Gleanings of the Week Ending January 15, 2022
/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.
Top 25 Birds of the Week: January 2022 – This set includes a photo of a white-throated sparrow…one of the birds we see at our feeders only in the winter (along with juncos).
Threatened and Endangered Parks: Ghost Forests and rising seas – I recognized Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in the pictures; I’ve visited it more frequently that any other NWR…and have observed some changes over the years. It was the first place I saw a bald eagle in the wild…back in 1990.
Musfur sinkhole: The chasm in Qatar’s desert. – Usually we think of the Arabian Peninsula being full of sand…but there are evidently sinkholes as well…deep enough to show layers of limestone and gypsum.
The Western megadrought is revealing America’s ‘lost national park’ – The water level in Lake Powell has fallen so much that Glen Canyon is revealed again. Gorgeous.
California mice eat Monarch butterflies – Mice eating butterflies that are on the ground had been observed in Mexico’s aggregation site…and now a similar interaction has been observed at a site in California where the Monarch’s aggregate.
Race and ethnicity across the nation – Data from the most recent census visualized on a map. Explore some places you know.
Findings open the way to more precise diagnoses and treatments of Alzheimer’s disease – A difference in Tau protein relates to slow or rapid development of the disease. There is a lot of research on the Alzheimer’s and other diseases that cause cognitive decline going on; with aging populations around globe, it is important to refine the way the diseases are diagnosed…and then treated. One treatment is not going to work for all.
Here's what you should keep in your car and other ways to prepare for winter driving – After the recent prolonged closure of I-95 in Virginia, I started thinking more about this…and will pack a few extra things in my car if I make a road trip to Texas this winter. I would normally have the items listed in the article anyway since I am minimizing the need to stop along the way during the pandemic (but I would need to check the batteries in the flashlight…and add some extras). I would add a sleeping bag too since it is relatively compact and would make it a lot easier to stay warm; I was surprised that this item was not on the list in the article. And I will not wait until the gas tank is down below ¼ tank before I stop for more!
See something weird at the bird feeder? It’s not just you – So far, the only somewhat unusual bird I’ve seen at our feeder was a red-breasted nuthatch; we see the white-breasted ones all the time but there was a season that we had a few of the red-breasted birds too.
See Pandas, Elephants, Cheetahs and More Enjoy a Snow Day at the National Zoo – Fun in the snow…the young panda seems to enjoy rolling or sliding down hills!
