Gleanings of the Week Ending September 12, 2015

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.

Gene leads to nearsightedness when kids read - The incidence of myopia is increasing around the world. In the US 44% of adults are nearsighted, up from 25% 30 years ago. And in some parts of Asia, 80% of young adults are now myopic. There is a lot of research re cause and possible preventions. This is just one.

The lost tunnels buried deep beneath the UK - There are tunnels below Liverpool! They are 200 years old and filled in when people complained of the smell (as they were used as underground landfills. Now they are being excavated.

Midday naps associated with reduced blood pressure and fewer medications - Yet another reason that midday naps are not a bad thing.

Standing on their own four feet: Why cats are more independent than dogs - We are a cat household…ours certainly have an independent nature! This research points out that ‘cats are much more autonomous when it comes to coping with unusual situations.’

Biodiversity belowground is just as important as aboveground - We know that the biodiversity above ground is in peril in much of the world…but the belowground organisms are not as well known or studied.

Intense Aurora Display over Sweden - I don’t live far enough north to see aurora….so videos like this are an opportunity to see the phenomenon and marvel at how finely tuned our planet is.

Check Out Life Spans around the World — and Likely Years of Ill Health - I like the idea of looking at life expectancy and unhealthy years together rather than life expectancy along.

Stunning Macro Photos of Delicate Butterfly Wings Look like Shimmering Petals - I tied to do some macro shots of a butterfly wing (best image is to the left)…frustrating experience. This post motivates me to try again and get rid of the pesky bubbles!

Recovery: Rare Turtle Gets a Second Chance - It’s always good to hear a story about recovery rather than extinction….but we have to do something about people releasing non-native red-eared sliders and hurting the indigenous native turtles.

3-D Printing Breaks the Glass Barrier - I watched the full video from the MIT Media Lab; it’s only about 4.5 minutes. I like glass!  

North Carolina Barrier Islands

I’ve posted about the light houses and Jockey Ridge State Park in the past few days which are both part of the barrier island scene. Today I’m picking up the best of the rest from a couple of days on the Barrier Islands of North Carolina.

There was the beach of course.

Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate to provide a good sunrise. I contented myself with the morning light on the pines

And yucca pods.

There were a lot more beach houses right along the shore than when we were there years ago and many had their own private boardwalk over the dunes and roofed decks with stairs down to the beach.

We didn’t see as many birds as we had anticipated. I watched an egret long enough to get a picture after a successful catch!

There were a lot of birds overhead in nice Vs.

There was a kite surfing class in the shallows of the sound.

In one place we saw three different turtles. There was a large snapping turtle.

But I’m not sure what these other two are.

The sunset from our hotel room balcony was not bad. The pedestal in the distance is on a sand dune…The Wright Brothers Memorial at Kitty Hawk.

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 18, 2015

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.

10 Geological Forms we’ve studied for Years and Still Don’t Understand - Some of the forms we thought we understood….only to discover additional mechanisms played a role (in canyon formation, for example).

Why the FDA Has Never Looked At Some of the Additives in Our Food - In the past 5 decades, the number of food additives has skyrocketed from about 800 to 10,000….and many of them have come to market under the ‘generally recognized as safe’ provision in the FDA safety-review process. Some of them have caused severe allergic reactions or long term health effects. This is a scary aspect to our food system. The article prompted to look more closely at the processed foods I buy and try to skew my food purchases to whole foods that I prepare myself.

Hawksbill Turtles: A Rare Good News Story for a Species on the Brink - Hurray!

This Elevation Map of Mars Makes the Red Planet Much More Colorful - From the German space agency

This 19th Century Art Is Made Entirely Out Of Butterfly Wings - I’d much rather see live butterflies!

A Chart Showing You How Much Water It Takes To Grow All the Food You Eat - Were there any surprises on this chart?  Each circle represents the gallons of water per ounce of a food. I found myself wanting more; I wanted to compare whether soymilk (on the graphic) took more or less water than almond milk (not on the chart).

Exceptionally preserved fossil gives voice to ancient terror bird - The fossil is from South America of a bird flightless that was 4 feet tall and is the most complete ‘terror bird’ discovered with 90% of the skeleton preserved.

Top 5 Interesting Nests in North America - It’s the time of year for birds to be building their nests in our area….and there are some interesting ones in this post.

These Knotted Cords Are a Sophisticated Ancient Counting Tool - The Inca’s knotted counting system…that we still don’t completely understand.

Greatest mass extinction driven by acidic oceans, study finds - A key in the past to understand the impact of ocean acidification.