Watch Matt as he dances his way around the world. Makes me want to go with him!
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Category Archives: Earth
Inspect the entire collection, they are not only amazing but quite interesting.
Test yourself here.
Check out this MUST READ article!
If you’re ever in the Tucson area, don’t miss the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Part zoo, part botatical gardens, part hands on desert experience, the museum is dedicated to learning and teaching all there is to know about the vast Sornoran Desert. I’ve never had a zoo or gardens experience like it. The place is outstanding, beautiful, intimate and welcoming.
Tonight show begins around 6:45 with a total eclipse, lasting about an hour, occuring at about 8:00 PM. These times are for here in the West. The local forecast where I live predicts clouds, so I might not get to see it. You’ll see the full moon darken to red as the earth blocks direct sunlight to the moon’s surface. So many of us have been complaining about cabin fever this late in a long winter. Lets get out then, and enjoy the majesty of nature tonight.
For more details visit NASA’s Lunar Eclipse page.
My, most geography minded brother-in-law, SpiderWings (aka SpiderTracks) has sent me this great little contest of the mind. Try it here. On my first attempt I managed to get 431,782 points, giving me and IQ of 117. I was pretty pleased with that but was sure disappointed I didn’t get a shot at level 12. I will try again, probably several times.
The GBBC is a lot of fun, if you’re doing it for fun. If you’re serious about science, don’t bother.
I have participated for years, but I began to discover that if my sightings or numbers disagreed with Cornell’s preconceived notions about what should be in my area, they were disallowed out of hand. I wrote them and complained and even received promises that the situation would be resolved, seldom to see any changes. I finally concluded that it wasn’t science and quit participating. You’ll note that I’ve made some alterations to my oringinal post. birdchaser has graciously and professionally dealt with my issues in a very timely and personal manner. I consider them resolved and hope I have not dissuaded any of you from having fun participating in the count. I think now that I acted a bit brashly and appologize. However, had I been treated like birdchaser has treated me, two years ago, I wouldn’t have been so bitter in the first place. That makes for a great lesson in interpersonal relations and good communications skills. Kudos to birdchaser for caring enough to deal with my issues in such a straight forward, warm and sincere manner.
The Great Backyard Bird Count is not about learning new things about the birds in our world, except at the personal level, its about supporting somebody’s ego somewhere.
To see more amazing photos of this great pool on the edge of Victoria Falls go to Fogonazos.
Read the details at What’s Up With That! Looks like the Polar Bears are safe after all. Whew! Al, you gave us a bit of a scare there.
We’re doing more with less. That’s good for planet Earth.
Since 1977 the value of the U.S. economy has doubled, yet the amount of physical stuff it took to supply all the needs and wants of Americans fell from 1.18 trillion pounds to 1.08 trillion pounds. Even more astonishing: the “weight” of the economy fell while U.S. population grew by some 55 million people.
Read the entire article at Reasononline.
A cargo ship pulled by a giant, parachute-shaped kite will leave Germany on Tuesday on a voyage that could herald a new “green” age of commercial sailing on the high seas.
Read about it in the Telegraph.
The structure of this ant colony covers 538 square feet and travels 26 feet into the earth. In it’s construction, the colony moved 40 tons of soil. Billions of ant loads of soil were brought to the surface. Each load weighed four times as much as the worker ant, and in human terms, was carried over 1/2 mile to the surface.
In the video scientists pour 10 tons of concrete into the colony to learn about it’s structure.
Amazing!
I just read great article in the Christian Science Monitor that really opened my eyes. Imagine the enormous good we would do the planet if we all observed the Sabbath! Give the earth a rest every seven days. It would be good for us and enormously good for the environment.
Personally, I don’t know how I’d survive if I didn’t observe a weekly day of rest. It is not a hard concept, but greed and public demand have taken that away from many of us. Recently, my sweet sister-in-law, upon hearing that the local Walmart was 200 people short of a full staff, suggested that they close the store on Sunday. It was a brilliant idea! The existing staff is stressed enormously to keep up a busy store. A day off would reduce the time demand significantly, allow the staff to catch their breath and all without reducing the sales volume significantly at all. People would just shop on the six remaining days.
I have a friend who moved from Brigham City, Utah to Evanston, Illinois, just north of Chicago. I asked him what the biggest shock he experienced as a result of the move to a much larger city. His reply shocked and shamed me. “In Evanston, all of the stores are closed on Sunday!”
Many of our youth are kept away from church, family and much needed rest, on the Sabbath because the only entry level jobs around, require working on Sunday. How much harm do we do them by this one solvable problem.
We could improve life on so many fronts if we’d just keep this simple commandment. Of course, the solution begins with each of us individually. If we don’t shop, travel, and dine out on Sunday, the establishments that cater to us won’t be able to justify staying open. It’s easy to think that my personal effort in that regard won’t make a difference. Each vote does count. And, we can do more, we can encourage others to join us.
This new environmental approach, gives me hope that we can gain some political clout in the quest for change, as well. The environment is a big deal these days. Simply keeping this one principle would do more for the environment than all the other efforts combined! It would be healthy, inexpensive, realistic and would bring imediate results! Let’s start pushing for it!
Big business will resist, of course! Just like the wealthy plantation owners and shipping giants in Britain, in the 18th Century, resisted the abolishment of the slave trade. But like the abolition of slavery, keeping the Sabbath Holy, is the right thing to do and it can prevail, if we insist upon it.
I saw an advertisement for one of these and felt a bit of resentment when they claimed the car was 100% polution free. This is most certainly a false claim in that there is polution involved in the car’s production and also in producing the energy required to compress the air. Even so, it will clearly produce less polution combustion engines and represents some very imaginative thinking.
My Kudos go the the inventers and, as usual, not to the marketers, who like politicians, seem entirely unfettered by truth.
Uncle Jay remains my primary, most honest and most concise news source. I may indeed have a small mind, but Uncle Jay sure helps me understand and put things into perspective. Thanks Uncle Jay.
My brother has long begged me to watch this movie. It was filmed in 1921. The movie follows Nanook and his family as they live their lives in one of the harshest places on earth. To me, the most remarkable thing is their obvious heartfelt joy!
This is just a bit of the movie. I found it in its entirety, at our local library. It is interesting, compelling, startling and at a fundamental level, inspiring.
My brother-in-law has reported seeing these and by simple deduction has determined what they are.
You can learn more about Iridium Flares at Wikipedia.
Heavens Above will even predict for you, when you might expect to observe one.
