Gleanings of the Week Ending February 11, 2023

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 world feels so unstable right now – Intermittent instability of nonlinear systems of nature and global society –weather and climate, the economy, a pandemic, a war. We attempt to model nonlinear systems to predict these intermittent instabilities…but it is hard. Right now there seem to be significant nonlinear systems interacting: weather/climate + diseases (COVID-19 and bird flu (US)) + inflation + Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Completing The Electrical Circuit at Kilauea in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park – The technique to get a detailed ‘CAT scan’ of the volcano…..mapping locations of subsurface magma in 3D.

Ex-cell-ent Clouds off Chile’s Coast – Open and closed-cell marine stratocumulus clouds photographed by Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites. Learning more about these clouds….contributing to better weather prediction and improving the accuracy of climate models.

The Surprising Substances Ancient Egyptians Used to Mummify the Dead – Evidently some of the substances the embalmers were using came from Southeast Asia. Perhaps embalming instigated early global trade.

Algae robots transport antibiotics to infected tissues (infographic) – Researchers inserted the modified algae into mouse windpipes…they spread into the lung tissue and killed pathogenic bacteria!

Hundreds of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Designs were never built. Here’s what they might have looked like. – Computer generated models from David Romero.

5 expert tips to protect yourself from online misinformation – We all need tools to help us distinguish information from misinformation.

Montessori: The world’s most influential school? – I sought out a Montessori pre-K and K for my daughter about 30 years ago…and it fit her needs. I have no way of analyzing how closely the school adhered to classical Montessori ideals.

An action plan to prevent Alzheimer’s disease – Defining what 2nd generation memory clinics should include.

Gallup: Fewer than half of Americans believe US healthcare is good enough – Not surprising really – it’s expensive and we are all getting more skeptical that the system is as effective as it should be for what it costs. Evidently the people in my age group (over 55) were generally more satisfied with their health care than other age groups; people old enough to qualify for Medicare may not be as anxious about costs but I was surprised that I am in the minority in thinking US healthcare is ‘subpar’ rather than ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ based on the effectiveness issue and the structure of the system overall.

Spring Yard Dreaming

Moving to a new area of the country….a new house…I am full of dreams for the yard.

I’ve already bought way too many seeds for the existing flowerbeds. Most of the beds contain landscaping cloth covered by river rock. Maybe I could plant mini-pumpkins in those beds by poking a hole in the fabric. I’d like to grow enough plants to have a good harvest in the fall. I’ve already identified some beds in the back of the house that will be changed dramatically. And there are areas between trees that I will turn into flower beds because I don’t want to mow there. One plant I want to grow…and harvest…is stevia; my CSA in Maryland had hardy plants that withstood harvesting of their leaves/small branches all during the growing season; putting a few leaves to steep with tea gives just a hint of sweetness that I enjoy; I will order organic seeds.

I have chives seeds gleaned from my parents’ Carrollton yard that I will plant to grow as ‘edges’ of flower beds. Since I purchased seeds as well (that have pink flowers) I will probably mix those seeds with the ones I gleaned to add splashes of color/texture variety.

My larger plan it to plant some native bushes in the back yard to reduce the amount of yard that is mowed and have some deeper rooted plants on the slopes at the side of the house. I need to go to a nursery to hone my list of natives that are hardy in this area. I’ll ask about some of my favorites: oak leaf hydrangea, beautyberry, and ninebark. I’d like to plant something that would provide winter food for birds; maybe the nursery will have some recommendations. I need to check the guidelines from our Home Owner Association to see if I need to get permission; if I do, hopefully it will be an easy process.

February is the ‘yard dreaming’ month….I’ll need to act soon to make it happen…but maybe it won’t all get done in 2023!

A Patient Perspective of Medical Care in the US

Part of the aftermath of making a long distance move is establishing new doctors. I’ve completed the process at this point – 8 months after the move. It’s been a learning experience. I started out with the intention to find a primary care physician and specialists in the same system so that I would only have one portal for all my medical information – unlike my legacy situation that involved at least 4 different portals. The portal for my new doctors is well organized and has become the primary way I get results and send questions/messages to my doctors. In general, the lab work is done very quickly and posted on the portal; I see it about the same time that the doctor sees it. The system of doctors – specialists – labs – hospital also includes several urgent care facilities that I appreciate; their availability can help avoid a busy ER; I’ve already used an Urgent Care facility prior to my first appointment with my new primary care doctor when I got a very painful bite that looked infected. On the downside -

• Vision and dental care are not general part of ‘medical care’ from an insurance perspective or systems with MDs; vision and dental are still separate. The initial dental practice I selected wanted to do very different (and expensive) kinds of cleaning for my teeth and I’ve opted to go to a new one that is more like the dental practices I’ve used in the past. It’s hard to know how to evaluate dental recommendations since they are outside of the primary medical system. I like the vision care practice I chose but may have similar misgivings as I get closer to needing cataract surgery.

• The various specialist doctors and non-blood labs/radiology are in separate buildings; they are relatively close together, but I am careful to record the building address  in my appointment calendar; it’s a high traffic area and it could be challenging to get to the appointment on time if I went to the wrong building first.

