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Air Quality, Art, Book Review, Colorado, Covid 19, Dogs, Exercise, Fort Collins, Pandemics, Science, Space

MUSINGS FOR JANUARY 2023

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“This was my wake-up call. I opened my eyes to the depressing fact that there are other forces at work in medicine besides science. The U.S. health care system runs on a fee-for-service model in which doctors get paid for the pills and procedures they prescribe, rewarding quantity over quality. We don’t get reimbursed for time spent counseling our patients about the benefits of healthy eating. If doctors were instead paid for performance, there would be a financial incentive to treat the lifestyle causes of disease. Until the model of reimbursement changes, I don’t expect great changes in medical care or medical education.” Dr. Michael Greger

This is an image of a group of galaxies known as Stephan’s Quintet. It was taken by the James Webb Space Telescope and shows details that were not seen with Hubble. The Instrument that was used is called MIRI or Mid-InfraRed Instrument. It is composed of both a camera and a spectrograph that sees light in the mid-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. These wavelengths are longer than our eyes can see. It has allowed us to see new details in the dust-shrouded regions of the quintet, like shock waves and tidal tails and has reveled regions of star formation that were not seen before. The grouping of the five galaxies is actually a misnomer. Only four of the galaxies are close to each other. The left most, called NGC 7320, is 40 million light years from earth, while the other four are closer to 290 million light years away. The group is in the constellation Pegasus. It was first discovered by the French astronomer Edouard Stephan in 1877 at the Marseille Observatory. If you would like to learn more please see these links: https://esawebb.org/images/potm2207a/ and https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/observatory/instruments/miri.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephan%27s_Quintet

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

“Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, recently warned that we may be facing a future in which many of our miracle drugs no longer work. She stated, “A post-antibiotic era means, in effect, an end to modern medicine as we know it. Things as common as strep throat or a child’s scratched knee could once again kill.” We may soon be past the age of miracles. The director-general’s prescription to avoid this catastrophe included a global call to “restrict the use of antibiotics in food production to therapeutic purposes.” In other words, only use antibiotics in agriculture to treat sick animals. But that isn’t happening. In the United States, meat producers feed millions of pounds of antibiotics each year to farm animals just to promote growth or prevent disease in the often cramped, stressful, and unhygienic conditions of industrial animal agriculture. Yes, physicians overprescribe antibiotics as well, but the FDA estimates that 80 percent of the antimicrobial drugs sold in the United States every year now go to the meat industry.” Dr. Michael Greger

This image from JWST is of a merging galaxy pair known as II ZW 96. They are in the constellation Delphinus and are about 500 million light years from earth. The bright cores of the two galaxies are connected by bright lines of thread like appendages that are actually star forming regions. The spiral arms of the lower galaxy have been twisted out of shape by the gravitational forces created during the merger. The upper galaxy has had significant distortion too. If you would like to learn more please see these links: https://esawebb.org/images/potm2211a/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZW_II_96

Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, L. Armus, A. Evans

“In 2012, the American Dietetic Association changed its name to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics but didn’t appear to change its policies. It continues to take millions of dollars every year from processed junk food, meat, dairy, soda, and candy bar companies. In return, the academy lets them offer official educational seminars to teach dietitians what to say to their clients.” Dr. Michael Greger

This is an image of the Phantom Galaxy from the James Webb Space Telescope. Another name for this galaxy is Messier74 and it is a member of a class of spiral galaxies known as a “grand design spiral.” This means that the spiral arms are more defined and prominent than in other spiral galaxies. It is in the constellation of Pisces and is about 30 million light years from earth. It is estimated that M74 hosts about 100 billion stars. If you would like to see more, please see these links: https://esawebb.org/images/potm2208a/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_74 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_design_spiral_galaxy

Credits: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-JWST Team. 
Acknowledgement: J. Schmidt

“More than two thousand years ago, Hippocrates said, “If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health.” Dr. Michael Greger

