Sea Level

Sea level rise is accelerating.

In the last 30 years, we've seen sea levels rise about 4 inches.

In the next 30 years, it's likely to go up another 12 inches.

Science Is Pro-Kamala

Vote for Kamala Harris to Support Science, Health and the Environment

Kamala Harris has plans to improve health, boost the economy and mitigate climate change. Donald Trump has threats and a dangerous record

Opinion

In the November election, the U.S. faces two futures. In one, the new president offers the country better prospects, relying on science, solid evidence and the willingness to learn from experience. She pushes policies that boost good jobs nationwide by embracing technology and clean energy. She supports education, public health and reproductive rights. She treats the climate crisis as the emergency it is and seeks to mitigate its catastrophic storms, fires and droughts.

In the other future, the new president endangers public health and safety and rejects evidence, preferring instead nonsensical conspiracy fantasies. He ignores the climate crisis in favor of more pollution. He requires that federal officials show personal loyalty to him rather than upholding U.S. laws. He fills positions in federal science and other agencies with unqualified ideologues. He goads people into hate and division, and he inspires extremists at state and local levels to pass laws that disrupt education and make it harder to earn a living.

Only one of these futures will improve the fate of this country and the world. That is why, for only the second time in our magazine’s 179-year history, the editors of Scientific American are endorsing a candidate for president. That person is Kamala Harris.

Before making this endorsement, we evaluated Harris’s record as a U.S. senator and as vice president under Joe Biden, as well as policy proposals she’s made as a presidential candidate. Her opponent, Donald Trump, who was president from 2017 to 2021, also has a record—a disastrous one. Let’s compare.

Health Care

The Biden-Harris administration shored up the popular Affordable Care Act (ACA), giving more people access to health insurance through subsidies. During Harris’s September 10 debate with Trump, she said one of her goals as president would be to expand it. Scores of studies have shown that people with insurance stay healthier and live longer because they can afford to see doctors for preventive and acute care. Harris supports expansion of Medicaid, the U.S. health-care program for low-income people. States that have expanded this program have seen health gains in their populations, whereas states that continue to restrict eligibility have not. To pay for Medicare, the health insurance program primarily for older Americans, Harris supports a tax increase on people who earn $400,000 or more a year. And the Biden-Harris administration succeeded in passing the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which caps the costs of several expensive drugs, including insulin, for Medicare enrollees. Harris’s vice presidential pick, Tim Walz, signed into law a prohibition against excessive price hikes on generic drugs as governor of Minnesota.

When in office, Trump proposed cuts to Medicare and Medicaid (Congress, to its credit, refused to enact them.) He also pushed for a work requirement as a condition for Medicaid eligibility, making it harder for people to qualify for the program. As a candidate, both in 2016 and this year, he pledged to repeal the ACA, but it’s not clear what he would replace it with. When prodded during the September debate, he said, “I have concepts of a plan” but didn’t elaborate. Like Harris, however, he has voiced concern about drug prices, and in 2020 he signed an executive order designed to lower prices of drugs covered by Medicare.

The COVID pandemic has been the greatest test of the American health-care system in modern history. Harris was vice president of an administration that boosted widespread distribution of COVID vaccines and created a program for free mail-order COVID tests. Wastewater surveillance for viruses has improved, allowing public health officials to respond more quickly when levels are high. Bird flu now poses a new threat, highlighting the importance of the Biden-Harris administration’s Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy.

Trump touted his pandemic efforts during his first debate with Harris, but in 2020 he encouraged resistance to basic public health measures, spread misinformation about treatments and suggested injections of bleach could cure the disease. By the end of that year about 350,000 people in the U.S. had died of COVID; the current national total is well over a million. Trump and his staff had one great success: Operation Warp Speed, which developed effective COVID vaccines extremely quickly. Remarkably, however, Trump plans billion-dollar budget cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, which started the COVID-vaccine research program. These steps are in line with the guidance of Project 2025, an extreme conservative blueprint for the next presidency drawn up by many former Trump staffers. He’s also talked about ending the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy, calling it a pork project.

