An impressive woman

 

I don't know much about Deniz Fonseca Santos, other than she has two Instagram accounts, but there's not a lot more I need to know to be impressed.

__itssantos__

_santos_hair_

Here are a couple of examples of why she's impressive.

Two articles about sperm

 

Yes, sperm is important.  So let's look at the new research.

Imagine that --

Wildfire Smoke Linked to Sperm Quality Decline

Reference: Lindell LX, Holt SK, Petersen E, et al. Wildfire smoke exposure is associated with decreased sperm concentration and total motile sperm count. Fertility and Sterility, 2025. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2025.08.031

"The research, published in Fertility and Sterility, encompassed an analysis of semen samples from 84 men who provided sperm for intrauterine insemination procedures between 2018 and 2022. Major wildfire smoke events in the Seattle area occurred in 2018, 2020 and 2022. By comparing semen analyses collected before and during wildfire seasons, the researchers were able to track changes in sperm health.

“This study takes advantage of our institution’s location in the Puget Sound region, where wildfire smoke events create distinct pre- and post-exposure periods in a natural experiment to examine how a sudden, temporary decline in air quality influences semen parameters,” the authors wrote.

The team found consistent declines in sperm concentration, total sperm count, total motile (movement-capable) sperm count, and total progressively motile sperm count during wildfire smoke exposure. One measure, the percentage of progressively motile sperm, showed a slight increase, though it was not enough to offset the overall reductions in sperm quality."

 

Well, if sperm quality is a problem, then supercharge them!

Molecular “Switch” That Supercharges Sperm Identified

Reference: 

Violante S, Kyaw A, Kouatli L, et al. Sperm meet the elevated energy demands to attain fertilization competence by increasing flux through aldolase. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. 2025;122(39):e2506417122. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2506417122

"Before ejaculation, mammalian sperm rest in a low-energy state. Afterward, as they swim through the female reproductive tract, they undergo a series of changes that ultimately help them reach and fertilize an egg. These include swimming with quick, vigorous movements, as well as a change to the membranes that will encounter an egg. ... 

By leveraging facilities such as MSU’s Mass Spectrometry and Metabolomics Core, the study paints a fuller picture of the high-energy, multistep process required for sperm to reach their goal of fertilization.

This includes the discovery that a particular enzyme called aldolase helps sperm convert glucose into energy and that sperm even utilize molecular fuel that they already have on board when they begin their trek."

So, get more aldolase!

 

Fossil fuels don't make economic sense

 

Because of the marked drop in the price of solar cells to generate power, solar energy is now the cheapest source of energy on Earth.  That's very similar to what the title of the article says:

Solar Energy Is Now the World’s Cheapest Source Of Power

The research team also found that the price of lithium-ion batteries has fallen by 89% since 2010.

Interesting article; it says this, in part:

"Solar energy is now so cost-effective that, in the sunniest countries, it costs as little as £0.02 to produce one unit of power."

And it says this, too:

"The research team also found that the price of lithium-ion batteries has fallen by 89% since 2010, making solar-plus-storage systems as cost-effective as gas power plants. These hybrid setups, which combine solar panels with batteries, are now standard in many regions and allow solar energy to be stored and released when needed, turning it into a more reliable, dispatchable source of power that helps balance grid demand."

While noting that some energy is being wasted because solar installations apparently aren't that easy to connect to the grid, that is something that could be and should be overcome.

Reference: 
Rezaee E, Silva SRP. Solar Energy in 2025: Global deployment, cost trends, and the role of energy storage in enabling a resilient smart energy infrastructure. Authorea. 2025. doi: 10.22541/au.175647950.09188768/v1

Which then brings me to something I've said before; stop wasting the real estate of parking lots and put them to work.

Parking lot solar is a good idea -- again.

Oh gee, look:  South Korea is doing it too.  

New national law will turn large parking lots into solar power farms

As the article describes, it particularly works well in sunny Arizona.

How much salary do astronauts make in a year? $1 million?

 

Really???

