The Scout Report -- Volume 26, Number 47

Speeches can motivate, mourn, and mobilize; after all, "words move humankind for good and for ill." It Was Said, a podcast produced by C13Originals and HISTORY, spotlights famous American speeches that "have been both mirrors and makers of the nation's manners and morals at key moments in our common life." The show is described as a "documentary podcast," as it provides context for "crucial words," helping the listener understand the full story and impact of each speech. Pulitzer-Prize winning author Jon Meacham writes and narrates the show. As of this annotate, the show is on its first season, which includes Meghan McCain's powerful eulogy to her father (Episode 4); President Obama's sermon after the tragedy at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston (Episode 3); and Martin Luther King Jr.'s final speech in Memphis, where he spoke his powerful words, "I've Been to the Mountaintop," (Episode 1). Listeners will find all of these episodes and more at the link above or can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher. [EMB]

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InterEngineering aims to increase inclusivity in the STEM field for members of the LGBT+ community and collaborates with many organizations to achieve this goal. The group's work takes many forms, and readers can learn more about past and future events they have organized under the Blog and Events tabs. On the Publications and Resources page, readers will find valuable reports including "Powering Up the LGBT+ in Engineering" (a summary of discussions about networking, mentorship, and inclusivity for LGBT+ engineers and future engineers) and "What's It Like Being LGBT in Engineering?" (a series of videos profiling the experiences of various LGBT engineers). Want to be the first to know about future events or new reports? Follow them on Twitter, @InterEngLGBT, or subscribe to the mailing list (under the Sign Up tab). Membership to the organization is free and, while InterEngineering is based in London, they have regional groups all over the UK and hope to expand internationally soon. Several sponsors, including the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Institution of Civil Engineers, support their work. [EMB]

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Readers are likely familiar with the term "life-long learner," but what about the people teaching those learners? Educators are life-long learners, too, and perfecting teaching skills is an equally endless process. Algonquin College's Professor of the 21st Century hub serves as a resource to educators, providing tools to expand seven key competency areas. These competency areas engulf topics such as professional development, curriculum creation, and implementing classroom technology. Several readings and documents are embedded under each competency sub-topic. Additionally, the Faculty Self-Assessment page outlines suggested competency benchmarks for 3 levels of educators: new educators (0-2 years of experience); seasoned educators (2-7 years of experience); and established educators (7+ years of experience). For example, the guidelines suggest a new professor can describe their learning style and understand how it impacts students' learning styles, while a professor with slightly more experience can adjust their learning style to better fit students' needs. A chart with these benchmarks is linked under the Professor of the 21st Century Framework Levelled Document section of the Faculty Self-Assessment page. Competency areas and sub-topics were developed in partnership with academic leaders and approved by the College Academic Council. [EMB]

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Disabled in STEM, an online community and mentorship program, wants to make one thing clear: "you belong in STEM." The platform creates "a safe space for those with disabilities or chronic illness and for those who are neurodiverse to seek advice from each other and share resources to help each other succeed." Alyssa, a biomedical graduate student, launched the site after following the #DisabledInSTEM content on Twitter and noticing a need for increased representation. To fulfill the goal of making sure people can see themselves in STEM careers, the blog highlights members of the community from various STEM disciplines. These biography-styled posts discuss academic journeys, navigating ableism, and connecting with resources, among many other topics. Individuals interested in being interviewed can fill out the form linked at the top of the Blog page. The platform also facilitates more formal mentorship opportunities; readers should check back soon for application information for the next round of mentors and mentees. Plus, stay up-to-date by following @disabledinstem (Instagram) and @DisabledStem (Twitter). [EMB]

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Meteors, Mercury, moon ice, oh my! Space enthusiasts will delight in the The Planetary Science Journal. Currently on its inaugural volume, the newest project of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) "is an open access journal devoted to recent developments, discoveries, and theories in planetary science" and publishes content relating to "all aspects of investigation of the solar system and other planetary systems." At the link above, readers can browse articles by popularity (e.g., "most cited" or "most read") and date (e.g., "latest articles" or volume number). Articles can be read online or downloaded as PDF or ePub files. Readers will also find instructions on submitting articles (note that an AAS account is required to do so). Notably, "the journal is run by scientists, for scientists," and is led by Ethan Vishniac (who serves as Editor in Chief for all AAS publications) and Editor Faith Vilas. AAS publishes several other space-related journals, which readers will find linked on the Home page. [EMB]

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Edgy and egalitarian, the Open Source Cookbook is an online repository for users to share and search for recipes. The cookbook was launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and makes the case that "food is unique in that it's inherently democratic," therefore featuring user submissions from professionals and hobbyists alike. A quick skim of the current recipe database is sure to make readers' mouths water. From chocolate babka to vegan chocolate mousse, cookies to cakes, pies to panna cotta, there is a baked good for everyone. Plenty of savory dishes and entrees are featured, too, so readers can create a full meal using the site. Many recipes are accompanied by pictures and short stories, truly inviting you into strangers' kitchens. More than 50 individuals have submitted recipes already, and readers interested in submitting a recipe of their own will find the instructions to do so at the link above. The database can be accessed on the web (using Google Slides) or downloaded as a PDF file. [EMB]

