Gleanings of the Week Ending May 28, 2022

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Major infrared breakthrough could lead to solar power at night – A very small amount of energy was produced in the test…more research required for practical application.

Restoration Reveals Engravings in Egypt’s Temple of Esna – Follow the link at the top of the post to see a few more pictures of the restored engravings.

What we are still learning about how trees grow – A new study finds that tree growth is limited by cell growth rather than photosynthesis which has been assumed to be the limiting factor previously. The models that predict how much carbon forests can absorb need to be updated.

Spring Flowers are Blooming Earlier in Greater Yellowstone – The recovery of detailed records made in the 1970s by Frank Craighead of when flowers bloomed is helping document changes…help restoration planners determine the best seed mixes for native plants…try to mitigate the impact of climate change.

Cutting air pollution emissions would save 50,000 US lives, $600 billion each year – Yet another reason to take actions to dramatically reduce air pollution.

Traces of an ancient watery world in Capital Reef – Satellite views of Capitol Reef National Park…and the story in the rocks.

Prehistoric feces reveal parasites from feasting at Stonehenge – A piece of trivia: beef and pork were spit-roasted or boiled in clay pots but the evidence of particular parasites in coprolites reveals that liver and lungs from an infected animal were consumed raw or undercooked.

Vangelis, famed film composer and synth pioneer, dead at 79 – I remember going to see Chariots of Fire when it first came out in the early ‘80s….and the unforgettable music. This obituary post includes a link to a YouTube video with the music.

How cranberries could improve memory and ward off dementia – I like cranberries…but eating a cup (equivalent) per day is a lot. In the study they used cranberry powder.

More heat, more drought: New analyses offer grim outlook for the US west – The latest seasonal outlook projects the drought to continue across virtually the entire American west through the summer. New research suggests that Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming will increasingly look like the Southwest as temperatures continue to rise.

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 21, 2022

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Amazing Photo of Wisteria Trees Looks Like a Fireworks Display – Pictures from Japan’s Ashikaga Flower Park.

New Mexico Wildfire Spawns Fire Cloud – A pyrocumulonimbus cloud formed; the vertical plume reached the tropopause….an altitude of about 12 kilometers.

Heatwaves are altering our everyday lives – The new normal but we aren’t very well prepared for it; there are some obvious adaptations that are needed – particularly to electrical networks. No one wants infrastructure to fail at a critical time.

Well-preserved iron age arrow discovered in Norway – The arrow was recovered from a glacier…iron arrowhead, sinew, tar, thread, shaft, and feather fletching was preserved. It is about 30 inches long.

Rigid waterproof coating for paper aims to reduce our dependence on plastic – Interesting…would be great if it could speed the transition away from plastic for food packaging particularly. The article said the chemicals break down over time into harmless components…but didn’t say how long that took.

Chemicals that linger for decades in your blood – So many chemicals introduced in my lifetime are probably still in my blood. I can remember the spraying of DDT for mosquitoes in the ‘60s….one instance particularly of the straying truck going down the farm road near my grandparents house as we played in the back yard. How much of my exposure do I still have…did I pass along to my daughter?

Ultraviolet light reveals radiant hidden beauty of flowers – A project during the COVID-19 pandemic…beautiful results.

Archaeologists Unearth 3,000-Year-Old Giant Statues in Sardinian Necropolis – Over 7 foot tall…with almost emotionless expression, blocky nose and deep-set eyes. The two found most recently were boxers but about two dozen others have been found since the mid-1970s: 16 boxers, 4 archers, and 5 warriors.

Top 25 birds of the week: May 2022! – Bird appreciation….a source of beauty in the world.

Disparities in natural gas leak prevalence in US urban areas – Why can’t pipeline companies do better…not wait around until regulation requires them to do it? We should be more critical of the companies that they are not actively reducing leaks in their pipelines.

Preparing to move (2) – May 2022

A lot has happened since my last post about preparing to move back on 5/5.

We have packed a lot more boxes, of course. Our goal is to minimize items to go in the cars (precious/high value things, liquids, key documents, and whatever we need while the truck in enroute).

There is still some ‘messiness’ around the stacks of boxes but it is gradually being cleared away…with the rooms beginning to look ‘all packed.’ The very last will probably be the kitchen since we continue enjoying cooking/eating at home; about half the kitchen is already packed.

The boxes have been cleared from around the grand piano to make it easier for the crew that will prepare it to go on the truck. The box move was hard work since they were filled with books…the heaviest of our boxes. We managed to remove the humidifier box (which stuck out from the bottom of the piano).

I have developed a lot of skill in reusing packaging material like Styrofoam, foam squiggles, bubble/pillow wrap and paper. For example, I cut up a foam board yard sign to pad the top of a box, disconnected strips of Styrofoam from a larger piece/bent them to fill an odd space in a larger box and used squiggles to fill small spaces around paper wrapped breakable items to keep them from moving too much. I’m also realizing that plastic hangers work well to fill the top of a box without adding more weight.