Sean Duffy, the Secretary of Transportation and I believe at this moment still the acting (emphasis on the act part) head of NASA, had this to say about how much salary air traffic controllers earn.

Duffy’s ATC pay comments raise ire among rank-and-file controllers

"In a post on X on October 7, 2025, Duffy wrote: “We are bringing a record amount of new air traffic controllers into the system by speeding up the admissions process. We have hired 20% more controllers this year! Did you know the starting salary for controllers is $180K/year and can go as high as $400K/year? The best and the brightest are joining the ranks and this is going to make YOUR air travel safer and faster.”

Is that real? Simply stated, no.

"While the FAA does not publish a single pay scale labeled “starting salary,” public data from the Office of Personnel Management and the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that most newly trained controllers earn between $70,000 and $90,000 after completing academy training and reporting to their assigned facilities. Entry-level trainees at the academy make closer to $45,000 to $50,000.

Only controllers who have completed years of on-the-job training and achieved Certified Professional Controller (CPC) status at the busiest facilities — such as New York Center, Chicago Center, or Southern California TRACON — can approach $180,000, typically through a combination of locality adjustments, night differentials, and overtime. Even at those facilities, salaries above $200,000 are rare, and the $400,000 figure mentioned by Duffy does not appear in any federal pay data."

So Duffy must think that astronauts make even more than that. They don't; salaries range from about $84K to $152K. 

However, the upcoming NASA administrator, which is surprisingly Jared Isaacman, is quite wealthy.  That's how he could buy SpaceX trips into space.

Put your back into it

 

This is research, folks.

Reference: Lenschow C, Mendes ARP, Ferreira L, et al. A galanin-positive population of lumbar spinal cord neurons modulates sexual arousal and copulatory behavior in male mice. Nature Communications 2025. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-63877-2

But what does it mean, you ask?

The Spinal Circuit Is Not Only Involved in Ejaculation but Also in Arousal

Yes, that does sound interesting.  Let's find out a little more.

We can skip over the details of the research with the mice. Here's the take-home message:

"Although it was previously believed that the brain commands and the spinal cord only reacts, the team has shown that the spinal cord appears to play an active role, weighing genital input, arousal and brain signals in real time.

“The spinal cord isn’t just a passive relay station executing brain commands. It integrates sensory inputs, responds to arousal and adjusts its output based on the animal’s internal state. It’s much more sophisticated than we imagined,” said Lima.

But wait, why did they study mice?  I can answer that.

"In male mice, ejaculation follows repeated mounting and thrusting, resembling the gradual sexual buildup seen in many mammals, including humans. Mice may therefore offer a more relevant model for studying how arousal, sensory feedback and motor output are integrated."

That's why.  So, straighten your spine, and other organs may follow.

Carts

 

This article a few weeks ago was about what the Russians are doing to keep their Aeroflot passenger aircraft flying.

Russia’s Aeroflot to dismantle cargo aircraft for spare parts

"Russia’s flag carrier, Aeroflot, is reportedly preparing to dismantle eight Boeing cargo aircraft to ensure the airworthiness of its passenger fleet, according to Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service. These aircraft are believed to come from Volga Dnepr Airlines, a Russian air charter provider, under a contract valued at approximately $130 million.

Before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, it was estimated that the country operated between 1,500 and 1,800 Western-made commercial aircraft. Following the imposition of sanctions by the United States and the European Union, Russian operators lost access to new aircraft, spare parts, and certified maintenance support. Because of that carriers have been forced to seek alternative and often unofficial solutions to keep their fleets operational."

It reminded me of this quote from the movie Patton (I haven't researched it to see if it is reported he actually said this; but it would not surprise me):

"You know how I know that they're finished out there? The carts. They're using carts to lug their supplies and wounded. In my dreams I saw the carts. They kept buzzing around in my head and I couldn't figure out why. Then I remembered: the nightmare in the snow -- the endless, agonizing retreat from Moscow. God the cold! The wounded, and what was left of the supplies, were thrown into carts. Napoleon was finished. No color left, not even the red of blood. Only snow."

