Gleanings of the Week Ending August 31, 2024

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 13,600-year-old mastodon skull is unearthed in an Iowa creek - Researchers will now scrutinize the bones to look for “any evidence of human activity, such as cut marks.”

Wildlife Photographer Captures Intimate Photos of Alaska’s Grizzly Bears – The bears of Lake Clark National Park. Wildlife photographers from around the world started coming to the Kenai Peninsula in Lake Clark National Park around 15 years ago, but they can’t get up close to the bears without a trained guide close by.

Solar Energy Revolution Brewing In Arkansas, With An Assist From GM - As of Q1 2024, Arkansas ranked #27 on the state-by-state rankings of installed solar capacity tracked by the Solar Energy Industries Association. One area that has seen some healthy activity is rooftop solar and other small-scale projects. According to the figures kept by SEIA, a single utility-scale solar project in Chicot County accounted for an outsized share of the 1,122 megawatts of installed capacity (140 megawatts). Last week GM announced that it has entered a PPA for electricity from the largest ever solar energy project in Arkansas so far, the Newport Solar project. Located in the town of Newport, the 180-megawatt project comes under the umbrella of the firm NorthStar Clean Energy, a branch of CMS Energy.

Say 'aah' and get a diagnosis on the spot: is this the future of health? - Analyzing the color of the human tongue. The proposed imaging system can diagnose diabetes, stroke, anemia, asthma, liver and gallbladder conditions, COVID-19, and a range of vascular and gastrointestinal issues.

The weird way the Los Angeles basin alters earthquakes - The enormous five-mile-deep (8km), sediment-filled basin that LA is built upon plays a surprising role in the effects felt above ground. Imagine the Los Angeles basin as a giant bowl of jelly – the dense rocky mountains and underlying rock make up the bowl, while the sediment fill is represented by the gelatinous mixture. If you shake the bottom [of the bowl] a little bit, the top flops back and forth quite a bit. And atop this quivering mass of jelly is the megacity of Los Angeles. Other cities built on basins: Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City, Mexico City, and Tehran.

Rethinking the dodo - The Dodo was the first living thing that was recorded as being present and then disappeared. Researchers went through all the literature on the Dodo encompassing hundreds of accounts dating back to 1598 and visited specimens around the UK, including the world's only surviving soft tissue from the Dodo, in the Oxford Museum. They confirm that the bird was a member of the columbid (pigeon and dove) family. Contrary to previous assumptions about its demise, it was almost certainly a very active and fast animal.

Elite Woman’s Grave Found in an Abandoned Fortress in Mongolia - The fortress of Khar Nuur was part of a system of walls and fortresses that spanned nearly 2,500 miles. Radiocarbon dating of the burial indicates that it dates to between A.D. 1158 and 1214, after the fortress had been abandoned, and likely between the fall of the Khitan or Liao Empire in A.D. 1125 and the rise of the Mongolian Empire in A.D. 1206. The researchers explained that the burial is one of only 25 graves dated to this period that have been found in Mongolia. The woman was between the ages of 40 and 60 at the time of death, and she was dressed in a yellow silk robe and headdress made of materials likely imported from China. Her coffin, made of non-local wood, also contained gold earrings, a silver cup, a bronze vessel, a gold bracelet, and coral and glass beads.

The banana apocalypse is near, but biologists might have found a key to their survival - Today, the most popular type of commercially available banana is the Cavendish variety, which was bred as a disease-resistant response to the Gros Michel banana extinction in the 1950s from Fusarium wilt of banana (FWB). For about 40 years, the Cavendish banana thrived across the globe in the vast monocultured plantations that supply the majority of the world's commercial banana crop. In the 1990s, a new strain of the Fusarium fungus started causing problems….and the research race was on to save bananas.

Florida is building the world's largest environmental restoration project - In February 2023, a large digger broke ground on a multi-billion-dollar project that has been decades in the making: building a reservoir the size of Manhattan Island. The reservoir, which is part of an historic restoration of the Everglades ecosystem, is intended to help bring a secure, long-term supply of clean drinking water to Florida's residents. The whole project is due to be completed in 2029.

