Gleanings of the Week Ending August 2, 2025

/

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.

Introduction of Agriculture Didn't Immediately Alter Japanese Diets - Agriculture, rice, and millet were introduced to the Japanese islands from the Korean Peninsula around 3,000 years ago. Researchers recently examined plant residues on Final Jomon and Yayoi-period pottery from sites in northern Kyushu. The surprising results indicated that local culinary traditions changed very little after the crops were introduced to the island, as fish and seafood remained the primary foods.

Athens Is Reviving a 2,000-Year-Old Roman Aqueduct to Deliver Water to the City Amid Prolonged Droughts - If the Hadrian’s Aqueduct revitalization proves successful, it could become a model for other major cities experiencing water shortages. There are plans to expand in the other boroughs of Athens that the Hadrian Aqueduct runs through. But also, we have started a collaboration with another five or six cities in Europe that combine cultural heritage with water heritage to make more green, sustainable and livable cities.

Photography In the National Parks: Early Summer at White Sands National Park – Some good tips for photography when there is a lot of ‘white’ around! I remember trying in June of 2013 when I visited the place.

Teen bats are spawning new viruses—here’s why scientists are paying close attention - Juvenile bats frequently host multiple coronaviruses simultaneously—offering a real-time window into how new strains might arise. These findings, while involving non-human-infecting viruses, provide a powerful model to forecast how dangerous variants could eventually spill over into humans, especially as environmental pressures bring bats closer to human habitats.

Lentils Have More Protein Than Hamburger? - or a portion size of 100 grams, dry lentils have 23.6 grams of protein, with only 1.92 grams of fat. In case you are wondering, 100 grams is about 3.5 ounces. The amount of protein in “beef, ground, 80% lean meat” is 17.5 grams for the same portion size as the lentils! I’m going to look at some lentil recipes….add them into our meal plans.

A monumental 3,800-year-old warrior kurgan discovered in Azerbaijan - The burial chamber—2 meters wide, 6 meters long, and 3 meters deep—was divided into three symbolic sections: one for the human remains and weaponry, another for ceramic vessels, and a third intentionally left empty, possibly reflecting ritual beliefs about the soul’s journey in the afterlife.

China Breaks Ground on Colossal Dam Project in Asia’s Grand Canyon - A massive dam project in the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon in Tibet, the longest and deepest canyon in the world. Concerns are being raised about wildlife, electricity it produces being more expensive that comparable solar project, and the Chinese ability to withhold water or flood India in timed of conflict. The article did not discuss if there would be a risk for earthquakes as the weight of the water interacts with the geology of the canyon. Isn’t that area seismically active?

Arizona’s Declining Groundwater - For more than two decades, NASA satellites have peered beneath the surface and measured changes in the groundwater supplies of the Colorado River Basin. Based on these measurements, researchers report rapid and accelerating losses of groundwater in the basin’s underground aquifers between 2002 and 2024. About 68 percent of the losses occurred in the lower part of the basin, which lies mostly in Arizona. Irrigated agriculture consumes about 72 percent of Arizona’s available water supply; cities and industry account for 22 percent and 6 percent.

Mineral v chemical sunscreen: Which one should you be using? - UV exposure can lead to skin cancer, the most common type of cancer in countries including the US and the UK. If it spreads, the deadliest type, melanoma, has only a 35% five-year survival rate. The best sunscreen, experts say, is one you are happy to use!

Meet the Tuatara: New Zealand’s Bizarre Ancient Reptile - While the tuatara is related to snakes and lizards, the two reptilian groups diverged about 250 million years ago. That’s a long time in evolutionary terms. For context, humans are more closely related to kangaroos than tuatara are to lizards.

Luna Moths

/

There was a pause between my taking the last 4 luna moth caterpillars to the Butterfly House  and Luna Moths beginning to emerge. I kept the cocoons that had been constructed in the first wave in the mesh cage so that when they emerged, I would not find them scattered around the ceiling of my office! Once they started, a few moths appeared every day and I still have cocoons (so there will be more). I eventually managed to get a sequence of a newly emerged to ‘ready to go’ moth. The wings are very compact when they first emerge, and not the characteristic creamy jade color. The females have a large abdomen and thinner (not as feathery) antennae. They all seem to climb upward as their wings begin to expand and change color. The long tails are not obvious at first. Most of the time they finish up on the top or upper side of the mesh cage.

 I experimented with photographing them…trying not to disturb them too much. The best pictures are from opening the cage during the day for a short time and reaching inside with my phone!

