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

12 Aug

 

 

12 Aug

Weather Expectations Week 33  Day 224   Flag Today  82°/56°                            

Wind 6 mph Gusts 6 mph

Risk of fire: Low  Active Fire: 64 miles away

Nearest Lightning: 185 miles away Humidity:  47%

Air Quality: Moderate Sunshine

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

Today’s Observances:

IBM PC Day
International Youth Day
Middle Child Day
Milkman Day Link 
Home Sewing Machine Day
Vinyl Record Day
World Elephant 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

Fresh Quotation:

 

Today’s Reflection:

Another nice summer day. Hoping for rain this afternoon. Today is the first day of school for Flag. Neighborhood is very quiet! I had an easy blood draw to check my kidney function. Phlebotomist did a good job. She had a new hire watching and learning. The new hire was a middle-aged Native lady who had never seen an ultrasound draw. She was very impressed.

Trump took a secret flight last week after his meeting last week. It’s OK, it kept the President safe. Trump doesn’t seem aware that the press on Air Force One would have also been in danger. Simply no empathy.

As I’m writing this, there are currently over 100 wildfires in the US with more than 30,000 firefighters on the front lines.  What a great service for our country.

A solar eclipse with a meteor shower should be fantastic for Spain and Iceland tomorrow. Parts of the US will see a partial eclipse. The internet will show it to me.

Historical events

12 Aug History video

Cool to know:

The odds of getting a royal flush are exactly 1 in 649,740.

Poker fiends have a slightly better chance of laying down a straight flush: Try 72,192 to 1. Out of the 7,462 distinct five-card poker hands, you have a 42% chance of getting a single pair though.

Today in Science:

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has begun turning away research grant applications for which the “primary function” is informing policymakers and legislators, according to internal documents seen by Nature. This means that the agency is likely to fund fewer projects assessing how public policies affect human health.

It’s a major departure for the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research. The NIH has a strong reputation for funding projects relevant to policymakers, including those evaluating the health impacts of firearm regulations, abortion limits and environmental protections.

“Policymakers are not considered a stakeholder group within the scope of NIH’s mission,” the internal documents say. “NIH-funded research must empower decision-making by NIH mission-relevant stakeholder groups”, which the documents list as including patients, health-care workers, hospitals and scientists. The change has not yet been formally announced, and there is a lack of clarity inside the agency about how it will be implemented, say NIH officials, who requested anonymity because of the risk of retaliation.

Removing policy-focused projects from the agency’s portfolio ignores the reality that policies and social factors fundamentally shape human health, some scientists say. Even the most advanced medical breakthroughs cannot help people if poorly designed distribution policies or social barriers prevent them from reaching the individuals who need them, they say.

“Public policy that is blind to current evidence risks safety and effectiveness,” says Meredith Matone, a health-services specialist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

The NIH did not respond to Nature’s queries about the change or the agency’s rationale for the move.

 

Picture of the Day:

Hu’s winning image uses light trails to give the illusion of speed, evoking a scene reminiscent of Star Wars against the dramatic backdrop of a mountain peak rising above the fog. 

“I love the juxtaposition of the star trails against the clear peak of the mountain. The motion of the clouds adds to the drama,” Hu says.

 

Harper’s Index from Funny Times:

Portion of Republicans under the age of 50 who describe themselves as antisemitic: ¼

 That say they are racist: 3/10

Today’s Birthdays:

Yvette Nicole Brown TV Actress 55 years old

Birthplace East Clevland, OH

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Casey Affleck Movie Actor 51 years old

Birthplace Falmouth, MA

Yvette Nicole Brown TV Actress 55 years old

Birthplace East Clevland, OH

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King George IV [1762-1830 @67

Birthplace London, England

Yvette Nicole Brown TV Actress 55 years old

Birthplace East Clevland, OH

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That’s All for Now