15 Aug

 

 

15 Aug

Weather Expectations Week 33  Day 227     Flag Today  72°/51°                            

Wind 18mph Gusts 21mph

Risk of fire: Low   Active Fire: 717 miles away

Nearest Lightning: 14 miles away Humidity: 46%

Air Quality: Fair Sunshine Partly Cloudy  Breezy 

July Averages: Temps: 82°\51° 9 days with rain

Today’s Observances:

Banana Day: thru 16 Link
Best Friends Day
Chauvin Day
Check The Chip Day (Those Implanted in Pets)  Link
Chef Appreciation Day   Link  
Clear The Shelters Day
Green Data Day
National Honey Bee Day Link 
International Geocaching Day
International Homeless Animals Day 
National Leathercraft Day  Link
National Relaxation Day

Weekly Observances:

Sturgis Rally: 7-16 Link 
Elvis Week: 8-16 Link
Assistance Dog Week: 9-15
National Resurrect Romance Week: 9-15
Weird Contest Week: 9-15 
National Bargain Hunting Week: 9-15

World Karaoke Championships: 10-13 Link
Safe + Sound Week: 10-16 Link
Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over: 12-9/7 Link 

World Photography Week: 12-26 Link

National Hobo Week: 13-16 Link

Great American Stamp Days: 14-17

Fresh Quotation:

 

Today’s Reflection:

 Another good weather day.  Weather guy says the monsoon will be disappearing soon. I’ve sure enjoyed these daily rains.

This morning I headed out for a much needed pedicure. Another upside to my recent medical situation: I’ve been getting regular pedicures for over a decade. The only problem is when they start to massage my feet, I am extremely ticklish. I always must tell her as my foot starts pulling away. Today, I was not the least bit ticklish and had a great foot massage. A nice change for sure.

Last night the AZ Cardinals beat the LV Raiders in a decent preseason game. Tonight it will be the Broncos v Falcons. Hoping for  great game.

Today is Code Talker’s Day. Thanks for your service.

Mangione, the guy who killed the CEO of a Healthcare Insurance Company pleaded guilty. He is hoping that the Federal prison will be better for him that a state prison and that his sentence will be shorter because the case is about stalking, whereas the state case is 2^nd degree murder and can’t be pursued due to a NY law about double jeopardy. Nobody will know until December when he is sentenced.

I very much enjoy my twice daily conversations with my brother since my medical situation. This morning when I called, he was still in bed.  It was 8:30 his time. Laura had an early flight to Mexico City and he was up about 3:30 to see her off before returning to bed. He was glad I called and got him up as he has a bus day ahead. I told him that was what a good big brother does. 

Historical events

15 Aug History Video

Cool to know:

Four times more people speak English as a second language than as a native one.

While more people speak English as a second language, nearly three times more people speak Mandarin Chinese natively.
English has nearly two billion people learning it as a second language and only 350 million people speaking it natively.

Today in Science:

Around 56 million years ago, a sharp rise in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere led to severe global warming that transformed the planet’s surface. A detailed reconstruction of an ancient ecosystem suggests that this transformation included a widespread decline in forest cover. The study¹, published in Science on 13 August, has parallels for what could happen as a result of human-driven climate change, say the authors.

“We’re seeing that now all over the world. Many forests are in states of decline,” says co-author Regan Dunn, a palaeoclimatogist at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in California.

This sudden warming event, called the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), was one of the most notable climatic upheavals in Earth’s history. The volume of CO₂ released during that period is thought to be roughly equivalent to the total human emissions that would be released by the end of the twenty-first century under a pessimistic scenario. The ancient surge of CO₂ raised global average temperatures by between 5 and 9 °C, changing the climate for more than 150,000 years.

Using fossils, sediments and other geochemical evidence preserved from this time, researchers have begun to piece together a picture of abrupt changes to Earth’s ecosystems that took place in response to this warming. The make-up of forests changed, with broad-leafed trees in the mid-latitudes giving way to landscapes dominated by ferns. Rivers supercharged by a water-logged atmosphere carried away more sediment. Soils stored less carbon.

