Gleanings of the Week Ending January 25, 2020
/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.
Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week: January 2020 – Starting out with wild and wonderful birds this week.
Infographic: How does nature influence human health? – Most people intuitively know that nature has a positive impact…but now there is more and more research to quantify that impact.
The Plastics Pipeline: A Surge of New Production Is on the Way - Yale E360 – Just when I really want manufacturers to find ways to package products in something other than plastic….the industry has plans to ramp up production of plastic. Consumers can still make a difference with our purchases (or lack of purchase). I’m slowly but surely reducing the items I buy that come in plastic….always looking for alternatives.
New aqueous lithium-ion battery improves safety without sacrificing performance: Non-flammable, cost-efficient, and effective battery -- ScienceDaily – Hurray for all the battery research going on right now….hopefully there will be more and better options near term. It would certainly boost the speed we can transition away from fossil fuels.
Pylos Tomb Artifacts Suggest Trade Links - Archaeology Magazine – Amber from the Baltics, imported carnelian, pendant depicting an Egyptian goddess….the Greek site might have been a stop on a trade route.
Happy New Year from Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station – Kelly Brunt posted this on January 3rd….and I just got around to looking at it. She was one of our hosts at NASA for my HoLLIE class and then the keynote for our graduation. It was good to read about her recent activities!
Super Resilient Protein Structures Preserved a Chunk of Brain for 2,600 Years – Wow – what an amazing and surprising find! And there is has been some research to figure out how it managed to be preserved.
Towards Ecophilia: Being hopeful in spite of it all -I enjoyed the pictures and activity descriptions about children in nature.
How US sewage plants can remove medications from waste-water – Using granular activated carbon and ozonation….more than 95% of certain antidepressants and antibiotics can be removed. This is important to help reduce the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria and maybe other environmental harms as well. But it can be expensive.
The oldest person in the world turns 117 – I liked the last paragraph of the story the best: Last year, when Tanaka received her record for the world’s oldest person, she was asked about the happiest moment in her long life. Her reply was simple: “Now.” Wouldn’t it be great if we all could feel like that no matter how old we are!
