Gleanings of the Week Ending July 4, 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.

Utah’s arches continue to whisper their secrets - GeoSpace - AGU Blogosphere – A study to measure arches to hone 3-D models from the Geohazards Research Group at Universe of Utah. The 30 second video of the model showing how Moonshine Arch moves is worth viewing.

Will the world be quieter after the pandemic? - BBC Future – I know I appreciate having a quieter environment; it’s an aspect of the pandemic that has been positive. The quiet is one of the things I like about my Prius Prime when it is in EV mode. Maybe some of the new norm will involve choices to maintain, as much as we can, the quiet.

Exposure to air pollution impairs cellular energy metabolism -- ScienceDaily – A study from Finland – exploring how particulates impact the olfactory mucosa (a neural tissue located at the upper part of the nasal cavity…the first line of defense against inhaled agents). As I read the article, I wondered if this is the tissue impacted my COVID-19 in people that lose their sense of smell when infected….and also, does wearing a mask filter enough particles to give the tissue a break from other air pollutants.

Renovations Reveal Rare Maya Murals Hidden in Guatemalan Home | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – From a colonial home in a mountain village.

Bird feeding helps females more than males -- ScienceDaily – The female cardinals are at my bird feeder much more frequently that the males in both winter and summer. This study doesn’t really point to a reason for that. I’ve always thought that other than the males dominance getting food first….the females might need more food at certain times….when they are laying eggs, for example.

London Foxes Show Early Signs of Self-Domestication | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – “Domestication syndrome” – shorter snout and smaller brain.

Painted Vault Revealed at Villa Near Pompeii - Archaeology Magazine – There are new discoveries because they are excavating a part that has not been studied before.

Marine Biologist Braves Cold Water to Photograph Little Known Sea Creatures – Creatures of the ocean….many so delicate they can’t be studied in a lab. Alexander Semenov is a marine biologist and photographer working like a 19th century naturalist, but with 21st century technologies.

Plot Brewing To Blanket US In Solar Panels + Pollinator-Friendly Plants – A beginning…. building hope via steps in the right direction. This article coincided with the MACCEC conference earlier this week. I ended the week more optimistic that the ball is in motion for many ‘drawdown’ actions.

Fish Eggs Can Survive a Journey Through Both Ends of a Duck – The study in this article was done with common carp and Prussian carp…. but what about other invasive species. If most types of fish eggs can survive the duck’s gut - it is bad news for efforts to stop the spread of invasive fish species.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Thinking about the first women in my family that could have voted. Women have had the right to vote in the US since 1920 – we’re celebrating 100 years this year. My sister and I have been talking about our great-grandmothers (and maybe the great-great grandmothers too). It’s interesting to think about what it was like in 1920 in our family; they were all citizens by then…although one side of the family were immigrants or children of immigrants.

We wondered if their relationship to immigration and obtaining citizenship would have made it more likely that they would have voted. One of them was divorced with her children teenagers or older; she was educated in Europe before she immigrated. Did her oldest son go with her to vote? The other great-grandmother might have voted as well; she had 3 daughters in 1920 with the youngest being 8 years old (there would be one more after 1920) and they lived on a farm…but went into town often enough. My grandparents from that side of the family always voted, so there’s a reasonable chance that their mothers did to.

One of the things I learned during the recent conversations, is that the grandparents on the other side of the family hosted the local polling place in their garage in the 1940s! That’s an indication that voting was important to them and that could have been passed down from their parents.  One of those great-grandmothers ran a boarding house (around 1920) so she was aware of things going on in town and would have had easier access to the polling place. She insisted that her daughter finish high school a few years later which might indicate that she was attune to the changing role of women more broadly.

I like to think that maybe all 4 of my great-grandmothers voted in 1920…their first opportunity to do so.

Blue Jay Photo Shoot

Unique activities for yesterday:

Blue Jay photo shoot. I was in my office early and responded to a nearby blue jay call by grabbing my camera and going to the window. The bird was on the deck railing but on the move before I could get my camera turned on. It flew down to check the seed scattered under the feeder. Unsatisfied with that, the bird flew into the sycamore and started some great moves…quite the model bird. There were times I thought that he saw me through the window and treated me as an audience.

The temperature was still in 50s and the bird sported fluffed out breast feathers to provide more warmth. It is surprising how much fatter a bird can look when they are cold – all with a small reorientation of their feathers.

It all happened in just under 30 seconds. The bird flew off to the left.

A code orange air quality day. I spent an hour on the deck reading before the temperature climbed into the 70s (and kept going) …. already aware that there was an air quality alert for our area. I opted to not work in the yard. My husband took a walk in the neighborhood a little later and came back saying that it felt hot and humid even though the temperature was only about 75. We stayed indoors for the rest of the day. I wonder what caused the air quality issue. I heard pre-pandemic level traffic noise while I was out on our deck; our part of Maryland is in stage 2 of COVID-19 recovery as of last Friday at 5 PM. I’ve been at home since then so the traffic noise from outside my neighborhood is my first direct observation of the change.

A Zentangle Prompt

Experiment with the DIVA DANCE pattern in all its forms: waltz, foxtrot and rock ‘n roll! So many possibilities.

Here is a tile I made yesterday based on the prompt: Make a tile with TWISTEE and UNDLING

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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.

Weekly Gleanings, Racoon Visits and Rearranging Office

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

(I’m still social distancing/staying at home as much as possible….but am changing the title of the blog posts to reflect the accumulation of topics in the posts. I’m tired of only the date changing in the title since March 15th, 2020)

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

Racoon in early morning of 5/12…and then on 5/15! I was downloading the birdfeeder cam videos and noticed right away that there was an odd one just before 2 AM on 5/12….it was a racoon! It was a female probably hungry because she has babies still in the den – too young to eat on their own.  It didn’t appear that she got anything from our feeder.

