Day 1

My main challenge is to make a skin cream to protect us from the sun’s damaging rays (UVA and UVB)

Sub-challenges to support other scientists:
1. make an indicator dye for Kathy’s thermometer
2. figure out an insulating material for Mike and Mike’s ice maker
3. make a sealant for Mike B and Mike L to use in their ice maker
4. find a lubricant for Jonathan’s thermometer

What a fabulous day! This is exactly what I love about botany, science and life! Kate and I wandered through a tropical deciduous forest. This means that although the air temperature stays relatively constant throughout the year, the rainfall varies enough that during the dry season most trees lose their leaves, just like in the temperate zone. When the rains hit again, the trees leaf out. Here it is six months of wet season and six months of dry. We are currently entering the wet season, so we should be able to watch the island "green up" nicely. Because we are near the equator, it is always warm (hot) and the day length is always about twelve hours.

So back to the challenges. I am actually very glad that I got to focus on getting things for other people today. The sunscreen/sunblock challenge seemed daunting this morning - impossible, really. Now, after a day of wandering through a healthy forest with plenty of diversity, I feel like I’ve been "shopping" for products and possibilities. I’ve got several ideas, so I feel a lot better. I need to check these with Mike B before I proceed, though.

The inert base for the sun cream should be done by tomorrow morning. The oil I squeezed out of the coconut 'meat' will float above the water when they separate. It’s just like vinegar and oil salad dressing. I’m not sure about the resin we tapped from the bursera tree - the one that smelled like incense. The wet season isn’t here full force yet, so the tree may not have enough fluid to make sap. I doubt I’ll get more than just an ooze but I’d hate to be wrong and lose any, hence the little cup made from the calabash fruit shell. In addition, Mike B wasn’t sure how he’d use it. It definitely will not withstand the heat of the kiln but maybe it will be used at room temperature. More importantly, can I 'cure' it well enough to make it hold.

In terms of the thermometer indicator, I did see a couple of trees with potential. Also, I’ve begun to think about newly ripened calabash fruits. I just need time to play and figure out a couple of things.

Again, this is like a dream. I can’t think of a more fun way to spend a day than exploring a healthy forest and figuring out what the plants might be useful for. I must say that Kate is great. I think she really got into it - sniffing tree trunks, using machetes, etc. It was relieving that she didn’t expect me to know all the answers. Science is a process, not a bunch of facts. Plus, I’m not very good at just memorizing a bunch of stuff. I work contextually. I remember things because I’ve seen, smelled, touched or worked with them before. Kate allowed me time to try to figure things out. For example, the big tree with the buttress roots or the molt of the scorpion that I first thought was a dead spider. She didn’t demand that I know things right off: she let me examine the stuff and think a bit.

I sometimes imagine we’re explorers in a new land. I feel like my mind spent the day bending around ideas and dancing. I can’t wait until tomorrow.

Day 2

I’m bruised, I’m bug-bitten, I’m physically exhausted but I’m happy. Not everything went smoothly today. So much to do.

The good things:
1. Drew, the camera guy, and Paul, the sound guy, are delightful, good natured, and physically very strong. They are here to make a good programme on science. They aren’t trying to make us look ridiculous - we can do that on our own.
2. It turns out that Kathy needed some sealant too. I fiddle a little and figured out which branches to cut in order to get sap to flow well. I will now be able to make one sealant glob in about 30 minutes (20 minutes of dedicated collection and 10 minutes of preparation). If I add lime juice (acetic acid) and heat, the latex gets gummy, but stays soft. Very exciting.
3. Also it is best to cut vigorous young green vines. Second best are vines (brown or green, thus either old or young) that are growing horizontally. I don’t understand why yet, but they give more latex.
4. Mike B’s zinc oxide idea is fabulous. Can you believe it that we are filing the zinc off nails in order to heat it (get it to mix with oxygen in the air) and then smear it on our bodies? My Aunt Maddin is going to really laugh!
5. Lime oil is a sunscreen possibility! Logic says that the lime oil sunscreen is unlikely to work. I think this only because it is so available, yet it is not used commercially for sunscreen. But oil in the rind of limes contains anthrinilates. Many sunscreens contain anthrinilates as active compounds to absorb UVB rays. It is worth a try. You never know, Rough Science Lime Oil Sunscreen may be the next big sell!

I can’t believe I forgot to clarify the coconut oil for Jonathan. Thank goodness he didn’t end up using it. At least it is now clarified for the sun creams. If I had mixed the unclarified stuff into the sun cream, it would have been a sweet but sticky and bug-attracting mess! Funny how I just looked at the mixture, completely confused as to why I wasn’t seeing pure oil. It wasn’t until I rubbed it around on my hand that I identified the problem … those five senses save me all the time.

I think the colourant for the thermometer is fun. It isn’t ideal or really permanent but it does show that some colours are soluble and stable in alcohol and others aren’t. I did try heating the cactus fruit mush - it turned brown when boiled. The flesh is bright magenta. I was disappointed that there were no cochineal insects on the cacti. They are supposed to make a great, bright red dye when crushed.

About the insulation making - it was hilarious. I went back out for a second bucket of dung and two cows immediately produced some extra-fresh stuff for me. Heck, one cow was near enough to go in my bucket.

I do think Jonathan has an excellent point about wet and dry insulation. I may try coconut husks alone tomorrow. There is moisture in the current ice maker insulation and water is really tough to get to change temperature.

There is so much more but I am falling asleep.

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