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Toronto-based baker Yolanda Gampp welcomes viewers to join her on step-by-step journeys of "making one of a kind edible creations" with How To Cake It. Since launching in 2015, the YouTube channel has amassed more than 4 million subscribers. Viewers new to the channel will quickly learn why. Gampp produces creative confectioner's masterpieces and has a lot of fun along the way. The joy is contagious (even through a screen). Plus, the videos are also timely and topical. For example, October 2020 featured a series of Halloween-themed cake demonstrations, and a video released on June 2, 2020 shows viewers how to make a graduation cap cake. Looking for inspiration for a particular theme or event? Check the Playlist section, which categorizes videos by topics (including holidays). Readers may be interested in the Christmas playlist, which features snowglobe and gingerbread cake ideas. Fans of the channel should check back every Tuesday morning for a new video. [EMB]

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What are the baking basics? Flour, sugar, and ... chemistry. As this blog post reminds readers, "baking is a science." The "step-by-step illustrated guide" walks users through the scientific processes involved in creating a cake. First, butter and sugar get creamed together. Here, air particles play an important role in creating the ideal texture. Later on, the interaction of leavening agents and heat makes baked goods rise. Finally, chemical reactions between ingredients lead to a browned color. The result is the tastiest scientific experiment of all: a piece of cake. Of course, this write-up is just a summary of the complete steps, so readers should click the link above for more (plus some cool graphics). This article is available on pepper.ph, a food-based media outlet in the Philippines "on a mission to empower and entertain young folks in their kitchen, no matter how small." [EMB]

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Pies may be a staple at many holiday celebrations, but their original purpose was much different. As opposed to the treat they are today, "the purpose of a pastry shell was mainly to serve as a baking dish, storage container, and serving vessel, and these are often too hard to actually eat." Historians trace the origin of the dessert to 6000 B.C.E. These early formulations were usually made with grains (including wheat and rye), stuffed with honey, and cooked over hot coals. Over time, additional fillings such as fruit and nuts were added. Fast-forward to the 16th century, and pies began appearing in cookbooks. By the 1700s, pies were firmly baked into American cuisine; in fact, "pioneer women often served pies with every meal." At the bottom of the page, readers will find links to additional pie histories, sorted by flavor (from apple to tarte tatin). This article is available on What's Cooking America, a recipe hub and food history site based in Portland, Oregon. [EMB]

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Spurred by the massive increase in home cooking due to the pandemic, Food52 launched The Genius Recipe Tapes in September 2020. In addition to host Kristin Miglore interviewing cooks and food writers, Genius Recipe Tapes offers a number of handy features. For example, episode notes include links to recipes and more information about the foods and techniques discussed in the recordings. Perhaps best of all, full transcripts of recordings are also available to would-be listeners interested in quickly scanning before plugging in for a 20-minute installment. While the topics cover all forms of cooking, listeners may want to pay special attention to baking-specific selections (for example, the October 6, 2020 episode on "The Perfect Biscuit"). Vegan bakers may be interested in the October 20, 2020 episode with cookbook author and Australian transplanted to NYC Hetty McKinnon. Here, readers will find links to McKinnon's genius recipe for whipped hummus on Food52 that came out of a kitchen "oops," forgetting to drain the chickpeas, and will also find more about aquafaba, the liquid drained from chickpeas that is used as a vegan egg white substitute. [DS]

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DVC is a distributed revision control system and automation framework for data scientists. The DVC documentation is written primarily around machine learning applications, but very similar workflows pop up when performing many other kinds of statistical analysis or simulation. DVC leverages Git to track program code or scripts and provides large file storage using backends such as Amazon S3, Azure Blob Storage, Google Drive, and others. This "large file storage" is meant to cover both original source data files as well as intermediate results (including parameter files for machine learning models, statistical results like fitted curves, and results of simulations). DVC's automation framework allows users to describe the steps in their analysis as stages in a "lightweight pipeline." As users make changes to their scripts and code, DVC can re-run only the stages in the pipeline whose inputs have changed. DVC can track different analyses as "experiments" that are represented as git branches, providing users with a systematic way to store alternative approaches. DVC is written in Python and should run anywhere that Python does. The Download section of the DVC site provides installation instructions for Windows, macOS, and Linux systems. [CRH]

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CP Editor's developers describe it as a "lightweight and cross-platform code editor specially designed for competitive programming," that aims to make programming easier by "automating many things for you." In particular, it has support for automatically running a test suite as changes are made to a program and highlighting any test cases that are failing. CP Editor also provides syntax highlighting and code completion features for C/C++, Java, and Python. By installing a Language Server, users can also get linting of their code as they type, with errors and warnings underlined with the error text. Users can also assemble their own personal libraries of "code snippets" that can be quickly inserted into the file they are editing. In the Download section of the CP Editor, site users can locate installers for Windows, macOS, and Linux systems. [CRH]

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Bread baking enthusiasts "knead" to return to this resource from the 01-18-2019 Scout Report, which features tips and tricks, including "how to make a sourdough starter."

Puratos, an international company located in Belgium that supplies products for bakeries, patisseries, and chocolate manufacturers, also maintains a library of sourdough strains. Similar to a seed library, the Puratos Sourdough Library currently catalogs more than 2,000 sourdough varieties, which can be browsed via the Quest for Sourdough website. The library accepts two types of submissions from sourdough aficionados: recipes and actual samples of sourdough starter. Samples are analyzed for microorganisms in labs at the Uni Bolzano and Bari in Italy. After analysis, the microorganisms are then stored in a freezer at -80 degreesC (-112 degrees F) to preserve their biodiversity for the future, while the sourdoughs are kept in optimal condition in refrigerators at 4 degrees C (39 degrees F). Each sample is refreshed every two months with the flour with which it was originally made. Consulting the map of location origins of the sourdoughs in the library shows that the majority have been collected from the United States and Europe. In addition to the scientific side, the website includes a blog with stories and lots of recipes, such as Ione's sourdough waffles or Sourdough donuts. [DS] [EMB]

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