Dunn and her colleagues sought to get a clearer view of how these shifts changed the structure of forest canopies. This can reveal information about changes in carbon storage in ecosystems, says Dunn. “It’s really telling you something about how the forest is functioning.”

The ancient analysis was aimed at shedding light on a question ecologists have today: how will Earth’s ecosystems respond to rising levels of CO₂? Higher concentrations of the greenhouse gas trap more heat, boosting temperatures and shifting patterns of precipitation in ways that can stress plants. However, more CO₂ also acts to fertilize plants, and there’s wide uncertainty about how these opposing forces will affect forests of the future.

 

Picture of the Day:

Martin Lewis is the winner of the Our Moon category with a stunning detail image featuring Plato’s East Rim. The stark lighting and heavy shadow add an element of mystery to an otherwise well-known fixture of space.

“This close-up of the Plato crater has become one of my favorite photographs of the Moon. This image of the east rim being hit by the Sun’s rays is wondrously unique and proves that, no matter how often we look at the Moon, it always has many more wonderful sights for us to observe,” says judge Brobby. 

 

Harper’s Index from Funny Times:

Portion of 16-year-old American boys who have gambled in the past year: 1/2

Of 11 year-old boys who have: 1/3

Today’s Birthdays:

Jennifer Lawrence Movie Actress 36 years old

Birthplace Indian Hills, KY

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Joe Jonas Pop Singer 37 years old

Birthplace Casa Grande, AZ

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Ben Affleck Movie Actor 54 years old

Birthplace Berkeley, CA

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Napoleon Bonaparte Emperor [1789-1821]  @51 Stomach cancer or arsenic

Birthplace Ajaccio, France

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Anthony Anderson TV Actor 56 years old

Birthplace Compton, CA

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Anne, Princess Royal Princess 76 years old

Birthplace England

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Debra Messing TV Actress 58 years old

Birthplace Brooklyn, NY

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Julia Child Chef [1912-2004] @91

Birthplace Pasadena, CA

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That’s All for Now

14 Aug

 

 

14 Aug

Weather Expectations Week 33  Day 226   Flag Today  71°/50°                            

Wind 12 mph Gusts 21 mph

Risk of fire: Moderate  Active Fire: 64 miles away

Nearest Lightning: 22 miles away Humidity: 50%

Air Quality: Moderate Mostly Cloudy Windy

July Averages: Temps: 82°\51° 9 days with rain

Today’s Observances:

Kool-Aid Day thru-16 Link 
Military Marriage Day 
National Lizard Day Link
National Navajo Code Talkers Day
Rabi'-al-Awwal-9/11 Link
Romance Awareness Day Link
Shop Online For Groceries Day 
Social Security Day
St. Maximillian Kolbe Day (Ham Radio Saint)  Link Link
V-J Day
World Calligraphy Day Link

Weekly Observances:

Sturgis Rally: 7-16 Link 
Elvis Week: 8-16 Link
Assistance Dog Week: 9-15
National Resurrect Romance Week: 9-15
Weird Contest Week: 9-15 
National Bargain Hunting Week: 9-15

World Karaoke Championships: 10-13 Link
Safe + Sound Week: 10-16 Link
Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over: 12-9/7 Link 

World Photography Week: 12-26 Link

National Hobo Week: 13-16 Link

Great American Stamp Days: 14-17

Fresh Quotation:

 

Today’s Reflection:

Another cooler, cloudier day. I even put on a long sleeve shirt before going outside.

When I was young and in school, seeing a teacher in a different public place was weird and unusual. For me, seeing today’s political pundits who are also selling products on TV is weird.  

Trump likes to talk. Here is the word count for his rants in 2026: Iran War: 56K, construction projects: 45K, Foreign policy: 42K and the Economy: 40K. No wonder some are tired of this.

Historical events

14 Aug history video

Cool to know:

A baby puffin is called a "puffling."

