Updated sunflower progress graph - check it
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4146642/motionchart.html
Friday 19 August 2011
Week 12
Afternoon folks,
Some incredible developments this week. Looks like we have our first flower....! Like Fuscia from the flames, George and Karen's previously-deceased sunflower has risen from the (potash)es and brightened up the social room with a pretty pink and yellow number.
Believed to be the first of its kind on the planet, a number of members of department have already made approaches to secure the specimen for research purposes (obviously pending confirmation of the flower's true germinal origin).
However, in the meantime it is just these sort of regenerative, reincarnationist properties that are sparking interest this week. Survival is the name of the game and brute upward growth is just one of many ways to stay ahead....
Given that the sunflower challenge has so far focussed mainly on height, this week takes a more holistic look at what could make the 'sunniest sunflower.' We talking about the Bruce Lee of sunflowers here - one that fuses a whole range of qualities, growth and defence strategies, real-world resilience, aesthetic value, and the sunflower's capacity for wider social benefit. The department is a complex ecosystem after all.
Tall plants, for example, are less likely to be fully-appreciated by admirers on a coffee break if their sunflower heads are squashed against the ceiling. Rob&Iain and Eilidh&Louis have shot to a very impressive 2500mm+, but what use is this if the sunflower itself is out of view? Shorter plants (such as the more modest stems of Rob, Justyna, Shaun and Willie, Donald, Gemma&Adam) are now jostling for position in the lower canopy to spread the sunshine effectively when the flowers eventually bloom.
Not only are the smaller, more compact plants well-placed to spread the love, but they are more likely to survive the real-world test. Take those supportive garden canes away and stick them outside in a force 9 gale, and it would be interesting to see which ones are still standing.....
Florence & Roger have produced a fine and sturdy trunk for this purpose, and Justyna's plant seems to be standing proud at 1320mm with minimal help from a small cane.
And what looked to be a retrograde move by Zara's sunflower is now proving to be a clever growth strategy, the stem forming a clear 'u-bend' enabling it to soak up the rays unobstructed by other plants....
Although George and Karen seem to have reared the first flower, there is still keen interest in how flowering will affect the plants' overall growth. Unflowered buds have now developed on the plants of Sunny, Lesely, Nick, Willie and Rob. How this will affect their prospects is unclear. Some plants look so gangly that any extra weight at the top could see them rueing the day that they didn't adopt the Zara u-bend strategy.
Anyhow, it's clear that the sunflower field is beginning to diversify and perhaps increasingly reflect some of their carers' own qualities..... Here are the measurements this week (coloured entries reflect 'unflowered bud' status).
Some incredible developments this week. Looks like we have our first flower....! Like Fuscia from the flames, George and Karen's previously-deceased sunflower has risen from the (potash)es and brightened up the social room with a pretty pink and yellow number.
Believed to be the first of its kind on the planet, a number of members of department have already made approaches to secure the specimen for research purposes (obviously pending confirmation of the flower's true germinal origin).
However, in the meantime it is just these sort of regenerative, reincarnationist properties that are sparking interest this week. Survival is the name of the game and brute upward growth is just one of many ways to stay ahead....
Given that the sunflower challenge has so far focussed mainly on height, this week takes a more holistic look at what could make the 'sunniest sunflower.' We talking about the Bruce Lee of sunflowers here - one that fuses a whole range of qualities, growth and defence strategies, real-world resilience, aesthetic value, and the sunflower's capacity for wider social benefit. The department is a complex ecosystem after all.
Tall plants, for example, are less likely to be fully-appreciated by admirers on a coffee break if their sunflower heads are squashed against the ceiling. Rob&Iain and Eilidh&Louis have shot to a very impressive 2500mm+, but what use is this if the sunflower itself is out of view? Shorter plants (such as the more modest stems of Rob, Justyna, Shaun and Willie, Donald, Gemma&Adam) are now jostling for position in the lower canopy to spread the sunshine effectively when the flowers eventually bloom.
Not only are the smaller, more compact plants well-placed to spread the love, but they are more likely to survive the real-world test. Take those supportive garden canes away and stick them outside in a force 9 gale, and it would be interesting to see which ones are still standing.....
Florence & Roger have produced a fine and sturdy trunk for this purpose, and Justyna's plant seems to be standing proud at 1320mm with minimal help from a small cane.
And what looked to be a retrograde move by Zara's sunflower is now proving to be a clever growth strategy, the stem forming a clear 'u-bend' enabling it to soak up the rays unobstructed by other plants....
Although George and Karen seem to have reared the first flower, there is still keen interest in how flowering will affect the plants' overall growth. Unflowered buds have now developed on the plants of Sunny, Lesely, Nick, Willie and Rob. How this will affect their prospects is unclear. Some plants look so gangly that any extra weight at the top could see them rueing the day that they didn't adopt the Zara u-bend strategy.