We had another racoon visit on the 15th just after 2 AM. I couldn’t tell if it was a female or not. It could have been another racoon or the same one giving it another try. The animal used a different strategy to get the seed coming at the feeder from above rather than below….but the strategy didn’t work. It looks longingly at the feeder from the bench on the deck before it leaves.

Rearranging my office.  It’s a work in progress.  The room has been my office since we moved into the house in November 1994 – and it’s the best room in the house for an office because it looks out to trees. I bought the three-piece computer office tables from IKEA as we moved in and had them connected in an L until about 9 years ago when I wanted better access to the windows. I detached the longer table from the corner piece at that point. Then I detached the shorter table about a year ago so I could use the whole surface area of the corner piece…and now I’ve moved the small table by the window but pulled out a bit. When I am sitting at the small table, I have a clear view of the bird feeder. We’ll see how it works. I might not like it in the afternoon when the sun shines in and I need to close the curtains to keep the room from heating up.

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

And now for the gleanings from my news feeds during this past 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.

Check Out the Beautiful Flowers in Bloom at the Keukenhof – I missed going to Brookside Gardens this spring. I’m glad there are beautiful photographs like these and that we have the forest behind our house.

Researchers Reexamine Ritual Sacrifices in Ancient Mesoamerica - Archaeology Magazine – Evidently there is skeletal evidence that there were 3 distinct methods used for heart extractions.

Researchers Uncover New Evidence That Warrior Women Inspired Legend of Mulan | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – Not specifically Mulan but there is physical evidence that female warriors road across the steppes of what is now Mongolia around the 4th or 5th century AD which is about the time the first historical mention of Mulan appears.

Dolphins, Surfers and Waves Sparkle in Bright Blue Bioluminescent Glow Off California Coast | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – Dinoflagellates. Watch the two videos.

Top 25 birds of the week: Birds of Prey - Wild Bird Revolution – This group includes a Snail Kite – which we saw in Florida a little over a year ago. (I posted about it too!)

Nearly half of US breathing unhealthy air; record-breaking air pollution in nine cities -- ScienceDaily – I was surprised at some of the cities listed on the top 10 most polluted cities (short term particle pollution)…and the comparison of that list with the year-round list was interesting.

Cool Facts About Common Backyard Wildlife – The list includes racoons. Evidently racoons are usually very clever about accessing urban/suburban food sources. So far – the design of our bird feeder is working…frustrating the racoon.

Infographic: Building Bacteria to Fight Cancer | The Scientist Magazine® - Work being done in mice at this point…goal is to target tumors specifically and minimize side effects of treatment.

Paleontologists reveal 'the most dangerous place in the history of planet Earth' -- ScienceDaily – 100 million years ago the Sahara had flying reptiles and crocodile-like hunters!

Great Lakes Without Winter Ice – A picture taken from the International Space Station in February.

Filling a Day of Social Distance – 4/10/2020 - Gleanings

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

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

Finishing Vermont Life issues. I finally browsed through the last of the Vermont Life issues. The magazine was published from 1946-2018 and most of the issues are available on Internet Archive. I started at the beginning back in July and just finished the last one (from summer 2018) yesterday. Every issue contains great photography…of beautiful places. It’s a great armchair travel to a place…and through time. I had a friend that had family in Vermont when I was growing up in Texas; she visited there almost every summer. I found myself looking at the pictures from the 1960s and realizing that she probably saw some of those places. I remember her talking about picking blueberries.

IDing a plant for my sister. She sent me a picture from her Texas yard. I found a reference from Texas Master Naturalists easily enough – and passed along the id: Southern Dewberry (p. 23 of the reference).

Cleaning the filter on the air purifier. We’ve been running the air purifier more in our bedroom to keep the pollen allergies at bay – at least while we sleep. The red light came on to tell use the filter needed to be cleaned….it was an easy job…but we were without it for a couple of nights while everything dried. My husband and I both noticed the difference when we began running it again yesterday afternoon.

Hearing the wind sweeping through the forest. Yesterday afternoon was very gusty – not stormy…it was a mostly sunny day. The wind came roaring through the forest ripping off small pieces of leaves and bud coverings from the tulip poplars; some of the bits ended up in our gutters.

The red maple is full of seeds – looking golden from afar but reds/greens show when looking closer; the seeds are mostly staying put; they are not ready to helicopter away from the tree.

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

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 to avoid touching your face so much - BBC Future – Something we are all trying to learn to do along with making masks for whenever we venture away from the house.

A more balanced protein intake can reduce age-related muscle loss -- ScienceDaily – My take away -older people (me included) need to have a high quality protein at lunch…not leave it for the evening meal!

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Bald Eagles and the Unfortunate Power of Forgetting – When I was growing up, bald eagles were rare. They are not now because people took action and stuck with it. Remembering will keep Bald Eagles around and maybe provide a blueprint for the way we all move forward to a healthier Earth.

Scientists find Earth and moon not identical oxygen twins -- ScienceDaily – The finding may challenge the current understanding of the formation of our Moon…..future modeling will need to explore that possibility. Previously models have tried to account for complete oxygen isotope homogenization between the Earth and Moon.

How to escape the tyranny of the clock - BBC Future – Now that I am retired…the tyranny of the clock is not as overwhelming as it was during my career. Right now – there is even less requirement for me to do anything at a particular time….maybe a Zoom meeting or when my shopper is collecting my groceries. Otherwise I set my own time. Text messages or telephone calls or my husband wanting to talk/assistance with a project are interruptions that are easily handled with whatever I am doing. It’s an easy time to enjoy a loosening of the tyranny of the clock.