To feed its chick, a puffin parent will carry around 10 fish in its beak at one time, but the biggest recorded haul is a whopping 62 fish, according to Audubon Project Puffin. 

Today in Science:

Will the mRNA flu shot work better than a regular seasonal one? What the science says

Moderna’s newly approved vaccine could allow manufacturers to respond more rapidly to changing influenza strains.

On 5 August, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval to Moderna’s mRNA-based flu vaccine, mFLUSIVA, for adults aged 50–64, and accelerated approval for adults aged 65 and older. Moderna say it will be available “in a few weeks” to be rolled out for the 2026–27 flu season in the United States.

Researchers welcomed the decision, noting that the vaccine’s mRNA platform allows it to be rapidly reformulated to match circulating influenza strains. “This approval is very important and can be a great game changer” because the platform could help solve the problem of slow manufacturing, says Emanuele Montomoli, a researcher in hygiene and public health at the University of Siena, Italy.

The vaccine is also being reviewed by regulatory agencies in the European Union, Canada and Australia. A related product has already been permitted for use in Europe: in April, the European Commission approved Moderna’s combined seasonal influenza and COVID-19 mRNA vaccine mCombriax.

Tests on more than 40,000 adults showed that 2% of people who received the mFLUSIVA vaccine (called mRNA-1010 before FDA approval) developed a laboratory-confirmed case of flu, verified through testing and symptoms reports¹. By comparison, 2.8% of those who received a standard dose of a comparator non-mRNA vaccine developed symptoms.

“The key questions regarding immunogenicity, efficacy and safety have been addressed, which enabled the licensure of mFLUSIVA,” said Raffael Nachbagauer, vice-president of infectious-disease research at Moderna in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who is involved in mFLUSIVA trials.

But scientists still have questions about how this vaccine will perform when it’s rolled out to millions of people. Moderna has agreed with the FDA to conduct a confirmatory phase IV trial to research the efficacy relative to an enhanced vaccine in people aged 65 and older, says Nachbagauer.

 

Picture of the Day:

The team of Utkarsh Mishra, Michael Petrasko, and Muir Evenden claimed the Galaxies category prize with Majestic Sombrero Galaxy. Upon closer inspection, you can see where it gets its unusual name: the faint galaxy does indeed resemble a hat.

“The Sombrero is a well-documented galaxy, yet astrophotographers still find ways to tease more majesty from it. To see the misty remnants of previous collisions surrounding the galaxy, itself floating alone in the void, is just exquisite,” notes judge Steve Marsh.

 

Harper’s Index from Funny Times:

Chance that an American believed that the government was concealing information about moon landings in 2016: 1 in 5

Last year: 1 in 3

Today’s Birthdays:

Mila Kunis Movie Actress 43 years old

Birthplace Chernivtsi, Ukraine

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Halle Berry Movie Actress 60 years old

Birthplace  Cleveland, OH

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Magic Johnson Basketball Player 67 years old

Birthplace Lansing, MI

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Steve Martin Movie Actor 81 years old

Birthplace Waco, TX

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Marcia Gay Harden Movie Actress 67 years old

Birthplace  San Diego, CA

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Jackee Harry TV Actress 70 years old

Birthplace Winston-Salem, NC

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Tim Tebow Football Player 39 years old

Birthplace Makati, Philippines

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Catherine Bell TV Actress 58 years old

Birthplace London, England

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That’s All for Now

13 Aug

 

 

13 Aug

Weather Expectations Week 33  Day 225   Flag Today  74°/53°                            

Wind 12 mph Gusts 19 mph

Risk of fire: Moderate   Active Fire: 399 miles away

Nearest Lightning: 14 miles away Humidity:  54%

Air Quality: Fair Sunshine Partly Cloudy

July Averages: Temps: 82°\51° 9 days with rain

Today’s Observances:

International Lefthander's Day  Link Link Link
Internatinal Wolf Day  Link
National Prosecco Day

Weekly Observances:

Sturgis Rally: 7-16 Link 
Elvis Week: 8-16 Link
Assistance Dog Week: 9-15
National Resurrect Romance Week: 9-15
Weird Contest Week: 9-15 
National Bargain Hunting Week: 9-15

World Karaoke Championships: 10-13 Link
Safe + Sound Week: 10-16 Link
Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over: 12-9/7 Link 

World Photography Week: 12-26 Link

National Hobo Week: 13-16 Link

Fresh Quotation:

 

Today’s Reflection:

Cloudy and cooler here. Rain coming this afternoon. No complaints. I jhve to day the rain ever afternoon is so relaxing…until the thunder and lightning breaks the mood.