The last ‘rooms’ to get packed (and the ones we are still working on are my husband’s office and the garage. We’ve made a good start and they will be packed more fully before this weekend. The before and after picture of my first round of garage packing is shown below.

We are getting rid of things we don’t want to move:

We’ve taken multiple loads of recycle and trash to our local facility.

Almost all the hazardous waste has been taken for disposal.

My husband called the county for curbside pickup of a ping pong table, glide, lawn mower, and karate punching bag for later this week – stay tune for pictures of the pile!

And I’ve scheduled another donation a few days before the movers come

Maintenance

The radon remediation has been completed.

The screens that were damaged/worn in the screened deck were replaced.

A light new bulb was put in the light fixture over the basement stairs (with some trickly ladder work).

Carpet replacement has been scheduled for after the movers are done (i.e the house is almost empty).

Overall – the progress we are making appears to be on track to be ready for the movers…and to be almost totally focused on our house in Missouri rather than the one in Maryland by mid-June!

Donate/Recycle/Trash

We are getting rid of things we don’t want to move via donation, recycling and (last resort) trash:

Donation

We’ve done monthly donations that filled our porch – needing to be out by 8AM and picked up sometime during the day. This month the pile was front of the garage because we had maintenance people coming: boom box, yoga mat, mini-trampoline, office supplies, clothes, window/deck pressure cleaner, deck stain sprayer, clothes, coffee maker carafe, reusable water bottles, small outdoor rug.

Recycle

We have curbside pickup for some types of recycling for things like plastics, paper and cardboard, but we overwhelmed the bin with the amount we needed to recycle so we included it in our trips to the ‘landfill’ where they have recycling bins plus an area for electronics recycling: cables (computer and phone), computers, files from the 1970s and 1980s , and old cardboard.

Special recycle

Our credit union had a shredding event; we took 3 boxes of old receipts! It would have been too time consuming to do with our small home shredder.

Trash

Fortunately the most bulky items were not heavy….but it was depressing that they could only go into the trash: furnace filters that were for a furnace that has been replaced, old plastic bins, and Styrofoam from inside boxes that we used for packing not needing the Styrofoam

Hazardous waste (special trash)

More of this type of trash had accumulated in our basement and garage over the years than I realized. Most of it was very dusty. Our county has a hazardous waste area of the landfill that is staffed on Saturdays so we accumulated what we had and took it all at once – a SUV full!

  • Paint (and paint cleanup fluids)…this was the bulk of what had accumulated.

  • Gardening chemicals…some was very old and might not even be sold any more!

  • Cleaning products

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 14, 2022

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Why human brains were bigger 3,000 years ago – Some possible explanation: human populations reached a large enough size to share/divide labor and knowledge with others, writing….however, brain size/IQ relationship is not deterministic.

Operating rooms are the climate change contributor no one’s talking about – The health care industry accounts for 8.5% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the US. Operating rooms represent 70% of waste in hospitals and 3 to 6 times as much carbon as the rest of health systems.

Where tornadoes strike most frequently is changing – More erratic tornado activity and the broad impacts of climate change.

Do you have a lost twin? - The rate of twins among live births is only about 1.3%. But as many as 12% of all naturally conceived pregnancies may begin as twin pregnancies.

Wild fox kills 25 flamingos and a duck at National Zoo – We see foxes in our neighborhood. They seem to have adapted to the suburban environment. This one was very efficient to kill 25 birds, though.

A 10,000-year history of geo-ecological change in Yellowstone’s lower geyser basin – A study using a 26.5-foot core from Goose Lake.

US could cut transport emissions by 34% b 2030 – The current trend will reduce emissions by 19% but a bit more focus would provide a bigger reduction.

Garbology: How to spot patterns in people's waste – We’ve been getting rid of a lot as we prepare to move. I try to do as much as possible via donations and recycling…but there is still a lot going in the trash. Some of it came from Texas with us back in 1983…and was still in the same box!

6,000-Year-Old Slate Rings May Have Symbolized Relationships – Friendship rings? Careful analysis revealed the rings had been intentionally broken…and shared (i.e. pieces of a ring were found in two separate burial sites).

How Taipei discovered an active volcano on its doorstep – Disconcerting. Even of there is some ability to provide early warning of an eruption…could the city be abandoned quickly enough?

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 7, 2022

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

A Watershed Moment: Key Findings About Potential Drinking Water Contamination – The sources of contamination are varied….but the list of primary sources is relatively short.

Better residents’ health after switch to electric buses – A study from Sweden. Improved health is a benefit of electrification of transportation!

