10 Years Ago – In July 2002

Many years ago I started collecting headlines/news blurbs as a way of honing my reading of news. Over the years, the headline collection has been warped by the sources of news I was reading…increasingly online. Reviewing the July 2002 headline gleanings - I forced myself to pick 10.   

1. "Power Nap" Prevents Burnout; Morning Sleep Perfects A Skill
2. AIDS will claim 70 million by 2022
3. U.S. millionaire Steve Fossett became the first solo balloonist to circle the globe nonstop
4. The monuments of ancient Egypt may have stood for thousands of years in the desert sands, but now they face a new threat -- from rising groundwater.
5. There are approximately 100,000 more wild flowering plants in the world than previously thought
6. Sesame Street to introduce HIV positive muppet
7. Weeks into the state's effort to kill every deer in part of southwest Wisconsin to halt an outbreak of chronic wasting disease, wildlife officials still don't know how they're going to dispose of the tens of thousands of carcasses.
8. Glowing lava set trees afire and oozed into the ocean before dawn Saturday as thousands of spectators braved Kilauea Volcano's scalding spray to witness the spectacle.
9. Sea temperatures around Australia's Great Barrier Reef reached record highs this year, doing major damage to the world's largest living entity
10. During excavations last week at a Roman era palace in Butrint, Albania, researchers working in an upper level reception hall found a tiny ivory object dating to 465 AD. They believe it is Europe's oldest known chess piece.

As usual - the list is heavily skewed toward science and technology although the two about HIV/AIDS reflect how prominent that topic was in the news 10 years ago this month.

10 Years Ago – In June 2002

Many years ago I started collecting headlines/news blurbs as a way of honing my reading of news. Over the years, the headline collection has been warped by the sources of news I was reading…increasingly online. Reviewing the June 2002 headline gleanings - I forced myself to pick 10.     

1. Centuries-old oak toppled in Maryland storm
2. A wildfire raging in the Pike National Forest
3. Archeologists doing maintenance at the famous Inca citadel of Machu Picchu have found new stone terraces, water channels, a rubbish dump and a wall dividing the site's urban sector from its temples
4. A moderate earthquake shook a wide area around southern Indiana
5. A 4,600 year-old Egyptian tomb, glued shut and with its original owner still inside, has been discovered by archaeologists working near the Giza Pyramids.
6. Ann Landers, the columnist whose snappy, plainspoken and timely advice helped millions of readers deal with everything from birth to death, died Saturday. She was 83.
7. Hundreds of people were killed or injured as an earthquake and a series of aftershocks rocked northern Iran
8. FBI searches apartment in anthrax probe
9. An Argentine icebreaker prepared to leave on a mission to rescue 107 people aboard a ship stranded off Antarctica.
10. The consumption of forests, energy and land by humans is exceeding the rate at which Earth can replenish itself 

My interest in science is reflected in 7 of the 10 (archeology in 3, 4; botany in 1; climate/ecology in 2, 10; geology in 4 and 7).  The others fit into a people/places/politics category.

June Celebrations

June begins today. What is there to celebrate in June? Here are some ideas.

Flag Day. The day commemorates the adoption of the flag of the US in June 1777. It has been a celebration for a long time in some places but I didn’t become aware of it until one year when there had been a lot of snow days and my daughter’s elementary school was still in session in mid-June! They gathered the children around the flag pole in the front of the school for a short ceremony which parents were invited to attend as well.

Father’s Day. It’s Sunday, June 17th. Take the opportunity to show your appreciation to the men in your life - particularly your fathers and grandfathers (and help your children think of something their Dad would enjoy from them).

First Day of Summer….the day of longest daylight in the Northern Hemisphere…is June 20th.

Strawberries and blueberries. These are the early fruits of summer across much of the US. They are tasty by themselves, in salads or desserts, or in smoothies. June is probably the easiest month of the year to eat healthy!

