__________________________________________________________________ THE CALIFORNIA ACORN REPORT Keeping California’s Acorns Counted since 1980 Volume 23 The Official Newsletter of the California Acorn Survey 9 October 2019 Walt Koenig and Jean Knops, co-directors Editor: Walt Koenig _________________________________________________________________________ TIS THE SEASON FOR ACORN SONGS! ROBOTS: BIG OR SMALL? As part of honing my old codgerly instincts, I I’m often asked what I think about in my spare time, thought I’d kick off this year’s report not only with a which, as a retiree, is pretty much all day every day. song, but by offending Pete Seeger fans as well. At the top of the list, of course, is: what will the Sing out, y’all! robots that destroy humanity and take over the world look like? Will they be large and scary? or small, If I had binoculars insidious, and insanely numerous? I’d count acorns in the morning I’d count acorns in the evening As it happens, we have offspring who are busy at All over California work on this question as we speak, interestingly enough on opposite ends of the spectrum. Dale, who I’d count acorns in the trees has forsaken the cushy life of an academic topologist I’d count acorns in the fall I’d count acorns that will get eaten by jays for a job with a Tokyo startup by the name of All over California Rapyuta Robotics, is taking the “large and scary” approach by programming large robotic arms to If I had a stopwatch assist in various kinds of tasks rather than eviscerate I’d time acorn counting in the morning everyone within their surprisingly extensive reach. I’d time acorn counting in the evening Meanwhile, Phoebe is back at Cornell taking the All over California “small and insanely numerous” approach by working I’d time Bill counting acorns with Kirstin Petersen in the School of Electrical and I’d time Jean counting acorns Computer Engineering designing bee-inspired robot I’d time Mario counting acorns if he ever makes it back collectives. Which will win? Or will they succeed in All the way to California collaborating with each other, destroying everything If I had an oak both large and small in their paths? We don’t know, I’d count it in the morning but are intensely proud of having kids who recognize I’d count it in the evening the inevitable and are hard at work producing the As long as it’s in California robot armies of the future. Hopefully they (our kids and the robots) will be better stewards of the earth I’d count it this year than we were. I’d count it next year I’d count it every year until I croak Our primary face-to-face As long as it’s in California contact with our F1s these days—both of whom live Well I have binoculars many leagues away from And I have a stopwatch Carmel Valley—is when And I have oaks that may or may not have acorns they visit us at Christmas. It’s the oaks of Hastings Here’s Phoebe (cheered on It’s the oaks of Sedgwick by Jani Lou of the RWH) It’s the oaks of San Joaquin Experiment Station turning to receive her And all over California award for expeditious mole-whacking at the I can already see Jani Lou (yes, she of the ravishing Musée Mécanique the day white hair) rolling her eyes. Speaking of which, we picked her up in San perhaps we should move on to this year’s family Francisco last December. report before things degenerate even further, if that’s She’s got talent, that girl! possible. 1 Along with Phoebe and her Before I move on, I have boyfriend Benjamin, Dale to give a fond but sad also came at Christmas with farewell to Tim his friend Miya. When he’s Halliday, who passed not programming robots in away in April from Japan, he apparently spends lymphoma, here with his most of his time these days ever-charming wife literally climbing walls. Carolyn the evening I During his visit this included was lucky enough to the rock wall at the south have dinner with them end of Carmel Beach the day at their home in Oxford we hung out in town. during my January UK excursion. We got to know him back in the 1990s when he did research at Hastings and have enjoyed several highly WARM-UP FOR THE COUNT memorable dinners at their house over the years with the likes of Commoner (now Lord) John Krebs and (still just As usual, there were a host of fellow acorn Commoner) Richard Dawkins. enthusiasts to visit and places to see in preparation for the survey in September. Here are a few of the highlights. Yes, oh yes! It’s a selfie with the Fab Five: John, Paul, George, Ringo, and Akiko Satake Jumping ahead to May, we made the journey back to during Ithaca, ostensibly for the thesis defense of my last student my trip to Liverpool in January where I got to be the Old (Mickey, who did nice work investigating cognition in Fart at a meeting of Mast-Net, a group of mostly British acorn woodpeckers and is now pursuing his dream of and European mast nuts working on an update of the studying elephants as a postdoc) but mainly to visit World Masting Database, earlier versions of which were Phoebe and several of our totally cool Cornell compiled by myself back in the 1990s and, more recently, colleagues, including Jim and Anne in our old Cayuga Ian Pearse. Of the five, only Akiko turned out to know Heights ‘hood and Steve and Natalia, shown here during much about masting, although those other blokes did our walk in Cascadilla Gorge on May 31st prior to our provide passable background music. annual birthday dinner at Agava. Who’s birthday, you ask? I’m not sure; it started out as Steve’s and mine, but After several days of harrassing the Mast-Net group in since we only manage to get together once a year, it’s Liverpool, I took the liberty of visiting a few old UK arguably for all of us. Happy birthday, everyone! subscribers to the Acorn Report, including Tim Birkhead, shown here pretending that the wind isn’t about to blow June saw us attending us both off the hilltop the day we hiked around the Peak the AOS (bird) meetings District. Thanks to Tim and Miriam for putting me up in in Anchorage, a lame Sheffield excuse for checking off and let’s all another item on my give Tim a bucket list, namely taking hearty the Alaska Ferry up the welcome to inland passage. Here’s the very Jani Lou not only with exclusive her ravishing white hair Retiree’s but also with her beloved Club! fiddle as we boarded the ferry in Bellingham on June 21st. 2 The highlight of the Alaska Last but hardly least was our trip to the UK in September trip, other to attend the First International Nickfest—the celebration than the organized on the occasion of Nick Davies’s retirement fabulously from the University of Cambridge—where Jani Lou and I relaxing spent a memorable mini-sabbatical back in 1988 thanks ferry ride, to Senator William Fulbright. It was during our time in was stopping Nick’s lab that we met a gaggle of colleagues who would in Haines to become some of our closest friends, including visit Cecily (withershins and Mark, the parents of Janis’s first Ph.D. student from me, Caitlin Stern (who we also visited, but not until September looking even when we were in London for a couple of days). Mark and dopier than Cecily were gracious hosts and showed us around several usual) Marty of the breath-taking local sights. Here we all are, along Leonard, Andy with Tristan, a visiting cousin, the day we went out and Horn, Jani Lou picnicked on one of the islands in Chilkat Inlet near their (not only with house. Pretty spectacular every direction one looked. her RWH, but giving a Vulcan I can’t move on without a “live long and nod to the Haines Hammer prosper” sign), Museum. We didn’t Rosanne actually go in, despite the Kennedy, and Jackie Hatchwell, the latter two spouses of fact that it was clearly one whom (Rob Magrath and Ben) were apparently off of the highlights of the hobnobbing with more important people. Speaking of greater Haines spouses, and in any case since Nick, who we love dearly, metropolitan area. I will, got way more attention however, live forever in than he was comfortable awe of having had the with during the Nickfest, on opportunity to take a selfie the left in yet another of my in the shadow of what I bad selfies is Jan, Nick’s presume is one of SE lovely wife, who I got to sit Alaska’s biggest hammers. next to during the celebratory “Going Lest you were Cuckoo” dinner in living in fear Pembroke College on Sept. that I’d stick to 6th. It was all great, and at chronological long last this is my chance order, here we to tell Nick to take the rest are back in of the day off! March when WHAT’S UP WITH HASTINGS? we got together with Ithaca Before I get to the so-called point of this newsletter, friends Chuck I wish to give a shout out to the new Director of and Barbara Hastings, Jen Hunter, who took over late last year.