Should people get rid of their yards? – Somewhat depressing conclusion: “Most people would rather make an aesthetic choice with their lawns than an environmental one.” My plan is not to eliminate the yard in my new house but to minimize it over time with the addition of bushes along the fence and extending beds around trees and around the house.

We talk the fastest growing green jobs with LinkedIn Sr. Editor – The “job vs the environment” is changing. The “green economy’s ability to expand job opportunities is too significant to ignore.” This growth in green jobs is like the 1970s for computer related jobs – a lot of new types of jobs and many of them will extend for the duration of a career starting now.

Discover the Microscopic Wonders of Olympus’ 2021 Image of the Year Awards – Taken with light microscopes…lots of finesse preparing the specimens.

Known to be toxic for a century, lead still poisons thousands of Midwestern kids – Two things I learned from this article about the state I am moving to: Missouri is one of the four states in the Midwest that is struggling to alleviate lead poisoning in children…and it is the number one producer of lead in the US. Hope they are making progress.

Top 25 birds of the week: terrestrial birds – Always enjoy the bird photographs! This group includes a roadrunner….a bird I always associate with Texas but the photograph was taken in California!

Tests indicate bronze age daggers had a practical purpose – Evidently the daggers were thought to be ceremonial objects prior to this analysis.

Should we be eating three meals a day? – The number of meals may not be as important as consistency….and giving the body a long enough ‘fast’ time to rest.

The Great Barrier Reef through Time – Landsat Images used to illustrate recent research on the growth of the reefs as the ocean changes. Evidently the reef has been more resilient to past sea-level and temperature fluctuations than previously thought….but increased sediment input has been a bigger problem.

Preparing to move (1) – May 2022

The pace of our preparation to move to Springfield, MO has increased since my last post about our move a little over a week ago.

The most physical activity has been toward packing since the date for the movers to arrive at our house in Maryland has been set for early June:

I started out with a goal of packing 20 boxes a day for 5 days…only succeeded because many of them were already packed and all I had to do was add them to the inventory and tape them up. Then the goal became 10 boxes for 5 days…not as easy because I was packing more boxes. Now my goal is 5 plus until they are all packed. I had to buy more boxes.

There are some items we have packed in the original boxes they came in….much easier for them to be safe going on the truck.

I watched a video on packing glass/ceramic items and have now packed most of those items that will go on the truck. I used a lot of packing paper, bubble wrap and squiggles – extra carboard inside the boxes if they were not double thickness boxes. The cardboard, bubble wrap and squiggles were reuse items from packages we’ve received over the years and stored in the basement.

We’ve identified an issue with the piano moving…determining how to remove the humidifier box that makes a bump on the underside of the piano.

We cleared a corner of the basement to put items that will remain with the house after the movers leave since we will be here off and on until the house is sold. I am also clearing all the closets and those too will contain items that will stay with the house.

My daughter is coming for a few days before the movers to help with last minute packing and will take a carload of items back to Springfield.

About my inventory list….I have it as an Excel spreadsheet with the box number (I bought a roll of number labels from Amazon), contents, location in current house, destination in new house, date packed/taped, transport (which car/trip, movers, movers take apart before move). Then I do a Pivot Table to summarize my packing (date x transport). Obviously almost everything goes with the movers but I can easily click on the pivot table cell to produce a list of items I’ve slated to go in a particular car and trip. For example…I will probably make 3 trips to and from before Missouri between now and when we close the sale of our current house….and I have a list accumulating for each of those trips!

We are also making progress with items we don’t want to move:

We’ve taken a load to the landfill/recycling center and already accumulated another load which we will take today.

I took wire hangers back to the dry cleaners and old glasses to a optometrist office that is a collection point for them.

I’ve discovered that I don’t use plastic bags for packing and there were a lot of them in the packing materials we accumulated so I am taking a bag stuffed with them to the grocery store every time I got.

My husband is marking off maintenance items at our current house:

A plumber replaced the sump pump.

A new refrigerator was purchased, delivered and installed since replacing the ice maker in our old one was so expensive

The creak in floor outside my office is gone after much effort to find the joists

And finally, there is activity in Springfield on our behalf as well:

The appraisal came back higher than our offer…good news.

An agreement to the list from the house inspection was reached and radon remediation will be done before we close.

Overall – I think I see the light at the end of the packing tunnel…

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 23, 2022

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Virologists Identify More Than 5,000 New Viruses in the Ocean – Another indication that we still have a lot to learn about life on our planet.

Top 25 birds of the week: Bird Habitats! – Beautiful birds! I always enjoy seeing photographs…seeing birds I know and some I don’t!

The Jumping Slugs of the Pacific Northwest – A little different than the slugs I’ve seen. These have a vestigial shell on the top of their ‘hump.’ There was a new-to-me skeletal name in the article: slugs have a hydrostatic skeleton!

Aging clocks aim to predict how long you’ll live – Really? The value of the various aging clocks is still TBD.