Top 25 birds of the week: Yellow Feathers - Wild Bird Revolution – Just as I was looking at this group of pictures – an American Goldfinch flew to our feeder! I even got a picture! It has quite got the full summer plumage yet.

See Seven New Dazzling, Dancing Peacock Spiders | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – A 1.5-minute video.

Does Equinox Sunset Highlight Egypt’s Sphinx? - Archaeology Magazine – The sun sets over the right shoulder on the spring and fall equinoxes!

Regular Exercise Helps Patients Combat Cancer | The Scientist Magazine® - It may benefit both mental and physical health. This is an example of exercise helping – even when you are sick and probably don’t feel like doing it.

Watch Seven Medieval Castles’ Digital Reconstruction – A animated way to learn about castles…and some history.

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 22, 2020

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week: February 2020 – Note the new website for these weekly posts: https://wildbirdrevolution.org/ ---The posts are still the beautiful bird pictures collected into a group for a weekly visual celebration of birds.

100% Wind, Water, & Solar Energy Can & Should Be the Goal, Costs Less | CleanTechnica – A short summary of a report with specifics for 143 countries…getting to 80% renewable energy by 2030 and completing the transition by 2050. Now to vote with that goal in mind for a livable future for ourselves, our children, our grandchildren….and onward.

LEDs, Downward Lights Changing the Night in Chicago - News | Planetizen – Chicago will complete the transition to energy efficient LED streetlights in 2021. They’ve calculated that it will save the city $100 million over 10 years. At the same time, they have made an effort to focus the new lights downward to cut light pollution. It’s too early to tell if that aspect of the project will be a success.

Vegetation Filters Harmful Particulates from Air--But How Much? | The Scientist Magazine® - It’s probably better to push for the transition to renewable energy (in school buses, for example) but where that is not happening fast enough – planting a green wall of vegetation can block pollution from school yards…which could reduce the impact of vehicle exhaust on children’s lungs.

Decline in Coal-Fired Power Reduces U.S. Carbon Emissions in 2019 - News | Planetizen – Good news…but it could decline more quickly. The 2019 results are from market forces alone. If there were political will, things would happen even faster.

Archaeologists Excavate 200 More Chinese Terracotta Warriors | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – The first terracotta warriors were found in China’s Shaanxi province in 1974. Now there is more excavation and more soldiers from the same tomb. All the warriors have unique expressions, hairstyle and physical features.

Organic crop practices affect long-term soil health -- ScienceDaily – This study looked closely at organisms in the soils…along with the impact of prior soil disturbance.

Recovery: A Plague of Bullfrogs – The Eastern part of the US is the native range for Bullfrogs…but they are invaders in the West. They are clearing native frogs and eating other animals too (ducklings are an example cited). So various municipalities and conservation groups are acting.

What We Can Learn From Ötzi the Iceman's Hunting Pack | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – Ötzi was preserved for 5,300 years in a glacier until he was discovered in 1991. A lot has been studied since that time. He’s a window into Copper Age Europe.

Photography in the National Parks – More favorite spots for photography from Rebecca Larson. This collection included three National Parks I have not visited: Glacier, Olympic and Mount Rainier. Now I want to plan a trip to see them!

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 11, 2020

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week: Seabirds – Starting with the birds this week. I’m thinking about the Delmarva birding sessions later this month…they’ll be sea birds and more to see.

Clearing damaged cells out of the body helps heal diabetics' blood vessels -- ScienceDaily – Interesting….but still a lot of research needed before it could potentialy be used in treatment.

The toxic killers in our air too small to see - BBC Future – Nanoparticles – 90% of particles by busy roads are nanoparticles below 100nm. The smaller the particles, the greater potential toxicity. Anything smaller than 30 nm can make it to through the lungs and into the blood stream (larger than that doesn’t gets past the lungs). The Global Burden of Diseases study estimates that air pollution could account for 21% of all deaths due to stroke and 24% of deaths from ischaemic heart disease.

A little prairie can rescue honey bees from famine on the farm -- ScienceDaily – Food crops can provide good food for honey bees…but maybe not for the whole season.

Adult Humans Can Regenerate Cartilage: Study | The Scientist Magazine® - microRNA may have potential in human regeneration of tissue.

Agar Art Contest 2019: See this year’s winners – Art made with live bacteria.

Infrared Reveals Egyptian Mummies' Hidden Tattoos | Smart News | Smithsonian – 7 mummies – 3,000 years old. All the mummies with tattoos at the site were women.

Gabapentin: A Risky Answer to the Opioid Epidemic - The Atlantic Gabapentin has become the 10th most-commonly-prescribed medication in the US. It is viewed as a safer alternative to opioids for chronic pain….but it is problematic in combination with other sedating medication and it doesn’t work as well as hoped….particularly for back pain. It appears that looking for a quick fix for chronic pain is – again – not working as advertised.

Photography In The National Parks: My Favorite Spots For Great Photos – From Arches, Bryce Canyon, Big Bend, Acadia, and Padre Island.

Scientists Don't Know Why Freshwater Mussels Are Dying Across North America | Smart News | Smithsonian – It’s not just in one place….and may have multiple causes. But this just highlights that some mussel species that have already gone extinct…and our rivers are very different than their ‘natural’ state.

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 04, 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.

Scientists Use Agricultural Waste to Develop New Road Deicer - Yale E360 – Grape skins and other agricultural wastes rather than sodium chloride.

