While looking for subs, they found geography

 

Great article about how submarine hunting led to the discovery and mapping of undersea mountains, aka seamounts.

How the Hunt for WWII Subs Revealed Undersea Volcanoes

“Certainly, before they developed acoustic soundings—which is sonar—there’s a lot of uncertainty in the depth of the seafloor because the methods weren't good enough,” says Heidi Dierssen, marine sciences professor at the University of Connecticut. “Once they discovered that they could use the speed of sound pretty accurately, it really revolutionized our understanding of Earth itself.”

"During World War II, the United States paused most of its seafloor mapping efforts. The exception came when Hess, then a young Princeton University professor, joined the U.S. Navy as captain of the USS Cape Johnson. Equipped with the latest sonar technology, Hess was able to collect an unprecedented amount of data, rapidly and around the clock, as he and his crew searched for enemy submarines."

And it turns out there are a lot of them down there. As well as many other significant geological features.

Salmon without the fish

 

One solution to overfishing and dwindling fish stocks:

Grow the part people eat without all of that business about growing fish. 

Wildtype’s Cultivated Salmon Becomes First of Its Kind To Receive FDA Approval

More about this:

Wildtype:  Our Salmon

OK, quick -- make bluefin tuna.

Hyperspectral sensors are getting more important

 

This article is about the uses of data from the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) sensor on the International Space Station, but there are more hyperspectral instruments in space, such as NASA's PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, and ocean Ecosystem) mission. 

NASA Space Station Sensor Spots Contamination off the California Coast

Proof-of-concept results from the mouth of the Tijuana River in San Diego County show how an instrument called EMIT could aid wastewater detection.

"That’s where EMIT comes in. NASA’s hyperspectral instrument orbits Earth aboard the International Space Station, observing sunlight reflecting off the planet below. Its advanced optical components split the visible and infrared wavelengths into hundreds of color bands. By analyzing each satellite scene pixel by pixel at finer spatial resolution, scientists can discern what molecules are present based on their unique spectral “fingerprint.”

Scientists compared EMIT’s observations of the Tijuana River plume with water samples they tested on the ground. Both EMIT and the ground-based instruments detected a spectral fingerprint pointing to phycocyanin, a pigment in cyanobacteria, an organism that can sicken humans and animals that ingest or inhale it."

This is a good image from the study:

"Fig. 8. (A) True color EMIT hyperspectral satellite image covering a known wastewater plume on 25 March 2023. (B) Fluorescence Line Height (FLH) at 650 nm calculated from EMIT reflectance imagery. FLH is greatest at the Tijuana River Estuary and decreases with distance from the estuary mouth."

Read all about it:

Reference: Scrivner E, Mladenov N, Biggs T, et al. Hyperspectral characterization of wastewater in the Tijuana River Estuary using laboratory, field, and EMIT satellite spectroscopy. Sci Total Environ. 2025;981:179598. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179598.

Pete Hegseth's church leader is way out on the fringe

 

More than once, Pete Hegseth, the current Secretary of Defense who shouldn't have been allowed to be within 10 miles of the Pentagon, has seemed a bit off-base. He professes to be a Christian, he stopped drinking (he says), but he's prone to outbursts and clear lack of judgment. Also, he might not claim to be a racist, but he sure is doing things racists like, such as sneaky and subterfugious renamings of renamed military bases.  Oh yeah, he's also paying tribute to a racist homosexual white supremacist artist who, as a teenager unsure of his sexuality, fathered a child with a mixed-race servant. More on that later.

However, while the artist might not be comfortable with the pastor leading the church that resembles a cult which Hegseth attends, Pete sure is.  And the pastor is so far out on the fringe it's hard to see him from the normal right-wing churches that are undergirding this farcical administration.

So, here's what Pete did:

Pete Hegseth Promotes His Pastor’s CNN Spot – and His Call for ‘Christian Domination’

The pastor's name is Doug Wilson. I'm providing a bit more information about him below.

Doug Wilson Has Spent Decades Pushing for a Christian Theocracy. In Trump’s DC, the New Right Is Listening.