Wildflower Fungi – This post was from the Master Naturalist group in Springfield MO. I am paying more attention now that I am moving to the area.

Deforestation drives climate change that harms remaining forest – Deforestation causes changes in a regions air temperature and precipitation…instigating changes in the whole region rather than just the part where the forest was removed.

Scientists Identify 50,000th Spider Species on Earth—but Thousands More Are Waiting to Be Discovered – It’s humbling to realize that there is so much about our world that we don’t know….have not discovered.

Amid Hopes and Fears, a plastic boom in Appalachia is on hold – Another sad trend in Appalachia…still hitching their future to fossil fuels. The jobs look good but the long-term jobs are few and the market for their products is not a positive one. Everyone wants to reduce single use plastics as much as possible.

Study suggests tree-filled spaces are more favorable to child development than paved or grassy surfaces – Playgrounds need more trees!

Germany’s Nature Society Crowns the 2022 Nature Photographer of the Year – The first picture is of a male kestrel. That caught my attention…and then I browsed the rest of the photos.

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 16, 2022

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Purple gallinule with chicks – I remember seeing an adult purple gallinule on a birding field trip in Florida. Aren’t the chicks cute? Little black fluffs.

Reproductive factors and dementia risk – Hurray! My life events skew toward reduced dementia risk…according to this study.

Macro photos reveal the often unseen beauty and diversity of slime molds – Hmmm…maybe I should hone my observational skills to find these on my next hike…attempt some macro photography of them.

As EV Sales Soar, Automakers Back Higher Fuel Standards – So glad that industry is finally onboard…projecting a ‘we can do it’ attitude. I’d rather society take action…build some optimism into our view about the future rather than being depressed by trends that seem dystopian.

Beginner’s Tips for Identifying Backyard Bird Nests – It’s the nesting time of year! Look…id…don’t disturb!

Ozone may be heating the plant more than we realize – We’ve been concerned about ozone in the upper atmosphere for years (hence the Montreal Protocol) but this study also points to ozone in the lower atmosphere (caused by chemical reactions between pollutants like vehicle exhaust fumes and other emissions) as contributing to climate change as well. Until now, we thought of lower atmosphere ozone as a health problem (I get headaches if I am outdoors on a high ozone day, for example). This research says that it also is contributing to climate change by affectioning ocean heat uptake.

American Lung Association Says EVs Save Lives – Good for our health….and also for the planet. I also noted that where I live now is in the American Lung Associations Tops 10 US urban areas at risk from airborne pollution…another reason to move away from this area!

New Technology Employed to Protect Pompeii – A four-legged robot used to gather data on structural and safety issues.

Flamingo that escaped from a zoo in Kansas is spotted once again in Texas 17 years later – The flamingo is a species from Tanzania….and must be a very lonely bird.

Brain charts for the human lifespan – Normative trajectories derived from over 100,000 MRI scans that allow quantification of individual variation. Figure 1 in the post can be enlarged by simply clicking on the image.

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 9, 2022

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Winners of Wildlife Photography Competition Show the Power of Water – Starting out the gleanings list with some eye candy this week.

Personality traits are associated with well-being and satisfaction in life after work – My husband and I have transitioned to ‘life after work’ and seem to have easily established ‘new fulfilling life patterns.’ In an odd way, the COVID-19 pandemic has helped us focus on the most important aspects of those patterns.

A New Study of the Permian Basin – a US oil-drippling hotspot is kicking out far more methane that we thought – I keep thinking that the technology to reduce emissions in the fossil fuel extraction process has improved from the early days. Maybe it has…maybe the hasn’t. The industry may not be motivates. Is it all about maximizing profits for them and their stockholders…everyone else doesn’t matter?

Toad Wisdom – A story of webs of life from the Prairie Ecologist.

European earthworms reduce insect populations in North American forest – Even small invasive species can have a significant impact.

Mapping Inequality – Redlining in New Deal America – An introduction….then downloads and data for maps for urban areas across the US from the 1930s.

Top 25 birds of the week: birds on flowers – Enjoy some photographs of birds…flowers…springtime!

Scents help researchers identify contents of Egyptian vessels – The smells of ancient Egypt!

Norway at new record high 92% plugin EV share in March – Hopefully the EV share in the US will start climbing more rapidly.

“Flash droughts” coming on faster, global study shows – Extreme weather….not all on the wet side.

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 2, 2022

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Where Have All the (Big) Cypress Trees Gone ... And Are They Coming Back? – The cypress stands survived logging but they may never again be as dominant as they were before. The largest trees now are about 3.5 feet diameter; the largest stumps from logging are about 5 feet diameter.

8 bird migrations, from past to present – The annual movement of birds is a part of spring….part of the yearly progression.

Cherry Blossom Time In Washington, D.C. – I was glad to get home in time to see the cherry tree in our yard bloom; it’s a little behind the trees in DC (we are a little north and not on the water).