Life History Part VII - The Future

This is the last of 7 posts with prompts to develop a life history. Previous posts in this series: 

• Introduction and childhood
• Favorites
• Habits
• Emotions
• Family and Friends
• The Present

~~~~

This last part is about the perception of the future. Most people do have something that they are anticipating. It isn’t ‘history’ but it deserves a place in an individual’s life history. Use the prompts to start the conversation. 

• Do you plan to retire?
• What will you do after you retire?
• How are financially?
• What is your most significant goal for this year?
• What is your most significant goal for the next 5 years?
• What is our most significant goal for the next 10 years?
• On a scale of 0 to 10 - 0 being roll with the flow and 10 being goal directed...where you are
• Do you plan to live to 100?
• What obligations do you have into the future?
• What is your most active area of learning right now?
• What 5 things are on your 'must do before I die' list
• Do you have an 'end of life' plan? Who makes decisions for you if you are not able to
• What if your vision for what it will be like when you are 90
• When do you think you will stop driving?
• Do you want to live in Tucson for the rest of your life?
• How much traveling do you want to do....where do you want to go?
• What if the area has extreme water shortages...would you move because of an environment stressor? 

Life History Part VI - The Present

This is the 6th of 7 posts with prompts to develop a life history. Previous posts in this series:

• Introduction and childhood
• Favorites
• Habits
• Emotions
• Family and Friends

~~~~

This 6th in the series is about the present - this is the part of the life history that is not history yet but is the assessment of what is happening now. Use these questions as prompts to start developing this part of a life history.

• What kind of car do you drive?
• Do you do volunteer work?
• What kind of charities do you donate to?
• Do you dye your hair?
• Do you collect anything?
• What books have your read recently?
• Do you actively support local politicians?
• Who did you vote for in the last presidential election?
• Do you have any health problems?
• What do you do for exercise?
• What sports do you participate in?
• What sports do you enjoy watching?
• Do you have any allergies?
• Describe a recent decision you made...and how you arrived at your decision.
• How healthy is your diet?
• List 5 words that describe what you are.
• Do you need a 'cave' and time to yourself?
• Do you clean your own house/do your own laundry?
• Have you gotten a speeding ticket or had a car accident in the last year?
• Do you have pets?

The last part of the series will be about the future. It will be posted next week.

Longwood Gardens in May 2012 - Catalpa Trees

The catalpa trees were blooming at Longwood Gardens when we went last week. They were past peak but it was the first time I had seen them in bloom so I took a series of pictures of them.

Catalpas are one of my favorite trees. I associate them with summers at my maternal grandparents. There was a big tree behind their business and another in front of their house that was kept small and trimmed into a round shape. Both trees provided deep shade and, by the time of year I saw them, had the long green seed pods.

Later in my life - there was a large catalpa tree over the swings in the park when my daughter was little. Again, I remember the seed pods but not the flowers.

So - seeing the trees in bloom was a special treat. I had read about the flowers - described as ‘orchid-like’ and they do resemble orchids both in shape and markings. They are large and Henry Adams mentions ‘the thick odor of catalpa trees’ in his The Education of Henry Adams  but these catalpa trees at Longwood did not seem have a strong smell. Maybe different types of catalpa have more smell that these did.

Previous Posts about Longwood Gardens: 

• Longwood Gardens in May 2012 - Lilies
• Botanical Images - October 2011
• Water Lily Pictures
• Squash and Gourd Images
• Orchids

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 19, 2012

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week:

Scientists 'Read' Ash from the Icelandic Volcano Two Years After Its Eruption - A description of how data was collected immediately following the event and how it is now being used to improve model for predicting dispersion of particles - particularly from volcanic eruptions

Sulfur Finding May Hold Key to Gaia Theory of Earth as Living Organism - looking at the Earth as a giant living organism…sulfur in the ocean, atmosphere, and land

Study in Rats Shows High-Fructose Diet Sabotages Learning, Memory - what you eat has an impact…this study says reduce high-fructose and make sure you have enough omega-3 fatty acids

Statistical Analysis Projects Future Temperatures in North America - map that shows the temperature change expected by 2070 for the US.

First Gene Therapy Successful Against Aging-Associated Decline: Mouse Lifespan Extended Up to 24% With a Single Treatment - Research from Spain. Treatment has been found safe and effective in mice. The effectiveness was shown in ‘health span’ not just life extension.

List Of "Most Endangered Rivers" Flows Through National Parks - the Potomac is #1 on this list…that’s pretty close to home for me

Yosemite Nature Notes: Water - 6.5 minute video - waterfalls, churning water, gently flowing water, rainbows in the mist…and then it’s trek all the way to the coast of California; narrated by park rangers

Evolution Of A Glasshouse: From Colonial Glassmaking To Decorative Arts - Jamestown Colonial National Historical Park includes a glassworks!