General Patton believed he had lived earlier lives as a soldier in many different wars and conflicts, and so he attributed this vision to being a member of Napoleon's army in the Russian campaign.

This is the scene where the lines are spoken:

Lighthouse of the Week, November 30 - December 6, 2025: Wawatam (St. Ignace) Lighthouse, Michigan, USA

 

For this week's lighthouse, I'm featuring another one that's on a live webcam. You can see that here, down at the Mackinac Grille.

Perhaps even more interesting, this one didn't start out its working history as a lighthouse, it started out as a tourist attraction.  You can read about that here:  Wawatam Light

So where is it? It's on the Lake Huron coast of Lake Michigan, and as might be expected, located on the lakeshore of St. Ignace. See where that is by clicking here.  As far as local landmarks go, it's not as famous as the Mackinac Bridge, the northern end of which lies just south of St. Ignace, in Straits State Park.

The Lighthouse Directory provides more information about the lighthouse and its history:

"2006 (relocated; tower built 1998). Active (maintained by City of St. Ignace); focal plane 65 ft (20 m); white flash every 5 s. 62 ft (19 m) octagonal tower with lantern and gallery. Lighthouse painted white with red trim; lantern roof is red. ... This lighthouse was originally built by the Michigan highway department as a faux lighthouse at the Monroe Welcome Center on I-75 in the southeastern corner of the state, near the Ohio state line. When the welcome center was renovated in 2004 the highway department donated the structure to the City of St. Ignace. The lighthouse was installed at the end of the former railroad ferry pier, where for many years the ferry Chief Wawatam loaded and unloaded railroad cars crossing the Strait of Mackinac. After a wait for Coast Guard approval the lighthouse was inaugurated as a privately maintained aid to navigation on August 20, 2006."

Cool, huh?  Don't forget to stop by if you go to the Upper Peninsula via I-75.

Pictures, and a video:

 

Video:

The 2025 MacArthur Fellows (the genius grant recipients)

 

For the end of November, I thought I'd perform a public service and post the link to the official website listing the 2025 MacArthur Fellows.  The MacArthur fellowship awards are the so-called "genius grants".

2025 MacArthur Fellows

(In a year, this link may list the 2026 fellows, because the link doesn't specify the year.)

I don't know any of them personally -- not that I expected to -- but one of them is at Johns Hopkins U in Baltimore. 

William Tarpeh's work is particularly useful, in my view.

"Nitrogen-, sulfur-, and phosphorus-containing compounds are ubiquitous in municipal, agricultural, and industrial wastewater. In wastewater, these elements are harmful to the environment and human health, but they are also the basis of essential chemical products including fertilizer and household cleaners. Conventional methods of ammonia stripping, which removes nitrogen from wastewater, require significant energy and chemical inputs. Tarpeh has developed electrochemical-based processes to isolate nitrogen from wastewater using electricity and ion-selective membranes. His electrochemical reactors convert nitrogen in urine waste streams into ammonia-based products, and they can be tuned to produce ammonium sulfate, which is used in fertilizer, or ammonium hydroxide, which is used in household cleaners and industrial chemical production. Unrefined and mixed-source waste streams present additional challenges for resource recovery. The relatively low concentration of nitrogen amidst many other impurities makes it more difficult to efficiently extract and convert it. Tarpeh and colleagues have demonstrated an electrocatalyst-in-a-box (ECaB) that recovers ammonia directly from municipal wastewater. The two-stage reactor assembly first separates nitrogen compounds from wastewater. Electrocatalysis applied in a separate reactor compartment converts the concentrated nitrogen into ammonium sulfate. This technology offers the potential for a closed-loop system that allows local sanitation systems to manufacture needed chemicals. Tarpeh is also developing other technologies, like ligand-exchange adsorbents (materials that bind molecules to their surface) and polymer membranes, to recover resources with industrial applications, such as lithium and phosphorus."

Diagram and citation of a preprint from the Tarpeh Laboratory:

 

Orisa Z. Coombs, Taigyu Joo, Amilton Barbosa Botelho Junior, Divya Chalise, William A. Tarpeh. Prototyping and modelling a photovoltaic-thermal electrochemical stripping system for distributed urine nitrogen recovery. Nature Water. 2025.