The first ones to emerge were males. After a day or so, there were both males and females in the cage…and mating occurred. I took a group to the Butterfly House for their display and for collection of the eggs laid on the side of the cage to be used for a program in August (the eggs will be hatching by then).

One morning I released 8 moths into my neighborhood. They were all grouped in the top of the cage when I went out to our front yard where there is a tree with low branches. One flew out of the cage and away. The other 7 I moved to the tree; some of them flew away for the tree right away. One flew from the tree to the grass…then away before I could move it back to the tree. I left 4 (two mating pairs) in the cage. It was just before sunrise, so I hope they found a good place to spend the day (and maybe for the females to lay eggs).

When I got back indoors, I discovered that a luna had emerged in a bin that contained the cocoons produced later in my caterpillar experience. The plastic bin is not a good place to emerge since the plastic is too slick for the moth to climb. I moved the moth to the cage and am moving the rest of the cocoons to the cage too!

Ten Little Celebrations – July 2025

/

July was a great month to be outdoors – even though it was very hot…plenty to celebrate.

Rescuing a large cecropia caterpillar from the trash. One of my morning shifts at the Butterfly House started with quite a surprise….finding a cecropia caterpillar in the trash while I was cleaning up before opening. I celebrated that I happened to look down before I threw in the messy paper towel…and could easily return the caterpillar to the table display.

Luna caterpillars making cocoons. I celebrated when my 40 or so Luna Moth caterpillars started making their cocoons. When they were all large caterpillars, it was challenging to keep them sufficiently supplied with sweet gum leaves.

More and more cocoons…and then I took the last 4 Luna caterpillars to the Butterfly House. I celebrated some quite days with only rustlings from the pupa inside the cocoons.

The first Luna Moths emerging. The first moths started to emerge…3 males in one day! I celebrated that so many of the cocoons seem viable too…so many more of these beautiful moths will be emerging soon.

A late afternoon barbeque picnic and evening mothing. I celebrated with a great meal with fellow Butterfly House docents…and then seeing how lights and sheets in the evening attract moths.

Dayl ilies at the Botanical. I celebrate the profusion of color and form of the day lilies every year about this time.

Finding S. Fred Prince’s The rainbow in the grass; wildflowers of the Marvel Cave Ozark. I was doing my usual look at botanical books for next month and happened upon this beautiful one from the early 1900s about the wildflowers in the Branson MO area….close to where I live!

Seeing cattle egrets. As I drove north from Dallas, I saw a flock of cattle egrets flying over the highway. It must be a good year for producing young.

Lake Springfield Boathouse Garden. My husband and I always enjoy the plantings around the building…and the walk down toward the field of wildflowers. We went early enough in the day that it wasn’t too hot.

Sunflowers at the assisted living home. My sister planted sunflowers in a big pot (and some of the seeds must have spilled because several plants are growing in the soil next to the pot). I celebrated that they are thriving and the memory that my niece brought a sunflower seedling in a cup home from kindergarten, and my mother propagated them along the alley for years. That niece is getting ready to have her second child soon.

Zooming - July 2025

/

The places for this month zoomed images include: my neighborhood/yard, Fantastic Caverns, my dad’s assisted living home, Springfield Botanical Gardens, and Lake Springfield Boathouse. It was a good month to be out and about in the morning…before the heat of the day! The early summer flowers doing well: arugula, cone flowers, day lilies, sunflowers, prickly pear cactus, button bush, and Missouri Evening Primrose. Enjoy the July 2025 slideshow!

Roston Native Butterfly House – July 2025

/

My shifts at the Roston Native Butterfly House were hotter in July – even though all of them were for the 10-12:30 shift. The high points of the month involved caterpillars.

Two that were new-to-me were the caterpillars for the red spotted purple butterfly (on willow) and the Atala butterfly (on cycad).

At the beginning of one of my shifts, I was cleaning the caterpillar frass from the very wet display table and got a big surprise when I flipped the lid on the trash to throw away a messy paper towel and discovered a very large cecropia moth caterpillar on some black cherry leaves that just happened to be in the trash. I quickly scooped the leaves and caterpillar up and put them back with the other cecropia caterpillars…..and the caterpillar began wondering around the table. My assumption is that sometime during the night it wandered off the table and fell into the trash. We eventually put it in the zippered cage so that its walkabout could be somewhat contained! It was probably large enough to be ready to make its cocoon.

I enjoy photographing things in the butterfly house whenever there are few or no visitors there! The cecropia caterpillars in the house toward the end of the month were ones that were raised with my luna caterpillars on sweet gum, and they rejected a shift to black cherry leaves when they got to the butterfly house….so now the sweet gum vase has a mix of luna and cecropia caterpillars.

