I was walking my dog Elvis with my daughter Julie on Sunday and as we have in the past, we came across something very science-y.
At the dog park where Elvis likes to play and hunt for rodents in the nearby bushes, there were millions (literally) of tiny sphere-like objects bouncing around on the ground.
Jumping Jehoshaphat!
The tiny balls bouncing all around us was like something out of a movie or invasion of the body snatchers.
These poppy seed-sized balls came in orange, yellow, and white versions. They were jumping around like crazy, collectively making an impressive "whoosh" sound.
What in the world? Others at the dog park were mystified too.
I've never seen anything like. No one had including people who had lived in Davis for decades.
Julie and I were puzzled. A fellow dog walker went home and got her husband, who is an entomologist. He took some to study, but off hand did not know what they were.
I speculated to Julie that this little bouncing balls were like some miniaturized form of Mexican jumping bean.
Earth Changes
Strombolian eruption from Etna's Bocca Nuova on 5 Aug
Etna (Italy): Strombolian activity continues at varying levels. Following a phase of weak activity during 4-6 Aug, an increase of activity was observed at the Bocca Nuova during the night 6-7 Aug.
Also in Italy, the activity at Stromboli (Eolian Islands) has been at relatively high levels over the past days. The number and size of explosions from the summit vents has increased.
Popocatépetl in Mexico: About 1 explosion occurs per hour, and strong glow is visible at night. A relatively powerful eruption late on 6 Aug sent ash to up to 30,000 ft (10 km) altitude.
The volcanoes in Guatemala have shown little changes in activity over the past days.
Shanghai and the nearby coastal province Zhejiang have evacuated 456,000 people as China prepares for its third typhoon in less than a week. The emergency measures were taken after Typhoon Haikui turned Manila, the Philippines capital into "waterworld", killing 50 people. The typhoon is expected to make landfall in Zhejiang province, just south of Shanghai, late Tuesday or early Wednesday, the China Meteorological Administration said.
A volcano quiet for more than a century erupted in a New Zealand national park, spreading thick ash for several miles and causing some residents to evacuate their homes. Some domestic flights were canceled Tuesday. Mount Tongariro spewed ash and rocks for about 30 minutes late Monday night after a few weeks of increased seismic activity. It didn't cause any injuries or damage in the sparsely populated central North Island region. Tongariro National Park has three active volcanos, is a popular tourist destination and was the backdrop for many scenes in the Lord of the Rings movies.
A new statistical analysis by NASA scientists has found that Earth's land areas have become much more likely to experience an extreme summer heat wave than they were in the middle of the 20th century. The research was published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
© Activist Post
According to researchers, the insecticides modified into the corn are being detected in streams up to 500 meters away from corn farms, and quite possibly further.
The research was conducted in the states of Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana, where corn fields are abundant. Scientists found the bacterial protein washed off the corn and directly into the streams. While they won't say for certain what this means for human health, the consensus is that it can't be good.
According to U.K.'s Independent, U.S. corn has a gene from the Bacillus thuriengensis (BT) bacterium inserted into it to repel bugs. This gene produced the Cry1Ab protein, which "has insecticidal properties."
It's this protein that is being found in the water system.
It's believed the protein is making its way to the water because of the practice of leaving plant material on the field until the next season. This "no till" method is used because it prevents erosion, but it also provides an opportunity for the potentially dangerous protein to be washed away.
© Unknown
Archaeoligists evacuated skelelons in Spitalfields between 1998 and 2005
Archaeoligists evacuated skelelons in Spitalfields between 1998 and 2005
Experts believed for years they were plague victims - but radiocarbon dating didn't add up.
Now a 10-year ecological investigation by the Museum of London has discovered the likely cause to be a volcano which caused world temperatures to cool and crops to fail, resulting in mass starvation.
Some 10,500 skeletons dating from the 12th to 16th centuries were uncovered by the archaeologists, including mass burial pits which had scientists baffled because the radiocarbon dating didn't match known events in medieval England like the Black Death or Great Famine.
© Greg Bowker NZ Herald
The alert level for Mt Tongariro has been raised from 1 to 2 after a possible eruption.
The alert level for Mt Tongariro has been raised from 1 to 2 after a possible eruption.
GNS science is reporting that at approximately 11:50pm on Monday night ash fall began to be reported in the volcano's vicinity - it has since been reported as far east as SH5 near Te Haroto and in Napier.
GNS duty volcanologist Michael Rosenberg told Radio New Zealand that some people are reported to have left their houses on the southern shores of Lake Rotoaira, though no formal notices of evacuation have been issued so far by Civil Defense.
He said residents in the area have told GNS of hearing several loud explosions, lightning and plumes of smoke and police have been told by an onlooker that "a new hole in the side of the mountain" had formed.
They have also reported bright red rocks flying out of the mountain.
Thousands of fish are dying in the Midwest as the hot, dry summer dries up rivers and causes water temperatures to climb in some spots to nearly 100 degrees.
About 40,000 shovelnose sturgeon were killed in Iowa last week as water temperatures reached 97 degrees. Nebraska fishery officials said they've seen thousands of dead sturgeon, catfish, carp, and other species in the Lower Platte River, including the endangered pallid sturgeon. And biologists in Illinois said the hot weather has killed tens of thousands of large- and smallmouth bass and channel catfish and is threatening the population of the greater redhorse fish, a state-endangered species.
So many fish died in one Illinois lake that the carcasses clogged an intake screen near a power plant, lowering water levels to the point that the station had to shut down one of its generators.
About 40,000 shovelnose sturgeon were killed in Iowa last week as water temperatures reached 97 degrees. Nebraska fishery officials said they've seen thousands of dead sturgeon, catfish, carp, and other species in the Lower Platte River, including the endangered pallid sturgeon. And biologists in Illinois said the hot weather has killed tens of thousands of large- and smallmouth bass and channel catfish and is threatening the population of the greater redhorse fish, a state-endangered species.
So many fish died in one Illinois lake that the carcasses clogged an intake screen near a power plant, lowering water levels to the point that the station had to shut down one of its generators.
© The Associated Press
Part of a three-storey building washed away in flash floods in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand state on Sunday.
Part of a three-storey building washed away in flash floods in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand state on Sunday.
Heart-wrenching scenes were witnessed at Gangori, where the maximum number of deaths were reported, with relatives and villagers crying for help.
Efforts were on to move about 700 Char Dham pilgrims stranded at various places to safer spots on foot, as the roads were completely damaged and the hostile weather was not allowing airlifting of the people.
The State government released Rs. 20 crore from the disaster mitigation fund for immediate relief work and urged civil society organisations to rush help to the victims.
The weather department has sounded an alert for heavy rains and flash floods for the next 24 hours.