Nature Conservancy to build solar farms at abandoned coal mines in Virginia – And thus an energy producing community, continues…leaning into the future!

The sound of Merlin: like Shazam, but for birds – An app that IDs birds by their songs…a learning experience to take on a walk.

Higher risk of temperature-related death if global warming exceeds 2°C – We’ll have to be more aware of heatwaves. Perhaps we would modify our behavior during those times…and medical interventions might help. There is a heat threshold above which our bodies are not adapted very well…that will cause increasing problems.

Rarely Seen Paintings by J.R.R. Tolkien Portray a Lush ‘Lord of the Rings’ Landscape – Another perspective of Tolkien…through his art rather than writing.

No breathing easy for city dwellers: particulates – Southeast Asia has seen the largest annual average increases in concentration and mortality rates between 2000 and 2019 from this type of air pollution.

How climate change is leading to bigger hailstones – The records for the largest hailstones have been broken in the last 3 years in Texas, Colorado and Alabama….reaching sizes of up to 6.2 inches in diameter. Large hail causes a lot of damage…if the incidence of large hail increases the damage/costs will trend higher too; the post includes a picture of a car damaged by large hail…daunting to anyone that doesn’t have their car parked in a garage.

Missouri Man Indicted For Fire That Destroyed Ozark National Scenic Riverways Visitor Station – I am paying more attention to news about natural areas in Missouri…now that I am preparing to move to the state. It’s sad when this type of destruction occurs – hard to fathom why someone would burn a visitor station.

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 26, 2022

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

How triple-pane windows stop energy (and money) from flying out the window – How long will it be before all window replacements and windows in new houses will be triple paned? I guess is depends a lot on affordability….and then availability. I like that they reduce noise too.

Yellowstone At 150: Challenges Go More Than Crowd-Deep – A post about Yellowstone’s past, present…projections for the future. My husband and I have only visited the park once…hopefully we’ll be able to see it again.

Beware the joro spider. Scientists say the giant, but harmless, arachnid is spreading – A native of Japan…it has been in the southeastern US for the past decade. It may be poised to continue up the eastern seaboard. Fortunately, they are not lethal to humans and the eat mosquitos/stink bugs.

Top 25 birds of the week: Seedeaters! – We see some of these at our birdfeeders!  

Cognitive Bias Codex, 2016 – A graphic I had not seen before….very thought provoking.

Revealing an Ice Age Route of Indigenous Peoples – Vancouver Island…analyzing lake sediments. One of them, Topknot Lake, was evidently never covered by glaciers so the sediment was very deep.

Hidden dangers lurking in your kitchen - A little history…and one that is relevant to my house hunting: I don’t want to buy a house with gas stove…if I do, it will be replaced with an electric ASAP.

Common house plants can improve air quality indoors – Modern homes are more airtight than ever…and indoor air quality can become a problem. Good to know that plants can help – and they are generally aesthetically pleasing too.

Spring is starting sooner and growing warmer – (A color coded map) Almost the whole US is experiencing earlier Spring. A small area of North and South Dakota is the exception.

Here are the world’s 25 most endangered cultural heritage sites – The post is a summary from Smithsonian Magazine. More details are available from the World Monuments Fund. There are sites in Ukraine that are in danger from the war there – will probably be on the next list (Smithsonian post and article with pictures of the 7 Ukranian UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 12, 2022

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Why soil is a surprisingly noisy place – Wow! A whole new way of studying soil…listening to it.

Gas flares tied to premature deaths – A study done by Rice University environmental engineers with data from North Dakota and Texas. There are currently no limits to flaring, unfortunately. Why can’t we use the gas productively? It bothers me when we hear that we need more fossil fuels to observe the way the industry still is so wasteful and polluting.

Dying for makeup: Lead cosmetics poisoned 18th century European socialites in search of whiter skin – I had heard of lead makeup before…but never is this detail.

Top 25 birds of the week: forest birds – The only one of these that appears in the forest behind our house in Maryland is the Tufted Titmouse.

Study questions the role of vitamin D2 in human health but its sibling, vitamin D3, could be important for fighting infections – The labelling on foods fortified with Vitamin D does not say which type is used – hopefully it is D3. The supplemental Vitamin D I take is definitely D3.

The Prairie Ecologist – Photos of the Week – February 26, 2022 – Winter photography….it’s about over for us. Daffodils are up!

What is the best age to learn to read? – There is more variability that I realized…generally between 4 and 7. There is growing consensus that there is no reason to rush it. Learning language is key and often older children learn to read faster because their spoken language skills are greater.

Effects of noise on marine life – The study was focused on turtles and observed noise-induced hearing loss (sometimes temporarily) which hampers their ability to detect predators, communication, navigation, etc.