Just what we need -- discount weapons of war

 

To reflect on my subject line, one of the things I don't think the world needs is a lower-cost cruise missile.  The only place that I think this might be useful would be for the defense of Ukraine.

Kratos unveils Ragnarök low-cost cruise missile designed for mass production

"The Ragnarök features a carbon-composite fuselage, a wing-folding mechanism for compact storage, and compatibility with multiple carriage options, including internal bays, external pylons, and palletized configurations. The design also aligns with NATO standard 14-inch rack systems."

They only cost $150K each when ordered in packs of 100. 

I also don't think it's a good idea to name these weapons after the name of the battle at the end of the world in Norse mythology.

In the picture below, the Ragnarok missile is under the jet.

Look, up in the sky (on that building), it's superwood!

 

I think this is a pretty important article about a potentially important product, if a) they can speed up the process to make enough of it, and b) they can make it with a feedstock that doesn't cause environmental damage.

Also, the technology was developed in Maryland and it's manufactured in Frederick, so it's a "home state" product.

Scientists create ‘Superwood’ that’s stronger than steel

"The breakthrough came in 2017, when [Liangbing] Hu first strengthened regular wood by chemically treating it to enhance its natural cellulose, making it a better construction material.

The wood was first boiled in a bath of water and selected chemicals, then hot-pressed to collapse it at the cellular level, making it significantly denser. At the end of the weeklong process, the resulting wood had a strength-to-weight ratio “higher than that of most structural metals and alloys,” according to the study published in the journal Nature.

Now, after years of Hu perfecting the process and filing over 140 patents, Superwood has launched commercially".

The actual study (Hu listed himself as the final author, not the first author):

Song, J., Chen, C., Zhu, S. et al. Processing bulk natural wood into a high-performance structural material. Nature 554, 224–228 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25476

OK, now let's agree not to make any jokes about this.

Vanessa has two

 

Actress/singer/entertainer Vanessa Hudgens and husband/baseball pitcher Cole Tucker have announced they now have a second offspring.

Vanessa Hudgens gives birth! High School Musical star welcomes second child with Cole Tucker

The date of the birth is uncertain; she may have had it a couple of weeks ago.  From her appearance in October, that seems quite possible.

Volcán de Fuego entertains

 

While Hawaii's Kilauea is semi-regularly putting on a show with lava fountains; and there was a big explosion in the Afar of Ethiopia downrange and downwind from Erta Ale; and Mount Semeru went larger than usual with a long pyroclastic flow; meanwhile, volcano (volcán) Fuego in Guatemala continues to put on a commonly spectacular show.

The summit explosion on November 30 (2025) is a good demonstration of its entertainment value.

Lighthouse of the Week, November 23-29, 2025: Race Rock, New York, USA

 

In years past, I have provided picture and text descriptions of several lighthouses on New York's Long Island coast, both near New York City and further away.  This week's lighthouse isn't on the Long Island coast; as the name indicates, it is on it's own little island, Race Rock, which is very close to the town of New London on the Connecticut coast. But the borderline puts it in New York. 

The name of the lighthouse is Race Rock, similar to the Race Rocks lighthouse in British Columbia. So don't add the "s".   This week's lighthouse can be found here.

There's quite a bit of information provided from the Lighthouse Directory below:

"1879 (Francis H. Smith and Thomas A. Scott). Active; focal plane 67 ft (20.5 m); red flash every 10 s. 45 ft (14 m) octagonal cylindrical granite tower with lantern and gallery, rising from one side of a 1-1/2 story granite Gothic revival keeper's house; all mounted on a granite caisson and protected by rip rap; rotating DCB-24 aerobeacon (1979). Lantern painted white, granite unpainted. Fog horn (two 2 s blasts every 30 s). ... This lighthouse is on a difficult and dangerous site; construction took 6 years. In 2005 the lighthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2009 the lighthouse became available for transfer under NHLPA, and in June 2013 ownership was transferred to the New London (Connecticut) Maritime Society. The Society has a web page for the lighthouse. The Society has made minor repairs, secured the lighthouse, and removed lead paint and bird droppings. In July 2022 the Society launched a drive to raise $2.284 million, the cost engineers estimate for a complete restoration. Located on a reef 3/4 mile (1.2 km) west southwest of Race Point, the western tip of Fisher's Island."