All or Mothing (2)

/

After we finished eating barbeque, lots of sides, and dessert….we waited for it to get dark so that the bugs (including moths) that are active at night and attracted to light would come to the lights with sheets set up in a nearby field.

I took some pictures as the daylight waned…haybales in the grassy areas surrounded by trees…Bull Creek nearby.

Finally - it was dark enough for small insects to be seen on the sheets.

One that was a bit larger was new to me --- owlfly…a predator of other insects.

I was more interested in moths that anything else. Only one showed up before we left: a sphinx moth that was rather drab…no color even when one of the interns moved it around to expose more wing surface and body!

It was an enjoyable evening, and I hope we do it again next year…and that it won’t be quite so hot. This would be a great place for a walk…even if it was just back along the ruts of the road!

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 26, 2025

/

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.

Greenland Sled Dog DNA Reveals a Story of Human Migration and Ancestry of the Unique Breed - The ancestors of the Inuit arrived in Greenland earlier than previously thought—potentially even before the arrival of the Vikings.

A Bird’s Eye View: Drones Search for Grassland Birds in Colorado - Drones have been used to survey animals from afar for years; this project borrows from those learnings for the novel —and challenging—task of detecting small-bodied, ground-nesting birds (Bobolinks) amid thick, tall grass, without disturbing the species of interest.

Hungary's oldest library is fighting to save 100,000 books from a beetle infestation - Tens of thousands of centuries-old books are being pulled from the shelves of a medieval abbey in Hungary to save them from a beetle infestation that could wipe out centuries of history. I wondered how many of the books have been scanned.

'Wobbly-tooth puberty': How children's brains change at six-years-old – A stage in which a child is constructing their identity, and they're trying to figure out who they are in relation to other people. The transformation includes a greater capacity to reflect on their feelings and modify them when needed, along with an "advanced theory of mind" that allows them to think more sophisticatedly about others' behaviors and respond appropriately. They also begin master the basics of rational enquiry and logical deduction, so that they can take more responsibility for their actions

How a hidden brain circuit fuels fibromyalgia, migraines, and PTSD - Scientists at the Salk Institute have discovered a hidden brain circuit that gives pain its emotional punch—essentially transforming ordinary discomfort into lasting misery. This breakthrough sheds light on why some people suffer more intensely than others from conditions like fibromyalgia, migraines, and PTSD. By identifying the exact group of neurons that link physical pain to emotional suffering, the researchers may have found a new target for treating chronic pain—without relying on addictive medications.

Greenland’s Bejeweled Ice Sheet - In spring 2025, jewel-toned points of blue began to appear on the white surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet. As summer arrived, they grew larger and more numerous, taking on unique shapes and occasionally forming connections. The colorful seasonal phenomenon is due to meltwater from snow and ice, which pools atop the ice sheet in places each melt season. An image from the Operational Land Imager-2 on NASA’s Landsat9.

Easter Island Was Far Less Isolated Than Previously Believed, Study Reveals - Earlier genetic studies in the 2010s laid the ground for the most recent investigation, showing that Easter Island was reached at least two times by the 14th century. Further influence arrived from pre-European South Americans, an interaction evidenced by the presence of sweet potatoes and the Birdman concept. This post is about the idea that after language, plants, animals, and material culture arrived on Easter Island from the west, monumental ritual architecture began traveling in the opposite direction.

In a First, Solar Was Europe’s Biggest Source of Power Last Month - Solar was the largest source of electricity in the EU in June, supplying a record 22 percent of the bloc’s power. Solar amounted to more than 40 percent of generation in the Netherlands and 35 percent in Greece. Analysts say that the June surge in solar power helped Europe weather a brutal heat wave, which saw temperatures soar upwards of 110 degrees F (43 degrees C). Last month was the warmest June on record in Europe, and scientists say that climate change played a key role in the heat wave, pushing temperatures to dangerous extremes.

Inequality has risen from 1970 to Trump − that has 3 hidden costs that undermine democracy – A thought provoking post. The author described 3 ways that the increase in inequality undermines democracy: 1. Fraying social bonds and livelihoods, 2. Increasing corruption in politics, 3. Undermining belief in the common good.

Honeybees remove 80% of pollen—leaving native bees with nothing - Our modern agricultural industry is so reliant on honeybees that humans have introduced them worldwide, and in many cases, they have escaped human management and risen to prominence in natural ecosystems as non-native, feral populations. And, like any other non-native organism, feral honeybees may perturb native ecosystems when they become sufficiently abundant.