Reproductive Rights

Harris is a staunch supporter of reproductive rights. During the September debate, she spoke plainly about her desire to reinstate “the protections of Roe v. Wade” and added, “I think the American people believe that certain freedoms, in particular the freedom to make decisions about one’s own body, should not be made by the government.” She has vowed to improve access to abortion. She has defended the right to order the abortion pill mifepristone through the mail under authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, even as MAGA Republican state officials have tried—so far unsuccessfully—to revoke those rights. As a U.S. senator, she co-sponsored a package of bills to reduce rising rates of maternal mortality. In August, Trump said he would vote against a ballot measure expanding access to abortions in Florida, where he lives. The current Florida “heartbeat” law makes most abortions illegal after six weeks of pregnancy, before many people even know they are pregnant.

Trump appointed the conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, removing the constitutional right to a basic health-care procedure. He spreads misinformation about abortion—during the September debate, he said some states support abortion into the ninth month and beyond, calling it “execution after birth.” No state allows this. He also refused to answer the question of whether he would veto a federal abortion ban, saying Congress would never approve such a ban in the first place. He made no mention of an executive order and praised the Supreme Court, three justices of which he placed, for sending abortion back to states to decide. This ruling led to a patchwork of laws and entire sections of the country where abortion is dangerously limited.

Gun Safety

The Biden-Harris administration closed the gun-show loophole, which had allowed people to buy guns without a license. The evidence is clear that easy access to guns in the U.S. has increased the risk of suicides, murder and firearm accidents. Harris supports a program that temporarily removes guns from people deemed dangerous by a court.

Trump promised the National Rifle Association that he would get rid of all Biden-Harris gun measures. Even after Trump was injured and a supporter was killed in an attempted assassination, the former president remained silent on gun safety. His running mate, J. D. Vance, said the increased number of school shootings was an unhappy “fact of life” and the solution was stronger school security.

Environment and Climate

Harris said pointedly during the September debate that climate change was real. She would continue the responsible leadership shown by Biden, who has undertaken the most substantial climate action of any president. The Biden-Harris administration restored U.S. membership in the Paris Agreement on coping with climate change. Harris’s election would continue IRA tax credits for clean energy, as well as regulations to reduce power-plant emissions and coal use. This approach puts the country on course to spend the authorized billions of dollars for renewable energy that should cut U.S. carbon emissions in half by 2030. The IRA also includes a commitment to broadening electric vehicle technology.

Trump has said climate change is a hoax, and he dodged the question “What would you do to fight climate change?” during the September debate. He pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement. Under his direction the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies abandoned more than 100 environmental policies and rules, many designed to ensure clean air and water, restrict the dangers of toxic chemicals and protect wildlife. He has also tried to revoke funding for satellite-based climate-research projects.

Technology

The Biden-Harris administration’s 2023 Executive Order on Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence requires that AI-based products be safe for consumers and national security. The CHIPS and Science Act invigorates the chipmaking industry and semiconductor research while growing the workforce. A new Trump administration would undo all of this work and quickly. Under the devious and divisive Project 2025 framework, technology safeguards on AI would be overturned. AI influences our criminal justice, labor and health-care systems. As is the rightful complaint now, there would be no knowing how these programs are developed, how they are tested or whether they even work.

The 2024 U.S. ballots are also about Congress and local officials—people who make decisions that affect our communities and families. Extremist state legislators in Ohio, for instance, have given politicians the right to revoke any rule from the state health department designed to limit the spread of contagious disease. Other states have passed similar measures. In education, many states now forbid lessons about racial bias. But research has shown such lessons reduce stereotypes and do not prompt schoolchildren to view one another negatively, regardless of their race. This is the kind of science MAGA politicians ignore, and such people do not deserve our votes.

At the top of the ballot, Harris does deserve our vote. She offers us a way forward lit by rationality and respect for all. Economically, the renewable-energy projects she supports will create new jobs in rural America. Her platform also increases tax deductions for new small businesses from $5,000 to $50,000, making it easier for them to turn a profit. Trump, a convicted felon who was also found liable of sexual abuse in a civil trial, offers a return to his dark fantasies and demagoguery, whether it’s denying the reality of climate change or the election results of 2020 that were confirmed by more than 60 court cases, including some that were overseen by judges whom he appointed.