Thinking about the big picture of medical care in the US - It is not achieving ‘best in world’ results based on healthy lifespan stats. Why is that?

• Insurance is expensive and confusing. I’ve had health insurance since the late 1970s and the trend has been increasing cost and complexity over the duration. Checking that doctors are in-network and drugs are ones that are on the formulary is a required skill to get insurance to cover costs….and even then, sometimes surprise charges occur. What happens when your doctor prescribes a drug that is not on the insurance company’s formulary? I am very aware that I have been fortunate to always be insured….understand that the cost of good medical insurance is prohibitive to many and that often means not getting medical care until there is a health crisis…and going to an emergency room.

• Cultural reluctance/aversion to embrace public health measures. Over the past decade, there has been increased resistance to public health measures (for example, not getting vaccinations for children, older adults declining vaccines, flying when sick (coughing, sneezing),  and aggressively against mask wearing at any time) and demands on health professionals for treatment that is not appropriate for their condition (for example, demanding an antibiotic for a viral infection or are an ineffective drug for COVID or a drug advertised on television that is for a condition the patient does not have). I am mentioning the demands for inappropriate treatment under public health because it impacts the costs for medical care overall, increases resistance of microbes to antibiotics making them less effective when they are needed, and makes the workplace for doctors/nurses more stressful (and some decide to leave the profession resulting in shortages of skilled personnel).

• Dominate lifestyle. We live in a world of fast food and ultra-processed foods…people are more sedentary because of their jobs or the type of entertainment they choose. It is harder to “eat healthy” now that when I was growing up and as a young adult. Many people in the country are obese and/or in poor physical condition. However – there are a lot healthier foods available now if we educate ourselves. For example – kale was not something I ate as child, now it is my ‘super green’; other foods that I’ve only know in the past 20 or so years include: pomegranates, edamame, beet greens, red cabbage, butternut squash, ground turkey. There are also a lot of ways to measure physical activity…and some have leveraged those metrics to become more physically fit. Still – healthy lifestyles are not as prevalent now. The bump in life expectancy that was achieved after many people managed to stop (or not start) smoking is being eroded.

• Aggressive intervention with drugs. The medical system tends to treat with drugs rather than recommending lifestyle changes. Part of this skew is the way doctors are trained (often nutrition is not included in their education) and part is probably based on their experience that most patients will not follow through and make a change. If a drug can change the measure the doctor is seeing (like blood pressure or cholesterol levels), then the doctor tends to immediately medicate. Any unwanted side effects from the drugs are resolved through changing to a different drug or adding a drug to reduce the side effect or telling the patient that the benefit of the drug is greater than the impact of the side effect. But – if people can change their lifestyle, they are probably addressing the root cause of the problem rather than artificially doing something that changes the measure but leaves what is causing the problem the same. Long term maybe we’ll know if the drugs really do very much for increasing healthy lifespan.

• Specialists with blinders to anything outside their specialty. The notion that a primary care physician can integrate care is overly optimistic.

  • Many times, the specialists are proceeding with their focus; if treatment is meeting the measures they want, side effects or over medication are not a priority for them.  For example – an endocrinologist adjusting medication to get the levels of hormones to a precise level is often unconcerned or dismissive of a patient reporting heart palpitations, hot flashes, and eyebrows falling out.

  • Emergency room doctors are focused on resolving the primary cause of the emergency visit and sending the patient home as soon as possible; this leads to quick fixes that often do not prevent the same issue occurring repeatedly. A good example is cellulitis in older patients; the ER gives them antibiotics and they go home…often returning with cellulitis again in a month or so. If the ER is not overwhelmed and there is an alert attending in the ER or in the hospital, more proactive measures can be taken…perhaps re-evaluating the dosage levels and complexity of existing medications, adding a prophylactic antibiotic, etc. that can prevent rapidly recurring ER visits for cellulitis.

• Lack of trust. Patients believe doctors may have alternative incentives than patient health when recommending treatment/drugs and doctors believing patients may not be doing as they say and/or taking meds as prescribed. Not sure how this can be bridged other than encouraging more transparency on both sides.

The bottom line – I want to believe that I am proactively maintaining my health and being a knowledgeable patient that asks relevant questions to understand my doctors’ logic….thus making the best of the medical care available…but there are certainly times that I have some doubts. So far, I have been able to resolve those doubts and am satisfied that I am on a healthy path. However - I am increasingly concerned about individuals with fewer financial resources, less healthy or not as knowledgeable. The trend is toward more challenges within the US healthcare system!

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 4, 2023

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.

Milk packaging influences its flavor – Light blocking containers are best….and plastic/glass is better than paperboard. So why aren’t paperboard cartons being phased out (they are also harder to recycle than plastic milk cartons).

Clean Energy Saw as Much Investment as Fossil Fuels for the First Time in 2022 – Good! And hopefully this will continue to be the case…and we don’t allow any fossil fuels to be counted as ‘clean.’

What Secrets Lie Beneath This 17th-Century French Aristocrat’s Smile? – Decaying teeth and an ivory prosthesis (in front) held in place with gold wire….and a woman kept her smile and place in society.

A curious Colorado bear strikes a pose for 400 selfies on a wildlife camera – A bear that noticed the camera!

