Gleanings of the Week Ending September 7, 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.

Rare ‘Doomsday’ Oarfish Surfaces in California, Just the 20th Discovered in the State Since 1901 - Usually lives as far as 3,280 feet below the surface. Scientists conducted a necropsy, but they couldn’t discern a reason for the elusive fish’s death. Scientists aren’t totally sure why oarfish and other deep sea-dwelling creatures sometimes surface, but they suspect the animals may be disoriented, sick or injured.

Owl-Inspired “Bionic” Fan for EVs Reduces Fan Noise 50% While Improving Efficiency 10% - Making EVs even quieter!

Do you have knee pain from osteoarthritis? You might not need surgery. – Article written by researchers in Australia about the updated treatment guidelines for knee osteoarthritis that stress exercise, increasing physical activity, weight management, and pain medication (in moderation and not opioids). The links at the end of the article include an online exercise program specifically for knee osteoarthritis.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Only Skyscraper Set to Close Amid Controversy – Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Built in 1956. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 2007.

Rebuilding the Genome of Woolly Mammoths - Typically, ancient DNA fragments yield short snippets of DNA and provide an incomplete picture of the genomic puzzle. However, the woolly mammoth skin sample showed promise. The team assembled the first 3D reconstruction of the woolly mammoth’s genome, which had 28 chromosomes; the order of genes was very similar to that of the Asian elephant. They discovered: the specimen was female; differences from modern elephants in the genes related to hair follicle development and, more broadly, hair maintenance; cooling and dehydration can preserve the molecules in their original locations.

Homelessness – From Our World in Data. Interesting…but frustrating too. I was glad that they emphasized when the data is not consistently collected…and the analysis gets very tricky.

Only One Country Is Making Progress on Electrifying Everything – Unfortunately it is not the US…it’s China. The country that electrifies most rapidly and builds the most renewables to power its electrified economy will be the most competitive economy globally.

As Arctic Thaws, New Evidence of Looming ‘Mercury Bomb’ - Scientists estimate that the amount of mercury in the atmosphere has grown sevenfold over the last 500 years, primarily from burning coal. Air currents are carrying airborne mercury toward the Arctic, where it is absorbed by plants, which then deposit the toxin in the soil. Over centuries, mercury has built up in the frozen ground, such that today, Arctic permafrost may hold more mercury than the atmosphere, the oceans, and every living organisms combined. As the region warms, melting permafrost could liberate this buried mercury.

Rare Fossils Give Clues to How Tardigrades Survived Mass Extinctions by Hitting the Snooze Button - Tardigrades are known for being some of the most resilient animals to exist, capable of surviving extreme temperatures, pressure, radiation and starvation—they can even withstand exposure to outer space. Only four known fossils of tardigrades have been found to date, and all of them are preserved in amber, or ancient tree resin; recently they were reanalyzed using confocal fluorescence microscopy. Cryptobiosis is the secret to tardigrades’ incredible resilience, and it appears to have evolved in two tardigrade linages (at least). In survival situations, these hardy creatures will expel the water from their bodies and suspend their metabolism almost completely allowing them to outlast unfavorable conditions of their environment.

Five ways the brain can age: 50,000 scans reveal possible patterns of damage - Results could lead to methods that detect the earliest stages of neurodegenerative disease. Dementia and its precursor, mild cognitive impairment, had links to three of the five patterns. Intriguingly, the researchers also found evidence that the patterns they identified could potentially be used to reveal the likelihood of more brain degeneration in the future. Other patterns were linked to conditions including Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, and one combination of three patterns was highly predictive of mortality.

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 6, 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.

What do terracotta warriors tell us about life in ancient China? – Discovered 50 years ago…they are a snapshot of the soldiers of Qin – the feudal state that unified China, for the first time in 221BC under the country's first emperor Qin Shi Huang – from the soles of their shoes to their candy-colored clothes to the bronze weapons buried with them to their distinct facial features. 2,000 terracotta warriors have been excavated but more are uncovered every year.

This Map Shows Where Planting Trees Would Make Climate Change Worse - Trees draw down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helping to keep warming in check. But their dark, green leaves also absorb heat from sunlight. Snow and sand, by virtue of their light color, reflect more sunlight back into space. As such, trees planted in snowy areas or in the desert will absorb more sunlight than their surroundings, which may negate the climate benefits of soaking up carbon dioxide.

These 3,000-Year-Old Treasures Were Forged from Meteoritic Iron - In the 1960s, researchers discovered a trove of Bronze Age treasure in Villena, Spain. New research has revealed that some of them made between 1400 and 1200 B.C.E. were forged from iron from a meteor that struck Earth a million years ago. Who manufactured them and where this material was obtained are still questions that remain to be answered.

Vernal Pools Make Your Garden Sing - It’s not just frogs that are making homes in these little pools of water. Less vocal species like salamanders, dragonflies, fairy shrimp, and even dozens of native plants are there too. Even more species than that can be found simply visiting the pool for a drink or snack, including great blue herons, wood ducks, and box turtles.

Return of Trees to Eastern U.S. Kept Region Cool as Planet Warmed - Over the 20th century, the U.S. warmed by 1.2 degrees F (0.7 degrees C), but across much the East, temperatures dropped by 0.5 degrees F (0.3 degrees C). A new study posits that the restoration of lost forest countered warming, keeping the region cool. Still, the return of trees can only partially account for the drop in temperature. Other possible explanations include the growth of irrigation, a source of water vapor, and the uptick in particulate pollution, which reflects sunlight, thereby cooling the air.

Sweetened drinks linked to atrial fibrillation risk - 20% higher risk of irregular heart rhythm, known as atrial fibrillation, among people who said they drank two liters or more per week (about 67 ounces) of artificially sweetened drinks. The risk was 10% higher among people who said they drank similar amounts of sugar-sweetened beverages.