One of two futures will materialize according to our choices in this election. Only one is a vote for reality and integrity. We urge you to vote for Kamala Harris.

More Nerdly Stuff

"Rising ape levels" may be my new touch stone for thinking about, and debating, all things ecological. That phrase alone made the whole 24 minutes worth my while.

And maybe, next time some deliberately ignorant yahoo starts in on "diversity", you could remind them that without diversity, the species is more likely to become inbred, which makes it more likely that the species will die out sooner than it should.

Or you could just go with Zappa:

Today's Nerd Thing

Tardigrades on the moon.

Listen Up, Nerds

Weapons, predatory behavior, and big expensive brains.

Arizona State Univ Center For Human Origins

Jess Thompson, PhD, Yale, is the kind of pro who knows her shit so well she can explain it in a way that makes it understandable to a dope like me. Which is a very good thing, because this kind of presentation is basically a combination progress report and sales pitch.

These efforts have to be funded, so she's showing the people who have ponied up the money so far, that spending more of their money on this stuff is worth it.

I think it is.

Smart Guys

I'm really glad there are people who volunteer to get the headaches that come from thinking this stuff through.

My head thanks you for your service, guys.

Electrifying The Hardhats

Progress is convincing the workin' guys that the cool new gear is all electric.

The fact that it's better for the future of their kids is, for now, secondary at best. What they care about right now - IMHO what they should care about - is whether or not the stuff works, and can it be a real benefit to them on the job?

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. — On a 40-acre dirt and gravel lot, I climbed into the cabin of a 55,000-pound excavator. Construction crews use these hulking machines to dig trenches for laying pipes and wires or hollowing out building foundations. I took it out for a joyride.

10 steps you can take to lower your carbon footprint

When I switched on the motor, there was no ignition roar and no belch of diesel fumes from a tailpipe. This machine, powered by four batteries that each are big enough to run a small electric car, came to life silently.

The quiet didn’t last. The excavator’s giant treads trundled noisily over the gravel until I reached a good spot to dig. Then I grabbed hold of two joysticks and sank the bucket arm down into the dirt to scoop out as much earth as the claw could carry. I hit a big rock. The machine momentarily pitched forward, straining to loosen it from the ground — and then the electric motor heaved the boulder and a clod of dirt into the air in a puff of dust.

When they run on diesel, the biggest pieces of construction equipment can churn through 10 or more gallons of fuel per hour, emitting as much carbon and air pollution as several cars combined. Off-road equipment, including excavators, bulldozers, cranes and tractors, create about 3 percent of U.S. carbon emissions — roughly the same as the airline industry. Making these machines carbon-free would be almost as big a step toward halting climate change as taking all commercial planes out of the sky.

It won’t be easy. Electrifying off-road vehicles presents all the same challenges as replacing gas-powered cars with EVs, including worries about charging infrastructure, battery capacity and high upfront costs — plus the added challenge of digging, pushing and lifting heavy loads for hours at a time.

“They are more difficult because most of these vehicles don’t just propel themselves, they also do work,” said Kim Stelson, a mechanical engineering professor at the University of Minnesota who studies off-road vehicles. “But if we want to solve the overall problem [of climate change], we have to solve this one.”

Despite the obstacles, electric machines are slowly starting to show up at farms and construction sites. John Deere plans to sell more than 20 models of electric and hybrid construction equipment and tractors by 2026. Construction giants Caterpillar and Komatsu are developing electric excavators and wheel loaders. Volvo Construction Equipment, which made the excavator I was driving, sells seven electric models. “Almost all the major companies are working on electric solutions,” Stelson said.

How are electric and diesel machines different?

Volvo’s electric machines are very similar to its diesel machines, with the exception that their engines have been swapped out for batteries. The 55,000-pound electric excavator, for instance, has 264 kilowatt-hours of battery storage — the same as nine Mini Cooper EVs, or a little more than one electric Hummer.

I drove both the electric and diesel versions of the machine, and the differences between them mirrored the differences between EVs and gas-powered cars. The electric machine idled silently and its controls were slightly more responsive than the diesel one, since its electric motor can deliver power faster than a combustion engine — similar to the way an EV can accelerate faster than a gas-powered car. But both machines pulled dirt out of the ground with the same power.