Luna Moth Cocoons

/

Some of my 30 or so luna moth cocoons are over 2 weeks old now. So far – no moths have emerged, but the pupas are making noises as they move around inside the cocoon! I made a short recording of the small noises that reassure me that they are indeed viable and developing.

The cocoons are optimally silk produced by the caterpillar and sweet gum leaves, but sometimes other things get incorporated – twigs and bits of paper towel (which was on the floor of the bin) are the most common additions. At the time these caterpillars made their cocoons, the bins were very crowded and sometimes two cocoons are side by side…too close to separate without risking damage to the cocoons. It will be interesting to see what happens as all of these emerge.

Sometimes the caterpillars don’t use silk and leaves; they are ‘bare.’ I have three that are like that. They are easy to see moving so seem to be acting like the ones that do have the outer covering. Will they emerge and be healthy? In the wild, it seems like they would be vulnerable to be eaten although if they fell to the ground, they might look enough like poop that they would be left alone.

I have so many cocoons that I will have plenty of opportunity to observe moths emerging….so looking forward to that experience.

Road Trip to Dallas in July 2025

/

It was a very summery road trip to Dallas this month. The days started out warm and got very hot. I noticed that the temperature came down a few degrees after I exited from US75 in Dallas and drove into the neighborhood (went from 96 to 94). The 4 lanes of concrete in each direction….a wide concrete ribbon…created their own heat island. I was glad I could park in a shady place at the assisted living home and that I had packed my cosmetics in the ice chest along with the snacks!

I watered the plants in the small garden that my sisters have kept going for my dad. He was too worn out from a round of physical therapy to go out with me in the afternoon (and maybe that was for the best since it was so hot), but he did the next morning when it was only in the low 80s. I took some pictures of the sunflowers after I watered and he enjoyed being outdoors while his breakfast was prepared. He was less talkative than usual and didn’t seem to be able to hear or see the planes that taking off from Addison airport.

The Texas sage was blooming but it was not as showy as I remembered; it appeared that the plants in the median on Preston Road in Plano had been neatly trimmed at exactly the wrong time!

On the plus side, I saw a flock of cattle egrets as I drove north….just before I got to the Oklahoma border. They were so showy I noticed them even with the challenges of navigating through a lot of road construction. I’m thinking about making a trek to Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge on my next road trip…maybe see even more of the young egrets there.

Springfield Botanical Gardens – July 2025

/

We visited the Springfield Botanical Gardens in mid-June….on a cloudy morning. There was a breeze to help make the warm, humid air more comfortable. My husband was keen to photograph insects in flight. It was probably warm enough, but the insects were not as active because of the thick clouds and everything being so wet.

The Botanical Center was our first stop. Then we walked by the rain garden (indigo with pods and golden rod) and down the sidewalk past the Butterfly House and surrounding garden.

The daylilies were blooming profusely and were the main draw for my visit. I started out doing some macro shots with my phone (iPhone 15 Pro Max)

But changed to zoomed images with my small point and shoot (Canon Powershot SX730 HS). Both cameras captured the water droplets on the flowers.

As we started back toward the car I saw something off the paved walk landing in the grass. It stayed put as I carefully walked over….and got a picture. It was the only large butterfly I saw all morning (other than in the Butterfly House).

Before we left for home, I got a small branch of sweet gum leaves for my luna and cecropia moths.

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 19, 2025

/

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.

Doctors say we’ve been misled about weight and health - Doctors' advice about healthy eating and physical activity is still relevant as it may result in better health. The main goal is to offer good care irrespective of weight, which means not caring less but rather discussing benefits, harms, and what is important to the patient.

Let’s Consider a Couple of Workable Solutions to the Plastic Crisis – The first is to reduce the reliance on plastic shopping bags. Research shows that plastic bags were much less frequently found in beach litter where communities had implemented plastic bag policies. The second is green roofs in cities. Green roofs were shown to be more than capable of intercepting microplastics — at the rate of 97.5% efficiency for trapping microplastics from atmospheric deposition…..and roof areas make up 40-50% of urban impermeable areas.

Melting Glaciers Will Lead to More Volcanic Eruptions – New research from the Chilean Patagonia. Glaciers tend to suppress the volume of eruptions from the volcanoes beneath them. But as glaciers retreat due to climate change, the findings suggest these volcanoes go on to erupt more frequently and more explosively. According to a 2020 study, 245 of the world’s active volcanoes are within three miles of ice. 

