Fast Company: E.T. For Real: Cells From Red Rain Can Reproduce, May Be From “Out There”.
”With recent evidence that simple microbes found in beer can live in the radiation-soaked vacuum of space for nearly two years, it now seems plausible that the red cells represent a form of life known as an extremophile. Earth-based extremophile entities, like the beer microbes, can live in seemingly impossible environments for extended periods.” Or, the Vogons are coming. Be prepared for bad poetry.
Gizmodo: After Watching This Video, You Will Like to Be an Astronaut Too.
First thought after watching the first video ... look at that thin, fragile atmosphere. What a miracle it is.
Bloomberg: Coast Guard Reports Blast on Mariner Rig in Gulf.
”A platform owned by Mariner Energy Inc. in the Gulf of Mexico, 80 miles off the Louisiana coast, was struck by an explosion and is still on fire, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.” Hold onto yer butts, here we go again.
New Scientist: Road to cut off Serengeti migration route.
”It could also be a collision zone for humans and animals, leading to casualties on both sides, and there is a risk that transported livestock would spread disease, the society adds.” Why not bridge or tunnel across large swaths, meeting both needs?
New Scientist: Arctic oil and gas drilling ready to take off.
”Nothing much can be done to cope with a spill in the winter beyond tracking the ice, waiting for the oil to surface in the summer melt, then setting it alight. Yet calls for an Arctic-wide moratorium on oil exploration until safety measures are in place have gone unheeded.” Big Oil’s hoping ‘out of sight, out of mind’ will rule the Arctic oil field production.
365/243.
My office buddy, the Western Scrub Jay who seems to enjoy watching me work ... or else I just fascinate him with the tapping noises from my keyboard. Whichever, he’s a joy to see.
Discover Magazine: Dawkins meets giraffe: the full show.
Dissection of a giraffe. Watch it just to see the explanation (and demonstration) of the ligament in its neck.
Science Daily: On organic coffee farm, complex interactions keep pests under control.
“A 10-year study of an organic coffee farm in Mexico suggests that, far from being romanticized hooey, the ‘balance and harmony’ view is on the mark. Ecologists John Vandermeer and Ivette Perfecto of the University of Michigan and Stacy Philpott of the University of Toledo have uncovered a web of intricate interactions that buffers the farm against extreme outbreaks of pests and diseases, making magic bullets unnecessary.”
SF New Mexican: Local news briefs.
Top item explains the fire smell last evening. Lightning-caused fire over in Pecos.
Spiegel.DE: Famous Chestnut: Anne Frank’s Tree Topples in High Wind.
NY Times: Technology Leads More Park Visitors Into Trouble.
”‘Watch Donald get gored,’ she said as her companion hustled toward a grazing one-ton beast for a closer shot with his own camera. Seconds later, as if on cue, the buffalo lowered its head, pawed the ground and charged, injuring, as it turns out, Ms. Hayes.” When I first visited Yellowstone in ‘73, I was watching an elk from a little too close. My sister yelled at me to step back, when an extremely overweight woman suddenly pushed to get by me to take a snap with her little film camera, and almost knocked me into the beast’s feet. The elk (with a towering rack of antlers) spared both of us, but it was damned close to ending badly.
The woman then waddled back to her vehicle (her husband never got out to look at anything), revved the engine, and took off to the next sightseeing spot on their whirlwind tour of the park.
I don’t think the tech is to blame, in other words. Stupidity goes down to the bone.
Washington Post Video: Raging bull injures 40 spectators.
I take it this was Ferdinand’s angry brother [If you don’t know Ferdinand, here].
ars technica: Extinction spreads like a fungus among North America’s bats.
”It’s possible that a pool of Geomyces destructans resistant bats already exists in the North American population, and will become apparent in the form of lower rates of mortality in affected regions. But such a pool had better appear quickly, given the pace of current declines.” I wonder if that’s partially why bugs have been so bad this year, here in the SW.
Sunset.
Keeping my eye out while making dinner (actually, washing dishes afterwards) ... saw the sunset start to ‘spectacularize’ ... ran, grabbed camera ... dashed outside ... grabbed ladder, slapped over the adobe wall ... jumped up, almost tripping on my apron ... took a dozen snaps ... and caught this. I didn’t even break anything (neither plates nor bones). That’s a minor miracle.
Discover Magazine: Scientists Take a Look at an Ancient Sea Blob
Utne: Picture Perfect: Phony wildlife photography warps nature and is rarely revealed.
Using animal ‘models’ is widespread, and often uncredited.
New Scientist: Oil spill dispersant could damage coral populations.
”Laboratory tests suggest that Corexit 9500A, the dispersant used by BP to tackle the largest offshore oil spill in US history, stops coral larvae latching onto the surfaces where they usually mature. The larvae, often the size of a pinhead, float in the sea before latching onto surfaces such as rocks on the sea floor, cliff faces or old oil rigs. It takes hundreds of years for a mature colony to develop.” Not surprising.
SF New Mexican: City weighs risks, benefits of continuing river flows.
”Saving more reservoir water decreases city costs for pumping groundwater from wells and lets municipal water come from surface water, a more renewable resource, explained city hydrologist Claudia Borchert. But letting water flow in the river, she said, is valuable to the community in other ways.” As long as you don’t let the cottonwoods dry out, as you did in years previous.
BBC News: ‘Jaws’ comes to a US beach.
Too bad noone fed him the cast of “Jersey Shore.” They’re giving NJ a bad name, IMHO. [Video link]
ProPublica: Two Million Gallons Later, BP’S Dispersant Exemptions Are Questioned.
”Given that much of the coverage is awash with these stories about how oil on the surface is disappearing and hard to find, it’s probably also worth saying that 1) that’s not true everywhere, and 2) where it is true, it makes sense since BP applied about two million gallons of dispersants to, well, break down oil on the surface and disperse it throughout the water column.” It’s very likely that the dispersants have driven the oil into the depths, with unknown consequences.
BBC News: Giant South Dakota hailstone breaks US record.
Just over two pounds. Think of what that’ll do to your ride ... roof ... head ...
365/211.
We’re surrounded by thunderbumpers tonight. This was just southeast of me, taken from my driveway at 7.1 on bulb, handheld for a minute or so.
NPR: Bear Kills Camper, Injures 2 Near Yellowstone.
1x.com: Silly Walk by andreas612
Doesn’t this immediately make you think of Opus?
Salon: Biden touts stimulus projects in national parks.
”… Replacing the visitors’ boardwalk around the geothermal features of Biscuit Basin.” I was in Yellowstone in ‘05, and the boardwalks in the geyser basins were in dangerous shape then. I believe I called it a ‘national disgrace’ at the time. Glad to hear the Park Service is finally getting some funds to upgarde.