Leprosy: the ancient disease scientists can’t solve – There is treatment…but diagnosis is complicated and there is no cure. And we still don’t know how it is transmitted.

Researchers find rare 17-pound meteorite in Antarctic ice – A team spent a week and half in the Antarctic summer (14 degrees Fahrenheit…so still very cold) sleeping in tents and riding snowmobiles to search for meteorites. They found small ones….and a big one!

New mosquito repellents that work better than DEET – Maybe the next generation mosquito repellent?

In 2021, 20% of electricity in the US was generated from renewable sources – And wind surpassed hydroelectric in 2019 as the predominant renewable source. Hopefully, the percentage of electricity from renewables will go up quickly in the coming years.

Three grizzly bears tested positive for avian flu in Montana - The animals were euthanized in the fall; suspected to have rabies, they tested negative. But they were positive for avian flu. The bears were ‘in poor condition and exhibited disorientation and partial blindness, among other neurological issues.’ So – the current outbreak of avian flu that has impacted wild and domestic birds (more the 52 million have been killed or culled to contain the virus) is impacting more than birds.

Drone video of moose shedding its antlers – Wow – it happened so quickly; the video is only 16 seconds! The moose just shakes its body, and the antlers fall off. It seems to want to leave the scene quickly once they are off too.

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 28, 2023

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.

What links litmus paper and lichens? – How did I not know that litmus dye was made from lichens? I remember using red cabbage to tint paper for an elementary school science project with my daughter. We tested everything in the house…discovered that even the fumes from toilet bowl cleaner turned the strips we made bright pink!

How donkeys changed the course of human history – The beast of burden. During Roman times the subspecies used was larger than modern donkeys…specifically bred for the expanding empire.

Jungle realm of the Snake Queens – A 5-part article about 2 Mayan queens: Lady K’abel and Lady Six Sky.

Marriage in Minoan Crete – A surprise – it was very common to marry one’s first cousin!

Kenya’s Rift Valley lakes are rising, putting thousands at risk – A study reveals that there have been increases in rainfall since 2010…an increase of only 0.4-2% of mean annual rainfall leads to the observed rising lakes/flooding.

EPA requirement keeps electric buses out of low-income schools – Low-income school districts often don’t own their school buses; they rely on contractors or subsidized lease deals. So --- they can’t meet the requirement to scrap the old diesel buses.

Ten-minute scan enables detection and cure of the commonest cause of high blood pressure – The hormone aldosterone causes 1 in 15 cases of high blood pressure. This new technology/treatment is a big improvement for the way those cases can be treated.

Dead Humpback Whale Washes Ashore at Assateague Island – This is the second one recently. I am familiar with the place this time…Assateague Island was a place my husband and enjoyed for birding when we lived in Maryland.

China’s population declines for the first time in six decades – Changing demographics in China.

Bees exposed to common weedkiller via wildflower nectar – Evidently the flowers can be contaminated even if they are not sprayed directly!

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 21, 2023

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 do snowflakes form? Is each snowflake really unique? Why is some snow light and fluffy or heavy? The amazing science of snow – A good topic to explore in the winter! The article includes a video of snow and ice crystal growth.

Falling birth rate in US not due to less desire to have children – People are not having as many children as they say they want, especially at earlier ages. There is some evidence that people reduce the number of children they intend to have as they get older. They may realize how hard it is to have and raise kids in the US…and decide to only have one child rather than two. They may have more challenges conceiving as they get older too. Larger economic and social forces are also impacting birth rates.

Meditation and mindfulness offer an abundance of health benefits and may be as effective as medication for treating certain conditions – An overview of the strengths/weaknesses of studies about mediation/mindfulness…a good introduction.

Drone Photography Celebrates the Beauty of Historic High-Rise Buildings in the U.S. – Wonderful views of the highest parts of tall buildings.

9 in 10 drivers in the US would save money on fuel by going electric – Good! Hopefully the cost of the electric cars will come down a bit…and we’ll have more models to choose from…and the places to charge them during road trips will be convenient.

Why obesity is more dangerous for men – Evidently men have a lot more inflammation associated processes and don’t grow as many new blood vessels in their fatty tissue.

See the Lavish Pompeii Home Owned by Two Men Freed from Slavery – Reopened after 20 years of restoration work. It was originally excavated in 1894-1895.

Broccoli looks more like cauliflower in a warmer world – Looking at the chemistry behind the changed growth of broccoli at higher temperatures…avoiding the change in the lab…but will it enable us to still produce broccoli that looks like broccoli as the planet warms?

Another step toward an insulin tablet - A lot of diabetics would appreciate ‘no more injections’!

Why Electrifying Everything Is a Critical Pathway to Decarbonize The World & Our Lives – I like these articles that get specific about the options that individuals/families can take. It gives me more hope for my future and the future of the planet to take the actions I can to 1) decarbonize the electricity used by my home, 2) move toward an all-electric home and transportation, 3) improve efficiency/reduce waste, and 4) sequester carbon. Focusing on the ‘all electric’ concept this week. I have natural gas powered heating and hot water heater…will probably replace the heating/cooling first. The gas fireplaces are turned off already – removing them is not a high priority.