Rash-causing moths are spreading in Maine because of climate change – Browntail moths (native to Europe). I thought when I saw the headline that it might be about the saddleback caterpillar which is native to North America and has stinging spines that cause a painful rash. We had a specimen in the Brookside Gardens Wings of Fancy exhibit back in July/August 2018.

Study of algae in Acadia National Park lakes shows recovery from acidification – A success story…the Clean Air Act Amendments enacted in the 1900s are making a difference!

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 5, 2022

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Scientists develop long lasting anti-fogging coating for plastic surfaces that 'self-cleans' – It seem like the current antireflective coating on my glasses is a little ‘sticky’ – making my glasses collect particles easily…need cleaning frequently. It would be great to have something that is self-cleaning! Somehow I doubt this would eliminate the need to clean my glasses but it would be good to get back to the way glasses were before the fancy coatings!

Rare Baby Ghost Shark Caught in New Zealand’s Chatham Rise – What an odd-looking animal. There is a 3-minute video that shows adult sharks.

Deer Mice: Get to Know North America’s Most Abundant Mammal – So small we might not notice them most of the time. A good overview of deer mice. They are vectors for Lyme disease and hantavirus….but provide food for hawks, eagles, and owls…coyotes and foxes.

Lichens Are in an Evolutionary Race Against Climate Change – They can be found almost everywhere…but are very slow growing. That slow growth makes it more challenging for them to adjust to changing temperatures.

Nearly 300 Million Visited National Park System in 2021, But Most To Just 25 Parks – I’ve been to 17 of the 25!

An insulin patch that sticks inside a person’s cheek – I’m sure most diabetics that must take injections would welcome an alternative.

Covid-19 Community Levels – In case you haven’t seen it already – this site has a map of the US with the counties color coded. The county where I live and the counties around it are green.

Bronze Age burial mound discovered in England – In Oxford…under traces of St. Mary’s College built in the 15th century.

Surprise small-cell lung cancer discovery suggests new treatment – New work from University of Virginia Health System (which was designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center on Feb. 1).

An Ornate, 5,000-Year-Old Stone Drum Is the U.K.’s Most Significant Prehistoric Art Find in a Century – Found buried alongside skeletons of 3 children cuddled together.  

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 26, 2022

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

After a shaky start, airborne wind energy is slowing taking off – Another way electricity might be generated in the future…but still a lot of work to be done.

Crews working to cull 600-900 bison from Yellowstone’s herds – I guess this happens every year at this time…even though in the rationale to cap the Yellowstone herd at 5,000 animals involved the mistaken idea that the bison were spreading brucellosis to cattle herds (research has shown that it is elk that spread the disease).

What damaged that tree? Probably not what you think – I guessed correctly….but only because I had seen something similar on a tree during a naturalist led hike…and they had identified the animal that make the marks!

The mystery of Mexico’s vanishing stream oaks – A great piece of trivia: Mexico has more species of oak tree than any other country! The article is about trying to save one of those species.

Three in four people worldwide support a ban on single-use plastic – Wide support…but no clear path on how we can do it. As a consumer – I try to avoid single use plastics, but some products don’t come in any other kind of packaging!

Seeing ‘green’ can ease confusion, anger in navigating hospitals – It’s not just hospitals that could use more natural views and ‘green.’

Top 25 birds of the week: waterbirds and seabirds – Terns, scoters, herons, gulls, cormorants, ducks, spoonbills, kingfishers, sandpipers, plovers, grebes…enjoy the photographs!

Warming temperatures are turning Antarctica green – Another indicator of how fast the Earth is changing….and that even Antarctica is not immune.

Drought depletes a reservoir in Spain, revealing a ghost village – The dam was installed in 1992 so this is not an old reservoir. The US is having similar drought related problems with Lake Mead behind Hoover Dam installed in 1935.

After 25 years at sea, shipwrecked Lego pieces are still washing ashore on beaches in England – Plastic is very durable…the pictures of the small Lego pieces still look pristine. Some of the pieces sank…some floated…they are all moving around and, very slowly, breaking down either in the ocean or on the beaches of Cornwall.

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 19, 2022

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Study recommends six steps to improve our water quality – The study focused on nitrogen pollution.

The cells that give you super-immunity – Memory B cells were first discovered in the 1960s….but there is still a lot we are learning about them as we analyze the data from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chicken Frenzy: A State Awash in Hog Farms Faces a Poultry Boom – Ugh! Hope North Carolina can figure out how to keep their groundwater and waterways from being polluted. It’s a beautiful state and it saddens me that the intensive hog and poultry production has not developed technology to be friendly to their immediate environment….or any place that is down stream from where they are located.

What’s the Weirdest Animal Courtship? Here Are 4 Candidates – A post that came out on Valentine’s Day.