Streetlights Helping Trees Defend Against Insects - Streetlights left on all night cause leaves to become so tough that insects cannot eat them, threatening the food chain. Decreased herbivory can lead to trophic cascading effects in ecology. Lower levels of herbivory imply lower abundances of herbivorous insects, which could in turn result in lower abundances of predatory insects, insect-eating birds, and so on.

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 1, 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.

Climate change threatens spring wildflowers by speeding up the time when trees leaf out above them – Evidently the trees and wildflowers in eastern North America are the ones getting the most out of sync.

The mystery of Alice in Wonderland syndrome (AIWS) – AIWS (or Todd’s syndrome) affects the way people perceive the world around them and can distort the way they experience their own bodies and the space it occupies. There are 40 types of visual distortions that characteristic of the syndrome. It was formally described as a distinct syndrome in 1955. Up to 30% of adolescents reported mild or transient experiences. Cough medicines and illicit hallucinogenic substances are also known to trigger it.  Sometimes medical conditions like strokes or brain tumors can cause the syndrome as can infections.

Chinook salmon fishing season canceled off coasts of Oregon, California – Dwindling numbers of Chinook salmon in the states’ largest rivers following years of drought.

In Florida, an invasive snail is helping save an endangered bird – We heard about this during a birding trip to central Florida pre-pandemic. It probably is one of the few examples when an invasive species has produced a positive outcome.

Garbage to Guts: The Slow-Churn of Plastic Waste – Lots of microplastics in the world…and they are in our food chain. Ongoing exposure decreases beneficial gut bacteria and increases pathogenic species. A lot more research needs to be done since, right now, we don’t know very much about impacts of microplastics – not just to the overall environment but to our own bodies.

 With Heat from Heat Pumps, US Energy Requirements Could Plummet By 60% - Thinking about heat….and the ‘rejected energy’ (mostly heat) in our current energy consumption. The idea is to use heat pumps to dramatically reduce ‘rejected energy’ in future energy consumption.

Entire populations of Antarctic seabirds fail to breed due to extreme, climate-change-related snowstorms – Evidently the December 2021 - January 2022 breeding season for south polar skua, Antarctic petrel, and snow petrel was so disrupted that there were almost no young produced.

Why don’t humans have fur – Interesting…but we really don’t know. The genetic research associated with the question could have practical application for people that need to stimulate hair growth (like after chemotherapy or balding).

2021 Was A Very Good Year for Nesting Wading Birds In The Everglades – Hurray! Some good happening in the Everglades. There are so many stories about the impact of invasive species (like Burmese pythons) that this is welcome news.

Meet the sargassum belt, a 5,000-mile-long snake of seaweed circling Florida - In the open sea, sargassum can soak up carbon dioxide and serve as a critical habitat for fish, crabs, shrimp, turtles, and birds…all positive. But when sargassum gets close to shore it can smother coral reefs, alter the water’s pH…and then onshore it begins to rot within 24 hours releasing irritants like hydrogen sulfide which smells like rotten eggs or manure and can cause respiratory problems. And it often contains significant amounts of arsenic so not a great addition to a compost pile. The mass of sargassum has been increasing since 2011 --- probably in response to elevated nutrients (runoff from fertilizer, burning biomass, increasing wastewater from cities, etc.) we have released into the ocean. Sargassum has come ashore in Yucatan and Key West recently.

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 20, 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.

Photographer Creates Mesmerizing Flight Trails of Winged Creatures as a Meditation on Time – Action in the air (composite images).

The crab invading the Mediterranean Sea – The blue crab is native to the Indo-Pacific but reached the Mediterranean Sea in 1898…about a decade after the Suez Canal opened. With temperatures in the Mediterranean rising with climate change, more the crab larvae are reaching adulthood. Now the Tunisians are trapping and processing crabs for export. Other places in the Mediterranean are also harvesting and processing invasive species: Cyprus has local restaurants serving lionfish and jewelry/artwork is created from their soft colorful fins. Rabbitfish have also become a commercial fish. But will these measures be enough to rebalance the ecosystems and improve biodiversity?

