Gleanings of the Week Ending August 29, 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.
Ancient Artisans in Arabia, the Americas Invented Same Technology Independently | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – Stone fluting… and the fluting is not the same so it may have had a different purpose.
Baby boomers show concerning decline in cognitive functioning: Trend reverses progress over several generations, study finds -- ScienceDaily – The impact of modern life in the long term?
Ramesses II Statue Unearthed in Egypt - Archaeology Magazine – Multiple statues have been found…made of black and pink granite.
Top 25 birds of the week: #Waterbirds – Beautiful birds…not as many from North America as I expected.
Stone Sculptures of ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ Characters to Adorn Medieval Church – Replacing weathered carvings. There are 14 limestone carvings that will be displayed at ground level for visitors to see before being installed on the church’s exterior.
On the Delaware, A Promising New Era in Cleanup of an Urban River – Like many urban rivers in the US – a lot of progress has been made since the mid-20th century….but there is still a ways to go. Many of the urban rivers are clean enough in some stretches for recreational use….but often not after storms when sewage systems and extra industrial waste might be in the water along with the storm water.
Are you being served? A short history of waiters and servers in restaurants – Many of us are still in the mode of only getting carry out!
Examining the Chemistry of Yellowstone National Park's Thermal Waters – A little chemistry lesson in this post. Many of the hot springs and geysers are basic…mud pots and steam-driven fumaroles are acidic.
U.S. Commercial Rooftops Hold 145 Gigawatts of Untapped Solar Potential – The big challenge is logistical and financial. It seems that a partnership between commercial properties and community/utility solar would be worthwhile. It would be much better to use commercial rooftops than farmland for solar panels and many of the rooftops are in areas that consume a lot of electricity as well.
Record-Breaking 60,000 Flamingos Flock to Southern France -The picture of an adult flamingo surrounded by babies/juveniles caught my attention. I didn’t know that young flamingos are gray!
Unique Activities for Yesterday:
Flu shot. I got to my grocery store’s pharmacy just after they opened at 8:30 AM – got a flu shot. The store was busier than when I do my grocery shopping staring around 6:30….but it was still mostly possible to social distance…and everyone was wearing masks. I’ll stick with the earlier time for my grocery shopping.