This is a picture from the JWST that is of NGC 7469, an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation of Pegasus that is about 200 million light years away from earth. It is estimated that the galaxy is about 90,000 light-years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on November 12th, 1784. This galaxy has a bright nucleus and in the image above, the diffraction spike (patterns produced as the light bends around sharp edges of a telescope) makes it look like a six pointed star. Galaxies with this bright nucleus are also known as Seyfert galaxies. This name comes from Carl Seyfert, an American astronomer who first described this class in 1943. It is thought that the brightness is created by the presence of an accretion disk around a supermassive black hole. This galaxy has a great deal of dust around it and it has been difficult to study it with Hubble. With JWST and its better instrumentation, astronomers will now have a chance to peer though the dust clouds to see the starburst ring, and the central AGN (active galactic nucleus) in much greater detail. If you would like to learn more please see these links: https://esawebb.org/images/potm2212a/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_7469 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seyfert_galaxy

Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, L. Armus, A. S. Evans

“In this world, time has three dimensions, like space. Just as an object may move in three perpendicular directions, corresponding to horizontal, vertical, and longitudinal, so an object may participate in three perpendicular futures. Each future moves in a different direction of time. Each future is real. At every point of decision, the world splits into three worlds, each with the same people, but different fates for those people. In time, there are an infinity of worlds.” Alan Lightman

HEY!! I AM LOOKING AT YOU!! THAT’S WHO!!

If you are reading this then you have continued to survive Covid 19 so far and so have I!! Yea again for both of us!!

Well what the hell, Covid is still with us and will be for the foreseeable future. At some point, I am guessing that with the new mRNA technology, the scientist that do vaccines will figure out a much more effective treatment. But until then, it is what it is for the moment. Covid has now become, with a few exceptions, a serious disease of those that are older than 65 and / or are immunocompromised. New cases have dropped from the 60,000 plus range to around 40, 000 per day now. But deaths have actually gone up to about 500 per day. I am guessing that in a week or two the number of deaths per day will drop and that will be a good thing. It appears that we are in a plateau and I am hoping that instead of things going up, we will see a continued drop. But time will tell.

The new variant of concern for the end of January is called XBB.1.5 and makes up more than half off all cases in the United States. This variant overtakes the BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 that was predominate back in December. The question that I have and I am sure many others have, what’s going to come out of China? There have been some reports generated by eye witness accounts and satellite data that they may be experiencing as many as 20 to 30 thousand deaths per day due to their population size and lack of vaccination. When you extrapolate back from this you can probably guess that the number of new daily infections are in the hundreds of thousands. Of course none of this is being reported by the Chinese government. That is a lot of people for new variants to emerge. It is not a question will new variants be created but will we get one in the next 6 months that is the variant from hell?! And add in the Chinese government’s reticence in reporting and you get the possibility the rest of the world will be scrambling to play catch up in creating an effective treatment plan when it spreads beyond their borders. Oh well what are you going to do?

By the time of publishing, the death count per day was still holding in the 500 range. And total deaths were now around 1,132,000 or about 16 thousand more deaths from last month. Again, hard to wrap my head around those numbers, especially when you consider the count is probably a lot higher. Covid is still considered the third leading cause of death as of this past November. Right behind Heart disease and Cancer. Not to mention that if you have gotten Covid and survived, you are not out of the woods yet so to speak. There is an 18 month time frame post Covid, that you are at increased risk for cardiovascular complications and neurodegenerative disease.

If you are interested in more information from reliable sources please check out these links: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ and https://www.youtube.com/c/OsterholmUpdateCOVID19 and https://www.youtube.com/c/VincentRacaniello and https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html

And if your interested in a short 1 minute version of day to day numbers, here is a good source. It is from the Johns Hopkins site. It is the best for a quick look. Here is the link for YouTube to subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnxJP601LarGKt_zbttd3uyl_MqVLW2s1

The month of January was a great month for getting outdoors. The wind patterns were good and it made for some great air quality days. Not our usual high pollution days due to temperature inversions. Of course, firewood burning ( I am guilty of this too), oil and gas wells out in Weld County and the number of people living on the Front Range of Colorado does not help. But most of that particulate and chemical pollution was mitigated for the month of January due the wind patterns. Yea!