Where did pigeons come from? – A bird that we see frequently….that humans have taken around the world…and it likes to stay near us!

Understanding the new Federal tax credit for electric cars – Why does it always have to be complicated?

Is dark chocolate really good for you? – Of course! I like my high % cocoa squares first thing in the morning…my perfect 1st breakfast.

The dangers of working in hot weather – Glad to see some attention on this…and a sharing of practices that can help while still getting work done. With the high level of employment (and often challenges hiring new people), businesses should have an elevated interest in keeping their workers healthy and productive.

 Home solar + storage will get a boost from the recent climate bill, claims Bloomberg – Hurray!

Banana peels make sugar cookies better for you – Ok – so maybe I should never put banana peels into the compost. I’d rather use them directly in recipes like Banana Peel Cake rather than making them into flour. I think I’ll start washing them and putting them in the freezer when I eat the fruit….process them as I need them for baking!

Meet the world’s largest land crab – And also learn a bit about Palmyra Atoll.

Is the river of grass really a river? – A little history…and discussion of what makes The Everglades a river (an unusual one!).

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 11, 2021

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 birds of the week: Shorebirds! – Always lots to see looking at birds!

Everglades' Wading Birds Had Mixed Success In 2020 – Overall wading bird nesting in South Florida has increased…but is still a fraction of the target. In 2020, an early arriving rainy season impacted the availably of food for chicks.

De-cluttering may not help people with dementia – People with moderate dementia perform better surrounded by their ‘usual’ clutter!

U.S. Is World’s Top Generator of Plastic Waste – Not surprising. And the US should take the lead in figuring out what to do about it: how to produce less and recycle more.

A Mosaic From Caligula’s ‘Pleasure Boat’ Spent 45 Years as a Coffee Table in NYC – Still a lot of mystery about how the mosaic got from its recovery when Lake Nemi was drained by Mussolini and then becoming the top of a coffee table for 45 years. It was seized in 2017 and returned to the Italian government.

Roadrunner: Meet the Real Bird Behind the Cartoon – I can remember seeing one a little north of where my parents live now (north of Dallas) in the 1980s…but they are probably long gone from that area now. I’ve seen them in west Texas more recently; one was at a rest stop between San Antonio and Laredo. They always seem to thrive in relatively harsh environments.

The bustling hidden world of hedgerows – The closest we come in North America to hedgerows are fencerows or windbreaks….and even those have been reduced over the years. Near where I live the advent of glyphosate/Roundup ready crops has eliminated the herbaceous growth along the edges of fields which in the past included milkweed and other plants that were attractive to butterflies and other small animals.

Master Artisans Fixed Mistakes Made by Apprentices at Ancient Egyptian Temple – I enjoyed the 6 minute video in this post…it’s quiet enough to hear the birds in the ruins.

Managing water resources in a low-to-no-snow future – We need to be thinking of adaptations to this manifestation of climate change now rather than waiting since the solutions will be challenging….take time to design and construct.

Old-fashioned rice custard – I have a container of rice from some Chinese takeout…..and plan to make this rice custard. I am anticipating that it will be yummy (and high protein too).

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 14, 2021

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 your phone battery creates striking alien landscapes – Lithium….needed for batteries that are needed for so many things (not just phone batteries).

Why do house finches love your hanging plants? – These birds are frequent visitors to our feeder. Based on the crowd we are seeing now – they’ve had a very successful breeding season…lots of young birds.

Ultraprocessed foods now comprise 2/3 of calories in children and teen diets – This article prompted me to look at what ultraprocessed foods I am eating…and making some changes. I am keeping the 1st breakfast that includes 90 calories of dark chocolate…but all the other ultraprocessed foods are going to become occasional or rare in my diet.

Tracking the Restoration of the River of Grass – An interview with Eric Eikenberg, President of the Everglades Foundation. There is a lot of work coming to fruition this decade in restoration of the Everglades…some positive news from Florida. It was an encouraging article but after reading the whole thing, it still seems to me that climate change will be a continuing disaster for Florida.