Lighthouse Friends has a page about this one, too.

The New London Maritime Society includes this page.

And now, a few pictures:

All I want for Christmas

 

This lovely young model discovered at SilkSilky.com would sure be a nice present to unwrap under the Christmas tree, in front of a warm fire in the fireplace.

It would be nice to know her name, too.

She's real, as well; no AI involved here.  A bit of a Dakota Johnson flavor to her face, which of course isn't bad. 

Even if you never wondered

 

Finally looked up the name of the actress that plays "Jan" on the Toyota commercials. I found out some things about her I wasn't aware of.

The name of the actress is Laurel Coppock. As might be suspected, she's an actress first and a spokeswoman second, with experience in several comedy troupes, including the Groundlings and Second City.  She's been the Toyota spokeswoman since (amazingly!) 2012.  She has also done a couple of TV show guest spots.  You can read all about it in Wikipedia's entry.

What I truly don't remember was her Toyota commercials when she was actually pregnant. I looked around and while I couldn't find a video of the one of those, I did find an article about it.

Toyota And Saatchi Write Ad Star's Pregnancy Into Popular 'Jan' Campaign

Hannah Godwin lights up Victoria's Secret fashion show

 

I'm going to return to the subject of this post, which is Hannah Godwin, former Bachelor love candidate, then someone who truly found love with Dylan Barbour on Bachelor in Paradise, resulting in a marriage a few years later. While it currently appears that Dylan is doting on her, as he should, I hope he keeps that up, because ladies like Hannah are not commonplace.

She has done what many other Bachelor graduates have done, which is to become an influencer, offering fashion and glamour advice, providing pictures of home life, traveling, and personal appearances. In addition, lovely Hannah continues to be a working model, showing up in both shows and media campaigns.

Part of the reason for that is that, to put it simply, other than being pretty rising to the level of gorgeous, she's also svelte, stunning, and girl-next-door sexy.

The subject of this particular post was when Hannah recently put an exclamation point, or two, on the sexiness factor, showing up and showing herself off in a very, as the Daily Mail might say, risqué ensemble at the Victoria's Secret fashion show. Despite her appearances in a few basic bikinis and other swimwear in previous months and years, this light purple dress went to a new level, quite appropriate for Victoria's Secret, except for the fact that VS frequently features lingerie for tops and bottoms, and this eye-snatching dress didn't need all of those lacy underthings. 

Which is fine by me.

So, enough of the introduction, let's get to the demonstration.

Not just one, but two new ichthyosaurs

 

I saw an article about a new ichthyosaur (prehistoric marine reptile related to dinosaurs) and made a note, and when I looked it up to write an article about it, it turns that two new ichthyosaurs have been recently identified.  One of them is from the famous fossil-rich area of the Dorset coast of England, and the other was found in Germany.

So, let's go with the new British ichthyosaur first. I'm going to provide both the media article and the scientific reference for both (conveniently, the article about the Deutschland denizen already had the reference in it).

Fossil found on Dorset coast is unique 'sword dragon' species

(The article has an artist's idea of what it looked like.)

"The "sword dragon" is thought to have been about 3m long and has several features that have not been seen in other species of ichthyosaur. Scientists say the strangest detail is a prong-like bone near its nostril. The skull has an enormous eye socket and a long sword-like snout that it used to eat fish and squid."

Lomax, Dean R., Judy A. Massare, and Erin E. Maxwell. "A new long and narrow‐snouted ichthyosaur illuminates a complex faunal turnover during an undersampled Early Jurassic (Pliensbachian) interval." Papers in Palaeontology 11, no. 5 (2025): e70038.