Poor Potato Crops Could Lead to a North American French Fry Shortage | Smart News | Smithsonian – Not a good year for potatoes in the US and Canada evidently. I wonder if prices will go up.

Hydration may affect cognitive function in some older adults -- ScienceDaily – Evidently overhydration has an impact on cognitive function as well…so it is important for older people to understand symptoms of both and actively manage their hydration.

Could Migraine Pain Relief Be Found In The Color Green? : Shots - Health News : NPR – Interesting research. Do green glasses help as much as the green LED light?

How everyday products are supercharging landfill gas, and what that means -- ScienceDaily – Some basic research that could be applied to getting more energy from our landfills.

U.S. States Have Eliminated Thousands of Environmental Protection Jobs Since 2008 - Yale E360 – “Neither EPA nor states have the funding they need to meet their responsibilities under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and other laws that protect the public’s health and our environment from dangerous pollution.” Not good.

How hacking the human heart could replace pill popping - BBC Future – Pacemakers are primitive compared to the devices that are being worked on now. The future implants will adjust to the situation…reading and writing to the nervous system to treat such things as diabetes, bladder control and chronic pain (and heart issues). Maybe they will address the root cause of some chronic diseases rather than just the symptoms.

Colouring Europe at Work: download our industrial heritage colouring book | Europeana Blog – Learn some history while your color.

IBM Changes the Energy Storage Game With Cobalt-Free Battery – Lots of research in the battery arena these days. This one caught my eye since I spent some of my career working for IBM. Maybe these will be part of the next-gen technology for batteries.

Tiny shells reveal waters off California are acidifying twice as fast as the global ocean -- ScienceDaily – Looking at shells of foraminifera in sediments provides a vertical record of ocean acidity.

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 21, 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: Waterbirds and Camouflage and Forests and Birds in Pairs – Starting out this week’s list with some bird pictures….catching up the backlog

Liver cancer deaths climb by around 50% in the last decade -- ScienceDaily – Survival rates are low too. Obesity and smoking are two preventable causes.

How Climate Change Will Affect Maryland's Birds | Audubon – I looked at the page for Maryland because that is where I live. The red-headed woodpecker is on the ‘high vulnerability’ list. The data is available for other states as well (scroll down on the ‘home’ page and select by state or zip code). The red-headed woodpecker appears on the high vulnerability list for Texas and Missouri too (those are two other states I checked).

First Global Map of Saturn's Moon Titan Reveals Secrets of Earth's 'Deranged' Twin | Smart News | Smithsonian – There are plains, sand dunes, mountains, labyrinthine valleys…and lakes of methane.

'Self-cleaning' concrete could keep buildings looking new -- ScienceDaily – Maybe a new building material…but can it be made in a ‘green’ way?

Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About Turkeys – I’m just catching up on some reading…this would have been more appropriate for the Thanksgiving week gleanings…but better late that never. Turkeys are interesting birds!

Air Pollution Tied to Brain Cancer: Study | The Scientist Magazine® - Combustion-related nanoparticles can reach our brain! The concentrations of these particles in highly polluted areas are also causing other health related problems as well. For example, the air pollution in Kabul, Afghanistan may be causing more deaths than war in that area

Owling: A Field Guide to Finding Winter Owls – Seen any owls? They are often easier to hear than see.

Slideshow: Images from The World Beneath | The Scientist Magazine® - A few pictures from a new book about sea creatures and coral reefs. Lots of vibrant color and camouflage.

Eating in sync with biological clock could replace problematic diabetes treatment: An early-morning, carb-filled meal improves glycemic control among diabetics -- ScienceDaily – We are shifting our meals…largest one at midday…smallest one at night. If we eat a high carb meal it will be at breakfast. I had gingerbread cake this morning!

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 9, 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.

Infographic: How Air Pollution Could Affect the Brain | The Scientist Magazine® - A quick and disturbing summary. The evidence of harm: particles like those produced by vehicle engines found in frontal cortex (postmortem), reduced volumes of white matter, slowed development of children, inflammation related damage to brain cells, and higher accumulation of Alzheimer-associated proteins.

Happier Babies Have an Edge - Scientific American Blog Network – The more children experience happy emotions, the more time they spend building skills and relationships that help them in the future.

900 Pythons Removed from South Florida – That’s a lot of snakes. Kudos to the Python Action Team. There are other organizations (government and non-profits) working on this too. I wish the article would have included information about what they do with the snakes after they are captured. Presumable they are killed.

Study: 95 percent of baby food contains traces of toxic metals - UPI.com – Not good. The full report referred to in the article is available here. I wonder if pediatricians are changing their recommendation when it comes to some foods (like rice cereal for babies).

Newly discovered virus infects bald eagles across America -- ScienceDaily – Over 1/3 of America’s Bald Eagles are infected…and it might be causing a fatal disease – Wisconsin River Eagle Syndrome.

BBC - Future - What life might be like in alien oceans – Lots of possibilities. It will be interesting to get some probes (submersibles, etc.) out to the moons of other planets in our solar system that have alien oceans…maybe life.

From quills to typewriters: how the industrial revolution changed our writing culture | Europeana Blog – A little history lesson.

National Science Board highlights Skilled Technical Workforce shortage in new report - The Bridge: Connecting Science and Policy - AGU Blogosphere – “Without immediate action, the US risks falling behind other nations that are making significant investments in their Science and Engineering workforce and the Science and Technology enterprise.”  The whole report can be found here.

The Platypus Is Weirder Than You Ever Imagined – Cool Green Science – They don’t have a stomach, their venom can help treat diabetes, their milk can help fight antibiotic resistance….the list goes on.

