Saturday, August 29, 2026

Natural disasters

The catastrophic flood in Nepal was astounding.  We saw bridges and buildings get destroyed, and people getting swept up as they fled.  It was heart wrenching, yet was a reminder of nature's fury.

The reality is that we keep seeing these kinds of things happen, with a greater frequency every year.  Recorded history tells us there are more events, and they cause increasingly more damage. 

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And yet, we can’t seem to wrap our heads around it, and spend time foolishly debating about the cause of disasters. And as a result, we don’t spend much energy on understanding them, and even less on being more proactive in our response. 

This rush of water was caused by a piece of a glacier that detached. Some people simply want to say that it’s the old “act of nature” for purely political reasons, setting aside any notion of science telling us there is a change happening. 

We can see our climate is changing with our own eyes. Glaciers haven’t simply fallen off like that in our recorded history. So something is happening. And it’s our duty to investigate what’s going on and try and prevent more disasters like this. 

Of course, you can apply it to other things as well. Hurricanes are something we’ve known about for a very long period of recorded history. We’ve been studying them and trying to understand what’s going on with them. And yet, for purely political reasons this administration simply does not care and has no intention of doing anything other than letting us know one might be coming - without any sort of understanding of how it’s formed, where it might go, and more importantly why…

And of course there was the assertion that Canada "is (somehow?) responsible for" the fires this year, as a way to cast aspersions, rather than using logic to try and address the underlying problem.  

The one piece of good news is that while the number of these natural disasters has been on the uptick, the deaths resulting from them have been on the decline due to better infrastructure and preparedness.  

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Wednesday, August 26, 2026

The Ama: Freediving with Japan's last sea women

This is a rather interesting story about the Ama free divers in Japan. They are all women, and are engaged in a centuries old tradition to be one with nature. 

Voyager 1 has been moving through space since 1977, now faster than a speeding bullet, and it still has not covered a single light-year of distance from Earth - ScienceBlog.com

The fact that voyager 1 is still active (and scientists keep finding innovative ways to keep it so, from a great distance) is remarkable. 


But don’t sleep on just how vast the universe is! Voyager launched in 1977, nearly 50 years ago, and it is traveling at about 17 km/s (or roughly 40,000 miles per hour).  And yet, it has barely moved in cosmic terms. That’s amazing. 

Taking on the invasive air potato

Back in 2012, there was an invasive plant moving through Florida.  Several prominent research studies were undertaken, most notably at the University of Florida in their horticulture school.

The researchers tested whether a tiny leaf-eating beetle (the Lilioceris cheni) could help control air potato, a vigorous vine capable of smothering native vegetation, without disturbing the other foliage.

And then they worked with a group of high school students in Broward county who were studying environmental science to try releasing some beetles into the wild.  

The students released just 16 beetles into the Long Key Natural Area and Nature Centre in Davie, but they multiplied into the thousands and nearly completely defoliated the air potato vines in the release area.

Using that success as a basis, the scientists at UF released thousands more of the beetles, and the air potato was mostly eradicated over the next decade.

You can read more about all of this in the attached links, but here's a key takeaway:

Rather than relying solely on repeated chemical or physical removal, scientists were using specialised insects to exploit different vulnerabilities in the plant’s growth and reproduction.




The man who drew the first geological map of an entire country spent twenty-eight years surveying it, sold his fossil collection to the British Museum to cover his debts, went to debtors' prison anyway, and walked home in 1819 to find bailiffs had taken his house - ScienceBlog.com

File this under "no good deed goes unpunished" ....

This is the story about the man who spent years of his life and drew the first geologic map Britain.  

His debts had amassed over his years away, and so he sold the fossils he collected to the British Museum.  Yet, that wasn't enough and he wound up going to debtors prison.

And then when he got out - with no money - he had to literally walk home, only to find that his house and all his possessions had been seized to cover his debts. 

He was left destitute. And his accomplishments in map making weren't recognized for many years.  

What a shame.  And I guess in a way "he didn't know the right people" who can literally get away with anything.

This cookie started its life as a plastic bottle - American Chemical Society

Corn stalks. Plastic bottles. Oxygen. High temperatures. Just add water and voila, you have a protein rich cookie that can help with the world’s hunger problem. 

Now I’m a little dubious about what they did and whether it’s viable, but they do attack two of the more pressing issues. So maybe they have something great here. 


Disney patent hints at trick behind new Encanto ride

Always the innovators, Disney has come up with a new kind of ride technology which they are looking to patent. 

It’s a method to trick a rider into thinking they are going up or down, without any physical lifts or drops - or moving parts. 

The idea is that they use a kind of forced perspective coupled with narrowing walls that give the illusion of lifts and drops. 

The plan is to use this technology in the under-construction encanto ride. It will be family friendly but exciting. 

I look forward to seeing this when it’s complete.