2023 Diet (Strategy)

I am thinking about my diet strategy for 2023. It’s a mix of things that have worked before to keep my focus on nutrition and moving toward a sustained ‘normal’ weight…skewed toward lowering my carbon footprint.

• Use the Cronometer app to watch nutrition and calories until I am at the ‘normal’ weight for my height. This worked for me 5+ years ago so I am going to do it again now that I have gained a few pounds. It is important to sustain a healthy weight rather than yo-yoing. Using the app I know I am getting enough protein; if I need to reduce something to get the calories low enough, it is usually a fat…and I want all the calories to go toward meeting nutritional goals.

• Reduce ultra-processed foods (those foods that have a long list of ingredients…some of them unrecognizable). The hardest might be soft drinks. I also notice that when I travel, there are more instances of ultra-processed foods in my diet.

• Eat less red meat. In 2022 it was about half my protein. In 2023, I want to reduce it to 25%. I’ll ramp up eggs, chicken, turkey, and vegetarian sources of protein (although I am not keen on the vegetarian sources of protein with ingredient lists that indicate they are ‘ultra-processed’).

• Become vigilant about avoiding lactose. The Lactaid does not seem to totally solve the problem anymore, so it is better to avoid the foods. The big change is moving away from Lactaid Milk to Soymilk. Deciding what to eat when I travel will be a bit more challenging as well.

The theme for my 2023 diet is:

‘Good for me…and for the planet.’

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 14, 2023

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 investigates source of Amazon’s “Dark Earth” – Created intentionally? It is less acidic than surrounding soils…probably from the addition of ash.

New York City Greenery Absorbing All Traffic Emissions on Many Summer Days – There is a lot more greenery that previously thought…looking beyond parks to modest backyards, shrubbery growing in vacant lots, and trees dotting city sidewalks. That’s good for the summer when everything is green and growing….but it also implies that winter air quality is problematic.

‘Stomp’ Performers Hang Up their Garbage Lids – After 3 decades off-Broadway. Watch the video!

Riddle solved: why is Roman concrete so durable? – It wasn’t just volcanic ash that made Roman concrete better…lime clasts play a self-healing role!

Why is every parking lot covered with solar panels? – Evidently Michigan State has done it…hopefully other universities and big box stores do similar projects. 

How the war in Ukraine is killing marine mammals – The dolphins that were washing up on the shore of the Black Sea prior to the war were few and usually had markings suggesting entanglement in fishing gear.  The theory about the increased number appearing now, without marks, is that the dolphins are experiencing acoustic trauma from the increased use of sonar by Russian submarines.

Climate impact labels on sample food menu had strong effect on food selection – A study done by Johns Hopkins. The result indicate that this kind of labelling could promote more sustainable choices….and have positive health benefits as well!

Aerial Photos Capture the Abstract Beauty of Salt Ponds – From a new book….with images and background about these man-made landscapes.

Great Salt Lake will disappear in 5 years without a massive ‘emergency rescue’ – My husband and I visited the lake back in 2008. The pictures in the article are so different that I needed the captions to recognize the place. The lake was already shrinking in 2008 but the shrinking has increased with long term drought and increased population diverting more water that would otherwise flow into the lake. Aside from the ecological collapse if the lake goes dry, the dust from the dry lakebed is kicked up by winds and can damage lungs/exacerbate other respiratory illness. This does not bode well for public health in Salt Lake City.

Painted skulls from Peru’s Chincha Valley analyzed – The red paint on the skulls was not all the same on all the skulls: some have iron-based ochres and others have mercury-based cinnabar….the red paint on one of the skulls was a combination of the two!

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 7, 2023

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.

Macro Photos Highlight the Diverse Beauty of Butterfly Pupae – The pupae are Asian species….so no Monarch chrysalis (which is my favorite).

Good hydration linked to healthy aging – The findings don’t prove a causal effect…but hydration is linked to serum sodium…and chronic high serum sodium (i.e. when a person is dehydrated frequently) increases risk of developing chronic diseases like heart failure, stroke, atrial fibrillation and peripheral artery disease, etc.

The Infrastructure Sector Is Bleeding Workers – The workforce is aging…more are nearing retirement…and younger people are not coming into the jobs fast enough.

This new year – decarbonize your life – The beginning of a series about a family of 4…taking steps to dramatically reduce emissions and sequester carbon.

Gradient Arrangements of Food Highlights Biodiversity Not Often Seen in Supermarkets – Wow – what a range of colors and shapes in common fruits and veggies like: tomatoes, corn, potatoes, pears, peppers, squash, cucumber, kale, and beans.

Heat and cold as health hazards – Controlled experiments on how the body reacts to hot and cold…and the health consequences.

Water Worries: Threatened and Endangered Cultural Sites – Climate change has caused increasing severe rainstorms in the Southwest impacting the adobe walls  in Tumacácori National Historical Park in Arizona and Pecos National Historical Park in New Mexico. Storms, flooding and sea level rise are impacting other parks including Statue of Liberty National Monument, Colonial National Historical Park and the Jamestown Settlement, and Castillo de San Marcos National Monument. The tidal basin in Washington DC is crumbling as flooding increases as the Potomac River rises.