Photography in The National Parks: Your Armchair Photography Guide To Olympic National Park, Part 2 – The Forests – National Parks….always a great destination for nature photography.

Gleanings of the Week Ending October 26, 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.

Scientists Find Way to Fully Recycle Plastics Without Losing Quality - Yale E360 – I hope this process undercuts plastic manufacturing from fossil fuels…plastics should not be the glide path for the oil companies! The heating of the plastic to 850 degrees for this process should be done with renewable energy. And what happens to the parts that don’t get recycled (I assume there is waste from the things that weren’t plastic that got into the stream (i.e. ‘dirty’ containers).

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week: Bird Interactions – National Geographic Society Newsroom – Birds with other birds (not always the same species).

Maya Tomb of the Unknown Red Queen - Red from cinnabar (mercuric sulfide) power that covered everything inside the limestone sarcophagus…a mask of malachite.

Time Spent in Nature Is Good for You | The Scientist Magazine® - Spending at least 2 hours in nature per week is strongly correlated with self-reports of being in good health and having high well-being…..based on a study in the UK with 20,000 participants between 2014 and 2016. Intuitively – the idea seems right. But what does ‘time spent in nature’ really mean and what is it that causes the correlation? Do you have to be outdoors or is viewing it enough? I am outdoors in beautiful natural places (gardens, forests, seashores, rivers and lakes) so frequently…the 2 hours per week is at the low end for me…except for the coldest or wettest weeks.

Cooking food alters the microbiome: Raw vs. cooked diets have distinct effects on both mouse and human gut microbes -- ScienceDaily – No recommendations from this research but lots of prompts for further research.

The Short List Of Climate Actions That Will Work | CleanTechnica – These are country or continent type actions like: electrify everything, overbuild renewable generation, build continent-scale electrical grids and marks, fix concrete, change agricultural practices, shut down coal and gas generation aggressively. Some of them can be impacted by individual decisions…to move in the direction. For example – 1) The CSA I belong is on a path to not use plastic to control weeds and retain moisture around their crops. 2) The next house I buy (in the next 2-3 years) will be all electric and have solar panels…maybe battery storage too….maybe geothermal heating/cooling. 3) The next car I buy will be an EV rather than a plug-in hybrid like I have now. And I can change my yard into a mini-forest (of redbuds, dogwoods, spice bush, hollies….not huge trees but ones that are native to the area where I live).

Air Pollution May Damage People's Brains | The Scientist Magazine® - Mortality, respiratory health, cognition, and social behavior. This is scary. This is yet another reason to move away from fossil fuels.

Humankind did not live with a high-carbon dioxide atmosphere until 1965 -- ScienceDaily – I was in 5th grade in 1965. It was the grade between two memorable events: seeing a tornado just before it touched the ground and traveling with my parents to Mexico City for a weeklong vacation (two firsts: on an airplane…and out of the US). But the cross over to a high-carbon dioxide atmosphere has the greater long-term impact. I already suspect that unless something changes dramatically, climate change by midcentury will probably shorten my life.

Ailing U.S. pecan industry calls on India to reduce tariffs - UPI.com – I couldn’t find an update on this story from a few weeks ago. Evidently China used to buy 40% of the pecan crop in the US but now there is a tariff and the market is gone. So, the farmers are trying to develop the Indian market. It’s been tough to be a farmer for many years…but the tariffs have added even greater challenges.

Stressed out: Americans making themselves sick over politics: One in five report lost sleep, damaged friendships -- ScienceDaily – If individuals are stressed by politics….hopefully they’ll realize that it’s time to implement strategies to reduce the stress. Spending less time on ‘news’ would provide time to shift focus to other aspects of life – skew toward activities that make you happy and help others too. ‘Staying informed’ of politics 24/7 should not be a priority (although participating in elections should be).

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 17, 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.

Well-Preserved Mosaic Floor Found in Roman Egypt - Archaeology Magazine – Lotus patterns!

Nations with strong women's rights likely to have better population health and faster growth-- ScienceDaily – A study analyzed databases which held information on health, human rights, and economic and social rights for 162 countries for the period 2004 to 2010.  The results suggest that gender equality is not just a women’s issue but a development issue.

More Climate Surprises Expected – THE DIRT – “Climate change together with environmental degradation and social and political instability is the threat multiplier.” It seems like more and more climate-linked surprises/disasters are happening every year. When do we reach a tipping point where everyone realizes that we cannot continue the status quo?

Liver transplants could be redundant with discovery of new liver cell -- ScienceDaily – From Kings’ College London. It would be a big step forward if this finding translates into standard treatment for liver failure.

Viking Woman Warrior May Have Been Slavic | Smart News | Smithsonian – Not all ‘Vikings’ were Nordic men…some were Slavic and some were women! It’s good to understand long ago cultures in more depth…particularly when it causes us to rethink our assumptions.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week: Birding – National Geographic Society Newsroom – Variety and beauty of birds…I always enjoy the ‘25’ collections.

How to keep buildings cool without air conditioning – according to an expert in sustainable design – We are going to need all the technology we know (and some new ones) to keep buildings and homes cool as the planet gets warmer.

America's packaged food supply is ultra-processed: Americans are overexposed to products that are high in calories, saturated fat, sugar and salt -- ScienceDaily – Unhealthy ‘food’ --- most of us have an inkling about this but it doesn’t keep us from indulging. The article mentions the Foodswitch app that allows consumers to scan packaged foods to determine their healthfulness; I loaded the app and scanned things in my pantry. The pasta I buy (whole wheat and green) rates a 5 of 5! Soymilk was 4.5. The canned tamales my husband likes are a 3 (salt and fat).