Measles outbreaks and what parents need to know - Measles can lead to complications such as ear infections, diarrhea, pneumonia, and encephalitis (brain swelling). One to three of every 1,000 children infected with measles dies. More than 97 percent of the people who have had their two shots of the vaccine never get measles.

A new world of 2D material is opening up - 2D materials have shown great potential for an enormous number of applications. You can imagine capturing carbon dioxide or purifying water, for example. Now it's about scaling up the synthesis and doing it in a sustainable way.

In Cleveland, mushrooms digest entire houses: How fungi can be used to clean up pollution - Fungi can eat the noxious waste from abandoned homes. Heavy metals and other toxins are extracted and captured in the mushrooms that grow, while the substrate leftovers, including the mycelium, are compacted and heated to create clean bricks for new construction. The resulting "mycoblocks" have a consistency akin to hardwood and, depending on the specifics of the manufacturing process, have been shown to be significantly stronger than concrete.

Arctic nightlife: Seabird colony bursts with sound at night - Acoustic recordings of a colony of little auks reveal their nocturnal activities and offer valuable monitoring means for avian biology in the Arctic.

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 16, 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.

Kitchen chemistry hacks explained – How many of these did you know before this article? I knew about lemon juice slowing browning of fruit…I’m going to try the ‘brown onions more quickly’ and ‘chop onions more comfortably.’

Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Distributed Wind Power – Interesting update….and map of annual average wind speed at 30 m. There is so much potential in the center of the country. It would be interesting to see the map extended offshore…but maybe that kind of wind power is only used for wholesale generation rather than distributed wind power.

Dust: how the pursuit of power and profit has turned the world to powder – A review of the book about ‘tiny particles doing terrible things’ created by detonation of nuclear weapons, burning coal, and drying of lakes via irrigation. These tiny particles influence our environment, our health, and our relationship with the world around us. They move around the planet through the air…no one is ‘safe’ from them.

More small airports are being cut off from the air travel network. This is why - A shortage of pilots is partially to blame for major airlines' departure from smaller airports. But changing airline economics means the challenge facing regional airports could become insurmountable. Williamsport PA is the example used in the article.

Health evidence against gas and oil is piling up, as governments turn a blind eye – An Australian perspective…but seems to be applicable to many developed countries, including the US. The methane leaks, water contamination, air pollution…why do we continue to push for gas and oil development rather that pivoting to cleaner (and renewable) sources?

Wyoming and Utah Borderlands – A picture from the International Space Station. I remembered a trip to Utah in 2008 where we drove in the area with a Roadside Geology of Utah book explaining the surface geologic features!

New research explains 'Atlantification' of the Arctic Ocean – Changes coming in the Arctic as a 15-year cycle is ending….and the next phase could result in a faster pace of sea-ice loss.

Stone Case Holding Precious Items Found at Templo Mayor – 15 stone figures found at the temple complex of Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec empire. The figures may have already been 1,000 years old when the Aztecs conquered the Mezcala people that carved them. Also in the case: two rattlesnake-shaped earrings, more than 180 green stone beads, snails, shells, and marine corals.

Workers like it when their employers talk about diversity and inclusion - Research has shown that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives improve creativity, innovation, productivity and organizational performance. One of the reasons DEI initiatives have a positive impact is because workers appreciate them. It’s about making sure everyone feels valued and included.

What Does It Take to Photograph a Bat Cave? – Photographer Stephen Alvarez….lots of specialized photographs.

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 15, 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.

Cyprus’s copper deposits created one of the most important trade hubs in the Bronze Age – Cyprus was part of the first period of international trade in the Mediterranean. It was the largest copper producer around the area. Imports found via excavation included item from close countries like Greece and Egypt; items from distant places like Sardinia, the Baltic Sea region, Afghanistan, and India have also been found. Aside from copper, pottery produced in Cyprus at that time was exported and had been found in excavations around the Mediterranean and beyond.

Green Winter: Europe Learns to Live Without Russian Energy – “In a year when planetary emissions edged upward, Europe is now on track to comfortably outpace its pledge to generate 40 percent of its total energy from renewable sources by 2030.” Impressive.

Australia’s extinct giant eagle was big enough to snack koalas from trees – Likely one of Australia’s top predators during the Pleistocene.

Why East Antarctica is a 'sleeping giant' of sea level rise – The eastern part of Antarctica was thought to be resistant to global warming. In 2012, the East Antarctic ice sheet gained mass overall. But recently, it appears that some ice shelves are melting and might be at risk to collapse. The ice shelves in front of glaciers act as a safety band that keep the glaciers for speeding up and reaching the ocean. Scary comment from the article – “Most of the uncertainty about how much and how fast future sea levels will rise comes from how the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is going to behave.”

Arctic climate modelling too conservative – And about the other pole…researchers at the University of Gothenburg argue that the rate of warming will be faster than projected….and climate models need to reflect the processes occurring there.

In Eastern U.S., Climate Change Has Extended Forest Growing Season by a Month - Scientists tracked American elm, black walnut, white oak, and four other species in northwest Ohio, comparing their data to records collected by an Ohio farmer (Thomas Mikesell) from 1883-1912.

In these cheatgrass-infested hills – Often the natural places closest to where we live…are degraded in some way. That doesn’t mean that we can’t enjoy the natural world that we find there.

Federal Agencies Directed to Develop Policies for Migratory Corridors – Birds and butterflies and fish and big game.

Ski Resorts in the Western U.S. Will Stay Open Into the Spring and Summer – Something positive about record-breaking snowfall.

As Enforcement Lags, Toxic Coal Ash Keeps Polluting U.S. Water – Coal ash in the environment and polluting ground water. Even as we migrate toward renewables…the toxic legacy of burning coal is going to last a very long time.

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 25, 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.