Researchers identify bird species depicted in ancient, finely detailed Egyptian painting – Click on the images to get a larger view of the birds. Key to the second image: a–f rock pigeons (Columba livia); g red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio); h white wagtail (Motacilla alba); i pied kingfisher (Ceryle rudis); j–l unidentified.

How microplastics are infiltrating the food you eat – Right now microplastics are viewed as a contaminant but research is revealing they may have harmful impacts….and should be studied and regulated as a pollutant. Will systems that use sludge as fertilizer need to change dramatically? It appears likely.

2022 Year in Review: Top Stories from Around the National Park System – Flooding at Yellowstone, Mauna Loa eruption, drought at Glen Canyon, maintenance challenges, invasive species …crowds…a lot of big stories.

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 31, 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.

Best of 2022 - A Fun Map Puzzle – There are parts of the world where political boundaries have changed a lot since my elementary school geography class. The MapPuzzle game is a fun way refresh (or relearn) countries/states/provinces.

The year in chemistry: 2022’s biggest chemistry stories – I like these summary articles…and think about which one of the stories will be the most impactful in 2023.

Top 7 Building Decarbonization Wins In 2022 – Finally….now to maintain the momentum of these ‘wins’ and more into 2023!

Ten Remarkable New Plants Discovered in 2022 – And one of them is the largest waterlily on Earth…from Bolivia.

Shrinking Pollinator Populations Could Be Killing 427,000 People Per Year – The world is losing 3-5% of its fruit, vegetable, and nut production because of shrinking pollinator populations and lower pollinator diversity. That translates into less healthy food available…and associated health conditions like diabetes and heart disease. In Honduras, Nepal and Nigeria, the pollination deficits are responsible for a reduction of 3-19% in crop yields. This highlights the importance of making changes to support pollinator populations such as limiting pesticide use, maintaining existing natural habitats, and restoring others, and planting more flowers and diverse plants.

Overlooked Gems of The National Park System – In the cold of winter…time to plan some trips to parks for the year…including a few of the overlooked gems highlighted in this article.

Snow Day in Delmarva – Reminder of the area where we enjoyed a lot of day trips while we were living in Maryland….

Stunning Satellite Images of Our Changing Planet in 2022 – The before and after pictures have different elapsed times…be sure to read the captions.

22 Photos Honoring the Triumphs and Challenges That Face Wild Cats – A collection of pictures from Panthera, the world’s leading wildcat conservation organization.

Home Depot Does a Big Energy Deal, But It Does More Behind the Scenes – The Home Depot commitment is to produce or procure 100% renewable electricity equivalent to the needs of all its facilities by 2030 and they are taking actions to make it happen. Hope more big box stores will be taking similar actions.  

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 24, 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.

H5N1 Bird Flu Detections across the United States (Wild Birds) – A map of US counties where bird flu has been detected in wild birds as reported by the US Department of Agriculture.  It would be great if data could come from the National Wildlife Refuges (reporting through the US Department of the Interior) since they often have concentrations of wildlife and staff that would be monitoring the flocks. I know that there were instances of bird flu – primarily in snow geese - that the Bosque del Apache NWR staff were reacting to when we were there the November before COVID-19 curtailed our travel.

Electric car sales drive toward cleaner air, longer lives – Another reason my next car will be an electric rather than a plug-in-hybrid that I have now. However – this should probably be seen as an offset to the negative impacts on public health that climate change will bring; the air could be cleaner, but it will also be warmer and more turbulent. I am becoming less certain that my lifespan will last into my 90s like it has for my parents.

Living the lava life on Mauna Loa – A satellite image from NASA’s Landsat 9. It shows how close one of the flows came to Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) project habitat. Fortunately, the most recent mission there concluded in May 2022.

The Dead Sea is dying – The lowest exposed place on Earth…water level dropping 4 feet per year…salt formations and sinkholes.

Beyond cola: the strange flavors of soft drinks – Carbonated drinks were invented by Johann Jacob Schweppe in 1783. They were sold in glass bottles and that were recirculated. Regional delicacies. Everything changed with the advent of plastic bottles in the 1970s. Moxie, state beverage of Maine, continued independently for a long time – bought by Coca-Cola in 2018. Soft drinks had a heyday in the years of Prohibition. Follow the link for the whole article, more soft drink history.

Construction of the world’s largest radio telescope begins – Square Kilometer Array (SKA) – one in Australia and one in South Africa. Construction will be completed by the end of the decade, but observations will begin in 2024.

Flameproofing lithium-ion batteries with salt – Finally….hope this solves the fire problem with lithium-ion batteries and, if so, moves into new battery manufacturing quickly.

The 120-year search for the purpose of T. Rex’s arms – A little history of T. Rex finds…and the various ideas about why the animal had such puny arms.

A new weapon against antibiotic-resistant bacteria – Work to find a new treatment for Klebsiella pneumoniae infections that are resistant to common antibiotics with some strains fatal for 40-50% of infected people. A new strategy: weakening bacteria with an existing drug previously used to treat herpes that alters its surface layer to make it easier for the immune system to kill the bacteria. The idea works in the research model…effectiveness in human beings yet to be confirmed.

The science of why hawks are one of nature’s deadliest hunters – Birds and bats….The birds steer toward a fixed point in the swarm instead of singling out a bat. It’s a good strategy against a gathering of prey!