Congrats to BIE schools who just annouonded that 21 BIE High Schools reached 90% or higher in their graduation rate this year.

Yesterday’s Primary results show everyone that polls are often wrong, sometimes very wrong. It also showed that this country is very divided. It is time to unite! Change is everywhere.

I went to the Optimum store this morning. I needed a new cable box as somehow the old one from my office was tossed out. They said I would have to pay for the box that was thrown out. How much? We don’t have access to that information.  Who does, and I was given a number to call. I got a new box for my downstairs bedroom. Then it took two customer service reps to figure out how to remove that box from my bill without fully canceling my service. I came home & alled the number and it took over 25 minutes to push the right prompts and finally talk to a human. First, he said he would check on the cost of the missing box. Then he said after reviewing your account, you will not be charged. I thanked him and asked to speak to a supervisor. Why he asked? To register my complaint on the bad customer service at the store and in general. Just a moment he said. He came back and said all supervisors were busy  but he would send a message to them. I asked when I would be called back. Usually within 7 days was the answer. Talk about crappy customer service.

Historical events

13 Aug History video

Cool to know:

If you drive south from Detroit, you'll hit Canada.

Head north from Windsor, Ontario, crossing the Detroit River, and you'll reach the good ol' US of A.

Today in Science:

After almost two decades of searching, a team of physicists in China says it has observed strong evidence of a mysterious particle called a glueball that is made entirely of force-carrying particles.

Researchers at the Beijing Spectrometer III (BESIII) Collaboration, an international particle-physics experiment, presented their results at the International Conference on High Energy Physics in Natal, Brazil, last week. They say that a particle known as X(2370) — which was discovered in 2011 — is mostly made up of glueballs. These are clusters of gluons, which are the elementary particles that bind quarks to form protons and neutrons and hold them inside the nucleus of an atom.

There is no single smoking gun that proves that this particle is made of glueballs, says Bruce Yabsley, a particle physicist at the University of Sydney in Australia, who has reviewed the results from BESIII. But looking at the cumulative evidence that they have built over decades makes the current findings “quite persuasive”, he adds.

“It is quite convincing evidence,” adds Ulrik Egede, an experimental particle physicist at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, who saw the conference presentation.

The discovery of glueballs would provide direct evidence that gluons can interact with themselves, researchers say. This is a key prediction of quantum chromodynamics — the theory describing quarks and gluons.

Observation of glueballs can also improve physicists’ understanding of the origin of mass itself, says Yabsley. Although protons are made of quarks, the sum of the masses of those quarks does not add up to the total mass of a proton. Gluons are massless, but strong interactions between them must create mass, he says.

 

Picture of the Day:

Jagged chunks of ice glow softly in the gentle light of an aurora, which streaks green against a dark, starry night sky. 

“I love this photo because it really sums up aurorae for me: the green ‘swoosh’ reflected in the icy lake, the clarity of the edges of the ice blocks and the looming shadow of the mountain,” comments judge Sheila Kanani. 

 

Harper’s Index from Funny Times:

Percentage by which Republicans are more likely that Democrats to believe that Bigfoot exists: 19

By which Democrats are more likely that Republicans to believe aliens exist: 35

Today’s Birthdays:

Sebastian Stan Movie Actor Bucky Barnes in Captain America: The First Avenger

44 years old

 Birthplace Constanta, Romania

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Ahna Mac R&B Singer 26 years old

Birthplace Plainfield, NJ

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That’s All for Now