Arctic river channels changing due to climate change – The prediction was that Arctic rivers would be destabilized by atmospheric warming…that thawing permafrost would weaken riverbanks causing faster channel changes. Using 50 years of satellite data for areas of Alaska, the Yukon and Northwest Territories (which is experiencing the sharpest atmospheric warming due to climate change), researchers have discovered that greening of the area due to warmer temperatures has caused the riverbanks to be more stable…decreasing the sideways migration of river channels by 20% in the Western Arctic!

US Energy Storage Made Record Gains Last Year – A good new story! Something I didn’t know too: “they US remains the largest demand market for energy storage in the world.”

A pool at Yellowstone is a thumping thermometer – The water vibrates…the ground shakes. The intervals between reflects the amount of energy heating the pool at the bottom and how much heat is being lost from the surface.

Awe-Inspiring Videos Show Powerful Ospreys Diving in Pursuit of Prey – Photographer Mark Smith’s Osprey pictures/videos. I saw this post and the photographer was mentioned in the composition class I was views on the same day!

Crocodiles are uniquely protected against fungal infections. This might one day help human medicine too – Crocodiles have unique defensins (components of white blood cells and mucous membranes) that are inactive at neutral pH (as in the blood) but are active in sites of infection where the pH is lower (i.e. acidic). There is a lot more research and trials between this finding and application to humans.

'All work, no independent play' cause of children's declining mental health – The reduction has happened over decades. I was surprised by the quantification: “Between 1950 and 2010, the average length of the school year in the U.S. increased by five weeks. Homework, which was once rare or nonexistent in elementary school, is now common even in kindergarten. Moreover, by 2014, the average time spent in recess (including any recess associated with the lunch period) for elementary schools was just 26.9 minutes a day, and some schools had no recess at all.”

Mesa Verde National Park has plan to save Spruce Tree House – The area has been closed since 2015 because of concerns that layers of sandstone could peel away from the arch at any time. There is a lot of work involved and the plan is current open for public comment. When we visited Mesa Verde back in 1980, it was still open to visitors. Mesa Verde is still a National Park I would like to revisit.

Toxic red tide is back in Florida – Another deterrent to making a road trip to Florida….although it appears that right now there are no red tides in the panhandle…which would be the closest destination for us…I’m thinking maybe Pensacola.

Here Are the Incredible Winners of the 2022 World Nature Photography Awards – A little eye-candy for this week. ‘Fungus Horizon’ is my favorite.

Heat pumps for every home – A good introduction to heat pumps. I want a variable speed heat pump that uses the existing ducts in my house!

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 17, 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 2022 Environmental Photographer of the Year Use Art to Tell Important Stories of Our Planet – Photography with a message

Rare good news from the Amazon: gigantic fish are thriving again – Pirarucu, an air-breathing fish that must rise to the surface every 15 minutes or so…can grow to be 10 feet long, weigh up to 450 pounds…are valued for their meat. The fish are making a comeback thanks to sustainable fishing programs in northern Brazil.

Stunning Winners of the 2022 Landscape Photographer of the Year Contest – Capturing a place…and a tiny amount of time.

Top 10 Discoveries of 2022 – from Archaeology Magazine

Remains of last surviving Tasmanian Tiger discovered in museum cabinet – Finding and following the trail of an older female thylacine that was trapped and sold to the Beaumaris Zoo in mid-May 1936. She died in September 1936. The zoo transferred her body to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery where taxidermist preserved the hide, and the skeleton was broken apart and positioned on 5 cards. Both hide and skeleton were used by the museum for educational purposes…and then forgotten. They were found recently in a cabinet in the museum’s education department.

Best of 2022: Top Astrophotography That Captured the Beauty of the Cosmos – Quite a few from the James Webb Space Telescope.

Volcanic activity increases worldwide – There are 47 volcanoes around the world that are in ‘continuing eruption status’…more than double the normal. The article includes short videos of several of them.

The rich marine life under frozen ice – Phytoplankton and organisms that eat it….discovered by geologists trying to get a mud core, hitting rock, then seeing organisms when they reviewed what the camera on their equipment recorded!

Top Websites for Urban Planning – 2022 – From Planetizen. This year they highlight an increased attention to the social and environmental outcomes of planning…enabling identification/resolution in the intersections between the built/natural environment and the lives of people.

Exploring a forgotten Jewish Land – The Beta Israel in northern Ethiopia. The 100,000 strong population fled to Israel in the 1980s to escape war and famine.

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 17, 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.

Federal flood maps are outdated because of climate change – The challenge of record rainfall events becoming more common and resulting in flooding of places not seen as vulnerable previously.

Hundreds of Monumental “Kites” Spotted in Arabian Desert – Low stone walls that could be enclosures used to guide game for capture/slaughter as early as 8000 BC.

The mystery of the human sacrifices buried in Europe's bogs – Sacrifices or maybe burial for anyone that died mysteriously or unnaturally. I remember being fascinated about the ‘bog bodies’ back in 1970s…buying the book about them by P.V. Glob.

Diet change may make biggest impact on reducing heart risk in people with hypertension – Too bad that the study also found “the availability and affordability of healthy food sources does not easily allow people to follow the DASH diet.” Diets are hard enough to sustain without those extra challenges.

Despite its innocently furry appearance, the puss caterpillar’s sting is brutal – The don’t look vicious….but the hairs have poisonous barbs! There are other caterpillars that also have ‘hairs’ and can deliver painful stings – like the saddleback caterpillars. In general…I avoid handling caterpillars with hairs or bristles!

Cancers in adults under 50 on the rise globally – Earlier detection could account for some of the increase…but it is unlikely to be the sole reason. 8 of the 14 cancers on the rise are related to the digestive system. With those types of cancers, the hypothesis is that the food we eat has changed dramatically and has changed our microbiome composition…and eventual these changes influence disease risk and outcomes. There is still a lot of work to be done but it appears that the drastic rise in early onset cancer began around 1990.

The biggest myths of the teenage brain – Hopefully some of these findings will be factors in decision making for things like high school hours and how to help teenagers better understand themselves.