Heads walk, but don't roll

 

If you've seen pictures of Easter Island, you've seen pictures of the moai, the big stone heads that are all around the island.  If you don't know what they were used for, this article explains them. 

One of the big moai questions was how the islanders, using stone and rope, moved the heads from the quarry to the platform they were mounted on. That's the recent subject of the article and video below.

Moai in the quarry

How Easter Island's famed heads 'walked'

What I don't know, and would like to know, is who paid the people to move them, whether in food or some kind of currency. It's hard to me to imagine getting a group together voluntarily for the sole purpose of moving giant head statues. But religion causes people to do some very unusual things occasionally. 

Potatoes aren't just for breakfast anymore

 

Well, potatoes are a pretty common breakfast item -- roasted or hash browns, with or without onions and cheese.

I originally saw this recipe in the Washington Post, which is here, and they provide a few free articles a month if you don't subscribe to the paper, which is rapidly becoming obnoxiously conservative, but they still have to point out the massive transgressions of the current resident of the White House, until he decides to cover it with gold leaf or something.  After suggesting (threatening) to paint the Eisenhower Office Building white, which is a bad idea for several reasons, I wouldn't put a golden White House past him. 

Below is a freely-accessible different version of the recipe, but not much different.

Breakfast Twice-Baked Potato

I doubt my first effort will look this good.

Crystal Palace is where in the Premier League?

 

It's late November, almost time for the holiday fixtures (well, actually, that's about a month away), but still, if one were to look at the Premier League standings -- aka, the "table" -- today, one would see Crystal Palace in ...

fourth place!!

So last year's FA Cup champions are proving that wasn't entirely fluky, and they are doing it without Eberechi Eze, either. 

Now, there are three teams playing tomorrow that could go ahead of CP's 20 points with a win tomorrow (or Monday):  Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, and Manchester United.  The Spurs are playing the current league leaders, Arsenal, and the Gunners don't want to lose that one. Aston Villa is playing Leeds United, currently in the relegation zone, so Leeds might have slightly more motivation than Villa, but they don't seem to be as good as Villa, either. Still, things can happen.  Man U is playing Everton, actually only three points below them in the table, so that might not be an automatic win for Man U, but they've been starting to look better.

So, Palace might not be in fourth place for long.  But it's something to enjoy while it's happening.

Below is the match highlights from today's (November 22, 2025) thrashing of the hapless Wolverhampton Wolves.

Lighthouse of the Week, November 16-22, 2025: Petoskey Bayfront Light Beacon Station, Michigan, USA

 

This week's lighthouse goes by several different names, and might not even be a lighthouse, literally, so I went with the name on Google Maps.  Petoskey is way up north in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, on the Lake Michigan coast (i.e., the western side).  This Google Map satellite view shows where it is; I used the satellite view because it's much easier to see the breakwater than on the regular map. Zoom out to locate it geographically, satellite-wise or map-wise.

I've extracted a considerable amount of text from the Lighthouse Directory:

"Date unknown (station established 1899). Active; focal plane 44 ft (13.5 m); red flash every 2.5 s. 33 ft (10 m) round "D9" round cylindrical steel tower, painted white with one red horizontal band, on a square 1-story concrete base. ... This is one of many modern pierhead lights of similar design throughout the Great Lakes, but it is highly visible and is regarded locally as a lighthouse. In the winter of 2006 a violent storm damaged the breakwater but the light was not affected. The original light was on a post. The second light, built in 1912, was a hexagonal "pagoda" style cast iron tower; it was swept away by a storm in 1924. It was replaced by a steel skeletal tower in 1930. ... Located at the end of the breakwater at the entrance to the harbor."

Other sites about this one:

 Petoskey Harbor Breakwater and Bayfront Lighthouse

Petoskey Pierhead Light  (like I said, it has a few different names)

Pictures below, including the old one. The first one demonstrates it still gets cold up there.

Actress with a busy career

 

I recently spotted actress Daniela Melchior in the remade Road House.  She's building a pretty good career, with appearances in that, Suicide Squad, Fast X, and Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3. 

Doesn't hurt that she's exotically good-looking.