Thamugadi, a Roman outpost in Algeria, was saved by the Sahara – Buried in sand after it was abandoned around AD 700…and rediscovered in the 1700s but not explored. In the 1870s it was again rediscovered. It was excavated by the French from 1881 to 1960 in its entirety. It became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1982.

100 days, 100 nights: Sensor network reveals telltale patterns in neighborhood air quality: Custom-built sensors deployed for 100 days and nights to track black carbon pollution -- ScienceDaily – A test was done in West Oakland with new technology to monitor air pollution with more specificity over the area and time of day(s) than has been done before now. The technology worked and demonstrated that the finer grain measurements provide deeper understanding of what impacts localized air quality…something we have to understand to make progress in improving city environments.

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 3, 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.

Dive beneath the pyramids of Egypt’s black pharaohs – The challenge of excavating a 2,300-year-old tomb that is submerged in rising groundwater.

Another Fire in Greenland – There have been more reports of fires in the far north this year. Evidently warm dry air causes Arctic circle landscapes (that are not ice and snow) to be very flammable…fires start and burn quite easily.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week: Pigeons and Doves – National Geographic – I was surprised at the diversity of these birds.

Call for green burial corridors alongside roads, railways and country footpaths -- ScienceDaily – I wonder how many other countries have a similar problem. Space for burials is probably already a challenge for almost all large cities.

How the sound in your office effects your mood – Aural architecture….how we listen to buildings, the sound within buildings, and how we react. It isn’t considered very often in the current built environment except for things like concert halls and sound proofing. Maybe in the future it will be. One segment of the article talked about the need for quite and nature sounds in city soundscapes…much better than sirens and traffic noise.

Air pollution speeds up aging of the lungs and increases chronic lung disease risk -- ScienceDaily – A large study…another reason to do everything we can to improve air quality.

Banding Hummingbirds – Banding larger birds has it’s challenges but a hummingbird….I’d never heard someone describe it. Kudos for the people that have the touch to do it well.

Engineers develop chip that converts wasted heat to usable energy -- ScienceDaily – Interesting idea…I wonder how long it will take to get this type of technology into laptops and solar panels?

How a Pokémon-like Card Game Is Changing the Way People Learn About the Environment – What a good idea. I hope more teachers start introducing their students to the Phylo game!

Solar panels cast shade on agriculture in a good way – Research from the University of Arizona…how solar panels could shade plants to help them survive in a hotter environment…and the plants help cool the air under the solar panels as they produce electricity! The plants that might do best are the leafy greens that tend to wilt in the mid-day heat. The leaves grow bigger in the shade too! Production of nutritious food and renewable energy in the same system.

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 27, 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.

Narwhals and belugas can interbreed -- ScienceDaily – It is a unique case….apparently not something that is common at all. It also utilized some relatively recent analytic tools to determine that the hybrid was a first-generation hybrid between a female narwhal and male beluga…and it was a bottom feeder rather than feeding like either of the parents.

Photography in The National Parks: Where Will That Trail Take You? Creating A Theme – For me - themes most often emerge from the experience rather than something I think about specifically in advance.

'Anthropocene Project' Artfully Captures How Humans Change Earth's Landscape: Goats and Soda: NPR – Some photographs from an exhibit currently in Bologna, Italy…depicting obvious, physical incursion on the Earth’s landscape created by humans.

Photographer Explores the Quiet Beauty of Venice at Night – A very different perspective on the city…sinking in its lagoon.

'Bathtub rings' around Titan's lakes might be made of alien crystals -- ScienceDaily – Rings made of solid acetylene and butane – maybe. It’s what happened in the lab. A spacecraft will need to visit Titan to know for sure.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week: July – National Geographic Society Newsroom – Birds!  There are so many different kinds out there.

Cholesterol medication could invite diabetes, study suggests: Patient data shows association between statins and type 2 diabetes -- ScienceDaily – A drug prescribed to reduce risk of heart attack and stroke…doubles the risk of diabetes diagnosis which would require other drugs to treat…for the rest of the person’s life. Not a good prospect.  

The Pomological Watercolors: A Collection of Watercolor Fruit Paintings – Watercolors of fruits and nuts created over 56 years beginning in 1886 by the US Department of Agriculture. They have recently been digitized and are available via the Pomological Watercolor Database. It’s not as easy to browse as a book in Internet Archive, unfortunately.

Ice Cores Preserved 1,500 Years of Industrial Lead Levels - Archaeology Magazine – I was surprised that lead levels in the atmosphere now are 60x higher than in the medieval period and that is an 80% decline since the enactment of the 1970 Clean Air act in the US. How is the lead in the air we breathe impacting our cognition – particularly for children?

Found: An ‘Undisturbed’ Roman Ship Near Cyprus | Smart News | Smithsonian – Lots of amphorae. Cyprus’ location would have made it a link on the trade route that spanned the Mediterranean but studying a wreck like this one could fill in more of the details.

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 May 25, 2019

Eye's vulnerability to macular degeneration revealed -- ScienceDaily – All cells of the macula are not the same. The ones in the central part (Muller cells) are smaller and shaped differently than the cells around the edges…and they are the ones involved in macular degeneration. Knowing more about the central cells may lead to more focused treatment.

Dangerously High Air Pollution Levels Found in Most U.S. National Parks - Yale E360 – Our national parks are places to enjoy natural beauty…be outdoors. Its very sad to know that air pollution is a problem.

Banana disease boosted by climate change -- ScienceDaily – Black Sigatoka – a fungal disease impacting bananas – is not virtually worldwide. It’s surprising that bananas are still such a bargain in our grocery stores.