NREL Study Identifies Opportunities & Challenges of Achieving the U.S. Transformational Goal of 100% Clean Electricity by 2035 – No single solution….having multiple pathways to the goal is probably a good thing.

Arctic lakes are vanishing a century earlier than predicted – Warmer temperatures and more abundant autumn rainfall have caused permafrost around/beneath Arctic lakes to melt…and the lakes shank between 2000 to 2021. The reduction in lakes impacts migratory birds and other wildlife…and human communities in the Arctic.

Fall Foliage Prediction Map – My road trips this fall will offer many opportunities to see fall foliage: 1st week in October in Michigan and Canada, the rest of October around Missouri, then Texas later in October into November.

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 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.

Bonsai trees tell of winters past – An elfin forest of hemlocks on the outer coast of Glacier Bay National Park…and they hold the history of 4 centuries of winters in their growth rings.

See the vibrant, long overlooked colors of classical sculptures – Greco-Roman marble sculptures were covered in bright hues (polychromy) originally!

Pioneering recycling turns mixed waste into premium plastics with no climate impact – Wouldn’t it be great if suddenly mixed waste could replace fossil raw materials for ALL plastic production?

Understanding horseshoe crabs at Cape Cod National Seashore – A short video about a research project just starting.

Get a Sneak Preview of the 2022 Bird Photographer of the Year Finalists – Capturing birds in action…rather than portraits.

Invasive species taking over some American forests - Amur honeysuckle (a shrub from Asia) is a big culprit. Callery Pear (the ‘wild’ version of the Bradford pear) is a close second.  I just cut down a Callery Pear that was growing in the front bed of my new house in Missouri…almost obliterating a crepe myrtle! Other foreign species that have become problematic: porcelain berry, tree of heaven, winged euonymus, European buckthorn, Oriental bittersweet, common privet and lesser periwinkle...Norway maple, Amur cork tree and white poplar along with herbaceous species such as lesser celandine, garlic mustard, Japanese knotweed and Japanese stilt grass.

A Surprisingly High Number of Wildfires Are Caused by Electrocuted Birds – Awful….good that there is a way to reduce the carnage…at less cost than the consequences of the fires.

Rural areas near coast will bear the brunt of US sea-level rise – Analysis focused on the Chesapeake Bay…marshes forming where forest and farmland is today.

Once-Common California Bumble Bees Have Gone Missing – The survey did not find the formerly abundant Western bumble bee. The last statewide survey was conducted 40 years go…and a lot has happened in that time: habitat loss, pesticides, and climate change. None of the species were doing well. Big problem – since bumble bees help pollinate $3 billion worth of crops in the US each year (including tomatoes, peppers, and cranberries).

Scientist war of links between soil pollution and heart disease – The author of the study commented: “Until we know more, it seems sensible to wear a face mask to limit exposure to windblown dust, filter water to remove contaminants, and buy food grown in healthy soil."

The Sculpture of Abraham Anghik Ruben

Not all the books on Internet Archive are old; sometimes the copyright holder give permission to make a book available with provisos like Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International – which is the case for the book I am featuring in this post

Arctic Journeys, Ancient Memories: The Sculpture of Abraham Anghik Ruben

The book is the catalog of an exhibition that was at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian from October 4, 2012-January 2, 2013. I wish I would have seen the exhibit in 2013, but finding the catalog and discovering the artist now is the next best thing! I picked 4 favorites from the images in the catalog which is well worth browsing.

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The sculptures can be enjoyed visually but the backstories add to their meaning. There is an additional one that I noticed on the sculptor’s website that stands out: The Last Goodbye which depicts the sculptor’s lived experience with children being sent away to residential schools in Canada and the US. There are stories in the news recently about what happened in both countries; there are people still alive that lived it. The sculptor is only a couple of years older than me. The first step is acknowledging what happened.

Look at the sculptor’s web site and Wikipedia entry for more info.

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 27, 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: Bird Interactions! - Wild Bird Revolution and Top 25 birds of the week: Raptors!  and Top 25 birds of the week: Feathers!  – A treat this week – 75 bird photographs – enjoy!

The unseen 'slow violence' that affects millions - BBC Future – The harms that happen so slowly that we don’t notice in the moment. It happens over months and years and decades (maybe even centuries). We notice as we use our ‘big data’ to see hot spots of ill-health, where the environmental degradation is at it’s worst, and populations that can’t seem to escape their dire situation. And the issue very quickly becomes – how does our culture respond to the awareness of that ‘slow violence.’

Carbon: Getting to net zero -- and even net negative -- is surprisingly feasible, and affordable -- ScienceDaily – A detailed model of the entire US energy and industrial system….showing how to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050…with particular emphasis on what needs to happen in the next 10 years.

The country rejecting throwaway culture - BBC Future – France has introduced an index of ‘repairability’ rating for appliances…hoping to increase the electronics repair rate to 60% within 5 years. I’m glad I opted to repair my clothes drier rather than replace it….although the repair (replacing of the failed heating element) produced some trash it was a lot less than the whole appliance! Things like phones and laptops and monitors are harder.

Carolina Wrens Will Nest in Just About Anything and Why Carolina Wrens Have Moved into Your Neighborhood – We had a Carolina Wren make a nest in a gas grill we hadn’t used in along time. It surprised me when I opened the lid and the bird – startled and then panicked – flew out onto the deck railing. There is usually a pair nesting somewhere around our yard; we see them when they come to the feeder and hear them even more frequently. The forest behind our house and the brush pile at the edge of the forest are good places for them.

Federal Funding Obtained to Replace Zion National Park's Shuttle Fleet – And they’ll be electric! What a great way to keep the air smelling like nature rather than combustion fumes!

Rare Yellow Penguin Photographed for the First Time | Smart News Science | Smithsonian Magazine – What an unusual looking bird! It’s a king penguin on South Georgia Island with leucism, a condition where melanin is only partially lost and some parts of the body retain color. In this case…the ability to produce the usual black pigment is missing.