Heart-disease risk soars after COVID – even with a mild case – Heart disease was already one of the chronic conditions common for a lot of people in later life… now with COVID, the numbers of people are going to increase and the age demographics are skewing younger.

Enhanced forensic test confirms Neolithic fisherman died by drowning – A skeleton from a 5,000-year-old mass grave on the coast of Northern Chile was analyzed with methods used for more recent bones to determine if a person drowned in salt water….and the method worked!

The mysteries of the Ponderosa Pine – The complex relationships between the health of pine forests and: birds, low-severity fire, squirrels, mushrooms, and carbon storage. Forests are complex!

The science of healthy baby sleep - A little history…and the bottom line: there is NOT just one correct approach to how infants should sleep.

Feeling dizzy when you stand up? Simple muscle techniques can effectively manage symptoms of initial orthostatic hypotension – There might be more validation that needs to be done across a wider demographic range…..hope this happens and if it works for a wide range of people so that doctors can immediately start encouraging their patients that have initial orthostatic hypertension (IOH) to use the simple moves before and immediately after they stand up.

Do you know the world weirdest wild pigs? – The post includes 5 of the 18 wild pig species. The only one in North America is the Africa Red River Hog – one was caught in a trap set for feral hog control in Texas (2019); there are evidently Texas game ranches advertising ‘hunts’ for red river hogs which indicates they have been intentionally imported and there has been at least one escapee from one of those ranches! Is there a free-ranging population of African River Hogs reproducing in the wilds of Texas?

23 Months in COVID-19 Pandemic

23 months and the Omicron variant is declining. There is a lot of hope across the US that the decline in infections will continue…that another variant will not burst on the scene and cause infections to rise again. Maryland – where I live – is approaching the positivity rate of last summer (before the Delta variant) but our hospitalizations are still relatively high although heading downward. There is a lot of push to reduce mask mandates.

My strategy still includes wearing a mask when I am indoors with unfamiliar people…until the stats get a little lower. Over the past month, my indoor interactions have been going to the grocery store and doctor’s office…plus arranging for the replacement of the swelling battery in my laptop (it was under warranty and the manufacturer provided the service at my home).

My husband has picked up the free COVID at-home tests and masks that became available over the past month. We probably have plenty for our needs at this point….may have some we never use if the downward trends continue.

I haven’t had COVID (the precautions and vaccination have worked for me so far) but I am thinking more now about the impacts on our economy and individuals from “long COVID.” At this point it’s hard to predict how much the impact might be but so many people have had COVID that even a small percentage dealing with physical or cognitive challenges over the coming years from long covid would be a significant cohort in our workforce and requiring specialized medical expertise. I wonder if the current mix of specialists in our medical system is going to be adequate. Since there is some indication that the severity of the case does not always correlate to having “long COVID,” the potential for long term impacts is increasingly important in my motivation to continue masking for myself and others until I feel confident that I am unlikely to be infected.

I have broader plans with increased interactions with other people over next 6 weeks: hiking with a group and road trip to Missouri and Texas (I haven’t been since November because of weather, Omicron, and my surgery). Keeping plans flexible is key…reacting to the local infection rates…staying informed about new variants…taking precautions to mitigate risk.

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 12, 2022

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Why the Dutch embrace floating homes – Maybe other coastal areas around the world should be looking at this kind of development…or mitigation strategy. Otherwise - there is going to be a lot of migration away from coasts that will become more and more prone to flooding in the decades to come.

New Antarctic Penguin Colonies Discovered Further South than Normal – Good news for the Gentoo penguins - there is more space on Antarctica now; previously the areas were too icy for these birds. On the downside – there is less area suitable for penguin species that previously lived there and there might be less food available for them all as warming continues.

Three people with spinal-cord injuries regained control of their leg muscles – There has been a lot of research in this area over the past decade; perhaps we are coming to a point where rapid advances are going to be made.

Why to flickers knock on your house? – Not just why they knock but other interesting behavior…made me consider putting up a flicker box to give them a place to raise young.

Dog feces and urine could be harming nature reserves – A study providing rationale for requiring dogs on leashes and owners removing their dog’s feces in natural areas.

Top 25 birds of the week: February 2022 – My favorite this week is the Great White Pelican. Somehow pictures of birds from the front like this always give them a rather assertive appearance.

US household air conditioning use could exceed electric capacity in next decade due to climate change – Not good. Implementation of mitigation strategies need to ramp up quickly. As an individual homeowner, I am thinking: 1) increase efficiency (heat pump or geothermal, more insulation, solar screens on any window getting full sun sometime during the day, maybe upgrade windows/doors) and 2) solar panels on the roof with storage battery.

Threats from QAnon conspiracists force butterfly sanctuary to close – Sad. My husband and I visited the butterfly sanctuary on a rainy day during the Rio Grande Birding Festival in 2017; it wasn’t a good day for butterflies, but we always thought we’d come back on a warmer/sunnier day during some future visit to the area --- then the border wall and the conspiracists has ended it all.