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 10, 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.

Adults living in areas with high air pollution are more likely to have multiple long-term health conditions – A study of more than 364 thousand people in England. Respiratory and cardiovascular problems dominate but neurological and common mental conditions were also observed.

Best of 2022: Top 50 Photographs from Around the World – The first of the year in summary type articles. I had seen some of these photos before…but not all of them. They are worth a look.

Larger wheat harvest in Ukraine than expected – Based on satellite imagery, 94% of the winter crop was harvested…including 88% in areas not controlled by Ukraine. Some Ukrainian grain made it to global markets…however Russia is reaping the benefit of a significant portion of the harvest.

Medieval woman’s burial in Switzerland yields gold broach – A wealthy burial from a 7th century AD cemetery…excavated prior to construction work. The article didn’t say whether the finds would be going to a museum…or be reburied with the skeleton elsewhere.

More Than 52 Million Birds in the U.S. Are Dead Because of Avian Flu – It began last year in Eastern Canada and has affected flocks in 46 states since then. Wild and domestic birds are impacted…and there is a risk of infections in people too.

Study finds that experiences of daily stress decrease as people age – As we get older, we begin to deal daily stressors better. It’s a positive aspect to aging!

Archaeologists Find 1,900-Year-Old Snacks in Sewers Beneath the Colosseum – The debris from 1,900 years ago: olives, nuts, meats, cherries, grapes, figs, blackberries, and peaches!

Biodiversity unbalanced as ice-free Antarctic areas grow – Non-native species invading Antarctica

Idaho’s Potato Belt – 1/3 of the US potatoes are grown in the Snake River Plain….satellite images from NASA’s Aqua and Landsat 8.

Dam safety: New study indicates probable maximum flood events will significantly increase over next 80 years – This is a paper about 546 dams in Australia. We need to extend this type of analysis around the world…to improve the integrity of critical infrastructure into the future.

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 3, 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.

Drought hit large portion of the globe in 2021, state of water report says – Bad news for water: the negative trends are stronger than the positive ones.

Bloating common among Americans – I am so glad I discovered that I was lactose intolerant; it’s been relatively easy to change my diet to avoid bloating completely!

Do students really eat that badly? – Yes and no…and alcohol plays a negative role.

Fungi that cause lung infections may be spreading across the US – Infection causing soil fungi Histoplasma, Coccidioides, and Blastomyces – evidently the diseases are more widespread now than in the 1950s!

White House unveils its holiday décor, including 77 trees and ‘We the People’ theme – Getting in the mood for December celebrations!

From Patches to Pies, Illinois Knows Pumpkins – A little pumpkin history…and a satellite image (NASA’s Landsat 8’s Operational Land Imager) from after the pumpkins are harvested.

Cranberry bogs in Plymouth County – A satellite image of production of another seasonal food: cranberries! Massachusetts supplies about 25% of the cranberries grown in the US (outpaced only by Wisconsin). The cranberry bogs look pink/red in the natural-color image at the beginning of the article.

We’re told to ‘eat a rainbow’ of fruit and vegetables. Here’s what each colour does in our body – Love the colorful foods!

Effigy Mounds National Monument Becomes a Tribal Sister Park To Ioway Tribal National Park – A new type of agreement….hoping it is a good one for everyone.

How to be a sustainable parent – It’s hard since the most easily obtained products are obviously not and there are no pre-defined alternatives that are more sustainable…aside from buying second hand (i.e. reuse) whenever possible.

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 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.

Battle Over Bears Ears Continues in Utah – I am looking forward to visiting Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments and hope that their boundaries stay the way the tribes that have used the area for a very long time want. At some point Utah and the counties that are opposing the size will recognize the values of the tribes and country that want to preserve historical, paleontological, and geologic aspects of these places….and that the state benefits significantly from people visiting. The tourism $ may become more dependable and long term than other uses of the land.

Pyramid and Hundreds of New Kingdom Coffins Found in Egypt - An Old Kingdom pyramid, 300 New Kingdom coffins with well-preserved mummies with names of the deceased, and nearby a pyramid to Queen Neith…a previously unknown Queen.

Long-COVID clinics are wrestling with how to treat their patients – Frustrating situation.

Fenced In: How the Global Rise of Border Walls Is Stifling Wildlife – Border walls have increased since the end of the Cold War! This makes climate change an even bigger challenge to mammals…because they cannot move to better habitat if there is a border wall in the way.

Baby's vaccine responses linked to birth delivery method, study finds – Babies born via Caesarian section have lower antibody levels after vaccinations than babies born naturally.

Scientists Discover More Than 22,000 Endangered Manta Rays off Coast of Ecuador – Larger than any other Manta Ray population.

A Massive Freshwater River Is Flowing Under Antarctica’s Ice – It is flowing at 3 times the rate of the Thames. This finding helps understand some problems with existing models…hopefully it will allow for model updates to predict the impact of warming more accurately on Antarctica’s ice.

A Field Guide to Jackrabbits – Hard to see denizens of the western US (and Mexico).

France Looks to Mandate Solar Panels Over Large Parking Lots – Good idea…maybe it will begin to happen in the US even without a mandate.