A Partnership for a Healthier Appalachian Forest - The story of the southern Appalachians – and many forests across the United States – is one of widespread logging between the early 1900s and 1940s. That was followed by the “Smokey Bear era” of fire suppression. Now active management is the strategy including thinning, herbicide application and controlled burns.

The Vienna cemetery where endangered species and biodiversity thrive – 2.4 sq km (0.9 sq miles). The cemetery is home to European hamsters, Europea green toad, Alpine longhorn beetle, European ground squirrel, and Eurasian hoopee….and many other species.

Photos: Before-and-after satellite images show extent of Texas flooding destruction – It’s hard to fathom the scope of the destruction...and how fast the water rose in the darkness.

Florida Seniors Face Rising Homelessness Risk - Florida seniors make up a growing portion of the state’s unhoused population as the housing crisis continues. Cost of housing is increasing with institutional investors buying up land and insurance costs skyrocketing.

Researchers Unearth 3,500-Year Old Peruvian City with an Illustrious History - Probably a market hub, and that once connected Pacific coast communities with those in the Andes and Amazon thriving around the same time as early Middle Eastern and Asian civilizations. The urban center is known as Peñico and was founded between 1,800 and 1,500 B.C., experts said. It is near the location where the Caral civilization, said to be the oldest in the Americas first appeared 5,000 years ago. Following eight years of research, the experts classified as many as 18 structures including ceremonial temples and residential housing complexes. Sculptural reliefs and works showing the pututu, a conch shell trumpet can also be seen on some of the walls. Researchers also found clay sculptures of human and animal figures, as well as necklaces created with beads and seashells.

Emily Sargent’s Long-Hidden Watercolors Debut at the Met – John Singer Sargent’s younger sister watercolor paintings. They were lost for decades, until some of her relatives found a forgotten trunk in storage containing hundreds of her paintings.

Blast From the Past: Arizona’s Meteor Crater - Meteor Crater (also called Barringer Meteor Crater) is located between Flagstaff and Winslow on the Colorado Plateau as seen by the Operation Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8. I’ve seen it from the ground!

Adventures in Caterpillar Care (5)

/

Continuing my caterpillar care experience…

I never underestimated the amount of sweet gum leaves for the luna caterpillars again…but it got easier as the week progressed because more of the caterpillars were making cocoons so not as many leaves were required. The bin is very messy when a lot of caterpillars are beginning to make their cocoons since they expel waste and water before they begin the process. The paper towels in the bottom of the bin made clean up easier but it had to be done at least once a day. The cecropia caterpillars were finally all past instar 1.

Some of the luna cocoons were attached to the racks I had used to support the leaves, so they are in my first group of cocoons – inside a mesh cage that will contain the luna moths when they emerge.

By the end of the week the luna cocoon production was waning. I purchased 2 more mesh cages and gave 5 cocoons to my daughter with one of them. The other cage and 3 cocoons went to the family that owns the sweet gum tree that provided a lot of the food for the caterpillars.

Finally – I had 4 remaining luna moth caterpillars (all instar 5) and 3 cecropia caterpillars (1 instar 2 and 2 instar 3). It took them to the Butterfly House to use on the caterpillar display table.

I have the mesh cage and 3 bins (each with cocoons that were made at roughly the same time). There are about 35 cocoons. Most of the caterpillars I had at the beginning made it to the cocoon stage – very different than would happen in the wild with birds and other predators around. The moths should emerge in 2-3 weeks…lots of luna moths. I will take some of them to the Butterfly House and release others near sweet gum trees…hoping to feed a few young birds and maybe establish a luna moth population too.

The luna cocoons emit sounds periodically…giving me confidence that the pupa inside is viable and developing. I am looking forward to the opportunity to see so many of them emerge! 

Previous Adventures in Caterpillar Care posts

Lake Springfield Boathouse – July 2025

/

The garden around the Lake Springfield Boathouse is maintained by Springfield Plateau Chapter of the Missouri Master Naturalists. I’m not part of that team but I do enjoy their results. My husband was looking for a place to practice a technique for photographing bees and the first place I looked was a good starting location for him: the buttonbush near the front door of the building! I took a few pictures before he even got his gear unloaded!

While he tried out his new technique, I photographed the other plantings. The second place I hoped to find insects/bees was the cup plant, but it wasn’t blooming yet. It did have buds…so should be a great place to check later in the season.

We headed past the purple martin houses (which were very busy) to the meadow area. The milkweed was blooming but the flowers looked less colorful than I expected, and they were not attracting large number of insects either. The bee balm was more attractive to bees than the milkweed. There was a spiderweb that looked a little like a hammock in some dried stems from last season; it was highlighted by the heavy dew. I took some backlit images of 2 plants that were not blooming but had interesting shapes.