Anyhow, it's clear that the sunflower field is beginning to diversify and perhaps increasingly reflect some of their carers' own qualities..... Here are the measurements this week (coloured entries reflect 'unflowered bud' status).
| Adam/Gemma | 1300
|
| Amy/Lyndsey | 2010
|
| Caroline | 1420
|
| Donald | 1440 |
| Eilidh/Louis | 2500 |
| Eliza/Vic | 1975 |
| Emma/Leoni | 0 |
| Florence/Roger | 2290
|
| George/Karen | 80
|
| Iain/Rob/Liam | 2570
|
| Justyna | 1320 |
| Lesley | 1500 |
| Matt | 1770
|
| Natalie | 735
|
| Nick | 1990
|
| Rob | 1510 |
| Roman | 1290 |
| Shaun | 730 |
| Sunny | 1920
|
| Willie | 1620 |
| Zara | (84)1600 |
Tuesday 16 August 2011
Week 11
Perhaps the post last week was an omen..... there are signs of flowers starting form! But only on the plants of Sunny, Willie and Rob.
These plants are getting MASSIVE, we might need a ladder to measure them soon, but someway to go to beat the world record height of 26ft 4in now that is massive. The pace is still being set by Iain, Rob and Liam closely followed by Eilidh and Louis. Not so good news for Zara's plant which has possibly suffered from lack of support and is slowly trying to form a square....
Hopefully there might be some flower action next week - you'll read it here first.
This link should hopefully work and waste a few minutes of your day - http://db.tt/9thTR3s
Here is the progress as of 12 August:
0 Emma/Leoni
0 George/Karen
60 Shaun
61 Natalie
84 Zara (potentially 154)
118 Roman
120 Adam/Gemma
127 Justyna
134 Lesley
134 Caroline
139 Donald
143 Willie
143 Rob
170 Nick
174 Vic/Eliza
181 Sunny
194 Lyndsay/Amy
201 Roger/Florence
220 Eilidh/Louis
228 Rob/Liam/Iain
Matt ?
These plants are getting MASSIVE, we might need a ladder to measure them soon, but someway to go to beat the world record height of 26ft 4in now that is massive. The pace is still being set by Iain, Rob and Liam closely followed by Eilidh and Louis. Not so good news for Zara's plant which has possibly suffered from lack of support and is slowly trying to form a square....
Hopefully there might be some flower action next week - you'll read it here first.
This link should hopefully work and waste a few minutes of your day - http://db.tt/9thTR3s
Here is the progress as of 12 August:
0 Emma/Leoni
0 George/Karen
60 Shaun
61 Natalie
84 Zara (potentially 154)
118 Roman
120 Adam/Gemma
127 Justyna
134 Lesley
134 Caroline
139 Donald
143 Willie
143 Rob
170 Nick
174 Vic/Eliza
181 Sunny
194 Lyndsay/Amy
201 Roger/Florence
220 Eilidh/Louis
228 Rob/Liam/Iain
Matt ?
Friday 5 August 2011
Week 10
First and foremost, a big thank you to Shaun for his regular blogging and meticulous data analysis throughout the month of July! August is upon us... sh*t just got real.
There’s been a bit of a ‘buzz’ surrounding the competition this week. And I’m not referring to the inane chatter that emanates from the tea room during lunch. No, ladies and gentlemen… I’m talking about THIS:
A photograph I took of the beast.
"I've never seen anything like it!" said Geoff Hancock. This, esteemed zoologists, is Calliphora vomitoria: the bluebottle. It seems to have taken a fancy to our beloved sunflowers, perhaps attracted by the smell of decay wafting from Natalie's shrivelled leaves or the graves of Leoni/Emma and George/Karen's unfortunate plants. In response to sightings of this beast, the Graham Kerr building has been swarming with entemologists all day.
This week brings even more exciting news: the sunniest sunflower crown, held by Eilidh/Louis for the past two months has at least been toppled! Rob and Iain are now sitting strong (a good 4 cm ahead) in first place. Louis "the gloryhunter" Kitchen is said to be so distraught that he left Glasgow this morning to go trekking through central Europe, in search of a stronger, continental flower.
Speaking of flowers.... they are flowers, aren't they? I mean, they do produce flowers. At some point. In theory. Hopefully before they start hitting the ceiling. Maybe next week's update will be more colourful....
Here's a run down of the scores:
| 0 | Emma/Leoni |
| 0 | George/Karen |
| 57 | Natalie |
| 59 | Shaun |
| 103 | Adam/Gemma |
| 109 | Justyna |
| 111 | Roman |
| 112 | Lesley |
| 116 | Caroline |
| 123 | Willie |
| 124 | Rob |
| 130 | Donald |
| 133 | Matt |
| 140 | Zara |
| 146 | Sunny |
| 147 | Eliza/Vic |
| 155 | Nick |
| 170 | Amy/Lyndsey |
| 190 | Eilidh/Louis |
| 194 | Iain/Rob/Liam |
Friday 29 July 2011
Week 9
We start this update with a bit of sad news. It seems that another sunflower plant is now pushing up daisies. It was a race well ran for Emma and Leoni’s plant, but in the end a split stem plus a bit of splotchy leaf disease proved too much for the little guy. RIP:
You shall be missed.
