Even in the rain, spinners keep spinning

 

Fascinating paper and article about studies of maple samaras (also called "spinners" or "copters") -- the way that maple trees spread their seeds. The winged seeds spin their way to new places to put down roots.

The study looked at whether rain significantly affected their spinning and their overall travel distance. It did, but because the seeds can rapidly shed (even destroy) a raindrop and get back to spinning, it was only about a 10% difference.

One could ask if this is important research. Well, it has a lot to do with how plants reproduce and proliferate. Plus, it also has to do with aerodynamic stability under stressful weather conditions, like high winds and rain, and if I'm on that plane or helicopter in a storm, I want it to stay stable.

Maple seeds’ unique spinning motion allows them to travel far even in the rain, a new study shows

"From an engineering perspective, the insights gained from our study could inform the design of new types of aerial vehicles that use autorotation to ride the wind without a motor. Mimicking the shapes of these seeds could help such vehicles quickly recover from disruptions to flight." (Recovery is good.)

Stop-motion views of a samara getting hit by a raindrop and recovering its spin. (There's a video in the article.)

 

Of course it's horribly bad

 

It has been awhile now, but the Trump Administration of Disaster is taking the disastrous step of overturning (or un-finding, maybe) the endangerment finding of climate change.

I'm going with the Daily Mail on this one, but there's been a lot of reporting on it, naturally.

Trump to tear up 'holy grail' regulation that will free up trillions in taxpayer cash... but could spell global disaster

" "EPA administrator Lee Zeldin has reportedly lobbied to strike down the scientific finding so the White House can more easily repeal regulations which fight climate change"

Earlier this month, the Trump Administration notified more than 1,100 EPA employees that they could be dismissed 'immediately' at any time.

That group included scientists and experts who research and enforce policies related to air pollution, hazardous waste cleanup, and environmental emergency response.

Members of two influential EPA advisory committees which provide scientific guidance to the head of the agency were ousted in January.

Myron Ebell, the leader of Trump's EPA transition team during the president's first term, noted that striking down the endangerment finding would likely make overturning Joe Biden's climate policies a smoother process.

'If you want to go back and redo one of these rules, you're going to have a very spirited court battle if you ignore the endangerment finding,' Ebell said. 'So I think they really need to do this.'

However, Sean Donahue, an attorney for environmental groups which support the endangerment finding, believes any effort to repeal the 2009 scientific finding would be struck down in court."

We can only hope so.  Because here's the follow-up:

Trump, EPA Aim to Remove Finding That Mandates Action on Greenhouse Gas Pollution

" “The embers of the fires in LA are barely out, and people are still struggling to recover their homes and their livelihoods in North Carolina,” said David Doniger, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, at a rally in front of the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. “And here we have the Trump administration telling the country’s oil, gas and coal magnates that they are free to keep spewing dangerous pollution into the atmosphere.”

He and other environmental advocates argue the Trump administration is likely to lose in court if it tries to challenge climate science. As a peer-reviewed study six years ago put it, “the amount, diversity, and sophistication of the evidence has increased markedly” for every aspect of the EPA’s 2009 finding on the dangers of greenhouse gases.

Many environmental law experts anticipate the Trump administration will aim to overturn the endangerment finding without a fight over science. Instead, Trump’s team could make the case for striking down the endangerment finding strictly on its interpretation of the law. Zeldin signaled as much during his confirmation hearing, when he agreed that carbon dioxide and methane were heat-trapping gases, but raised doubts about EPA’s mandate to act on them."

I wish I could see watching this battle was going to be fun, but it won't be. However, it will be interesting. 

 

A disaster movie about something that could/will happen

 

I happened to accidentally catch the Norwegian disaster movie The Wave a couple of weeks ago. It's about a potential disaster so likely that all of the settings are real. The Norwegian village Geiranger sits at the end of a picturesque fjord (appropriately named the Geirangerfjord), and it looks like this:

That picturesque beauty is also the danger. The danger exists because those steep fjordwalls (I made that up) occasionally experience fjordslides (OK, that's enough), when part of the wall just lets loose and slides into the fjord, making a big fjordsplash. And that splash would travel straight down the narrow walls of the fjord into downvillage Geiranger. 

(Sorry, couldn't help myself, I had to write fjordsplash.)

A better name for fjordsplash is tsunami. And this danger is so real that Geiranger has sirens that are ready to go off in case a fjordslide is detected, to warn the residents to head to higher ground before the landslide-caused tsunami shows up. 

