We learned a few interesting things today about Steve's favorite condiment. The Tabasco company was begun by Edmund McIlhenny, whose family name is on the bottle, in the mid- to late-1860s. He had married an Avery lady, whose family owned Avery Island in Louisiana; a salt mine larger than Mount Everest is tall. Jack Daniel's can only use their barrels once while creating their whiskey. So, Tabasco takes them over using them anywhere between 3 and 100 years. When the barrels finally fall apart, they are shredded into wood chips and sold for barbecuing. Pickers take only those that are ripe. avery island salt mine To help them, pickers carry a stick that is the color of the ripe pepper; the red stick, or le bâton rouge. The city of Baton Rouge may have been named for a red stick rumored to have been placed there; or for Native American bloodshed. Large amounts of salt is placed on top of the barrel, under which are holes for gases and juices to exit. The salt inhibits unwanted items getting into the holes. The salt then hardens to form a salt puck. The local librarian told us to go check the place out. School trips are the usual norm for visits, but we had a private 2 hour visit. And it was worth it. Well, it begins with Albert Einstein. He brought forth avery island salt mine idea of gravitational waves. Einstein described space-time as like a fabric. When large masses move suddenly, these curvatures ripple outward, spreading, similar to the ripples caused by a pebble being thrown into a pond. As the fabric of space stretches in one direction say, left to rightit compresses inversely top to bottom. Like pulling on a piece of mesh fabric. Basically, two 4 km tubes arms are laid perpendicular to one another. From where they intersect, a beam of light is emitted and splits into halves; one half entering into the X tube and one into the Y tube. At the end of each arm a metal tube covered in concrete so as not to attract lightningthe laser light bounces off a mirror and heads back to the splitter. Since both arms are the same length and the beam of light is one single beam split, the lights should return to the splitter simultaneously, and when they hit the laser, cancel each other out. If there is any difference between the lengths of the arms, one beam may return from the mirror before the other beam, and thus some light will travel to where it can be recorded by a photodetector. Tien, avery island salt mine guide, was wonderful. Like a hands-on science museum, there are plenty of exhibits, models, and displays to play with and learn from. We saw a 7-minute video I think the youtube one I inserted here was betterhad lots of time with avery island salt mine exhibits, and got a guided tour of part of the facility. Our noses and fingers were black from low to no heat. He had no cold areas. Wearing prism glasses and trying to shoot a basketball. You had to keep learning how to re-see and make adjustments. Tien explains how a laser light can transmit information. A laser, instead of a speaker, was attached to a cassette walkman. The laser was then pointed to a photocell, which is attached to a speaker. Don't ask me to explain why this works. Tien explains air pressure using a soda bottle with the top placed at the bottom and a balloon. The graphs above his head measure the vibrations caused by the ocean, earthquakes, and people. Playing with the earth and a blower. Slinky showing us waves and nodes. Playing around with light and mirrors. We visited New Orleans two days. And you should plan to visit. The tour takes you through the French Quarter, the 9th Ward, a Louisiana cemetery, and areas surrounding. It's a two-hour tour, and worth it. So far, we know Henry and Dino are superb, but I guess all the tour guides are great. In the short time we spent in the city, Café du Monde is a must. Well, when we went it was obviously in the process of getting ready for Mardi Gras-Superbowl-Mardi Gras. Don't sneeze or breathe in suddenly.