Bright LEDs could spell the end of dark skies – Hope cities can learn to use LEDs like Tucson…not overuse bright white LEDs.

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 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.

Energy crisis: How living in a cold home affects your health – The coming winter is going to be very difficult for many – particularly in Europe.

Parks of the 21st century: new ways to reinvent abandoned land – Parks always are signs of hope…the greening of places that might have been eyesores in the past. I wondered how much toxic remediation had to occur for some of the sites they described; its encouraging that we can clean up the messes we’ve made in the past!

Alcohol caused one in eight deaths of working-age US adults – The data used from the analysis was pre-COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, the CDC has released data for 2019 and 2020 and it shows a larger-than-normal 26% spike in the alcohol-induced deathrate. In 2020, alcoholic liver disease and mental/behavioral disorders were the leading underlying causes of alcohol-induced deaths. Sad numbers….lots of people and their families impacted.

A field guide to the unusual raptors of the Southern US – I was pleased to see the snail kite in this article – a bird I saw on a birding trip to Florida in 2019.

Farmers in China, Uganda move to high-yielding, cost-saving perennial rice – Very positive results. Hopefully we will eventually have perennial forms of other grains (wheat in particular).

The weirdest places you can find wild turkeys – Wild turkeys have made a comeback since the early 1900s…a restoration success story. Part of the Thanksgiving vibe this week!

Breast cancer survivorship doubles – An analysis of Canadian data from the 2007-2001. The study also highlighted the long-term side effects in these survivors…the need for new therapies to improve the health of women after surviving breast cancer.

Permanent Standard Time Could Save Lives, Explained by A Sleep Expert – I don’t like changing to/from daylight savings time; before reading this article, I didn’t care which one we chose to make permanent. Now I am convinced that we should stick with standard time! There are too many negative health impacts to staying on daylight savings.

How to avoid bad choices – The article is about the research on how to teach children ‘decision-making competence’ – not just a measure of raw brainpower but how well someone is able to appraise situations. There are many approaches but the goal is to get children and adolescents to start thinking about risk and danger in a more analytical way….on the way to adulthood.

Blind spots in the monitoring of plastic waste – The amount of plastic waste in rivers could be up to 90% higher that previously assumed. The current measurements are mainly based on surface observations…but plastic can be suspended or sink! This study tracked 3,000 particles from 30mm to larger objects like plastic cup. Knowing where the plastic is helps guide where clean up would be the most effective.

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 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.

America’s largest transit bus charging station & microgrid open in Maryland – The headline caught my eye because I lived in Maryland for over 20 years – 8 of those in the county where this is happening! I hope other states have the same sorts of projects in the works.

NASA Finds More Than 50 Super-Emitters of Methane – Finding them is only the first step….how many of them will be situations we can reduce or stop the emission?

Iron induces chronic heart failure in half of heart attack survivors – This study prompted testing of iron chelation therapy to remedy or mitigate the effects associated with iron in hemorrhagic myocardial infarction patients.

Unique Bronze Age belt discovered near Opava – Half my ancestors came from the area that is now the Czech Republic…I am drawn to articles about the history of the region.  The belt is quite beautiful…but was it a practical item of apparel?  

What happens if our circadian rhythms are out of whack? – WHO has proclaimed that disrupted circadian rhythms are a probable carcinogen. The study discussed in this post was about the mechanism that circadian rhythm disruption triggers lung tumors.

View 16 Breathtaking Images from the Nature Conservancy’s Annual Photo Contest – Take a little break….look at awesome images of our world.

Mississippi River Basin adapts as climate change brings extreme rain and flooding – This year the stories about extreme weather seem to be more frequent – and wide ranging in terms of water. The Mississippi was low enough for barge traffic to be impacted because of drought…yet there were floods along part of the river just last summer.

Eye-opening discovery about adult brain's ability to recover vision – An unexpected success…opening new ways to treat a vision impairment (LCA) and maybe prompt a re-look about how the adult brain can re-wire itself relative to vision.

The World’s Whitest Paint May Soon Help Cool Airplanes and Spacecraft – A way of making paint that was previously too thick/heavy for things that move. The thicker version works for homes and buildings. We’ll need this technology to reflect heat without expending energy!

Greater cloud cover may be narrowing the gap between daily high and low temperatures – Simulating clouds explicitly. Trying to understand why nights are heating up faster than days across the globe.

Spoils of Halloween

My son-in-law always hosts a pumpkin carving party for his research team before Halloween. This year, 10 pumpkins were purchased for the event; it took two carts to get the pumpkins from the store to the car.

My daughter missed getting a group picture of the results…sent pictures of the three they had on their steps for Halloween (with and without the lights inside).

Like last year – the squirrels are enjoying the spoils of Halloween pumpkins! They start with the carved parts…enlarging the eyes and mouth…small bites until there is almost nothing left to go into the compost! They apparently started with the pumpkin on the top step.

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Gleanings of the Week Ending November 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.

How Tucson, Arizona is facing up to a 1,200-year drought – Harvesting rain!

The demented gift American politicians handed to China – About electric buses….and more. The suggested acronym by the author: GAGA (Give American Greatness Away).

