Gleanings of the Week Ending October 29, 2016

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.

The world’s knowledge is being buried in a salt mine – The Memory of Mankind project is creating a modern version of Sumerian tablets discovered in the desert. The storage area is one of the oldest salt mines in the world – in the Austrian mountains.’ Ceramic microfilm’ Is being created to hold the information in a way that can withstand acid and alkali environments…and solar storm.

The Bug’s Camouflage is Very Impressive – A Lichen Katydid. In our area, the pray mantises are almost as good at blending into their environment!

Can wild seeds save us from food apocalypse? – A little history…a little status report…how and why seed banks are needed.

‘Shadow method’ reveals locomotion of secrets of water striders – We often point out water striders to our elementary school hiking groups. They are always intrigued by the insect that can ‘walk on water.’

In new ozone alert, a warning of harm to plants and to people – Snap beans, milkweed, coneflowers, and other plants turn brown and sickly when ozone occurs at ground level – becoming bio-indicators for this pollutant. While pollution controls have brought down the peak ozone levels, the background levels have been increasing.

Photo of the Week – October 14, 2016 – Fall photos from The Prairie Ecologist.

The amazing cloud cities we could build on Venus – With ‘going to Mars’ being so much in the news recently, it was interesting to read about why Venus might have some advantages over Mars for colonialization.

New satellite image database maps the dynamics of human presence on Earth – Data to support the first release of the ‘Atlas of the Human Planet’ – increasing our understanding of urban areas, population density, and the amount of vegetation in urban areas….and more.

Why do octopuses remind us so much of ourselves? – From National Geographic – so great pictures and article. An octopus has about as many neurons as a cat but two-thirds of them are in their arms!

Pediatricians update digital media recommendation for kids – Hopefully pediatricians bring up this topic with parents. The recommendations seem like common sense to me but maybe they are not intuitive to everyone.

Gleanings of the Week Ending June 4, 2016

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.

Exposure to chemicals in plastic and fungicides may irreversibly weaken children’s teeth – Another reason to pay close attention to Bisphenol A (BPA) and Vinclozolin in diets of children. Based on this study – this is not something that fluoride treatments or supplements would overcome.

Identifying Wildflowers: part one, part two, part three, part four – From Elizabeth’s Wildflower Blog. This series include a lot of practical advice for identifying wildflowers in the field (and confirming after you get home). I’ve been following Elizabeth’s blog since I was in Master Naturalist class with her --- learning about wildflowers.

Language of Women versus men – An analysis of language in Facebook messages shows that women use language that is warmer and more agreeable than men. The graphic associated with the study is worth a look.

Mysterious Cave Rings show Neanderthals liked to build – And more than 1,000 feet into the cave where it would have been very dark.

Kazakhstan’s treasure trove of wildly-flavored apples – Forests where apple trees are the predominant species!

Tidal Troubles in the Mid-Atlantic – A place where the sea level is rising at a much faster rate than almost anywhere in the US (except parts of Louisiana and South Florida)…and an explanation that goes back to the last ice age which left the area with a ‘fore-bulge’ – so the land is sinking from that then the ocean is rising too! The net is a predicted sea level rise of 3 feet around much of the Mid-Atlantic by 2100.

Three perfectly blue days at Crater Lake National Park – I haven’t been to this national park – yet. This is an article to look at again when I finally get around to planning the trip.

Swarms of Octopus are taking over the oceans – Cephalopods as ‘weeds of the sea’!

The Cactus Smuggler: Are Desert Plants Being Loved to Extinction? – Not a good trend and very difficult to change.

Low-salt diets may not be beneficial after all – Evidently the prior recommendation for low-salt diets was not based on data – the old recommendation was ‘popular thought’ rather than based on objective evidence! High-salt is still bad….but average (between 3 and 4 grams per day) is best!