First Snow!

As of right now, it looks like we will see some snow on Thursday.  It might even cover the ground.

It will not affect school.

Hurricane? Meh. 10/6/2016

There are about 2 dozen computer programs that try to predict the movement of hurricanes based on hundreds of variables.   

Here are the predictions for Hurricane Matthew: None of the models now show the storm hitting or even coming close to New England.  It now looks like there is a big high pressure area over us and the storm bounce off it and head back out to sea, then loop around and slam Florida again, just like Hurricane Jeanne in 2004.  But....

Hurricane? Not Likely 10/5/2016

There are about 2 dozen computer programs that try to predict the movement of hurricanes based on hundreds of variables.   

Here are the predictions for Hurricane Matthew 4 days out: None of the models now show the storm hitting or even coming close to New England.  It now looks like the storm will head back out to sea.  But....

Hurricane? More Likely. 10/042016

There are about 2 dozen computer programs that try to predict the movement of hurricanes based on hundreds of variables.   

Here are the predictions for Hurricane Matthew 5 days out: There is anything from several chances for a direct hit over Connecticut to a total miss.  The average of all predictions is that it will now come closer to the coast and definitely give us rain.  More of the models show the storm actually hitting land over eastern Connecticut.  But...

Hurricane? Maybe. 10/03/2016

General weather systems are fairly easy to track.

For the most part, all we have to remember is that warm, humid air masses move from the Gulf of Mexico to the northeast.  Cool, dry air masses move from northern Canada to the southeast.

Then it is a matter of when and where they will collide.  There are complicated computer programs that track the speed of the air masses, as well as high pressure systems (denser, colder and/or drier air) that can block the movement of the air masses, and low pressure systems (less dense, warmer and/or moister air) that can pull the air masses in.

Usually the computers have the generalities figured out a week ahead, and the specifics a few days before the weather reaches us.

Then there are hurricanes.  Hot, dry, dusty air is swept up from the Sahara Desert by the Easterly Trade Winds and blown out westward over the hot waters of the tropical Atlantic where huge amounts of water are evaporated.  As the water condenses at the top of the clouds, it releases tremendous amounts of energy that fuel more evaporation.

OK, moving west.  But then the storm usually drifts northward through the islands and gets caught by the prevailing westerlies which might blow it back out into the Atlantic.  Or not.  It bounces off high pressure systems and gets pulled by low pressure systems.  It becomes very difficult to predict the path.

From Weather Underground

There are about 2 dozen computer programs that try to predict the movement of hurricanes based on hundreds of variables.   

Here are the predictions for Hurricane Matthew one week out: There is anything from a direct hit over Connecticut to a total miss.  The average of all predictions is that it will brush the coast and give us only rain.  But...

Good News For Devils!

Not so good for creationists.  For years now Tasmanian devils have been afflicted with a highly lethal and contagious form of cancer (devil facial tumor disease or DFTD) that is almost 100% fatal.

Tasmanian devils are the largest carnivorous marsupials in the world. They display significant aggression toward one another, which often involves biting on the face. This sometimes transmits DFTD, one of only three known forms of contagious cancer.

Twenty years since its discovery, DFTD has wiped out an estimated 80 percent of devils in Tasmania, the only place in the world where the animals live.

Now a Washington State University researcher, Andrew Storfer, and an international team of scientists have  discovered that two regions in the genomes of Australia's iconic marsupials are changing in response to the disease.

It was expected that by now there would be no more devils in the wild, but they have survived.

The reasons is simple evolution.  "If a disease comes in and knocks out 90 percent of the individuals, you might predict the 10 percent who survive are somehow genetically different," said study co-author Paul Hohenlohe, assistant professor of biology at the University of Idaho.

The theory (REMEMBER! A scientific theory is the best explanation for what has been observed and tested successfully.) of evolution states that those who can survive changes in the environment because of genetic variation will have offspring that can also survive. 

In other words, here is an example of evolution at work in the modern world.  Sorry, reality-deniers.

For more information, see https://news.wsu.edu/2016/08/30/tasmanian-devils-evolve-resist-deadly-cancer/

Vegetables That Eat You

Well.... if you are only a few millimeters long.

The bladderworts (Utricularia radiata) are starting to bloom in Chase Pond.  These plants have small yellow flowers that float just above the water.

 They are pretty, but they aren't the most interesting thing about these plants.  The fun part is below the water.  Each bladderwort leaf is covered with little ... yep, bladders.  These small balloons have the water sucked out of them by the plant leaving a partial vacuum.

 When small aquatic crustaceans bump up against small hairs on a bladder it pops open and sucks in water and the crustacean.

Then the bladder closes up and digests the prey.

Yum.