Prosthetic Retina Offers Simple Solution for Restoring Sight - just one of the promising technologies to address the problem of age related macular degeneration; I hope one of them is practical and effective by the time I need it

Backyard Color of the Week: Yellow - last week it was blue….this week is yellow

Life History Part V - Family and Friends

This is the 5th of 7 posts with prompts to develop a life history. Previous posts in this series:

Introduction and childhood

Favorites

Habits

Emotions

~~~~

This fifth in the series is about Family and Friends - these are the most important people in life. Use these prompts to develop a life history section about them. 

• Tell me about your siblings.
• Tell me about your mother.
• Tell me about your father.
• How did your relationship with your parents change over the years?
• Tell me about our maternal grandparents.
• Tell me about your paternal grandparents.
• Tell me about our cousins.
• Do you like young children?
• What do people tend to always notice about you?
• Tell me about your friends.
• Tell me about your work colleagues.
• How often do you host gatherings?
• Where are gatherings you host or attend held?
• How many people do you exchange gifts with (birthday/Christmas, etc.) and what kind of gifts do you give and receive?
• Talk about the people that have known you your whole life.

Topics for the remaining parts of the series: the present, and the future. I’ll be posting them in the next two weeks.

Life History Part IV - Emotions

This is the 4th of 7 posts with prompts to develop a life history. Previous posts in this series: 

• Introduction and childhood
• Favorites
• Habits

~~~~

This fourth in the series is about emotions. Emotions are the manifestation of feelings. Sometimes they are not entirely logical - but they give our lives dimension. Questions about emotions sometimes beg for a story to provide context. Here are some questions to start exploring the emotional side of a life history. 

• What has been the happiest moment of your life to date?
• What has been the saddest moment of your life to date?
• What holidays do you celebrate?
• How religious are you - what role does religion play in your life?
• Do you attend church (regularly...occasionally...ever)?
• What do you like most about your life right now?
• What do you like the least (or dislike) about your life right now?
• If you have to leave the house in a hurry - maybe not ever to return - what would you take with you?
• What is your definition of success?
• Give a couple of examples of things you enjoy doing with someone else.
• How do I know I can trust you?
• Are you an introvert or extrovert?
• Describe the clothes you like the best.
• Describe an emotionally charged event at work.
• Describe an emotional charged event at home or with your family.
• What makes you angry and what do you do when you are angry?
• How often have you gotten angry in the past month?
• Describe a conflict that did not work out as you had hoped.
• What is your general approach to conflict?
• How emotional are you generally - are you volatile or stoic? 

Topics for the upcoming parts of the series: family and friends, the present, and the future. I’ll be posting them about once a week.

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 5, 2012

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week:

Live stream of Blue Heron nest at Cornell Ornithology Lab - There are 5 chicks…two cameras. I leave it on almost all the time. I love having bird noises in my office and they are so interesting to watch. The chicks are growing fast so don’t wait to take a look. The adult male has the extra plummage on his head (the female lost hers in a battle with an owl) and a missing toe on his right foot. They take turns on the nest.

New Saturn video created from Voyager and Cassini spacecraft images - Video and music

New Reservation System In Place For Firefly Viewing At Great Smokies June 2nd—10th - The fireflies that flash synchronously have become so popular that a ticketing system has been put in place. Good to know if you plan to see them this year.

About One Baby Born Each Hour Addicted to Opiate Drugs in U.S. - very sad

Arabic Records Allow Past Climate to Be Reconstructed - Weather in Iraq/Syria in the 816-1009 time period…a time with lots of cold waves in that area of the world

Yellowstone Super-Eruptions More Numerous Than Thought? - yes, it’s still a super volcano

The Library of Utopia - Another try to create the giant online library

10 Emerging Technologies - A list from Technology Review. It has a pull down so you can look at their list from previous years too

Is automation the handmaiden of inequality? - Productivity per hour has continued to climb while the hourly compensation flatten sometime in the 1970s. Manufacturing jobs in the US have declined precipitously since around 2000 while the manufacturing output has continued to increase (and this in spite of outsource manufacturing to other countries too!). Blog post + comments to get lots of interpretations of the data.

Breakthroughs in glass technology - and they’ll come on line in the next few years...I like the idea of having wall sized screens!

10 Years Ago – In May 2002

Many years ago I started collecting headlines/news blurbs as a way of honing my reading of news. Over the years, the headline collection has been warped by the sources of news I was reading…increasingly online. Reviewing the May 2002 headline gleanings - I forced myself to pick 10.    