One of the pictures I took of an insect on a milkweed leaf had a surprise when I looked at it on my big monitor at home: a tiny egg (maybe a Monarch egg)!

Across the walking trail there are brambles and trees. The locust was full of still-green pods and vetch was blooming in the undergrowth.

It was a productive morning activity. My husband thought maybe it was not warm enough for peak insect sightings; he might have been right but, with the humidity, it was the best time for us to be there!

Yard Work – June 2025

/

It’s the time of year when there is a lot to do in the yard. There is always something to see along the way….like an insect on one of lawn mower knobs. I am appreciating the new blades my husband installed on the mower.  It does not clog as easily when the grass is a little wet and the batteries seem to last longer too.

With my husband’s surgery in May, we got a little behind on edging and weed eating. When he was recovered enough to do the edging, he went out to check the situation and someone in the neighborhood had already done it! They also did some weed eating which was not as appreciated since they cut some daylilies and my Missouri evening primrose too. There was a smashed bird nest/egg nearby as well (although that could have been from another cause). I put some bricks around the cut primrose and later pulled most of the grass growing around it. I posted a thank you with a proviso about the evening primrose and day lilies on the neighborhood’s Facebook page since I have no idea who did it.

We have hackberries coming up everywhere….planted by birds. There is a large hackberry near the neighborhood pond – probably the parent. I am cutting them at this point but might leave one if it comes up in a place that it could grow to be a tree. Poke weed and Virginia Creeper are other natives that are prolific in the yard…..sometimes a little overwhelming and I usually leave them – particularly in the back yard. Poison ivy is something I always try to pull as soon as I find.


A hedge parsley came up in one of my flower beds…and it was pulled since it is not native to North America and tends to spread. I do the same with tree and Asian honeysuckle. A forsythia (also non-native) has been an ongoing project in my back yard. I am gradually cutting it down and will eventually paint the cut stubs with herbicide to kill it. I would rather have a native bush there. In the meantime, the results of my pruning are making a higher pile on my deck….drying out now and will be burned in the fall in my chimenea.

I planted a pot of flowers and veggies and a white oak seedling in late May. The zinnias are beginning to bloom! I won’t do it long term since it must be watered frequently….not something I want to do! I’ll have to decide where to put the white oak.

Other than my mower - my pruners, water bottle and gauntlet gloves are my primary tools. I’ve purchased some summer weight sunblock shirts and wear a hat, so I don’t need sunscreen except on my face!

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 12, 2025

/

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 Has U.S. Energy Use Changed Since 1776? – Historical perspective. Coal, petroleum and natural gas did not surpass renewables (i.e. wood) until 1885!

Is this the end for Easter Island's moai statues? – The moai are made from tuff, a volcanic rock largely composed of compressed ash. This type of stone is porous and unusually soft. The wind and rain do not treat it kindly. Weathering of the moai appears to have increased sharply during recent decades; drier weather followed by very heavy rains, more wildfires, rising sea level  and increased wave event have all contributed.

20 Incredible Nominees for the BigPicture Natural World People’s Choice Award – Some great photography.

In Yellowstone, Even Animals Sometimes Make Mistakes – A bison stumbled into Grand Prismatic Spring…and there was no happy ending.

London Inches Closer to Running Transit System Entirely on Renewable Power - London will source enough solar power to run its light railway and tram networks entirely on renewable energy. The deal brings Transport for London closer to its goal of running its entire transit system, including its sprawling underground railway network, on renewable energy by the end of this decade.

Time For Canada to Dump the Big Three & Go Electric with China – Something valid for Canada to consider…certainly more forward looking than subsidizing old technologies.

The end of tuberculosis that wasn’t - In the late 1980s, many thought the fight against tuberculosis (TB) had been won. A disease that had plagued humans for at least 9000 years was on the path to being eliminated. Three factors raised concerns about the resurgence of tuberculosis in the United States and rich countries in Europe in from mid-1980s and 1990s: HIV/AIDS epidemic, the rise in drug-resistant tuberculosis, and higher rates of TB in foreign-born populations.

The US’s asbestos U-turn: why the Environmental Protection Agency is reconsidering its ban - Each year, around 40,000 deaths in the US and about 5,000 in the UK are attributed to asbestos exposure. If the US ban is lifted, it’s possible that the number in the US could increase over the coming decades while those in the UK will continue to fall. While global consensus moves toward stricter regulation, the US now finds itself at a crossroads, between scientific evidence and pressure from industry.