New River Gorge is America's Newest National Park - News | Planetizen – This park is within ‘road trip’ distance from where we live….maybe a destination post-pandemic.

How we turned a golf course into a haven for rare newts, frogs and toads – Hopefully US golf courses are doing things like this too. I usually think of them as using a lot of chemicals and would not want to live near a golf course….but if they consciously made places for amphibians….it would mean that other creatures could survive in the space too. There is an Audubon International Certification program for golf courses but they don’t publish a list of course that are certified.

The Arctic Ocean might have been filled with freshwater during ice ages – Based on a geochemical study of sediments.

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 7, 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.

Taking the measure of sea level rise - ocean altimetry, land motion, ice height, gravimetry – NASA missions that measure some aspect of sea level rise…there is a lot to work to measure and analyze – to better understand that is happening.

Health Care Facilities Maintain Indoor Air Quality Through Smoke and Wildfires | U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit – Some of the HEPA filters purchased for the pandemic were available and were used to keep hospitals operational in areas where the outside air was smokey. Are we going to need this type of filters in our homes as well – for air quality more than the pandemic?

Top 25 birds of the week: Seabirds – Beautiful birds…from all around the world.

From Palmyra to the Pacific: Realigning a Rainforest – Cool Green Science – An atoll 1000 miles southeast of Hawaii…marred by human intervention…now owned by The Nature Conservancy…inspiring the creation of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument in 2008. Restoration is ongoing to maximize Palmyra’s resilience to climate change: eradicating black rats, realigning native rainforest (not restoring because what was there originally is unknown), and reintroducing native bird species.

Red maples doing better in the city -- ScienceDaily – Hurray for red maples. The study was done in Philadelphia which is a couple of hours from where I live….and I have a health red maple in my back yard!

Deformed Beaks: What We Know About An Alarming Bird Disease  - Avian Keratin Disorder (AKD) which might be caused by a poecivirus. The birds in the article are from Alaska but some are species we have hear in Maryland too. Hopefully, this is not a disease that will become widespread.

Top US States for Percentage of Electricity from Solar – Even states that aren’t normally viewed as ‘high sun’ are near the top of the list! This chart will probably change a lot over the next few years as more and more utility companies and individuals transition to renewables. Government can help but it is quickly becoming the more cost-effective path forward…market forces will drive the transition.

Scientists Discover New Human Salivary Glands | The Scientist Magazine® - Tubarial glands…what a surprise that they haven’t been discovered previously!

Floating gardens: More than just a pretty place -- ScienceDaily – It is a small experiment…but there was measurable nitrate reduction by the garden….maybe it is something that could be scaled to reduce accumulation of nitrate (from agricultural and yard runoff) that causes algal blooms.

Largest Arctic Expedition Ever Comes to a Close | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – The Polarstern, a German research vessel, is back in port after spending a year drifting with the ice floe across the Arctic. It will take 2 years to fully process all the data collected but the initial assessment of the Arctic environment is summarized as grim: ice gone in places it should be meters thick.

Gleanings of the Week Ending October 23, 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.

Painless paper patch test for glucose levels uses microneedles -- ScienceDaily – A technology (microneedles) looking for a problem to solve (prediabetic testing). So far - it’s just a lab exercise but they were readying for human trials. They didn’t explain why it was focused on pre-diabetic testing and not for diabetics.

Top 25 birds of the week: Non-migratory – Beautiful birds…always a visual treat.

These are some of America’s most beautiful urban parks – The one in Greenville, SC looked very non-urban!

Food mechanics recipe to serve up healthy food that lasts -- ScienceDaily – Basic research in plant-tissue response to heat and drought…preserving food through drying.

Doing Something About Global Warming Is Cheaper Than Doing Nothing – I selected a series of gleaning for this week that are focused on various aspects of climate change – with a mix of perspectives. This is the first one. For the pure capitalists…this one makes the argument for action in their terms. This first article came out back in September…so it is a little dated…but still makes some good points.

The daring plan to save the Arctic ice with glass - BBC Future – Do we want to consider Geoengineering?

40% of O'ahu, Hawai'i beaches could be lost by mid-century -- ScienceDaily – Sea level rise…and our response to it.

6 Graphics Explain The Climate Feedback Loop Fueling US Fires – Some good graphics about the fires on the west coast of the US. In recent days, fires in Colorado have been added to the news. At a time when forests sequestration of carbon is important for the health of the planet….the fires are reversing that benefit.

Natural Debate: Do Forests Grow Better With Our Help or Without? - Yale E360 – Hurray for natural regeneration – unless the land is too degraded for that to be possible…then our help is needed.

The Best Places for Solar Power If You Want to Clean The US Grid – Where investing in solar power would do the most toward reducing grid emissions…by state.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

A busy morning. The only extra activity I’d planned yesterday morning was to get my car washed since the dirt road into the CSA is history for the year. The car is cleaner (at least on the outside) than it has been for months! The weather was so great when I got back that I swept the leaves from the driveway, street gutter, and deck onto the yard so that the mower would mulch them when my husband mowed later in the day. When I got back inside – I noticed my husband had called from the vet parking lot saying his battery was too low to start his car (and the vet had resolved the cat’s bleeding claw issue)….so I was off to help that car situation. We managed to get home just in time to cook lunch. The level of activity was greater than any recent morning (months and months of mornings!) …and I felt a little discombobulated! I’ve begun to enjoy the pace of pandemic life!

Gleanings

Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Gleanings for this week

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.

Volunteers Spot New Sites in Aerial Images of England - Archaeology Magazine – Volunteers and lidar scans…a productive combination!

Seven highlights from 70 years of the National Science Foundation - The Bridge: Connecting Science and Policy - AGU Blogosphere – Deepwater Horizon oil spill, public radio and television, ozone hole, strong curricula for introductory science, deep-sea exploration, student opportunities, and COVID-10 response. It seems like the list it too skewed to recent years.