But it's still dark and cold

 

Recent analysis of data collected by the Cassini probe to Saturn indicated that the stuff spewing out of the Enceladian geysers has got the brew that might give rise to, or nurture, life of some kind.

However, I'm not sure if there's enough tidal squeezing energy input to power the ecosystem, however primitive it might be. 

Still, it's a start. Life has to start somewhere, and then find a way.

Seems like I've heard that somewhere before.

Saturn’s Moon Enceladus Has Complex, Life-Friendly Chemistry

A fresh analysis of old data has found rich organic chemistry within the hidden ocean of Saturn’s moon Enceladus

"Now scientists revisiting data from Cassini, which ended its mission to Saturn in 2017, have spied even more tantalizing ingredients in the plumes: suites of complex organic molecules that, on Earth, are involved in the chemistry associated with even bigger compounds considered essential for biology. The discovery, published in Nature Astronomy, bolsters the case for follow-up missions to search for signs of life within this enigmatic moon.

Its remoteness from Earth isn’t the only thing that has let Enceladus keep so many secrets for so long. The Cassini orbiter wasn’t really designed for deep scrutiny of a single, specific object in Saturn’s system, says Nozair Khawaja, a planetary scientist at the Free University of Berlin, who led the Nature Astronomy study. Cassini launched nearly 30 years ago, back when Enceladus’s subsurface ocean and south polar plumes were unknown. Repurposing its vintage kit for in-depth astrobiology was difficult—not least because of how hard the resulting data were to work with."

Read the whole thing. It's a fascinating story about how they were able to use instrumentation not designed to do what they needed it to do along with some clever mission planning to get what they needed to get.

Nice lake, big name

 

Maine has a few lakes with very long Indian names.  This is one of them: Mooselookmeguntic Lake.

Located here:

And it looks great:

If you're interested, read more about it in this article:

Discover A Pristine Paradise When You Visit Maine’s Mooselookmeguntic Lake

"With an average depth of 60 feet with a maximum depth of 132 feet and covering an area of 25.5-square miles, it is one of the largest lakes in Maine."

Be careful what you ask for

 

Great video with some important space-time continuum implications.

That darned Google Maps

 

Thanks to Google Maps, I keep finding places I never heard of, but which I wish I'd seen (or I might still wish to see).

Most recent of these discoveries is Mesa Falls in Idaho.  It's located west of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, only about ~20 km from the Idaho/Wyoming border, but it's a lot longer drive (but you can drive there, with only a short hike to the falls).  By car, it's about an 80 mile drive from the elk antler arch in Jackson Hole.

There are actually both an Upper and Lower Mesa Falls.  And they're both beautiful.  Lower Mesa Falls looks rougher, but it can be run (dropped) in a kayak.  Not sure about Upper Mesa Falls.

Upper Mesa Falls

Lower Mesa Falls

Lighthouse of the Week, November 9-15, 2025: Santa Cruz Breakwater Light, California, USA

 

I decided to return to the domestic shores of the United States this week, and in particular, the shores of the Golden State, California.  Specifically, this shore is actually the harbor of Surf City USA, aka Santa Cruz. Which, weirdly enough, doesn't have much surf, but it does have banana slugs, the official mascot of the University of Californa - Santa Cruz.  (Actually, they live in the nearby mountains, but still, you have to give them something.)

This lighthouse also has another name, the Walton Lighthouse, and you'll learn why in a moment. First, find out where it is by clicking in this location. You can see where it is in relation to UC-Santa Cruz. Zoom out to see where Santa Cruz is, if you're not familiar with the region. It's on the northern coast of Monterey Bay.

Now that we've established where it is, let's learn about how it is and why it's named the Walton Lighthouse. (Information from the Lighthouse Directory, as is usually the case.)