1. The U.S. unemployment rate jumped to 6 percent in April, the highest in nearly eight years
2. The 165-pound titan arum, the rotten-smelling giant of the plant kingdom, unfurled its single stinky flower after beginning a dramatic growth spurt last week
3. An abandoned South Dakota gold mine may become a new inner sanctum for physicists working to unravel the inner workings of atoms by isolating subatomic particles.
4. The lifespans of people in developed nations are increasing at a remarkably constant rate, suggesting that there is no natural limit on life expectancy
5. Famed biologist, author Stephen Jay Gould dies at 60
6. China to Launch Moon Mission in 2010
7. Yosemite Falls restoration project set to begin in June
8. Chandra Levy's remains found in D.C. park
9. The discovery of 11 small moons orbiting Jupiter brings the number of that planet's moons to 39
10. British archaeologists think that a gold earring-clad archer, found in a 4,300-year-old burial site in Amesbury, England, may have been a king during the heyday of Stonehenge. 

My interests in science is reflected in the mix (botany in item 2, physics in item 3, physiology in item 4, space in item 9 and archaeology in item 10). The other fit into a people/places/politics category.

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 28, 2012

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week:

Red-Rock Splendors of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks (video)

Anti-depressants likely do more harm than good - How many other drugs would come out like this is reviewed from a whole system perspective?

A serving a day of dark chocolate might keep the doctor away - A study that showed 50 grams of 70% dark chocolate was good for you. I love having it for breakfast (although I usually have only eat 20 grams)!

Surging Seas - a site that gets specific about the expected impact of rising sea level by 2020.

Almost Seven Million Birds Perish at Communication Towers in North America Each Year - a study that documented the problem…and some possible solutions (for example - making the red lights blinking rather than solid would reduce mortality by 45%!)

Building Muscle Without Heavy Weights - more repetitions with lower intensity also works!

If the food’s in plastic, what’s in the food? - Maybe we need to know more about the packaging of the food we eat

NASA Landsat Satellites See Texas Crop Circles - An image and a bit of history about irrigation and Landsat

Psychologists use social networking behavior to predict personality type - Some research results that prompts more questions than it answers

Less invasive scoliosis treatment - A rod system that is manipulated with magnets - marketed by a California Company - being tested in Hong Kong because of the difficulty getting technology approved for testing in the US

Roosevelt Memorial

A few weeks ago when we went down to Washington DC to see the Cherry Blossoms, we walked through the Roosevelt Memorial as well. It is open to the air and has lots of cascading water that blocks out other sounds most of the time.

FDR’s stature is caped and Fala is nearby. Are Fala’s ears shiny because people like to pet him?

I like the statue of Eleanor Roosevelt; the pockets of her coat look used.

There are visuals of the times in textured tiles and a bread line of statues.

The memorial seems to invite interaction. It is set up for people to stand in the bread line with the statues or to stand beside the statues of the Roosevelts or Fala. The tiles invite more than looking…they are to be touched. 

Life History Part III - Habits

This is the 3rd of 7 posts with prompts to develop a life history.

Previous posts in this series: 

• Introduction and childhood
• Favorites

 ~~~~

This third in the series is about habits. Habits are regular patterns of behavior that may be almost automatic. They may change over the course of a lifetime so it may be worthwhile to think and talk about them in a time phased way (for example - if you are a morning person now…have you always been?). Some of these questions may have a short answer…some beg for elaboration and follow up questions. Enjoy the journey of discovery! 

• Are you usually a morning or evening person?
• When do you get up in the morning and what is your usual morning routine?
• What kind of clothes do you wear to work?
• What kind of clothes do you wear on the weekend?
• What television shows do you enjoy?
• What feeds do you look at regularly?
• What occasions cause you to dress up?
• When you get dressed up - what do you wear?
• Are you usually on time - late - or early for appointments?
• What is your biggest vice or guilty pleasure?
• What is your biggest meal of the day?
• What do you like to do while you eat?
• Do you shower or take baths?
• Do you get annual medical checkups and dental cleanings every 6 months?
• Are your meals about the same time each day?
• Do you take supplements/vitamins?
• Do you take medications/drugs?
• Do you have an 'evening' (before sleep) ritual?

Topics for the upcoming parts of the series: family and friends, the present and the future. I’ll be posting them about once a week.

Life History Part II - Favorites

This is the 2nd of 7 posts with prompts to develop a life history. The first one (and intro) can be found here.

~~~~

The second series is about favorites. Some on this list are probably more important to you or have a more dominate favorite…or there may be whole categories of favorites to add. The idea is to capture an individual’s preferences. Maybe some of those preferences have changed over time and that is worth a conversation rather than the short answer. Or maybe there really is not a favorite (i.e. if you choose a different flavor of ice cream every time you buy some…maybe you simply like almost all flavors of ice cream!).