More spice could help seniors avoid salt – Yes! Lemon pepper (the kind without salt in it) is one of my favorites…and any of the components that come under the heading of ‘Italian seasoning.’ I dry my own orange peel (any time I eat an organic orange…the peel gets processed and dried). It helps to use fresh ingredients too (i.e. avoid no-salt version from cans…they have never tasted good to me no matter how they are prepared).

Star Bright: What are Dark Sky Reserves? – Staunton River  (where we’ve been for ‘star parties’) is a Certified IDA International Dark Sky Park….maybe we’ll visit one of the Reserves post-pandemic. Right now – the closest one to us is the one in Canada (just north of Vermont/Maine).

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 5, 2022

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Oyster Hatcheries Help the Industry Adapt to Climate Change – There are lots of aspects of climate change that impact oysters – making mitigation more complex. The industry is trying to be proactive as problems are recognized.

Could COVID-19 still be affecting us in decades to come? – A summary of some research particularly about brain function/Parkinsons and diabetes relationship with COVID-19 just beginning…there is so much we don’t know yet.

The porcupine’s winter in slow-motion – How do porcupines in Alaska survive being out and about in the winter?

Top 25 birds of the week: Bird Interactions – Mostly adults of the same species…but there are a few with different species and the first image is a pair of young owls (siblings).

2,000-Year-Old Roman Bowl Discovered Intact in the Netherlands – Blue glass that look like it could have been made very recently.

Locations of ancient Maya sacred groves of cacao trees discovered – History of cacao (chocolate) trees…grown around sinkholes…so special that the beans were used a currency.

Monarch butterfly numbers soar in California after dramatic losses – It’s great to have some good news about Monarchs….but they’re still a species that needs our help.

AccuWeather shares how an electric school bus fares in Alaska – Evidently the bus has done well even at -48 degrees Fahrenheit!

Musings from the parks: Navigating National, Wild, Recreational, and Scenic Rivers – Prompted by a proposal to refine limits on the horsepower boaters can use in Ozark Scenic Riverways in Missouri…a look at regulations at other rivers in the National Park System. I’d prefer that we begin the transition to electric motors (if motors are allowed at all) rather than only focusing on horsepower.

Epidemiologists develop advanced state-of-the-art tool for measuring the pace of aging – A blood test to measure the pace of biological aging…with the possibility of identifying interventions that would slow aging… and attempt to build aging health equity.

eBotanical Prints – January 2022

20 botanical print books browsed in January and added to the list. The month started with two flower books and one about forests in Japan. Then I found Peter Henderson’s handbook and years of catalogs from his seed business. The catalogs intrigued me. How many of the varieties of celery and melons and peppers and tomatoes…berries and flowers are still available? Some of these varieties would be considered heirloom now and prized because the seeds are suitable to save and grow in next year’s garden. I still have more of the old catalogs to browse in February; it’s a good time to be thinking about a garden.

The whole list of 2,309 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the January 2022 books with links to the volumes and sample images is at the bottom of this post.

Click on any sample images in the mosaic below to get an enlarged version. Enjoy the January eBotanical Prints!

The Flower-Finder * Walton, George Lincoln * sample image * 1914

Flowers Shown to Children * Kelman, Janet Harvey; Smith, C.E. * sample image * 1910

Forest Flora of Japan * Sargent, Charles Sprague * sample image * 1894

Henderson's Handbook of plants and general horticulture * Henderson, Peter * sample image * 1890

Everything for the garden, 1925 * Peter Henderson & Co * sample image * 1925

Everything for the garden, 1899 * Peter Henderson & Co * sample image * 1899

Everything for the garden, 1937 * Peter Henderson & Co * sample image * 1937

Everything for the garden, 1933 * Peter Henderson & Co * sample image * 1933

Everything for the garden, 1946 * Peter Henderson & Co * sample image * 1946

Everything for the garden, 1901 * Peter Henderson & Co * sample image * 1901

Everything for the garden, 1902 * Peter Henderson & Co * sample image * 1902

Everything for the garden, 1904 * Peter Henderson & Co * sample image * 1904

Everything for the garden, 1905 * Peter Henderson & Co * sample image * 1905

Everything for the garden, 1906 * Peter Henderson & Co * sample image * 1906

Everything for the garden, 1908 * Peter Henderson & Co * sample image * 1908

Everything for the garden, 1910 * Peter Henderson & Co * sample image * 1910

Everything for the garden, 1913 * Peter Henderson & Co * sample image * 1913

Everything for the garden, 1916 * Peter Henderson & Co * sample image * 1916

Everything for the garden, 1919 * Peter Henderson & Co * sample image * 1919

Everything for the garden, 1922 * Peter Henderson & Co * sample image * 1922