Inside Egypt’s Enigmatic $1 Billion Grand Museum - During a press conference on June 14, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said the official opening was postponed due to “current regional developments”—loosely referring to the then-escalating conflict between Israel and Iran.

These Colorful Satellite Views Reveal Our Forests in Unprecedented Detail and Showcase the Potential of the New Biomass Mission - The European Space Agency’s satellite will measure trunks, branches and stems in forests to shed light on how much carbon is stored in trees across various continents. The example image of the Beni River in Bolivia shows a lot of oxbow lakes!

Adventures in Caterpillar Care (4)

/

July 2 – July 9 with a lot of bigger and bigger luna moth caterpillars and a few cecropia moth caterpillars… an ongoing adventure.

I graduated to two large bins for the 40 or so luna moth caterpillars on 7/2 because the caterpillars seemed too crowded in one.

I moved the cecropia moth caterpillars to are larger bin too. They were still small but were beginning to look colorful…growing well on the sweet gum leaves.

I appreciated my neighbor with the sweet gum tree even more as the caterpillars got bigger. I made almost daily trips to get a bag of leaves! Pretty soon I graduated from my long-handled pruners to a pole saw because all the leaves were higher in the tree. The cecropias were eating well (I could find them more easily once they were in their own bin) and were still small enough to keep up with their food requirements.

One morning I thought I heard noises coming from one of the big luna bins. I made a movie to capture the sound of caterpillars eating (not loud….but I was pleased to capture the sound of caterpillars munching)!

The same day that I heard munching, I started to see some cocoons and noticing how big many of luna moth caterpillars had become.

The next morning I saw one that had changed color…as they sometimes do before building their cocoon.

I thought I left plenty of leaves in the bins for overnight….but when I came downstairs the next morning there was not a leaf left in either bin. It was a caterpillar emergency. I texted my neighbor and cleaned out the bins (put cocoons in a separate bin) and then went to get leaves. Fortunately, most caterpillars survived.

As I was cleaning out the bins, I found another caterpillar that had changed colors and put it in a small bin with violet leaves, and it immediately made a cocoon!

After the caterpillar emergency was dealt with, I had a shift in the Butterfly House. I took two larger caterpillars for the caterpillar display table and 4 cocoons for the display case. The cocoons contrasted nicely with the older cocoons already in the case because the leaf part was still green!

I got a collapsible case to put my other cocoons in so I can watch them emerge….and hopefully share the experience with the family that provided the leaves for the caterpillars.

The cecropia caterpillars will probably go to the Butterfly House at some point and maybe some of the luna moths when they emerge.

It’s been an exciting week…probably the peak sweet gum consumption of this adventure.

Previous Adventures in Caterpillar Care posts

Roston Native Butterfly House – June 2025

/

Of course there are butterflies in the Roston Native Butterfly House…

But this post is focused more on caterpillars. The cecropia moth

Has very large caterpillars which are the stars of the caterpillar table!

The luna moths (male with feathery antennae and the female with more thread like antennae)

Also have large caterpillars but they are not quite as large or colorful.

The tiger swallowtail caterpillars have fake eye spots. They are often on the tulip poplar tree in the butterfly house…at eye level with many adult visitors. We sometimes move a caterpillar on the table so that the children can see it more easily.

Learning about caterpillars – and their importance in the environment as food for other creatures (particularly young birds) - is part of the butterfly house experience.

Remains of a Bird

/

I found the remains of a bird on our patio. It must have been there for a while – through several recent rains. It has been picked clean except for the more substantial wing feathers. It is about the size of a barn swallow; they nested under our deck again this year. The cause of death is not obvious, and I was relieved that it was unlikely caused by the bird flying into the glass of a window since there is not one nearby.

 My first thought was about how fossils of archeopteryx look because of how flattened it is except for the skull. I didn’t try to move it because it is out of the way and appeared to be glued to the pavement. The most nutritious part of the bird is already gone and I will let nature complete the process.

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 5, 2025

/

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.

See the Face of a 10,500-Year-Old Woman, Reconstructed by Archaeologists and Artists – Based on well-preserved ancient DNA.

Rare, Mind-Bending M.C. Escher Works Are Up for Auction - Escher was a skilled artist who seamlessly bridged the worlds of art, mathematics, and science in the mid-20th century. Today, his influence remains as important as ever, with a fascinating body of work that continues to mesmerize and inspire minds across the world.