You can see the similarities on display on the assembly line at Volvo Construction Equipment’s North American headquarters in Shippensburg. Similar hulking, half-formed chassis move down the lines for both types of vehicles. But, halfway through, a huge hook hanging from the ceiling will either lower an engine or a battery pack into the machine for workers to install.

The electric machines are catching on slowly. Of the 60,000 pieces of construction equipment Volvo delivered to customers last year, 895 were electric according to the company’s annual report. The company said it aims to offer electric versions of more than a third of its models by 2030.

Where might you spot electric construction equipment?

Electric machines are good for a particular kind of job site. The machines need a place to charge — which could be the same level 1, 2 or 3 chargers that EVs plug into in buildings, parking lots or charging stations. And ideally, they wouldn’t have to move heavy loads for very long shifts.

“If you have a 24-hour, round-the-clock type of [work schedule], battery electrics aren’t very practical because you can’t stop to plug in for the four or five hours that it would take to recharge it,” said Ray Gallant, vice president of sustainability and productivity services at Volvo Construction Equipment.

Volvo says it often sells or leases electric machines for job sites where it pays to limit noise and air pollution. The Toronto Zoo used one of the company’s machines to avoid upsetting animals while repairing their enclosures. Cemeteries have bought excavators to quietly dig graves without disturbing mourners. Construction crews working on busy city streets use the machines to avoid annoying the neighbors or polluting their air.

At the Molly Pitcher dairy farm five miles down the road from Volvo Construction Equipment, farmers use an electric wheel loader to move feed, clean out barn floors and help lift and maintain pumps. The farmers say it’s better for the cattle to be around quieter machinery. Plus, they can charge the battery for free because the farm generates its own electricity using a device that converts manure into power.

“The more I can use that electricity, the more profitable we are,” said Keith Jones, the farm owner.

On other job sites where electric vehicles aren’t practical, construction crews can cut their emissions by running their machines on greener fuels, such as renewable diesel made from crops or used cooking oil. California now requires all off-road equipment to run on renewable diesel.

“There, you’re getting up to a 70 percent carbon benefit relative to running a diesel fuel, so that could be a really key intermediate step,” said Tom Durbin, a faculty researcher at the Center for Environmental Research and Technology at the University of California, Riverside.

One day, crews could upgrade to machines that run on pure hydrogen, a fuel that creates zero carbon emissions — but those mainly exist as prototypes today.

Hot Air

“It all started with an enquiry from a nurse,” Dr Karl Kruszelnicki told listeners to his science phone-in show on the Triple J radio station in Brisbane. “She wanted to know whether she was contaminating the operating theatre she worked in by quietly farting in the sterile environment during operations, and I realised that I didn't know. But I was determined to find out.”

Dr Kruszelnicki then described the method by which he had established whether human flatus was germ-laden, or merely malodorous. “I contacted Luke Tennent, a microbiologist in Canberra, and together we devised an experiment. He asked a colleague to break wind directly onto two Petri dishes from a distance of 5 centimetres, first fully clothed, then with his trousers down. Then he observed what happened. Overnight, the second Petri dish sprouted visible lumps of two types of bacteria that are usually found only in the gut and on the skin. But the flatus which had passed through clothing caused no bacteria to sprout, which suggests that clothing acts as a filter.

“Our deduction is that the enteric zone in the second Petri dish was caused by the flatus itself, and the splatter ring around that was caused by the sheer velocity of the fart, which blew skin bacteria from the cheeks and blasted it onto the dish. 

It seems, therefore, that flatus can cause infection if the emitter is naked, but not if he or she is clothed. But the results of the experiment should not be considered alarming, because neither type of bacterium is harmful. In fact, they're similar to the ‘friendly’ bacteria found in yoghurt.

“Our final conclusion? Don't fart naked near food. All right, it's not rocket science. But then again, maybe it is?”

On The Roiling Of America

It would give me a warm fuzzy prideful feeling deep down in my heart to watch Fauci look straight into the camera and say, "Here I am, assholes - come and get me."

Obviously, this could rile up those assholes and trigger a whole new spate of threatening or violent actions.

