Migration is energetic

 

A great study, showing what drones can do for science, analyzed how much body fat humpback whales lose while migrating. It's a lot.

They followed the whales with drones to determine their volume change, which is impressive in itself.

Humpback Whales Lose 36% Body Fat During Migration

"Mr Bernier-Graveline and the research team used data from the drone monitoring to determine the whales’ body conditions on their breeding ground in Colombia and on their feeding ground on the Western Antarctic Peninsula, a highly productive krill region of Antarctica.

Each adult whale lost about 36 per cent of its body condition during migration which is equivalent to:
- 12 cubic metres or 11,000kg of blubber (equivalent to the weight of a standard single-decker city bus or two adult African elephants)
- 5,000kg of fat
-196 million kilojoules of energy (equivalent to the energy consumed by an average adult over 62 years)
- 57,000kg of krill

This should clearly illustrate the importance of maintaining the Southern Ocean ecosystem in a productive state that keeps the krill stocks big and thick.

Reference: Bernier-Graveline A, Nash SB, Bierlich KC, et al. Drone-based photogrammetry provides estimates of the energetic cost of migration for humpback whales between Antarctica and Colombia. Mar Mamm Sci. 2025. doi: 10.1111/mms.70048

Sheer, unmitigated carnage

 

This is devastating.  And stupid.  

Did I say stupid?  REALLY stupid.

From the Washington Post:

EPA eliminates its scientific research arm
The Office of Research and Development conducted research into hazardous chemicals, with studies that often underpinned stricter regulations.

"However union officials said the agency is destroying one of the world’s leading office of environmental scientists, which could leave the nation vulnerable to potential threats.

“Without the Office of Research and Development, our nation’s air, water and land will turn more toxic and our people more sick with preventable disease,” said Nicole Cantello, a legislative and political coordinator in the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Council 238, a nationwide union that represents more than 8,000 EPA employees."

Below is a link to another article about this, from Science:

In ‘blow to the environment,’ EPA begins to dismantle its research office

"ORD also maintains toxicology databases that are widely used by researchers, state and local governments, industry, and nonprofit groups, notes Joel Tickner, an environmental health scientist at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Both Tickner and [University of Colorado - Boulder environmental engineer Jana] Milford fear EPA will no longer keep the databases up to date, such as by adding newly identified contaminants. Similarly, ORD’s atmospheric and hydrologic models are used by researchers around the world to understand the sources and impacts of pollutants such as particulate matter and ozone, Milford notes.

Industry trade groups have been especially critical of ORD’s Integrated Risk Information System assessments, which EPA and state agencies rely on to restrict the use of toxic chemicals and guide cleanup decisions. “This joust is nothing new, but this is total victory for the polluters right now,” says Thomas Burke, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University and former EPA science adviser."

You've heard of Pompeii -- how about Akrotiri?

 

I have known about Santorini, and the high likelihood that it's massive, caldera-forming eruption was one of the main reasons for the demise of Minoan society (and sadly, it's bare-breasted fashion).  But until I saw this NASA Earth Observatory image and associated text, I had not heard of Akrotiri.

Santorini's Hidden Worlds

Akrotiri suffered the same fate as Pompeii, apparently -- buried under a lot of volcanic ash. So now it's being excavated. 

Prehistoric town of Akrotiri

And this is what the women of Akrotiri may have looked like.

Acting, and not very good at it

 

Sean Duffy, the Secretary of Transportation and the current Acting Administrator of NASA, is planning to end most of NASA's incredible science missions and research: space, planetary, and Earth, and all of the associated scholarship in universities and institutes.

Obviously he doesn't care. Obviously the administration doesn't care about NASA or science. That's been obvious. But it really sucks that NASA's being run by a part-timer who really doesn't care.

Even Jim Bridenstine and Sean O'Keefe cared. Bill Nelson obviously cared.

As Trump taps Sean Duffy for NASA, space agency's future is increasingly in doubt
It’s hard not to wonder whether NASA and the United States’ space program will survive the Republican president's second term.