Here is my starter list for ‘favorites’: 

1. Animal
2. ColorColor
3. Food
4. Nut
5. Ice cream flavor
6. Flower
7. Kind of vacation
8. Vacation destinationVacation destination
9. Jewelry
10. What do you most enjoy doing outdoors
11. Tree
12. Car
13. Thing to do when you have time
14. Home architectural styles
15. Furniture
16. Stores
17. Restaurants
18. Kind of music/performer
19. Movie
20. Book
21. Friend

Topics for the upcoming parts of the series: habits, family and friends, the present and the future. I’ll be posting them about once a week.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is new enough that the first time I was down at the national mall since it opened was for the Cherry Blossom festival in March. The memorial is right on the tidal basin - the statue of Dr. King looks out over the water. Looking at it across the tidal basin, the Lincoln Memorial is behind and too the left of it.

We were there on a week day and there were buses of students on spring field trips. A large group of high school aged students all wearing the same T-shirts were at the memorial as we arrived. Many of them had their phones in their hands but they weren’t texting or talking on them. They were using them to take pictures. They were paying attention to what they were seeing. The tones of their voices were not loud or strident. The monument seems to encourage a reflective demeanor more than anything else.

We walked around reading the quotes at our own pace. Some that I photographed are below. They are etched in the low wall to either side of the statue itself.

Prompts for Developing a Life History - Part I

Today I am starting a series of 7 posts that will include questions that can be used as prompts to develop a life history. They could be used as:

• A personal assessment of your own life (i.e. your own life history)
• A structure for initial conversations with someone else to get to know them (i.e. you each answer the question…and discuss further if needed)
• Interview questions for someone you know fairly well but have gaps in what your know about them (i.e. like a grandparent or parent or a grandchild that has always lived far away