But I'm enough of a cautious optimist to believe there are far more good people in this country than there are the kind of assholes who go around dropping death threats on valued, respected leaders.

So I think lots of those good people would be willing to stand up and defend a guy like Dr Fauci, and beat back the MAGA assholes who just can't manage not to act like they never outgrew their tendencies to behave like the raging morons they were in middle school.

God how I hate those fuckin' guys.

Today I Learned

Ten years ago, corn stalks were 13 feet tall.

Now they're about 5 feet - and each plant is putting out 3 times as many kernels.

3x

Hacking the genome of corn (aka: they GMO'd that motherfucker), makes for a plant that can put more of its energy into producing the food instead of making the stuff we can't eat.

Today's Nerd Thing

No need to mark your calendars just yet, but we're homing in on it.

I got to watch live on TV in 1969 when Armstrong and Aldrin landed the first time.

God willin' and the crick don't rise I'll get to watch it happen again.

Humans are going back to the Moon to stay, but when that will be is becoming less clear

A 2019 Time magazine cover portrayed four astronauts running towards the Moon. Pictured alongside the headline “The Next Space Race”, one of the astronauts carried an American flag, one carried a Chinese flag and the other two belonged to space companies owned by billionaires: Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin.

Until recently, it seemed as if the US and SpaceX were set to win this race to return to the Moon with Nasa’s Artemis programme. But a number of setbacks have called that into question. And Blue Origin, China and other countries and companies are continuing their own lunar efforts.

On January 9 2024, Nasa announced that it was delaying the Artemis 2 mission, the first crewed flight of the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion capsule – the vehicles built to send astronauts back to deep space. The flight would slip from late 2024 to no earlier than September 2025. This was due to some safety issues that need to be fixed on Orion.

Consequently, Artemis 3, which is supposed to involve the first crewed lunar landing since 1972, will take place no earlier than September 2026. Artemis 3 is to use SpaceX’s Starship orbiter as the lander for two crew members. This mission is set to put the first woman and the first person of colour on the lunar surface.

A non-American crew member could also walk on the Moon by 2030, highlighting the fact that Nasa has involved international partners in the Artemis venture. Up until now, just 12 humans have set foot on the Moon. All of them have been male and all have been American.

However, the Starship orbiter, crucial to these aims, has experienced problems. A second test launch for the rocketship-like orbiter atop its huge booster rocket back in November 2023, was spectacularly destroyed eight minutes and six seconds after lift off.

It will have to be ready to go by 2026. But, before then, SpaceX will have to demonstrate that it can refuel in orbit and then land Starship on the Moon without crew.

At the same time, however, Blue Origin is also working on a lander, called Blue Moon. Blue Moon is due to be used as the Moon landing craft for the Artemis 5 and 6 missions in 2029 and 2030.

Time will tell which lander can actually be ready for use first. But competition is always a good stimulator, and it could accelerate achievements.

Commercial companies supporting Nasa in the Artemis program will have to put a lot of attention into what to do and when. The lives of crew members are at stake here, so missions have to proceed in a safe and sustainable manner.

As with Apollo, Nasa is also trying to use the program to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and mathematicians. Baby boomers like myself are very proud to be “Apollo kids” who were inspired to study scientific subjects by those momentous achievements – particularly the first steps on another world, viewed through black and white TVs in July 1969.

International competition

China is also preparing itself, together with several other countries including Russia, to develop a lunar base for humans, called the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). Beijing and its partners will include also private sectors players and governmental and non-governmental organisations, with an organisational scheme which is a first.

The Chinese program’s first human missions to the lunar surface are expected by 2030. Among the sites where they want to land is the Moon’s south pole. Nasa also wants to land here, but few of Beijing’s choices are in overlap with the locations selected for Artemis.

The south pole is a target for both the US and China because countries want to extract the water ice that’s hidden in craters there. This water could be used for life support at lunar bases and to make rocket fuel, helping bring down the cost of space exploration.

Space programs are never on time, and postponements are normal. Space agencies are more cautious nowadays, even more than before, because few tragedies we experienced in the past are obliging them to think very carefully before launching humans in space.