New clues into a serious neurodegenerative disease – So many sources of cognitive decline….and we are just beginning to understand some of the mechanisms (and thus effective treatment). The research described in this post is about frontotemporal dementia.

World headed in wrong direction one 5 key mechanisms of climate progress – And the 5 are: share of unabated fossil gas in electricity generation, carbon intensity of global steel production, share of kilometers traveled in passenger cars, mangrove loss, agricultural production of GHG emissions.

Researchers reveal why shingles can lead to stroke - The risk of stroke is elevated for a year after having shingles. This study found that prothrombotic exosomes which can cause blood clots are found in those with shingles…and persist after the outward symptoms of shingles are gone. Using antiviral agents longer with the addition of antiplatelet and anti-inflammatory agents could help reduce the risk of stroke.

Will we ever…. live in city sized buildings? – Maybe. But would it be pleasant? Maybe an apocalyptic event would force us to do it to survive.

Vitamin D deficiency linked to premature death – The study evaluated 307,601 records from the UK Biobank. Take away message from the results: ensure that vulnerable and elderly maintain sufficient vitamin D levels throughout the year.

Omicron keeps finding new evolutionary tricks to outsmart our immunity – Variants within a variant!

Powerful Aerial Photos Show the Consequences of Drought on the Colorado River – The dry situation in the western US.

Cats react to ‘baby talk’ from their owners, but not strangers – And does this mean we are more than just a food provider in their world?

Gleanings of the Week Ending October 29, 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 an asteroid impact would transform the food we eat – Thought provoking…and scary. Right now, I am beginning to wonder how the level of drought in the US is going to change the food we eat…or will we eat the same way but pay much higher prices.

A Field Guide to Unexpected, Out-of-Place Wildlife – Why wildlife shows up in the ‘wrong’ place… I had read about the shifting range of armadillos last spring (was reminded of it by the reference to the Virginia opossum in this post).

State Of the Birds Report: More Than Half of U.S. Bird Species Are Declining – Sad….another indicator that the Earth is changing.

Economic losses from hurricanes become too big to be offset by the US if warming continues – I’ve been wondering about this since Hurricane Harvey and finally there is some analysis of the data…but, so far, it does not seem to be changing the way we deal with the aftermath of these catastrophic storms. The dominate idea still seems to be ‘rebuild.’

Life expectancy improves in some countries after big drops in 2020 – but US and others see further falls  - The life expectancy at birth in the US was 79.8 in 2019 and was down to 77.4 in 2021. It might take a few years until the impact of COVID-19 on life expectancy is fully understood. It seems to me that there are other cultural changes that happened concurrent with the COVID-19 pandemic that could impact life expectancy in the US into the future: reduced vaccination rates, reduced trust in medical professionals, increased belief in whatever is said on social media and conspiracy theories, increased stress/mental health challenges, etc.

The Clean Water Act at 50: Big Successes, More to Be Done – The Act was passed the year I graduated from high school. I had done a project about algae as pollution indicator in the streams around Dallas, Texas in the fall before so I was aware of water pollution issues of the time. It is frustrating that there is still so much to be done….

New model of Alzheimer’s as an autoimmune disease – A new perspective….maybe leading to new therapies in the future.

Ancient Maya Cities Were Polluted with High Levels of Mercury – The Maya coated surfaces (walls and floors and bodies) with cinnabar…and the mercury from that leached into the water supply and soils. Chronic mercury poisoning causes tremors, weakened vision and hearing, and paralysis! The contamination at some sites is high enough that archaeologists need to use mitigation techniques and protective gear.

Young kids avoid one learning trap that often snares adults – Young kids are not as good at focused attention as adults which means they notice new things happening away from a ‘focus area’ more quickly…..but focused attention can also mean learned inattention in adults which might not be the best strategy in all situations.

After Three Summers, Man Finally Gets Photos of Hummingbird with Rainbow Wings – Beautiful pictures. They prompted me to look up why hummingbird feathers can show the colors of the rainbow. I found a Science Daily post from back in 2020 that offers an explanation.

Our Missouri Yard – October 2022

We had two mornings with temperatures in the 20s last week after I took some pictures of the yard. The frost didn’t seem to impact the oak or river birch in our neighbor’s yard very much.

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The rose petals are all limp now, but the leaves are unchanged. Some of the buds might still open now that we are going to have at least 10 days of temperatures well above freezing.

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The pokeweed flowers and berries survived very well but the leaves or limp. The berries that are already ripened will probably be eaten by birds, but the immature fruits are probably not going to develop further.

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The oxalis triangularis that is growing on the east side of our house survived the frost unscathed! Maybe it benefited from being close to the brick wall of the house and getting sun first thing in the morning when the temperature was the coldest.

Now that is it warmed up again – I am planting bulbs: daffodils, hyacinths, allium, and crocus. The previous owner put landscaping fabric then rocks in the flower beds, so the task is very difficult. I removed a small cedar that had died and planted bulbs in the space – filling in the bigger hole I made in the black fabric with cedar mulch and rocks. Over time, there might be more and more of that…until there is not as much of the black fabric in the beds.  I am probably going to plant the rest of the crocus in the lawn since they will come up and bloom before the grass would need to be mowed!