We don’t need nearly as much protein as we consume - BBC Future – Another recommendation of getting nutrients from food rather that highly processed food or supplements….and moderation too. Skewing the diet toward protein at the expense of other nutrients is not healthy!

The Coolest Kingfishers from Six Continents – I’ve seen the first three! All three in south Texas and the Belted Kingfish elsewhere too.  Kingfishers are an easily recognized shape….heavy bill, bigger head relative to body…etc.

How Americans are coping with COVID-19 stress -- ScienceDaily – This report was prior to the additional stressor of George Floyd’s death….the racism of police evident in the videos of the event and the response to protests that seems too militarized. It seems like 2020 will be a pivot point in our nation’s history and how we all respond to the stressors of the year is important in the outcome. I hope that we can show the best of ourselves…our utmost caring for all people and our planet that is our home.

Ice Arch Persists Despite Warm Arctic – It won’t last long…the ice arch which prevents sea ice from drifting south generally breaks up in June or July. Last year it broke up in mid-April.

'New' Footage of Benjamin, the Last Tasmanian Tiger Ever Seen Alive | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – A 21-second video from 1935.

Top 25 birds of the week: Seabirds - Wild Bird Revolution – I’ve seen most the North American birds in these photographs….except for the puffins.

Babies know when you imitate them -- and like it -- ScienceDaily – Most parents probably realize this to some extent…but the research teases out more specifics about how babies respond to knowing they are being imitated.

The remarkable power of the prickly pear - BBC Future – Grown as a crop for food in arid areas and then using the waste left after the food is extracted to generate biofuel. Wish we had more processes like this.

Unique activities for yesterday:

Aftermath of thunderstorm. I did another early morning in the outdoors – noting the aftermath of the thunderstorm the night before. Both birdbaths had been filled by the rain. The one in front is surrounded by day lily leaves…I’m not sure how often it is used by birds, but I like the way it looks from our front door.

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The sycamore tree trunk still looked very wet. I had forgotten the Virginia creeper climbing up. There were a few sycamore leaves that were blown into the yard…but the wind must not have been too bad.

The wetness of the leaves kept some of the maple leaves flipped over. It’s always surprising that the underside is so light in color.

Finally, I noticed a dead bee just before I settled into my chair. It must have gotten into the screened part of the deck and not been able to escape.

The rest of my outdoor time I spent making a couple of Zentangle tiles….and listening to the birds.

Mint as a fresh veggie. Mint grows so easily and comes back year after year. My front flower bed has a lot of it…enough to use it for more than a garnish. I cut a handful of stems and strip the leaves – it is the leafy green in a smoothie with chocolate protein powder. Yummy!

A Zentangle Prompt

Make a two tangle tile today with ROSCOE and SAND SWIRL.

Here is a tile I made yesterday based on the prompt: Three patterns to combine in a tile today: FAUX WEAVE, FEATHER FALL, and MEER.

Links to my previous “filling a day of social distance” posts  here.

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

Venturing Out and Weekly Gleanings

Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

A Zentangle Prompt

Inspiration for a pattern can come from our environment. Sometimes creating a pattern is relatively straightforward. The prompt for today is to create your own pattern based on the picture of tiles to the right. Hint: start with a grid of squares. Use your pattern in a tile. Other patterns in the tile are tangler’s choice (i.e. whatever you want).

Here are some tiles I made based on yesterdays prompt: Make a tile using the gingo pattern.

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It is one of my favorite patterns for mono-tangle tiles.

Venturing away from Home

I went to Howard Country Conservancy’s Mt Pleasant to record a Facebook Live Zentangle session. It was the first time I had driven my car in May! It was also my first volunteer gig since early March – and a good experience – but I realized how out of practice I have become with getting out and about. There was a ‘newness’ to my car even though I’ve had it for a few years. Mt Pleasant is a place I know very well but hadn’t been there since January; it felt unfamiliar.

I was glad the flip chart pad and gallery board were wrapped in plastic trash bags because it was raining heavily when I got there. It took two trips to get into the building and I was glad I had worn a windbreaker and waterproof boots.

The mask that I wore during set up did not stay in place as well as I wanted. I need more experience with securing it and being certain that I can breathe well enough through the layers of fabric. It’s a good ‘lesson learned’ before I venture out to try doing my own grocery shopping in June.

The materials I had prepared ahead of time worked well…minimizing the amount I had to create while I was talking.

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The Facebook Live session lasted about 20 minutes and made a three-part tile using TIPPLE, CRESCENT MOON, and either MEER or POKEROOT. I missed not being able to create a mosaic of the student tiles at the end. Here are tiles I made with the patterns after the session.

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I’m not sure how any of my volunteer gigs will be possible anytime soon but I’ll probably do some hiking at Mt. Pleasant…on a sunny day…another small ‘venturing away from home.’

Links to my previous “filling a day of social distance” posts  here.

Gleanings of the Week

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.

Soak in the Details of the Moon with this High-Definition Photo – A backyard astrophotographer with a lot patience.

Record conservation study of Tutankhamun's tomb solves mystery and raises new questions – Teasing out more history from a much-studied place.

Top 25 birds of the week: Bright Colours - Wild Bird Revolution – It’s a gray rainy day as I write this….I am appreciating the colors!

New Thoughts on Turkey’s Oldest Temple Complex - Archaeology Magazine – Gobekli Tepe…built by hunter gatherers over 11,000 years ago….requiring hundreds of people to construct. I first learned about it in a Coursera course a few years ago.

NASA's ICESat-2 measures Arctic Ocean's sea ice thickness, snow cover -- ScienceDaily – ICESAT-2 was launched in September 2018; I learned about it during visits to NASA Goddard during my HoLLIE class in spring 2018. It’s good to get an update on it now.