Ten Tips for Being a Good Partner - On the Job - AGU Blogosphere – Good tips…and I liked the illustrative examples from real projects.

Oldest known trees in eastern North America documented -- ScienceDaily – In North Carolina there is a Bald Cypress that it at least 2,624 years old!

Does insulin resistance cause fibromyalgia? A newly confirmed link with insulin resistance may radically change the way fibromyalgia and related forms of chronic pain are identified and managed -- ScienceDaily – Researchers dramatically reduced pain of fibromyalgia patients with medication that targeted Insulin resistance.

Dogs Sniff Out Invasive Mussels at Chickasaw National Recreation Area – In the early 1970s, my husband and I often visited this area of Oklahoma (also visiting what was then Platt National Park). Kudos to the people trying it keep Zebra Mussels out of the Lake of the Arbuckles!

Soaking up pharmaceuticals and personal care products from water -- ScienceDaily – A new acronym (PPCPs = Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products). These are being detected in water everywhere usually in low concentrations but increasing…so it’s good that research is underway to develop ways to remove them from water.

A New View of Bird Vision – Cool Green Science – The article describes ways bird vision is being studied and provides examples of specific UV sensitivities in turkeys and red-winged black birds.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week: May – National Geographic Society – Last but not least for this week --- enjoy some bird pictures.

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 18, 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.

Beautiful Photos by Manuelo Bececco Captures the Essence of the Forest – Awesome views of the forest…mostly looking upward.

IYPT 2019 Elements 023: Vanadium: Hardened steel and yellow blood | Compound Interest – Vanabins are vanadium-binding proteins that make sea cucumber blood yellow!

Titanium: Sunscreens and space stations | Compound Interest – Lots of makeup and other cosmetics have titanium (for its sunscreen properties) and fighter jets do too!

Marine Viruses Detailed from Pole to Pole | Technology Networks – There are a lot more viruses than previous cataloged in the ocean. The are in roughly 5 groups based on location and depth. The Arctic Ocean has high viral diversity…higher than at the equator.

NASA's Cassini reveals surprises with Titan's lakes -- ScienceDaily – The data from Cassini’s final flyby of Titan in 2017 has revealed that the lakes in its northern hemisphere are more then 300 feet deep and are methane. Lots more science still to come as more analysis of the Cassini data is done.

Could high-flying drones power your home one day? - BBC News – How could this not cause problems with aircraft if it was widespread? Both the drone and the tether could cause problems.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week: Passerines – Always room on the gleanings list for bird photographs!

Four ways to attract birds and butterflies – Native plants, bird bath, brush pile in my yard….3 of 4 is not bad!

Black, Hot Ice May Be Nature’s Most Common Form of Water – Superionic ice – a new kind of ice crystal with the oxygen atoms forming a cubic lattice and the hydrogen atoms flowing like liquid through the rigid cage of oxygens.

We’ll soon know the exact air pollution from every power plant in the world. That’s huge. –It won’t just be regulators and politicians that can see the data…it will be accessible by the public too. It will become a lot clearer to everyone which power plants are negatively impacting air quality.

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 11, 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.

Epic Proportions - Archaeology Magazine – Standard measures of Stonehenge and other Neolithic monuments?

Potassium: Soaps and radioactive bananas | Compound Interest – Potassium regulates blood pressure and transmission of nerve impulses in our bodies!

Colorful Birds  and Terrestrial birds – From the National Geographic Society. Still catching up on the backlog. I enjoy birding – and seeing birds in action…and photographs of birds taken by others. That’s why these photographic collections show up on my gleanings list.

BBC - Future - The princess who transformed war medicine – A little medical history not widely known from the early 1900s.

Ancient secrets of medicinal mint -- ScienceDaily – There are so many members of the mint family. This article is about the DNA sequencing from a plant…learning how to more rapidly tap the therapeutic benefits of that plant and the mint family at large.

Four Out of 10 Americans Breathe Unhealthy Air - Yale E360 – That’s 141 million people…up 7 million since last year….partly due to impacts of climate change on air quality. So – we need to find ways to clean up air better than we do now either by reducing emissions or cleaning them out once they are produced.

Aging gracefully: Study identifies factors for healthy memory at any age -- ScienceDaily – The good news is that some of the factors are things we can control - engaging in more social activities, more novel cognitive activities, losing excess weight, and living with others.

What is a Naturalized Outdoor Learning Environment? -The National Wildlife Federation Blog – Early Childhood Health Outdoors (ECHO) program….daily access to the outdoors for young children. When I was growing up, we were outdoors most days but that is not happening consistently these days. I applaud the initiatives that are honing ways to get children outdoors more.

Your Questions About Food and Climate Change, Answered - The New York Times – A hefty article on the topic…with pull down details.

Medical guidelines may be biased, overly aggressive in US -- ScienceDaily – Thought provoking. How is a patient to know when a doctor recommends a test or procedure that it is truly in the best interest of the patient when the doctor has a financial interest in the recommendation, or the doctor is so specialized that they always think their specialty is the best solution?

Gleanings of the Gleanings of the Week Ending April 27, 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.

Berkeley Soda Tax, 3 Years In: What New Research Shows About Its Effectiveness | Berkeley Wellness - Consumption of sugary drinks has fallen by half in low-income areas of Berkeley, California.

The Real Reason You See Earthworms After Rain – Cool Green Science – There could be multiple reasons. Maybe they are moving to new territory while the surface is wet, and they won’t become dehydrated. Or maybe they want the extra oxygen that is at the surface.

Exploring The Parks: Great Sand Dunes National Park And Preserve – It’s been a long time since I have been to this park…and we didn’t explore it thoroughly when we were there. Maybe time to plan another trip.