You don’t have to use every question and you may think of others you would like to ask as you go through these. Writing or recording the answers will result in a rudimentary life history. Consider embedding pictures of items the supplement the narrative. Eventually you'll want to get it into a form you can easily edit - like a word processor - but you can start out with a tablet/blank book and pen. Sometimes ordinary things can have a lot of meaning (for example - a raggedy baby's blanket that is part of a 'first memory').

~~~~~

The first series of questions is about your childhood through the completion of your education.

1. Where and when were you born?
2. What was your favorite activity as a child?
3. What is your earliest memory?
4. Who taught you your numbers and letters?
5. How much did you know before you went to school? Could you write your name, etc.?
6. What was your favorite subject in elementary school?
7. Who helped you with your homework in elementary school?
8. What was your elementary school classroom/school building like?
9. What was the most memorable event of elementary school?
10. Did you play a musical instrument? Do you still play?
11. What kind of ‘trouble’ did you have as a teenager?
12. What do you remember the most about high school?
13. What was your hardest class in high school?
14. Did you participate in sports in high school? Do you still play?
15. What extracurricular activities did you participate in during high school and college?
16. Did you have a job while you were in high school? If so - what did you do?
17. Do you have friends from high school you still keep in touch with?
18. Did you go to college?
    • Where?
    • What do you remember the most about college?
    • What was the hardest class for you  in college?
    • How was your college paid for?
    • What did you major in?
    • Did you have a job while you were in college? If so - what did you do?
    • In retrospect, to what extent did you use your college education in your work?
    • Do you have friends from college you still keep in touch with?
19. What was your first car?
20. Did you ever travel by yourself prior to college? If so - where, how, when?
21. Did your family take vacations? If so - where did you go/what did you do?

Later parts to this series will focus on favorites, habits, family and friends, the present and the future. The segments will come out about once a week.

History of Botanical Print Making - Online Examples

Botanical prints have been popular since the beginning of books. They were intended to be educational and often show dissections of flowers or seed pods. They are often beautiful works of art as well.

Many of these old books have been scanned and are accessible via the Internet. I’ve created a time ordered sequence below and pointed to where you can find the whole book of similar prints.

Published in 1484, Peter Schoeffer’s Herbarius latinus contains simple drawings like on the right. The drawings clearly could not be used by themselves to identify a plant. This book was created not that long after the printing press became more widely used (i.e. the Gutenberg Bible was made in the 1450s).

In 1487, Hamsen Schonsperger published Gart der Gesundheit. An example showing an Iris is on the left; the color is rather primitive.  The images are embedded with the text rather than being on separate pages.

Hieronymus Brunschwig’s Das Distilierbuoch came in 1521. It has some plain drawings and some colored. The plain drawings show more detail than earlier drawings although some parts seem stylized rather than reflecting of reality as shown in the grape vine representation on the right. This book also include manufacturing type diagrams...it is a 'how to' book.

In 1546, Kreüter Buch, darin Underscheid, Würckung und Namen der Kreüter so in Deutschen Landen wachsen by Hieronymus Bock was published. The strawberries are easily recognizable. The color is a little better than in the 1400s example.

Skipping ahead to 1788 when Joseph Gaertner published De frvctibvs et seminibvs plantarvm the attention to detail had increased even more. 

In 1805, William Hooker published 2 volumes of The paradisus londinensis:or coloured figures of plants cultivated in the vicinity of the metropolis with color representations. While these volumes were focused on plants near London - the 1800s were a time of plant exploration around the globe and the botanical prints of the era made those discoveries more widely known with their realistic portrayals.

In 1818, William Jackson Hooker published 2 volumes of Musci exotici - with renditions of mosses. 

The 2 volume Florae Columbiae by Hermann Karsten was published in 1869. 

Medizinal Pflanzen was published in 4 volumes in 1887. I picked the dandelion print for the example from this book (on the right). Note the way the illustrator sought to fit as much as possible about the plant onto a single page.

In 1904, Kunstformen der Natur was published by Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel. This book has a wide range of prints, not just botanical. The one of pitcher plant is shown at the left. 

In 1907, Alfred  Cogniaux published the many volumes of Dictionnaire iconographique des orchidees. The prints are lovely and grouped by the classification of orchids at the time. My favorite orchids are the slipper-like ones.

This is just a small sample of what is available. The two main repositories that I’ve used are Botanicus and the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Both have many more volumes of botanical prints than I've shown here and I encourage you to browse through them. Both repositories have a similar online viewing design. The frame along the left side of the book browsing window generally shows which pages have an illustration (marked 'illustration' or 'plate' or 'tab', for example) so it is possible to skip to the pages that include prints.

Enjoy!

Jefferson Memorial

When we went down to the see the cherry blossoms in Washington DC back on March 23rd, we walked through the Jefferson Memorial as well. I like the classical shape of the portico and columns…the round dome…the marble.

In the center - there is the larger-than-life statue of Jefferson. His words are etched into the walls. I found myself marveling at how relevant they still are.  This memorial is not only about remembering the man; it is about renewing our understanding of the foundation for our country that is still vibrant and strong.

Around to the side of the memorial, there is an entrance to go under the memorial where there is a museum and gift shops. Jefferson’s words are etched in the walls here too.

The memorial is visible from most of the walk around the tidal basin. The last picture is from the other side of the tidal basin - just past the Martin Luther King Memorial - framed by cherry blossoms.

There always seem to be a lot of people around the Jefferson Memorial. It is a calm spot amid the bustle of city traffic. Somehow it seems to be above the fray and it helps everyone who comes here to be that way too for a few moments.

10 Years Ago – In April 2002

Many years ago I started collecting headlines/news blurbs as a way of honing my reading of news. Over the years, the headline collection has been warped by the sources of news I was reading…increasingly online. Reviewing the April 2002 headline gleanings - I forced myself to pick 10.   

1. Wildfire scorches parts of New Mexico
2. A new census in the solar system doubles the number of large asteroids thought to lurk between Mars and Jupiter.
3. Despite decades of legal protection, the billion or so monarch butterflies that overwinter in Mexico are losing the cloudbelt forests they depend on
4. China tops list of world executioners
5. Thousands of mummies, most of them from the Inca culture five centuries ago, have been unearthed from an ancient cemetery under a shantytown near Lima in Peru,
6. Huge colonies of Earth microbes are living off of hydrogen gas released by common rocks, raising the possibility of similar life forms on Mars
7. Adventurer Thor Heyerdahl dead at 87
8. Cooking tomatoes -- such as in spaghetti sauce -- makes the fruit heart-healthier and boosts its cancer-fighting ability
9. Four whooping cranes taught to migrate by human trainers have completed the return trip to Wisconsin from Florida on their own
10. Being the firstborn child in a family may make a person more likely to develop coronary disease

As usual, my interests are reflected in these top 10: space exploration (2 and 6), earth systems and exploration (1, 3, 5, 7 and 9), food/health (8 and 10).