Remove Mars from the solar system, and Earth’s ice age rhythm falls apart. A planet half our size and 140 million miles away is quietly shaping our climate — and has been for billions of years. Stephen Kane, a planetary astrophysicist at UC Riverside, set out to disprove this idea. He ran computer simulations spanning …
Month: February 2026
Ring of Fire
Ring of Fire solar eclipse in its stunning peak phase seen over Antarctica. I heard about it but didn’t pay attention. This pic however was dramatic enough to include it. AI slop but it gives emotional drama to it.
He is right. News to me.
He is right. News to me.
Vine Victim
OLD PICTURE, but an interesting find. This fox snared itself in brambles and vines (see back legs) and either froze or starved to death; most likely both. Not a mark on it. Found while out working the terriers. Not something I have heard but plausible. Netting, barb wire, etc. is a wildlife hazard.
Pattern Recognition
You can’t unsee it now. The human Pattern Recognition ability is always amazing.
..And now something unexpected.
These Guys Are at it Yet AGAIN! I first photographed the phenomenon of American Robins fishing and eating fish in 2011. Then there was none of that that I saw for a few years. Fast forward a bit and now for the past few years it has become an annual thing. They’ve learned to hang …
Elephant trunk whiskers
To try to figure out why, Schulz worked with colleagues at MPI-IS to 3D print a scaled-up whisker with a stiff, dark base and a soft, transparent tip. Having this physical “whisker wand” prototype helped the researchers develop their intuition for what an elephant trunk feels through its whiskers. Schulz left the wand with …
Sunlight reduces plant diversity in grasslands
Intense sunlight reduces plant diversity and biomass across global grasslands, study finds Now, Spohn and 34 colleagues from different parts of the world show that plant diversity in global grasslands was negatively correlated with sunlight: Increased levels of sunlight generally mean a lower diversity. But it was not all solar radiation that was important. It …
Why only a small number of planets are suitable for life
When planets form, they initially develop out of molten rock. A sorting process occurs during this time: heavy metals such as iron sink down and form the core, while lighter metals form the mantle and, later, the crust. If there is too little oxygen present during the formation of the core, phosphorus will fuse with …
Snake Ball
I thought I had seen a lot of stuff but sometimes you are reminded you haven’t.