The ingredients for a longer life - BBC Future – Study of populations where many live to 100…focusing on eating habits, social connection, a few cups of tea or coffee, sweet potato and bittersweet melons, landscape…and moderation.

Saving energy and lives: How a solar chimney can boost fire safety -- ScienceDaily – If a building has a solar chimney, it will suck smoke out of a building during a fire…giving people more time to escape!

Risks of Clutter, Tips for Decluttering Your Home | Berkeley Wellness – I had intended to spend some of the ‘stay at home as much as possible’ time de-cluttering. But I moved on to other projects. Now I am returning to the idea just as I am beginning to tentatively venture out. The clutter in my house is not enough to make it unsafe…but I do have a lot of stuff that I no longer need.

Tracing the human genetic history: Every tooth tells a different story – Another data point for forensics when DNA is not available. Teeth often survive for longer than other parts of the body.

New evidence of watery plumes on Jupiter’s moon Europa - GeoSpace - AGU Blogosphere – I’m missing Charles Cockell’s Life in the Universe Pandemic Series. This article is about new analysis of data collected by the Galileo mission flyby of Europa in 2000.  The ESA Juice mission, which is scheduled to launch in 2022, will study the potential habitability and underground oceans of three of Jupiter’s moons: Ganymede, Calisto, and Europa.

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 14, 2019

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.

Radio Tracking a Rare Crayfish – Cool Green Science – There are a lot more species of crayfish than I realized…and they have a bigger role in the stream that I assumed.

Mindfulness for middle school students: Focusing awareness on the present moment can enhance academic performance and lower stress levels -- ScienceDaily – I wonder if ‘mindfulness’ is something we need to teach more overtly now than in the past because technology and daily life tends to push us in ‘unmindful’ ways.

Canadian Canola Fields – I looked at this article because the Bugs101 course that I took recently mentioned the canola fields of Canada (for some reason I had never known very much about Canola as a crop). This article provides more history. It has become a cash crop for Canada in recent decades.

There's a Troubling Rise in Colorectal Cancer Among Young Adults | The Scientist Magazine® - Incidence of colon cancer is falling in older people…but becoming more common in people under 50. It has continued to go up over the past decade. In young adults, the cancer is discovered later too…usually stage 3 or 4.

A Northwest Passage Journey Finds Little Ice and Big Changes - Yale E360 – Lots of changes. Grizzly are moving northward…fewer polar bears…salmon far north of where they used to be…lungworm killing muskox…plastic in ice cores.

Researchers Discover New Family of Viruses | The Scientist Magazine® - The new viruses are found in lung biomes of people that had had lung transplants or have periodontal disease….many times the patients are critically ill. But we don’t know yet if the new family of viruses are linked to disease.

Utah's red rock metronome: Seismic readings reveal Castleton Tower's unseen vibrations -- ScienceDaily – On the plus side – it does not appear that climbers of the tower are impacting it…but this work is a baseline and there could be some longer term effects. Wikipedia has some pictures and a short article about Castleton Tower.

Infographic: History of Ancient Hominin Interbreeding | The Scientist Magazine® - Still learning about the hominin tree and how modern humans carry the genetic heritage.

Camera Trap Chronicles: The Pennsylvania Wilds – Cool Green Science – I wonder what I would see coming through my back yard. I know we have deer…and I occasionally see a fox. Maybe racoons. My first though was to put a camera on the bird feeder or the bird bath.

BBC - Future - Is there a worst time of day to get sick? – Circadian rhythms are important to health….and our medical system doesn’t use them to advantage. I remember being concerned when my mother was in the hospital years ago and the lights were very bright day and night. No wonder she had difficulty sleeping!

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 31, 2019

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: August and Sunbirds and Spiderhunters -  Two sets of bird pictures this week…catching up a little on the gleanings…and good picutres to start out the post this week.

Rare Lightning Strikes Detected 300 Miles from North Pole | Smart News | Smithsonian – I’d never thought about lightning or thunderstorms over the arctic….so this was ‘news to me’ from several perspectives.

Impact of largescale tree death on carbon storage -- ScienceDaily – In our area, invasive insects have caused the deaths of two tree species in recent years: Eastern Hemlock (wooly adelgid) and Ash (Emerald Ash Borer)…die-offs that are definitely not the norm. I wondered if the research included these in their ‘insect outbreak’ category.

The practical ways to reduce your carbon footprint (that actually work) | WIRED UK – How many of these have you considered…implemented?

Here's How the 'Fish Tube' Works | Smart News | Smithsonian – And it doesn’t injure the fish? It seems like it would be very traumatic for the fish.

Tracing the History of Decorative Art, a Genre Where "Form Meets Function" – Short…with some good pictures…and links.

Microplastic drifting down with the snow: In the Alps and the Arctic, experts confirm the presence of plastic in snow -- ScienceDaily – Aargh! Something we have in our minds as being ‘clean’ because it is white, is polluted by things so tiny we can’t see them.

Insect 'apocalypse' in U.S. driven by 50x increase in toxic pesticides – Why are we still using such huge amounts of pesticides when we don’t need to….we have methods to grow our food without decimating pollinators and other beneficial insects.

BBC - Future - The wildlife haven in a Cold War ‘death strip’ – The land between what used to be East and West Germany…the borderland between Finland and Russia….places where the Iron Curtain divided people. This is a long corridor of land left alone for the decades of rapid growth in Europe – land where people didn’t tread but where plants and animals could thrive. It is the European Green Belt through 24 countries. Some species are already using it to migrate north to escape the effects of global warming.

What drives inflammation in type 2 diabetes? Not glucose, says new research -- ScienceDaily – A surprise finding….and now a lot more research needed about fat derivatives and mitochondria in people with type 2 diabetes.

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 20, 2019

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: Conceal – National Geographic Society Newsroom – Starting out with bird images this week. The first picture in this series … a little owl … is my favorite.