Safety of the crew is mandatory, and it must be always the first priority. So, if this is the reason why we have to wait a bit more before few human beings, after decades, will walk again on the Moon, I’m happy to wait for it.

Going to space has never been easy, as demonstrated by several uncrewed missions to the Moon over the last 12 months – both governmental and commercial – which didn’t make it. But perhaps it’s better we fail now while we are preparing for the new phase of humanity’s history.

The Moon will soon experience human beings on its surface again, working and living on a regular basis. But when humans go back there, this time it will be to stay.

Today's Nerd Thing

Does it come as some kinda news that the whole alpha-macho MAGA-bro thing turns out to have been based on a myth? Does that surprise anybody?

Today's Nerdy Thing

 –ˉˉˉ Supersonic

Today's Debunkment

Milo Rossi walks us thru the frightening world of Moral Neutrality that is the internet.

Ever hear of The Bosnian Pyramids? No? Good - they don't exist. But a YouTube video pimping the idea to gullible rubes has been viewed 30,000,000 times.

30 Million

Starting at about 12:00

It can be relatively easy for a charismatic shit-talker to convince you of something that's utter bullshit, because he can speak in terms of the absolute.

Scientists are trained never to go too far beyond the 95% certainty threshold, because the next round of discovery could totally vacate their entire thesis.

So a huckster can give us that supreme confidence most of us need so we can feel comfortable in our presumptions, while a reasonable person has to leave room for doubt - which makes us feel less than fully secure.

Another Nerdy Thing

Tomorrow

Don't look up - unless you have proper eye protection.

Tomorrow (April 8, 2024) is the eclipse.

No - It's Not Strictly Binary

Bowie the lobster is half blue and half orange, half male and half female.

And all natural.

Look Up - But Be Careful

April 8, 2024

Eclipse Eye Safety

Except during the brief total phase of a total solar eclipse, when the Moon completely blocks the Sun’s bright face, it is not safe to look directly at the Sun without specialized eye protection for solar viewing.

Viewing any part of the bright Sun through a camera lens, binoculars, or a telescope without a special-purpose solar filter secured over the front of the optics will instantly cause severe eye injury.

Eye Safety for Partial and Annular Solar Eclipses

Partial or annular solar eclipses are different from total solar eclipses – there is no period of totality when the Moon completely blocks the Sun's bright face. Therefore, during partial or annular solar eclipses, it is never safe to look directly at the eclipse without proper eye protection.

When watching a partial or annular solar eclipse directly with your eyes, you must look through safe solar viewing glasses (“eclipse glasses”) or a safe handheld solar viewer at all times. Eclipse glasses are NOT regular sunglasses; regular sunglasses, no matter how dark, are not safe for viewing the Sun. Safe solar viewers are thousands of times darker and ought to comply with the ISO 12312-2 international standard. NASA does not approve any particular brand of solar viewers.

Always inspect your eclipse glasses or handheld viewer before use; if torn, scratched, or otherwise damaged, discard the device. Always supervise children using solar viewers.

Do NOT look at the Sun through a camera lens, telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device while wearing eclipse glasses or using a handheld solar viewer — the concentrated solar rays will burn through the filter and cause serious eye injury.

If you don’t have eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer, you can use an indirect viewing method, which does not involve looking directly at the Sun. One way is to use a pinhole projector, which has a small opening (for example, a hole punched in an index card) and projects an image of the Sun onto a nearby surface. With the Sun at your back, you can then safely view the projected image. Do NOT look at the Sun through the pinhole!

Viewed thru a kitchen colander

You can make your own eclipse projector using a cardboard box, a white sheet of paper, tape, scissors, and aluminum foil. With the Sun behind you, sunlight will stream through a pinhole punched into aluminum foil taped over a hole in one side of the box.

During the partial phases of a solar eclipse, this will project a crescent Sun onto a white sheet of paper taped to the inside of the box. Look into the box through another hole cut into the box to see the projected image.

An illustration shows the silhouette of a person looking into a rectangular box through a hole cut into the end of a box. The Sun appears behind the person. Sunlight streams into the box through a small hole punched into a piece of aluminum foil taped over the Sun-facing end of the box, to the person's left, projecting a crescent Sun onto a white sheet of paper taped to the inside of the box.

