Gleanings of the Week Ending January 28, 2017

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.

Danish Study Raises More Questions about Mammograms’ Message – Evidently doctors can’t yet tell which tumors really need to be treated and which might be able to just monitor. There is a tendency to think that breast cancer screen is better than actually is….and that leads to a lot of potential unneeded (and traumatic) treatment.

Watch Geologic Machinations in Motion at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park – About a year ago, I visited the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park so I am always looking at items with news from the place. I don’t know that I would be up for an 8-mile hike to see the new viewing area.

An Iceberg Larger than Rhode Island is Poised to Break from Antarctica – When it goes – the Larsen C Ice Shelf will lose more than 10% of its area….and the maps of Antarctica will need revision.

Stunning photos of trains roaring through picturesque landscapes – Eye candy for the week.

Recovery: Saving the Lake Erie Watersnake, a lesson in outreach – Not poisonous but ill-tempered and smelly. Only found in the lake’s western basin on islands…French explorers found them sunning themselves in heaps, knots and snarls. It turns out that people killing the snakes was a bigger factor the reduction of numbers than habitat loss….and thus an education campaign is helping increase their numbers!

The Chemistry of Popcorn -  Probably my favorite snack. We have a special bowl that allows us to pop it in the microwave (no weird chemicals like in the bags of microwave popcorn).

Why America is Growing the Most Sweet Potatoes since WWII – I’ve always liked sweet potatoes….and it seems that more people do these days since it has become a popular crop for former tobacco farmers and over 11% of the crop is exported!

Arctic melt ponds form when meltwater clogs ice pores – In the field (of ice) and an experiment to discover how melt ponds forms on porous ice.

Ten more field guides and references for the serious naturalist – I think I might buy the one about bees.

Obesity is barely covered in medical students’ licensing exam – Not good since nearly 40% of adults and 20% of children and adolescents are obese in the US.