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 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 December 7, 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.

Red Tides Under the Microscope | The Scientist Magazine® - It’s surprising what we don’t yet know about the organism responsible for red tides – Karenia Brevis. Spanish explorers of Florida in the 15th and 16th centuries described fish kills in Gulf waters. The first official documentation was in 1882 – published in the Proceedings of the US National Museum. This article is about what we know….and where more research is needed.

The woman who reshaped maths - BBC Future – Hilda Geiringer…a refugee from the Nazis. A BBC Future column celebrating a ‘missed genius’ whose contributions are still notable in the world today.

NOAA weather balloons find no zero-ozone regions above South Pole during 2019 ozone hole season | NOAA Climate.gov – A little science…a little history…a projection. The positive message – if the trend continues, it’s estimated that the ozone layer will recover around 2070.

Abrupt shifts in Arctic climate projected: Likelihood of an abrupt increase in wildfires also noted -- ScienceDaily – With specific modeling of permafrost as it continues to degrade….it appears that the changes won’t be as gradual as  previously assumed.

Lake On Bottom Of Halema‘uma‘u Crater At Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park Now Bigger Than Football Field – The lake was noticed back in July….and is being studied with instruments on drones. More information is at the National Park Service site for the park.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week: Wild Birds – National Geographic Society Newsroom – I always enjoy the bird photography compiled by National Geographic every week.

Offshore Wind Has the Potential to Fulfill Global Electricity Demand 18 Times Over - Yale E360 – Hurray for this potential….the transition is the challenge.

AP: At least 1,680 dams across the US pose potential risk – There is a link to an interactive map that shows where the 1,680 dams are located. The last paragraphs of the article are the most troubling. There are a lot of dams with unknown status. Roughly 45% of Texas dams are exempt from regulation…in Missouri safety inspections are only done on 650 of its more than 5,000 dams. And states that know about problematic private dams often can’t identify the owners to address the dam’s issues.

Aging in good health: The inequalities are widening -- ScienceDaily – A study with over 11 million people tracked for 25 years!

Susquehanna Sediment in the Chesapeake Bay – Imagery of big rivers and the Chesapeake Bay after a storm at the end of October…. close to where I live. On a positive note - the sediment (even after the record rains earlier this year) has not damaged the underwater grasses on the Susquehanna Flats as much as was initially feared.

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 23, 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: Seed Eaters – National Geographic Society Newsroom – Quite a variety. Some are small and somewhat drab…but with the camera’s magnification – it’s easy to see that many are more interesting..

The best and worst countries to be a woman – Inclusion, security and justice. Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, and Pakistan are the worst….Norway, Switzerland, Finland and Denmark are the best. The US scored 19 of 167 countries.

We asked women around the world these 6 provocative questions – Thought provoking and a good read for the answers from women.

Computer science classes break down cultural barriers, study shows -- ScienceDaily – This was certainly true for computer science classes and gender barriers in the US during the 70s and early 80s….and then it wasn’t. Hopefully the same does not happen in the future to this project and projects like them.

Renaissance Nun's 'Last Supper' Painting Makes Public Debut After 450 Years in Hiding | Smart News | Smithsonian – A little art history -- Plautilla Nelli. The article includes pictures before and after restoration of the painting.

California's crashing kelp forest: How disease, warming waters, and ravenous sea urchins combined to kill the kelp and close the red abalone fishery -- ScienceDaily – An ecological horror story that happened between 2013 and 2017.

Infographic: Red Tides Still Hold Tantalizing Mysteries | The Scientist Magazine® - There have been more stories about red tides in Florida again recently, so this article caught my attention. It appears that there is still a lot to learn about the organism.

Horrifying True Stories of Insect Zombies – Cool Green Science – Insect parasitized by fungus, worms, other insects….the amazing complexity of natural interactions.

Replacing coal with gas or renewables saves billions of gallons of water -- ScienceDaily – This is a big deal – particularly in areas that are water challenged (like much of the western US).

The fragrance factory: Roure-Bertrand Fils and the perfume industry in Grasse | Europeana Blog – Perfume history…from the early 1900s.