As Wind and Solar Grow, China Ships More Coal Overseas - Analysts say the era of “more renewables, more coal” in China is over, with solar and wind now set to displace coal, rather than supplement it. Even under conservative assumptions coal generation in China could soon peak and enter structural decline.

Work, wages and apprenticeships: sifting for clues about the lives of girls in ancient Egypt - Elephantine, a town at Egypt’s southern frontier near modern-day Aswan, provides a unique window into the urban life of some girls who worked in textile workshops during the ancient Egyptian Middle Kingdom, which dates approximately 2030–1650 BCE. Girls received payment for their labor. It also suggests a structured apprenticeship system where young girls (and boys) worked alongside experienced craftswomen. Historians must always look beyond elite contexts to incorporate diverse evidence types – administrative documents, archaeological remains, and artistic representations – to construct a more complete picture of ancient lives.

Earth’s Clouds on the Move - Clouds are common on Earth, but they are ephemeral and challenging to study. Remote sensing has helped scientists tremendously by enabling consistent, global tracking of the elusive features, even over inaccessible areas like the poles and open ocean. Two published studies: 1) Where storm clouds form has changed. The implications for the climate are significant: This has added a large amount of warming to the system. 2) The shift in storm clouds increased the amount of energy absorbed by the oceans by about 0.37 watts per square meter per decade—a substantial amount on a planetary scale. Big question: What has caused the reduction in reflective storm clouds and whether the trend will continue.

Sinkhole Exposes Remnants of Medieval English Hospital - Walls hidden just beneath the city streets that once belonged to the twelfth- or thirteenth-century St. Leonard’s Hospital. The institution was built just after the Norman conquest and replaced the earlier St. Peter’s Hospital, which was founded by the Anglo-Saxon King Aethelstan. It was a place for caring for the unwell, elderly, and the condemned, but also served as an orphanage, helped feed the poor, and provided meals for the prisoners in York Castle. The hospital was destroyed during the Reformation under the reign of Henry VIII.

Lightning Strikes the Arctic: What Will It Mean for the Far North - A warmer world is expected to bring more thunderstorms, especially at higher latitudes. Scientists are now reporting a dramatic surge in lightning in the Far North and are scrambling to parse how this could affect wildfires, the chemistry of the atmosphere, and Arctic ecosystems.

Scavenger Animals Are in Trouble, and That Could Spell Bad News for Human Health - Scavengers are in trouble—and their decline could be harmful to human health. Half of the 17 obligate scavenger species included in the study are considered “vulnerable” or “critically endangered” by the IUCN. When they are reduced in numbers or disappear, some smaller, occasional scavengers are proliferating. These creatures, such as rodents and feral dogs, tend to transmit diseases to humans.

How do sleep trackers work, and are they worth it? A sleep scientist breaks it down - Most modern sleep trackers do a decent job of estimating your total sleep each night. Some are more accurate for sleep staging, but this level of detail isn’t essential for improving the basics of your sleep. Focus on improving your healthy sleep strategies and pay attention to how you feel during the day.

Is an apple a day really good for your health? - Eating an apple a day is great– but only if that is part of a diet rich in various other plant-based foods, since that is a key driver of good health.

Adventures in Caterpillar Care (3)

/

This post is about my adventures in caterpillar care from June 25 to July 1.

The cecropia moth caterpillars (4 of them) were moved to their own bin. They are slower developing than the luna moth caterpillars and started out still having lots of block bristles but had progressed to more colorful instars a few days later. They are still quite small.

My daughter sent me a picture of a ‘wild’ cecropia moth caterpillar on elderberry. Mine are eating sweet gum.  

There are 40+ luna moth caterpillars. They are bigger and go through sweet gum leaves faster. I replenish leaves twice a day in the big bin.

The big bin with a cooling rack to support the leaves works well. I take out the denuded twigs and put in new – using the rack to support the leaves well above the frass level. With 40 caterpillars – a lot of frass accumulates in just 24 hours!

To refresh the bin, I put a layer of paper towel in the bottom of a fresh bin, then move the cooling rack from the old bin to the new. There are always 3 or 4 caterpillars among the frass; if they will crawl onto a leaf, I use that to move them but otherwise, I cut the paper towel around the caterpillar and move it on the paper towel.

With the caterpillars eating so much more, I got some leaves from another sweet gum and also went to the Botanical Garden after a storm and found a branch that had be ripped off a sweet gum….lots of caterpillar food! I am saving the neighborhood tree for when I need a quick food source for the caterpillars. Sweet gum has the advantage of staying fresh for days in a closed bin….although it doesn’t last that long if there are 40 caterpillars in the bin!