Gleanings of the Week Ending June 7, 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.

Warming Linked to Rising Cancer Rates Among Women in the Middle East - As temperatures in the region rose, so did cancer rates in Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Syria, which are prone to extremely hot summers. Increasingly extreme heat is making air pollution worse, weakening our immune systems, and putting additional strain on hospitals. These and other factors could be driving up the risk of cancer.

90-Year-Old Korean Artist Kim Yun Shin Is Finally Going Global – Creative longevity!

Archaeologists Unearth Two Rare African Figurines in 1,500-Year-Old Christian Burials in Israel - The artifacts are carved from rare ebony wood that originated in India or Sri Lanka. Each figurine features a small hole through which a cord might have been threaded, allowing the owner to wear it around their neck.

When Sears Pioneered Modular Housing - In an early iteration of modular housing, kit homes were sold by companies like Sears and Montgomery Ward in the early and mid-20 century - complete with “all the materials that a kit home purchaser needed to build the home, including at least 10,000 pieces of precut lumber to suit the model of the home, drywall, asphalt roof shingles, carved staircases, and the nails, door knobs, drawer pulls, paint and varnish needed to do the job. Electrical, heating systems, and plumbing materials could also be purchased at extra cost.”

Scientific breakthrough brings CO2 'breathing' batteries closer to reality - Scientists have made a breakthrough in eco-friendly batteries that not only store more energy but could also help tackle greenhouse gas emissions. Lithium-CO2 'breathing' batteries release power while capturing carbon dioxide, offering a greener alternative that may one day outperform today's lithium-ion batteries.

Fitness fight: Native bees struggle against invasive honey bee - High densities of European honey bees could be harming Australian native bees' 'fitness' by reducing their reproductive success and altering key traits linked to survival. Has this happened in North America as well?

Ancient pollen reveals stories about Earth’s history, from the asteroid strike that killed the dinosaurs to the Mayan collapse – Missouri rocks: When an asteroid struck Earth some 66 million years ago, the one blamed for wiping out the dinosaurs, it is believed to have sent a tidal wave crashing onto North America. Marine fossils and rock fragments found in southeastern Missouri appear to have been deposited there by a massive wave generated by the asteroid hitting what is now Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Among the rocks and marine fossils, scientists have found fossilized pollen from the Late Cretaceous and Early Paleocene periods that reflects changes in the surrounding ecosystems. The pollen reveals how ecosystems were instantly disrupted at the time of the asteroid, before gradually rebounding over hundreds to thousands of years.

A New, Shape-Shifting ‘Flapjack’ Octopus Has Been Discovered in the Deep Sea Off the Coast of Australia - The tiny cephalopod grows only about 1.6 inches across, but it can survive more than half a mile beneath the ocean’s surface. During the 2022 expedition, the team used high-tech cameras, nets and sleds to collect samples and snap photographs deep below the ocean’s surface. Many of the specimens they found are thought to be new species.

Fast food, fast impact: How fatty meals rapidly weaken our gut defenses - Researchers discovered the gut protective protein, IL-22, was rapidly depleted in mice after just two days of eating high-fat foods.

Where To Go Caving in the National Park System – Mammoth Cave, Carlsbad Caverns, Wind Cave, Crystal Cave in Sequoia, Jewel Cave, Lehman Caves in Great Basin. I have been to all of them except Crystal Cave and Lehman Caves. Mammoth Cave would be the closest for me to see again.

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 03, 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.

Foraging Violets – I have a lot of violets growing in my yard…and I am going to start harvesting them for salads. Why buy fresh greens when there is such a plentiful supply that I can pick just before I eat them?

The Unexpected Science of Staying Happy – An article about the World Happiness Report. The U.S., Canada, and Switzerland—all once top 10 contenders—have dropped out of the top 20 for the first time since the report began. That decline is linked to a drop in social trust and a rise in what researchers call “deaths of despair,” especially among men over 60​.

The 120-Year-Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees – A different perspective on history….more substantial than tents.

Exquisite Street Photography Celebrates the Different Moods of New York City at Night – More umbrellas than I expected.

Emily Cole, Daughter of Hudson River School Icon, Shines in Overdue Museum Show – She became a porcelain painter (botanicals) and painted in her father’s studio…. exhibiting her work a what is now the Thomas Cole National Historic Site.