An eclipse projector is an easy and safe way to view the eclipsed Sun.

Do NOT use eclipse glasses or handheld viewers with cameras, binoculars, or telescopes. Those require different types of solar filters. When viewing a partial or annular eclipse through cameras, binoculars, or telescopes equipped with proper solar filters, you do not need to wear eclipse glasses. (The solar filters do the same job as the eclipse glasses to protect your eyes.)

Seek expert advice from an astronomer before using a solar filter with a camera, telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device. Note that solar filters must be attached to the front of any telescope, binoculars, camera lens, or other optics.

Eye Safety for Total Solar Eclipses

Here are some important safety guidelines to follow during a total solar eclipse.

• View the Sun through eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer during the partial eclipse phases before and after totality.
• You can view the eclipse directly without proper eye protection only when the Moon completely obscures the Sun’s bright face – during the brief and spectacular period known as totality. (You’ll know it’s safe when you can no longer see any part of the Sun through eclipse glasses or a solar viewer.)
• As soon as you see even a little bit of the bright Sun reappear after totality, immediately put your eclipse glasses back on or use a handheld solar viewer to look at the Sun.

Skin Safety

Even during a partial or annular eclipse, or during the partial phases of a total eclipse, the Sun will still be very bright. If you are watching an entire eclipse, you may be in direct sunlight for hours. Remember to wear sunscreen, a hat, and protective clothing to prevent skin damage.

Life - Uh - Finds A Way

Why do I keep hearing the Jurassic Park theme in my head?

Mammoths to be reintroduced to Colorado amid concerns they could get wild

Manny the in vitro mammoth produced by scientists is already quite a beast. Researchers say he is constantly breaking down neighboring ranchers’ fences at his research facility home in Wyoming.

Colorado voters approved a special ballot measure last Friday to reintroduce woolly mammoths to the Western Slope. The measure requires the state to introduce a full herd by 2030.

State representative and avid environmental activist Phoebe Flintstone, I-Denver, wrote the proposal and gathered signatures to get it on this spring’s ballot.

“You know, climate change drove these things out of here, and they were really critical elements of our ecosystem. It’s time we bring them back,” Flintstone said, adjusting her bone septum piercing.

Scientists agree that a warming climate at the end of the Ice Age drove mammoths to extinction 10,000 years ago. Some researchers have argued that mammoths’ extinction allowed for a spike in North American wildfires because the grazing behemoths were no longer around to hoover up dry grass and vegetation through their trunks.

“If we reintroduce the mammoth, we could get our current fires back under control,” said Dr. Ivory Tauer, a researcher at Harfhard University. Tauer is part of a team of researchers who made headlines when they successfully impregnated an Asian elephant with a mammoth calf. The newborn calf, affectionately called “Manny,” has already started breaking down fences at his research facility in Wyoming.

Meanwhile, ranchers and other property owners on the Western Slope say the reintroduction will be disastrous.

“My ranch isn’t Jurassic Park,” said Collbran rancher Weejuss Wannabeleff Alown. “What am I gonna do when one of these things is bashing down my fences? Call Jeff Goldblum? Chris Pratt?”

Boulder resident Dreadlock Whiteman said he voted for the measure because mammoths are “pretty cool.”

“I mean, imagine seeing one of those things in real life,” Whiteman said, “like for real, like really alive. I mean, just imagine that, dude. I mean you can’t even imagine it because it’s so out there. And it’s gonna happen for real. I mean, that’s pretty sick dude. You know?”

When asked whether he thinks the reintroductions could negatively impact Western Slope communities, Whiteman appeared confused.

“Western Slope what?” he asked.

“The people who live there,” the Aspen Daily News clarified.

“Oh shit,” he responded. “That’s gonna be wild.”

1. This was published yesterday - large grains of salt are in order
2. There is in fact an effort being made to "un-extinct" the mammoth, but the people working on it say nothing will happen for another 3 or 4 years
3. There's nothing in the news about a baby mammoth on the rampage in Wyoming - or anywhere else
4. But don't count on anybody thinking better of it, and not doing something just for giggles

Today's Nerd Thing

The Erodium Copy Robot
byu/lonyduck inBeAmazed