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FLOODING IN TEXAS.
There have been some serious weather-related calamities going on around the world. In the United States, it’s been in the form of severe flooding in Dallas, Texas. Per the Associated Press, “The official National Weather Service record station at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport reported 9.19 inches (23 centimeters) of rain in the 24 hours ending at 2 p.m. Monday. That ranked second for the top 10 most rain over 24 hours in Dallas on record. The most was 9.57 inches (24.3 centimeters) that fell Sept. 4-5, 1932.” The deluge has caused streets to flood, submerging vehicles as officials warned motorists to stay off the roads and water seeped into some homes and businesses. https://bit.ly/3PS0g1a
DROUGHT IN CHINA.
Meanwhile, conditions in southern China are the complete opposite. They have been experiencing a crippling drought. Again from the Associated Press, “With China’s biggest freshwater lake reduced to just 25% of its usual size by a severe drought, work crews are digging trenches to keep water flowing to one of the country’s key rice-growing regions. The dramatic decline of Poyang Lake in the landlocked southeastern province of Jiangxi had otherwise cut off irrigation channels to nearby farmlands. The crews, using excavators to dig trenches, only work after dark because of the extreme daytime heat, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.” The lack of water has had serious effects on power-generation and local authorities have taken steps to conserve energy during the power shortage. https://bit.ly/3CmEOhz
NOISY BLACK HOLES AND SOUND IN SPACE.
Listen up. Apparently, black holes make noise AND there may actually be some sound in space, albeit in one form or another and in need of some help. Per the Guardian, “On Sunday Nasa released an audio clip that represents actual sound waves emanating from the enormous black hole at the centre of the Perseus galaxy cluster, which is more than 200m light years away. The sound is edited so that it can be heard by human ears. Nasa mixed it with “other data” and amplified it, saying that the idea that there is no sound in space was a misconception.“ The sound waves were actually captured in a galaxy cluster that contained enough gas not to be a vacuum. Hence, the sound waves propagating. https://bit.ly/3PLQBJj
DANGERS OF LONG TERM WEIGHTLESSNESS.
Space agencies and space travelers have been concerned about the effects of long-term time spent in zero-gravity conditions. A recent study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science investigated how cerebrospinal fluid is changed under those conditions. According to the study, “Long-duration spaceflight induces changes to the brain and cerebrospinal fluid compartments and visual acuity problems known as spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome (SANS). “As all crews experienced the same environment aboard the ISS, the differences in WM-PVS enlargement may have been due to, among other factors, differences in the use of countermeasures and high-resistive exercise regimes, which can influence brain fluid redistribution. Moreover, NASA astronauts who developed SANS had greater pre- and postflight WM-PVS volumes than those unaffected. These results provide evidence for a potential link between WM-PVS fluid and SANS.” https://bit.ly/3QKlWgV
GODSPEED DR. FAUCI.
A massive figure in American public health and science announced his retirement yesterday. Per Science, “Anthony Fauci, the renowned physician-scientist who has led the $6.3 billion National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for nearly 4 decades and since early 2020 has been the U.S. government’s voice of scientific reason during the COVID-19 pandemic, will step down from government service in December.” During his tenure which started with the Reagan Administration and spanned 7 presidents, Fauci played a major role in transforming HIV/AIDS from a guaranteed death sentence into a more manageable disease, though no less serious. We wish him the best. https://bit.ly/3dQRjHM
Thanks for reading. Let’s be careful out there.
IMAGE CREDIT: NASA.