"For the past 50 years, Wilson has been trying to convince America that it has made the wrong choice —that it should choose “Christ,” as he put it, instead of chaos. But Wilson isn’t a conventional evangelist. He is, by his own description, an outspoken proponent of Christian theocracy — the idea that American society, including its government, should be governed by a conservative interpretation of Biblical law. Wilson’s body of work — made up of over 40 books, thousands of blog posts and hundreds of hours of sermons and podcast appearances — amounts to a comprehensive blueprint for a spiritual and political “reformation” that would transform America into a kind of Christian republic."

"Beyond these near-term goals, Wilson has floated some more fundamental changes to America’s political system: Amending the Constitution to include reference to the Apostles’ Creed, restricting office holding to practicing Christians and changing voting practices to award votes by household, with the default vote-holder being the male head of the household. His long-term goal, he said, is to inspire a grassroots Christian reformation that would excise the whole idea of secularism from American law and society." 

I don't think that's going to fly (I sure hope not). But apparently Petey Hegseth does.

Another perspective:

Viral CNN Segment Highlights Disturbing Christian Movement. Bible Scholars Have Thoughts.

"A Pentagon spokesperson later shared that Hegseth is “a proud member of a church” that is affiliated with CREC and “very much appreciates many of Mr. Wilson’s writings and teachings.” ... 

"While Wilson’s ideas might not appear aligned with the values of Jesus, they are deeply embedded in American church history.

“I grew up in the Southern Baptist denomination, where thoughts and ideas like these are mainstream,” [religious scholar] Motl said. “It is vital to understand just how pervasive these disillusioned and ignorant beliefs are.”

You can thus see why Hegseth and Wilson are birds of a feather -- i.e., cuckoo. 

Lighthouse of the Week, August 10-16, 2025: Far de Cala Nans, Spain

 

So, for this week, while I'm back to the mainland, I'm still on a Mediterranean coast. This one is on the Spanish coast, in the region of Catalonia, the province of Girona, and near the village (town?) of Cadaques. If you're in the art world, you might recognize Cadaques as the home town (village?) of surrealist Salvador Dali.

This is a small little lighthouse on a big bluff overlooking the ocean. Here's what I learned about it from the Lighthouse Directory. This is a rescued lighthouse, as you'll see below. Also, this area has a lot of great lighthouses, so I'm going to return here the next couple of weeks.

"1864. Active; focal plane 33 m (108 ft); five white flashes, in a 4+1 pattern, every 25 s. 7 m (23 ft) round cylindrical masonry tower with lantern and gallery mounted on a small 1-story keeper's house. Lighthouse painted white; lantern is metallic gray. ... This little lighthouse has a wild location overlooking the natural harbor of Cadaqués, tucked into the Cap de Creus massif. In 1982 residents of the tiny fishing village protested vigorously when the Comisíon de Faros announced plans to demolish the dilapidated lighthouse and replace it with a modern post light. They prevailed, and the lighthouse was restored instead. The light station is located in a large national park."

 I grabbed five pictures including one at sunset or sunrise; can't tell which.

Heather Monique loves her pillow

 

These pictures came from a provocative set published by the lovely and sensual model and mother Heather Monique.

You can watch the whole thing here (and though it's erotic, it's "safe"). To watch it, be logged into Instagram and be over 18. It's a reel. 

Here are two pictures of Heather embracing the softer side:

Another problem for vital freshwater

 

There are so many dangers to our vital freshwater resources, and cutting back on Environmental Protection Agency funding is not going to help any.  One of the lesser-publicized dangers is increasing salinity.

The Washington Post had an article, linked below, about this issue, and if you don't want to pay to read that, you can read the free one from the National Park Service below it.

A salt crisis is looming for U.S. rivers

Freshwater Salinization: Saltier Rivers Are a Growing Concern

"Streams suffering from salinization often have degraded communities of fish and invertebrates with lower biodiversity where only pollution-tolerant species can survive. This negatively impacts the whole aquatic ecosystem. Aquatic critters such as mayflies (an important food for fish) are sensitive to pollution so are rare in salinized streams. For other organisms, too much salt causes their health to weaken and impairs their survival."

That article is about the Washington D.C. region, and it had this map showing how much salt gets put down in the winter. (It's a lot.) I'm sure a lot gets put down on the eastern side too.