Red Tide Rages Along Florida’s Gulf Coast – On a more pessimistic note about the environment in Florida right now…

Top 25 birds of the week: August 2021 – Birds….so many different kinds to see.

Crawling with crickets: the insect swarm in the western US – Mormon Crickets (really katydids) have population crescendos in 3 of every 10 years in the west. The occurrences are patchy but damaging for some crops.

Music in the American Wild – I watched the Missouri Music at 200 webinar this week and am now looking at more of the concert videos from the ensemble. I’ll post the “Missouri Music at 200” webinar video address (when it is available on YouTube). Of course – live performances would be even better. I enjoyed the Hawaii 2020 project videos already…lots of good views of the island (particularly birds and volcanos!).

The ancient Persian way to keep cool – We’ve had quite a few heat advisory days recently…will probably have an increasing number every summer. The world will need to implement the most efficient strategies available to keep people cool.

Camera Trapping As Mainstream Nature Activity – Little cameras in the wild…they are probably less obtrusive than a human being in the place all the time…but not totally benign in every place.

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 8, 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.

Performance of the Year | The Prairie Ecologist – Video of an Eastern Hognose Snake pretending to be dangerous.

Millennia-Old Rock Art in Israel Offers Window into Lost Culture | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – Monuments 4,000 years old…dolmens. There are more than 400 in the same area. A survey of them started 2012 after the first rock art engravings were discovered (14 trident-like shapes on the ceiling of a large dolmen).

Backyard Birding in Central India to Beat Lockdown – Backyard birding - something that is happening around the world during the pandemic!

Granite tors evidence of ice-free Alaska - The Field - AGU Blogosphere – Tors mark the Pleistocene pathway that was free of glaciers for plants and animals during the ice age.

Great, Warm Lakes – This is an article from a month ago…I’m just getting around to reading it. The surface temperatures were warmer than usual as of July…in some of the lakes there are areas warmer by more than 4 degrees C (including most of Lake Michigan)!

Restoration of Sicily’s Temple of Zeus Continues - Archaeology Magazine  - A 26-foot-tall sculpture of Atlas dated to the 5th century BC…and there might have been as many as 40 such statues.

Winners of International Photo Contest Celebrate the Art of Movement – Capturing a moment…freezing motion.

Blood-thinner with no bleeding side-effects is here – Still work to be done….the current formulation is filtered out by the kidneys very quickly. It has applicability in artificial lungs (used to bridge the time between lung failure and lung transplantation) currently.

Poor Everglades Nesting Season A Result of Climate Change and Untimely Storms – It appears that 2020 isn’t a good year for roseate spoonbills and wood storks in Florida.

This Medieval Potion Kills Stubborn Bacteria – “Bald’s eyesalve” – garlic, onion, wine, cow bile. It appears to be effective at combating antibiotic resistant bacterial strains…biofilms that are particularly challenging to kill…including diabetic foot infections.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

3 racoons. Our birdfeeder camera made a video of some visitors to our deck just before 2 AM on Wednesday, 8/5: three racoons! They looked smaller than the female that came several times earlier in the summer. Perhaps they were her young….out foraging on their own (maybe she was nearby). They were no more successful than she was getting seed from our squirrel proof birdfeeder! The action started with one up on the deck railing under the feeder and another 2 directly below on the deck floor. The one on the railing comes down almost on top of one that was on the deck floor. The one that was on the deck railing stayed in the video the longest…thoroughly searching under the feeder after going down to the deck floor.

Sycamore branch. Back on August 2nd I posted about a dead branch in our Sycamore tree (picture on the left). My husband discovered the branch on the ground near the base of the tree when he went out to use the weed eater and it took both of us to pulled it to our brush pile at the edge of the forest. It came down without bringing a lot of other branches with it….a little sooner than I expected but probably brought on by the thunderstorms that have been sweeping through the past few days.

Yellow wooly bear. My sister sent me a picture of a caterpillar from her garden in Carrollton, Texas. It appears to be a yellow wooly bear that becomes a Virginian Tiger Moth. Evidently, they are common but neither one of us had seen one before.