Ghost orchid pollination revealed for first time in incredible photos – I heard about ghost orchids at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival…so enjoyed this article (includes a video)

Centennial E7 - Night of the Killer Smog - Third Pod from the Sun - AGU Blogosphere – A little history of air pollution events that spurred the Clean Air Act of 1970.

Biomedical bleeding may impact horseshoe crabs' spawning behavior and movement -- ScienceDaily – My interest in horseshoe crabs has increased since the Cape May Birding Spring (birding) Festival.

BBC - Future - The poisons released by melting Arctic ice – Observations of a warming Arctic….some surprising even to scientists that study the area.

When Will Renewable Energy Prices Stop Dropping? | CleanTechnica – The question becomes…where the tipping point is when almost everyone is using renewable energy for just about everything….at home…on the road…at work.

How Much Nature Is Enough? 120 Minutes a Week Doctors Say | Children & Nature Network – The study included data from 20,000 people in England and was conducted from 2014-2016. 120 minutes a week was the answer. I wonder what factors might make it different – age, culture, environment, etc.

Clouds and Rain Carry a Menagerie of Photosynthetic Microbes | The Scientist Magazine® - Life in the atmosphere.

Are doctors treating more thyroid cancer patients than necessary? -- ScienceDaily - New research may help change treatment practices for patients diagnosed with low risk thyroid cancer. Sometimes doctors opt for maximum treatment and the treatment ends up being worse than the disease would have been.

Monarch Butterflies Born in Captivity Have Trouble Migrating South Study Says: NPR – I like that the schools in my area are getting their Monarch caterpillars (or eggs) from the wild to raise in the classroom and then release. These Monarchs will migrate!

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 02, 2019

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: Camouflage – Lots of birds can hide in plain sight! Owls are the ones I think of first in this category.

When 'alien' insects attack Antarctica: Terrestrial ecosystems are vulnerable to single introduced insect species -- ScienceDaily – A threat from a tiny flightless midge

Anak Krakatau: Planet Labs imagery of the aftermath of the landslide - The Landslide Blog - AGU Blogosphere – Imagery of the landslide that caused the deadly tsunami just before last Christmas.

What is the most commonly found ocean litter? – Yuck! Another reason that cigarettes are a bad thing.

A series of posts from NOAA’s 2018 Arctic Report Card: Visual highlights , Multi-year stretch of record and near-record warmth unlike any period on record, Reindeer and caribou populations continue to decline, Less than 1 percent of Arctic ice has survived four or more summers, Red tides and other toxic species expanding across the Arctic, increasing risks to marine mammals and humans – Quantifying the changes occurring in the arctic

Image of the Day: In Sync | The Scientist Magazine® - Infants playing with their parents…syncing of brain activity

New Ultima Thule discoveries from NASA's New Horizons -- ScienceDaily – A space mission to something we’ve never seen before….the aptly named ‘New Horizons’

Why are biology classes ignoring insects? · john hawks weblog – When I was in high school, insects were a big deal for biology classes; many students created an insect collect the summer prior to the biology year. I don’t remember too much about insects in my first courses as an undergraduate in biology I the 1970s…but there was probably more coverage than in the more recent textbooks.

Keeping fit: how to do the right exercise for your age – A good summary…although the key message is to keep moving…sustained exercise is the best strategy.

Our bodies may cure themselves of diabetes in the future -- ScienceDaily – It’s at the basic research level…but could be an approach to ‘diseases’ caused by cell death in the future (diabetes, Alzheimer’s and cells damaged by heart attacks, etc.)

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 28, 2018

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.

Significant role for nitrate in the Arctic landscape -- ScienceDaily – There is much we need to learn about how the arctic ecosystems work today….and what will likely happen as they warm. The carbon and nitrogen cycles will speed up…but how does that translate to the types of plants that will grow there.

The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act at Fifty – Protection of some special places….rivers and the banks.

Artist Paints Imaginary Ecosystems Bursting with Colorful Flora and Fauna – Eye candy for the week! (The paintings are also inspiration for Zentangles.)

A is for Aerosol: Earth Matters – A little tutorial that includes satellite pictures of different kinds of aerosols like volcanic ash, sand/dust storms, fog/haze, smoke.

New NOAA Report Looks at National Coastal Flood Vulnerability – The whole report can be found here. Figure 6 (page 26 of the PDF…14 of the report) shows annual high tide floods days per year from 1950 onward. There is a color skew toward more days in the last decade for many areas. Another flood related article: Flood risk denial in US coastal communities -- ScienceDaily – research about how to move communities from denial to taking mitigation actions to reduce the risk to their community.

Without Birds, Lizards, and Other Vertebrate Pollinators, Plant Reproduction Could Decline by Two-Thirds - Yale E360 – Pollination drops an average of 63% when vertebrates (like lizards, birds, bats, mice) are kept away. Wow! Pollinators are not all insects.

When Going Gluten-Free Is Not Enough: New Tests Detect Hidden Exposure – It’s hard to live a gluten-free diet in the modern world…and that is what 3M people in America are trying to do. This article increased my awareness of how hard it it….and how many people are impacted by celiac disease.

The Sahara Desert Has Grown 10 Percent Since 1920 - Yale E360 – The expansion has happened mostly to the south…during the historically rainy summer months. This is one of the first studies to look at precipitation over the course of a century rather than a shorter time.

Influence of global warming on U.S. heat waves may be felt first in the West and Great Lakes regions | NOAA Climate.gov – Maryland is included in the ‘Great Lakes’ region based on the map; in this area more than half of all heat waves would be predominately due to global warming by the mid-2030s. In the west it happens even earlier (by the end of the 2020s). Lots of people live in those areas and the statistics currently tell us that more people in the US die each year of heat-related illness than any other weather disaster.

Sweet potato history casts doubt on early contact between Polynesia and the Americas -- ScienceDaily – DNA studies of sweet potatoes show something about history…and about its closest wild relative (good for the long-term viability of the domesticated crop).