Romero, in collaboration with the Institut national de recherche pour l’agriculture, l’alimentation et l’environnement (INRAE), is creating a huge living photograph of a human eye, visible in the South of France next summer, a project titled Farming Photographs.

The image is formed by growing plants, a biological rather than mechanical process, fragile but sustainable in the sense that image creation can happen anywhere, at any time, without using chemical resources for production and preservation. The artist carefully chose old and contemporary varieties of wheatgrass plants with differing genetic pigmentation. They were planted in a huge field, with photosynthesis producing emerging colors that create, in turn, the contours and planes of the image. (Demonstrations are from her website.) By the end of the season the wheat will be milled and the flour distributed for consumption to the surrounding communities.

The mix of land art, focus on ecological responsibility, and reference to the scientific functions of eyes in nature (think, for example, eyespot mimicry, where butterflies and other animals display eye-like patterns in their wings or plumage to deter predators,) is a smart combination. In some ways it is ironic, though, that the immense photograph will only be visible from a perspective high above – unless it is planted in a valley surrounded by hilltops, the visual angle that encompasses all 5 acres of pixels will require an airplane or drone – adieu sustainability….

I am fully admiring, though, of the artist’s willingness to take risks – so much can go wrong with environmentally based art. Beyond rabbits, deer, and other species fond of greenery or trampling paths to water sources, think pests, think vandals, and last but not least weather, from drought to deluges. A very courageous woman!

Seeing, being seen, not seeing – here a a few other thoughts, randomly associated, that occupied my brain these last days, with varying degrees of dismay. Weather first, since that was just mentioned. The devastation that the current rains and ensuing floods have brought to both, Washington and Oregon, are immense. Barely a blip in the national media, consumed with all the other bad news in our world, but also part of a trend to simply hide bad facts, with the intent that ignorance will lead to less push back. The flooding and landslides have hit poor communities particularly hard, and we know that FEMA, eviscerated by the current administration, will be of little help.

Photocredit Reuters

Soon, we no longer have to hide data – we simply refuse to collect them in the first place. The Trump administration has decided to shut down our premier research institution around climate and weather, the National Center for Atmospheric Science in Colorado. Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought told a reporter that the center is “one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country” and that the government will break it up.

All grants to them have been terminated, and it will be dissolved. There has never been a time when that kind of research was more urgent – fire and flood prediction are directly link to possible protection of lives and livelihoods. The political decision to deny the existence of climate change translated directly into harm done to communities all over the country, the entire nation.

“Since 1960, NCAR scientists have studied Earth’s atmosphere, meteorology, climate science, the Sun, and the impacts of weather and climate on the environment and society. Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe wrote that “[d]ismantling NCAR is like taking a sledgehammer to the keystone holding up our scientific understanding of the planet.” (Ref.)

Being seen: ICE accidentally published a watch list of immigration lawyers. Doing your job now qualifies you to be on an enemy list, open for being spied on and harassed. Nothing to see here.

And talking of spying: Have you heard about FLOCK?

“Flock Safety is a company that makes specialized Automatic License Plate Reader systems, designed to scan and photograph every plate that passes, 24/7. Unlike gated-community or private driveway cameras, Flock systems stream footage to off-site servers, where it’s processed, analyzed, and added to a growing cloud database. Currently, there are probably well over 100,000 Flock cameras installed in the United States and increasingly rapidly. To put this in perspective, that’s one Flock camera for every 4,000 US citizens. And each camera tracks twice as many vehicles on average with no set limit. (Ref. ) Have you seen one in your neighborhood?

Here is the issue: so far, Flock tracks License plate numbers, vehicle color/make/model, time, location. Some cameras can capture broader footage; some are strictly plate readers. But there is no reason to believe it cannot be extended to tracking who sits in the car, who drives it, etc. And while these cameras don’t capture people right now, “they do capture patterns, like vehicles entering or leaving a neighborhood. That can reveal routines, habits, and movement over time, logging every one of our daily trips, including gym runs, carpool, and errands. Not harmful on its own, but enough to make you realize how detailed a picture these systems build of ordinary life.”

Who has access to these data? Using Flock’s cloud, only “authorized users”, which can include community leaders and law enforcement, ideally with proper permissions or warrants, can view footage. Residents can make requests for someone to determine privileges. Flock claims they don’t sell data, but it’s stored off-site, raising the stakes of a breach. The bigger the database, the more appealing it is to hackers. Unlike a home security camera that you can control, these systems by design track everyone who comes and goes…not just the “bad guys.”

If you think footage was misused (hacked, leaked online, used by people to stalk you or harass you) you can request an audit or raise it with your HOA or local law enforcement. By then, though, the damage is done.

Out of sight: here is a news item that really raise my blood pressure through the roof: The CDC is funding a study on the Hepatitis B Vaccine inGuinea – Bisseau (West Africa). For screaming out loud: this is unethical!

An unsolicited (!) grant for Bandim Health Project, a research company in Denmark with ties to the anti-vaccine movement, allows a study with randomized, controlled trials in which you withhold a proven, life-saving vaccine from newborn babies. WE KNOW that the vaccine works, and so withholding this from half of the babies in the study condemns them to possible life long illness and liver failure, if they contract the disease – a possibility which is hugely more likely in a poor African nation where it is rampant. It is countries like these, with a 12 % prevalence rate of Hep B, where the birth dose of vaccination matters most. and according to UNICEF, Guinea Bissau has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the entire world.

Anyone wonders, why this is not done with little white American babies if needs to be done at all?

Can’t take our eyes off them for one second …. an oldie confirms, although this music refers to someone positive!