In happier news, the battle for the tallest plant continues to be intense, with Eilidh and Louis once again coming out on top and just ahead of Iain et al. Eilidh and Louis also take this week’s prize for fastest growth rate, averaging an amazing 3.86 cm/d! Florence and Roger managed to stay near the lead as well, though it’s worth noting that their growth rate is declining precipitously and is now less than half of what it was two weeks ago. Have they been falling down on their watering regimen? Have they stopped singing to their plant? Only they know for sure.
Sunny and Tiziana admire the plants.
Here are the heights for July 29, 2011. Shoutouts to Ashley and Siobhan for assisting with the measurements this week.
| Adam/Gemma | 800 |
| Amy/Lyndsey | 1460 |
| Caroline | 1030 |
| Donald | 1250 |
| Eilidh/Louis | 1740 |
| Eliza/Vic | 1300 |
| Emma/Leoni | 0 |
| Florence/Roger | 1520 |
| George/Karen | 0 |
| Iain/Rob/Liam | 1700 |
| Justyna | 1000 |
| Lesley | 990 |
| Matt | 1150 |
| Natalie | 550 |
| Nick | 1290 |
| Rob | 1140 |
| Roman | 1040 |
| Shaun | 590 |
| Sunny | 1200 |
| Willie | 1070 |
| Zara | 1230 |
Friday 22 July 2011
Week 8
It’s been a big 7 days for the sunflower competition, with the plants growing an average of over 21 mm/day over the last week! Eilidh and Louis still sit atop the leader board but their spot is being seriously threatened by the team of Iain, Rob, and Liam. In fact, Iain et al. have had the highest growth rate the past two weeks (37.14 mm/d this week). When compared to that of Eilidh and Louis (34.29 mm/d), it is reasonable to expect that we may have a new leader a week from now.
Among the lowest growth rates this week were the team of Gemma and Adam (8.57mm/d) and Natalie (also 8.57mm/d). Saddest of all, however, was Shaun, who actually managed a negative growth rate (-1.43 mm/d), probably owing to the amputation of the dead and gangrenous section at the top of his plant.
Interestingly, growth rate shows a strong linear relationship with size:
A special mention goes out to Nick, whose plant showed the highest growth rate for its size (i.e. showed the largest positive residual… this contest is being run by a bunch of nerdy scientists, remember). At the other extreme is Sunny, whose plant showed the lowest growth rate for its size (other than a certain plant that was surgically altered). Time to step up the watering, Sunny!
Also, we've received a pic of the sole entry from the vet school from Matt. It looks as though he's the first to utilize the "anchor to a wall with rope" technique. Lookin' good!:
Here are the scores as of June 22, 2011. Special shout-out to Winnie Boner and Nick Beevers for help with the measurements this week, and Donald Reid and Ashley LeVin Last week. The plants are getting so big now that measuring is a 3 person job!:
| Adam/Gemma | 700 |
| Amy/Lyndsey | 1230 |
| Caroline | 940 |
| Donald | 1120 |
| Eilidh/Louis | 1470 |
| Eliza/Vic | 1100 |
| Emma/Leoni | 800 |
| Florence/Roger | 1370 |
| George/Karen | 0 |
| Iain/Rob/Liam | 1440 |
| Justyna | 910 |
| Lesley | 930 |
| Matt | 970 |
| Natalie | 520 |
| Nick | 1090 |
| Rob | 1030 |
| Roman | 990 |
| Shaun | 590 |
| Sunny | 1040 |
| Willie | 930 |
| Zara | 1050 |
Friday 15 July 2011
Week 7
Can you believe the competition has been going for 7 weeks now? A few plants are now over a meter tall with several more about to pass that milestone in the coming days.
Brightening up the social room
Lovely leaves
Is it possible to have too many teabags?
Several competitors have re-potted their plants to gain an extra edge. Eilidh and Louis continue to dominate the competition and are sending a clear message that they mean business with the addition of their new 3 meter support stick. The team of Iain, Rob, and Liam have made a serious move to second place after being in the middle of the pack two weeks ago. At the other end of the spectrum, Shaun’s pitiful looking plant is no longer in last place amongst the living – that dubious honour now belongs to Natalie. Tragically, however, after a spirited two weeks in which it displayed the highest specific growth rate of all plants, the top of Shaun’s plant has completely wilted and it looks as though death could be imminent. Could foul play have been involved?...:
An overnight tragedy... seems suspicious.
Also of note to competitors: you may want to move your plant away from Donald’s plant as well as Emma and Leoni’s because it looks like they have contracted some sort of nasty-looking leaf disease:
Donald, Emma, and Leoni: nasty looking (their plants, that is)
Here are the heights (in mm) as of July 15, 2011:
Adam/Gemma 640
Amy/Lyndsey 1030
Caroline 810
Donald 960
Eilidh/Louis 1230
Eliza/Vic 920
Emma/Leoni 710
Florence/Roger 1140
George/Karen 0
Iain/Rob/Liam 1180
Justyna 750
Lesley 780
Matt 700
Natalie 460
Nick 860
Rob 850
Roman 880
Shaun 600
Sunny 940
Willie 810
Zara 890
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