Relics of a Red World in Bighorn Basin – Satellite image of “red beds” in northern Wyoming and Southern Montana formed when the land was part of Pangea and there were extreme wet/dry seasons causing hematite in the rocks to oxidize (rust). The area is rich in fossils and oil/gas reserves.

Tree Rings Bear Witness to Illegal Gold Mining Operations in the Amazon, New Study Finds – The miners use liquid mercury which is then burned to obtain the gold….releasing toxic mercury into the air. Core samples from trunks of fig trees show the mercury levels…when they ramped up and how substantial they were/are.

Smoke from US wildfires, prescribed burns caused premature deaths, billions in health damages - Researchers estimated that smoke from wildfires and prescribed burns caused $200 billion in health damages in 2017, and that these were associated with 20,000 premature deaths. Senior citizens were harmed the most.

Check Out the First Confirmed Footage of the Colossal Squid, a Rare and Enigmatic Deep-Sea Species – This was a young one….only a foot lot. They can grow to be 23 feet long

The Only Ancient Greek Theater on the Ionian Islands Is Finally Unearthed – It was discovered in 1901 but was reburied after their survey…and olive groves and makeshift warehouses eventually covered the site. The site was abandoned during the reign of Roman Emperor Augustus.

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (1)

/

There is a lot to see at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. My daughter had visited previously and had suggested it as a great start to our ‘end of summer’ road trip. The art is from various time periods often with links to American history: “We the People” with shoe strings, some favorite artists (Audubon, Chihuly, O’Keeffe, Norman Rockwell’s Rosie the Riveter), a dandelion made in metal originally made for a hotel, the red tinted lens looking out to a water feature, a river in silver on an otherwise blank wall…so much to see…these were just a few of my favorites.

One of the most thought-provoking pieces was a picture of the border wall….as a scar on the landscape. This stretch was a natural area not so long ago.

There were quite a few pieces from Yayoi Kusama (Japanese artist). The infinity room is a dark mirrored space where two people enter at a time (controlled at the door where there is almost always a short line) filled with polka dot orbs lit from within. The minder allows each couple 2 minutes in the space.

Outside there are flower sculptures with polka dots done by the same artist.

There is also a water feature that is partially covered with mirrored orbs made by Kusama …mostly in one group but some seemed to have escaped into the nearby reeds.

More tomorrow about the gardens and art outside the buildings.

J. Walter Fewkes eBooks

/

I browsed the books by Jesse Walter Fewkes available on Internet Archive recently. His work in the late 1800s - early 1900s is an early record of the archeology and anthropology in the American Southwest. He was one of the first to advocate for government preservation of the ancient sites. I’ve chosen three of his books to feature in this post.

Designs on Prehistoric Hopi Pottery (1919) – When I browse books like this, I am always gleaning ideas for Zentangle tiles. This one also brought back memories of participating in Camp Fire Girls when I was growing up; they included native symbols and geometric designs as part of the program which I enjoyed; it made the arts/crafts were appealing someone like me that was disappointed in any attempts at realistic drawing.

Hopi Katcinas Drawn by Native Artists (1904) – I wonder if Fewkes was one of the first to encourage these artists to document their own culture…emphasizing the aspects that were most important to them rather than using other artists from outside the culture or photographs that might be realistic but subtly emphasizing the aspects important from their own cultural perspective.

Tusayan Katcinas and Snake Ceremonies (1897) – The close of the katcina mask shows how elaborate they could be.

The views of the Altar of the Antelope Priests in 3 different locations were interesting. It’s an opportunity to see  similarities and differences…wondering if it was difference in the progress of the ceremony or variance due to location that caused the altars to look different. Are the parts that are the same the most important?

Two Books with William Russell Flint Illustrations

/

The week’s pick from my recently browsed books on Internet Archive are two written by W.S. Gilbert and illustrated by William Russell Flint. The Scottish artist was known for his watercolors of women….and the illustrations from these books offer some examples of his work.

Princess Ida; or, Castle adamant (1912)

 The artist was long lived (1880-1969) so many books with his illustrations are still copyrighted. I wonder how (or if) his depictions of women changed over the years; certainly fashions changed a lot over the 1900s and the role of women changed with two world wars, more access to education, and the roles of women in industry/business.