"2001 (station established 1964). Active; focal plane 36 ft (11 m); green light occulting every 4 s. 42 ft (13 m) round reinforced concrete tower with a copper-roofed lantern and a small gallery. Tower painted white with a green band. Fog horn (blast every 30 s). ... Built with private donations and Coast Guard approval, this lighthouse replaced a series of minor aids to navigation. Charles Walton, a local businessman, contributed a significant part of the cost in memory of his late brother Derek Walton, a merchant seaman. The lighthouse originally had a red band, but the daymark was changed in March 2003 after boaters protested that a green beacon should not have a red daymark."

So, with the information garnered, the pictures are next.

See? Surf!

MAGA doesn't want to be like Jesus

 

This is from a Washington Post op-ed by Shadi Hamid, referencing the memorial to the assassinated young far-right wing activist and antagonist Charlie Kirk, has some interesting things to say.

I'm not going to talk about Kirk. I have my own ideas about him, but talking about him can invoke strong reactions on either side of the political spectrum, as well as either side of the religious spectrum. That's what the extracted comment below is about.

Two versions of Christianity battle for America’s soul

"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared, “This is not a political war, it’s not even a cultural war. It’s a spiritual war.” These are not careless remarks or mere metaphor. They represent the intentional framing of politics as religious combat, in which political opponents are seen as demonic forces requiring defeat rather than conversion.

The theological gulf between Erika Kirk’s message of forgiveness and Hegseth’s fantasies of forever war runs deeper than most realize. Russell Moore, a former top official in the Southern Baptist Convention and a fierce Trump critic, told NPR that when pastors quote Jesus’ words about turning the other cheek, congregants increasingly ask, “Where did you get those liberal talking points?” When pastors respond that they’re “literally quoting Jesus Christ,” the answer comes back: “Yes, but that doesn’t work anymore. That’s weak.”

Can you simultaneously bless your enemies while viewing them as evil forces who require nothing short of total defeat?

The secular hope has been that declining religiosity would produce more rational, less intense politics. But as American church attendance hovers around all-time lows, including among young Republicans, the Kirk memorial suggests the opposite: American faith is becoming more politically charged, not less. As Christian institutions decline in influence, conservatives find inspiration in the MAGA movement, whose undisputed leader is Trump, a man often portrayed as a kind of new American savior."

They'll need very good aim

 

This news about the final asteroidal target that will be visited by Japan's Hayabusa2 satellite sounds, well, challenging.

Hayabusa2’s Final Target is 3 Times Smaller Than We Thought

It also spins twice as fast as previous estimates suggested. A spacecraft touchdown will be challenging, but not impossible.

"They calculated that the asteroid completes one spin every 5 minutes and 21 seconds, less time than it takes to listen to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The team then combined those new observations with the 1998 radar data to recalculate the asteroid’s size. They found that instead of being roughly 30 meters in diameter, 1998 KY26 is just 11 meters, or about the length of a telephone pole. The team published these results in Nature Communications on 18 September."

It's certainly not big

 

Before they get to this little tiny asteroid, Hayabusa2  is also going to fly by an asteroid in July 2026.  Stay tuned for more info.

 

Do you know who Lando Norris is?

 

If you don't know who Lando Norris is, I'll tell you.  Lando is a Formula 1 Grand Prix race car driver, and last year he was the runner-up for the World Drivers' Championship. He drives for MacLaren. 

So now that you know, this post isn't about him. It's about his girlfriend, Margarida Corceiro.

Recent news (August 2025) from that article:

"But those hoping that they may be F1’s latest WAG, had their dreams of grandeur crushed this weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix when the worst was confirmed: Lando Norris and Margarida Corceiro’s relationship was official. The pair arrived at the last qualifier in the F1 calendar, ahead of the summer break, together. Norris led his Portuguese girlfriend into McLaren's paddock ahead of qualifying for Formula One's Hungarian Grand Prix. And when he subsequently drove to victory at Sunday’s race, it was Margarida he kissed to celebrate. She wore his McLaren orange hoodie and smiled from the front row as he was crowned – and 1.6 million people rewatched the moment when it was shared to social media."

So now you'd really like to know more about her, right?  Well, you could read the article, or look at the pictures.

She models swimwear (bikinis) a lot, and there are obviously good reasons for that. But she can wear clothes, too.  And she's really cute.