Image of the Day: Pretty Jellies | The Scientist Magazine® - Genetic comparisons of jellyfish types

These Cities Are the Most Dangerous for Migrating Birds | Smart News | Smithsonian – Chicago, Dallas, and Houston….an area that Texas would probably prefer to not be at the top. Maybe the “Lights Out” trend with help.

Washington Monument Opening Pushed Back To August Due To Contaminated Soil – I was surprised when I saw this headline because I didn’t even know is was closed! The soil is below the surface and probably from the 1880s.

Allergy Season Is Getting Longer and Nastier Each Year | Smart News | Smithsonian – It’s happened gradually but the length of allergy season and the amount of pollen has been increasing over the past 20 years. There are new treatments for those suffering enough to go to allergists - many allergists are prescribing immunotherapy tablets for people suffering from grass pollen, dust mite or ragweed allergies.

Scientists Say They Have Found a Viable Replacement for Petroleum-Based Plastic - Yale E360 – Plant based material that has the strength and aesthetics…suitable for food packaging. The research described in the article is from Ohio State but there are probably others working on the problem too. If a replacement for petroleum-based plastic can be found it would make it much easier to ‘go green.’

BBC - Future - How air pollution is doing more than killing us and Air Pollution Increases ER Visits — Largest US Study On The Topic Confirms It | CleanTechnica – Lots of public health issues being studied in light of air pollution….and the findings are concerning. The linkage to things like asthma has long been discussed but now there are more details and more negative impacts of air pollution on health being identified.  Emerging studies show that air pollution is linked to impaired judgement, mental health problems, poorer performance in school and most worryingly perhaps, higher levels of crime.

#IYPT2019 – What elements do you need to live? – in C&EN | Compound Interest – An infographic to answer the question.

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 19, 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.

After More Than 4,000 Years, Vibrant Egyptian Tomb Sees the Light of Day: NPR – Hopefully they will take steps to keep the colors vibrant now that the tomb is open to people and light.

The Bizarre and Disturbing Life of Sea Cucumbers – Cool Green Science – Way more complicated than they appear at first glance.

Norway's Energy-Positive Movement to Fight Climate Change - The Atlantic – Norway has some buildings that generate more energy than they use.

Life Deep Underground Is Twice the Volume of the Oceans: Study | The Scientist Magazine® - That’s a massive among of carbon in life that we know very little about….so many unexpected and unusual organisms.

Foods that lower blood pressure | Berkeley Wellness – And the list even includes dark chocolate!

Rising Waters Are Drowning Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor – This article includes time phased projections from 2018 to 2100…lots of track is going to need to be moved – or some other flood mitigation will need to be built.

Google Virtual Tour Preserves Collections Destroyed in Brazil Museum Fire | Smart News | Smithsonian – Some heartening recovery from the tragedy of the fire…Google’s virtual tour work, 1,500 pieces recovered from the debris, and a growing collection of photographs and video clips of the museum the way it was.

Soggy 2018 for the Eastern U.S. – An article from mid-December…showing just how wet we were in 2018. We live between Baltimore and Washington DC….soggy indeed.

New houseplant can clean your home's air -- ScienceDaily – Our houses have become so tightly sealed that concentrations of chemicals that are hard to filter out can accumulate. Maybe ‘engineered’ plants can be a solution.

Periodic graphics: How different light bulbs work – The trend is toward less cost/hour….more hours. Hurray for the LEDs that are not as blue as the compact fluorescents!

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 29, 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.

From High Above, A New Way of Seeing Our Urban Planet - Yale E360 – Cities – growing and growing. It is mind boggling that urban population has grown from 751 million in 1950 to 4,200 million today.

How changing labs revealed a chemical reaction key to cataract formation: Researchers studying eye lens find a new function for a protein previously thought to be inert -- ScienceDaily – Learning more about the chemistry behind cataract formation….not a treatment yet but better understanding can be the path toward slowing or more targeted treatment of cataracts.

Curious Kids: What are some of the challenges to Mars travel? – A series from The Conversation (in Australia) for children…but interesting to adults too. Kids ask the best questions!

A DOZEN WAYS FAMILIES CAN #OPTOUTSIDE EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR | Children & Nature Network – I’m on a role with the child focused gleanings right now…I would add to the list: find easy access natural spaces (near where you work or live) and visit them as often as possible.

VIDEO: We Hope Your Day Is As Great As This Snow-Loving Panda’s: NPR – Pandas are such a visual treat. This is Bei Bei at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo back in November.  My husband and I missed the snow (we were in New Mexico).

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week: Owls – National Geographic Blog – 2018 was my first sighting of barn owls in the wild…awesome.

Ragweed Is on The Move – National Geographic Blog – Not such a big change in the south….in Kansas City the season is prolonged by 23 days. For those people allergic to ragweed…that is a miserable trend.

Some health related posts: Blood pressure: Early treatment advised by US guidelines has no survival benefits -- ScienceDaily and Your heart hates air pollution; portable filters could help -- ScienceDaily – At least the second one was actionable; I now have a portable filter in my bedroom and I think it is reducing my cat allergy – maybe more.

Aerial photos of U.S. national parks from space – I love national parks. Everyone I have been to has had something spectacular to offer. It’s sad that they are all mostly closed (if the bathrooms and visitor centers are not open….they are closed) for this week (partial government shutdown).

How do different light bulbs work? – in C&EN | Compound Interest – Light bulbs have changed a lot during my lifetime. Hopefully now we are on track to have bulbs that are closer to the natural sunlight spectrum so that the light does not cause eye or sleep problems.