It can happen and does happen (the link goes to an article about the landslide in Taan Fjord in Alaska, which created a wave about 193 meters, about 600 feet, high). It's probably more likely than a massive lahar releasing from the summit of Mt. Rainier, and geologists know that has happened too. (And there are warning systems for communities that might be affected there, too.)

So, yeah, The Wave could happen.  Below is a still that shows the movie's depiction of it happening:

The lead actress was Ane Dahl Torp [IMDb link], shown below. By the way, she was also in a movie called The Quake, about an earthquake hitting Oslo, that doesn't seem nearly as plausible, and I think it's the same characters (her and her movie family), which is even less likely. I'm skipping that one.

Arrogant unfeeling b*stard

 

I am no fan of Mitch McConnell:  far, far from it. But he didn't deserve what the arrogant unfeeling b*stard who is daily reducing the standards we expected the President of the United States to possess said about him.

After McConnell opposes RFK Jr., Trump says he has ‘no idea’ if senator had polio

"Asked about McConnell’s bout with polio influencing his decision to vote no, Trump appeared to question his diagnosis.

“I have no idea if he had polio,” Trump said. “All I can tell you about him is that he shouldn’t have been leader.”

McConnell, who had polio as a child, was the only Republican to vote against Kennedy’s confirmation. The 82-year-old Kentucky senator has written about and publicly discussed the paralyzing disease, the effect on his life — including his childhood days confined to bed or undergoing a strict physical therapy regimen to rehabilitate his left leg — and his ardent support of lifesaving vaccines."

And I should point out, McConnell is fully to blame for Trump being President again. He could have led the Senate to impeach him, but said that the courts could deal with him. Clearly that didn't work out. So yes, no fan of MM. But he doesn't deserve to have his childhood battle with polio questioned.

Nuclear refresh in Maryland

 

Good news for nuclear power in Maryland (close to home): Constellation is investing in maintenance and improvements to keep the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant generating for years to come. Good for Maryland, good for the environment. 

Constellation to upgrade Maryland nuclear power station

"The company is also investing USD68 million in 24 state-of-the-art electrical breakers to upgrade the plant's substation and to help enable future customer service on the grid. It said preliminary analysis indicates that further upgrades at Calvert Cliffs could increase electricity production by about 10%. "This would produce more carbon-free power than all the wind and utility-scale solar currently operating in Maryland," Constellation said.

"Calvert Cliffs Clean Energy Center is the largest source of clean, 24/7 power in Maryland and we are making substantial financial investments to keep it running reliably while generating economic development in Maryland," said Constellation President and CEO Joe Dominguez."

That's what we need more of.

Plus, we need more that look as good as this one:

Alysa Liu wins the Worlds

 

You can read a lot of articles about this, but after briefly retiring from the sport of figure skating, Alysa Liu came back to it better and just won the World Championships.  Video and article link below.

Alysa Liu Wins First Women’s World Championships Gold for Team USA Since 2006

"Dressed appropriately in gold, Liu connected on each of her jumping passes – landing seven triple jumps – secured Level 4s on each of her spins and step sequences, and earned positive grades of execution on every element en route the crown. Her free skate score of 148.39 was her best this season by 16.93 points. Her total competition score, 222.97 points, is not only an international personal best but also the second-highest ever by an American woman, making her the one to beat heading into Milano Cortina." 

(Milano Cortina (d'Ampezzo) is the site of the next Winter Olympics, even though it is all over northern Italy and the bobsled, luge, and skeleton might be at Lake Placid, NY.)

Video:

Lighthouse of the Week, March 23-29, 2025: Sanzhiika (Sanzhiiskyi), Ukraine

There's a little bit of a mystery here;  I'm not sure if my pictures are of the old lighthouse or the new lighthouse.  But they look similar.

This is the only the second lighthouse I've done in Ukraine; not for political or military reasons, but because I haven't looked there much. The first one was in Yalta. This one is located just south of Odessa, as you can see on the map here.

This is information from the Lighthouse Directory:

"2010 (station established 1921). Active; focal plane 41 m (135 ft); two green flashes every 15 s. 28 m (92 ft) octagonal cylindrical masonry tower with lantern and gallery. Lighthouse painted white, lantern dome green. In 2010 this lighthouse was replaced by a new tower having the same appearance as the old one, but 9 m (30 ft) taller. ... Located above the beach about 16 km (10 mi) northeast of the mouth of the Dnister and about 15 km (9 mi) southwest of Illichivsk."

That part about the tower being replaced by a new one makes me unsure if the pictures are of the old one or the new one.  It is also on a stamp.