"What’s more, one of the key elements of this president’s approach to dual-hatting is that his use of the tactic signals an implicit contempt: When Trump taps one person to do two (or more) jobs, it tends to mean that he doesn’t see much value in the underlying positions.

With this in mind, there are growing concerns, not only about NASA’s leadership, but about the future of the space agency itself."

Michelle Keegan on vacation

 

The -- OK, I have to say it -- incredible Michelle Keegan posted a few pictures from her summer vacation, including a pic of the baby, and another of her with the baby's father, and including a pic of her with a baby carriage, presumably with her young offspring in it.  You can see them here. 

But I had to include the one below. Because it's the incredible Michelle Keegan.

Anisimova changed my mind

 

Well, I said that I didn't have any favorites at the U.S. Open. That was before Amanda Anisimova revenged her double love defeat to Iga Swiatek in the Wimbledon final, and then defeated Naomi Osaka in a match she had plenty of chances to lose.  

I don't want to get ahead of myself too much, because Sabalenka is very good. Every match is different, and they can change real fast (just ask Pegula).  Even if Anisimova is 6-3 in matches against Sabalenka, being in a final is certainly different.  I think it could be very tight and close, though there is a chance if Anisimova frustrates Sabalenka enough, she could lose her focus (it's happened before) and let AA sprint to the title.

But at least I have a stake in it.

Below is a picture I found of Anisimova hitting a backhand, which she's very good at doing. It's a great shot because it shows how far the strings stretch when the racket strikes the ball, and even the ball compression.  She has great timing, of course; in this case, the photographer nailed it too.

Now I have no favorites at the 2025 U.S. Open

 

OK, I'm declaring my surrender to unjust fate with regards to having anyone to be a favorite at this year's U.S. Open.  And I must note that this goes back to the D.C. Open a few weeks back, when Alejandro Davidovich Fokina couldn't close the deal on his first-ever tournament victory in men's professional tennis. More on that in a bit. And also, my frustrating favorite, Elena Rybakina, folded in the semifinal against Leylah Fernandez (who, I admit, it's good to see playing well), and didn't make the final. More on her in a moment, too. 

(At least Tommy Fleetwood broke through with his first win on the PGA tour, timing it nicely to win a $10 million check, too.)

The run of bad luck (note -- good players make their own good luck) began at the U.S. Open when the very pretty Anna Kalinskaya, who would likely have massive sponsorship deals if she was a consistent Top 10 player, was up 5-1 against Iga Swiatek, and then proceeded to drop the set and the match.  A lot of it was due to Swiatek finally starting to play better and fixing her serve return position, but still, at 5-1, you have a couple of chances for the set on your serve. She did, and didn't finish it off.

Next up, I started hoping that Taylor Townsend would advance to her first-ever quarterfinal. I wasn't really invested in her, but she got noticed for a couple of different shots.  An epic second-set tiebreak, which are great to watch if you aren't really pulling for one player or the other, results in a numerous match points, even on her serve, that she couldn't convert.  And on one of those match points, her opponent, Barbora Krejčíková, scraped the line with a lob return. Virtually the exact same thing happened to Davidovich Fokina at the D.C. Open against de Minaur, who eventually won that match and title. Townsend, of course, went on to a tearful loss despite a great effort.

Finally, back to Rybakina. She was playing great, but came up against Markéta Vondroušová, who won Wimbledon in 2023 unseeded. She wasn't seeded here either, due to a big drop in the rankings caused by not playing due to injury, but she's obviously talented.  So Elena lost the first set, managed to win the second set 7-5, but only won two games in the third.  Her team has to work on her consistency.

Hard to see now how the final won't be Sabalenka vs. Swiatek.

On the men's side, Davidovich Fokina lost in the second round, and Francis Tiafoe, who I really wish would get it together once and win a Slam, in the third round in straight sets, including a 7-9 loss in the third set tiebreak. So lacking longshots to back, I guess I'll go with Taylor Fritz (yay, more shots of Morgan Riddle in the stands) and de Minaur. 

Hard to see now how the final won't be Sinner vs. Alcaraz (again).  But to be the best you have to beat the best, and the best players tend to play better. Oh well.

Darn it