This picture of Marvin was taken on January 3rd, 2023 at about 5:45pm in the afternoon. This winter has been almost the total opposite from last year in terms of temperatures. On the Front Range we usually get a 50 plus degree day once per week, but this year that has not happened. Over all the temps have been much cooler, or about 10 degrees lower than our usual highs at this time. No 50 degree days so far. Lol.
The above pictures were taken on January 7th, 2023 at about 5:30 – 6:30pm in the afternoon. All three pictures were from an in-town run that I did with Marvin. It is through one of the many open space areas here in Fort Collins. When I look back at these pictures I am remind of how lucky I am to live in such a place.
This picture was taken January 12th, 2023 at about 5:15pm in the afternoon. It is looking west from our neighborhood. Another beautiful Colorado sunset. The two big peaks in the background are Mount Meeker (13, 911 feet) and Longs Peak (14,259 feet). Both are in Rocky Mountain National Park. To be able to see them like this, means there are high winds in the atmosphere – blowing most of the particulate between Fort Collins and the mountains out of the way. From my vantage point, I am looking through the atmosphere about 40 miles as the crow flies. The sunset colors are created from reflected light off the “particulate” behind and to the West of Colorado. Pretty cool.
This picture was taken on January 14th, 2023 at about 5:30pm in the afternoon from our neighborhood. As her foot injury healed , Janet was able to get out much more with us in January. Very nice indeed.
The above three pictures were taken on January 18th, 2023 at about about 11pm at night. Due to the colder temperatures and a little bit of lingering snow, XC skiing was possible in town, on the golf courses. If I could change one thing about Fort Collins climate, I would make it a little bit colder just for the months of January and February, so that the city could make snow. This would give the ability to have consistent in town XC skiing during those two months. I am envious of the northern Midwest states that can do this with their golf courses in winter.
This picture was taken on January 24th, 2023 at about 5:30 pm in the afternoon. What can I say? Another beautiful Colorado sunset.
This picture was taken on January 27th, 2023 at about 6:30pm in the evening and it is one of my favorite ones for the month of January. Marvin has such a serious look on his face. I guess that is part of his “livestock guardian” genes coming in to play so to speak. He is part Great Pyrenees, part Anatolian Shephard and part German Shepherd. Here he was checking out a resident family of Racoons in the open space.

So all and all, it was another good month for getting outdoors with great air quality for the most part. Here’s to hopping that February will be the same.

It was another excellent month for reading and I would like to share a few book recommendations.

The first book I would like to review is called Daily Rituals:  How Artists Work, written by Mason Currey.  I got this book because I am a “struggling artist” and most of the struggle is caused by me.  Lol.  Yep, your worst enemy in the process of making art, is yourself.  This is the second time that I have read (or tried to read) this book.  I got it in the Kindle form when it first came out in 2013.  But I only got a quarter way into it and stopped reading.  At that time, I was doing art only when time would allow or not at all for months on end.  Still working full time, family, kids, self-inflected obstacles, etc.…   All the usual things that can create barriers to making art.  And I let it all get in the way.

First forward ten years and I am wishing that I had paid more attention and read the whole book.  The author gives a small paragraph or two on about 160 different types of artist, on what they did to get the “work” done so to speak.  As I read, I realized that there is “no one way” to get it done.  I could have used this realization.

Every artist in the book seemed to have their own unique work habits in making the art while living busy lives.  Of course there are some methods that were unhealthy to say the least like amphetamines and alcohol use, and some that were pretty humorous and a little bizarre even by today’s standards.  One of the things that I liked best about the book was the inclusion of some characters that would not be considered artists in the strictest sense, like scientists and philosophers.  And there were several individuals in the book that I could relate to.  The massive coffee drinkers and those that were night owls.  Lol.  Both of which I am. 

So, if you’re a struggling artist too, and want to get a small glimpse of what others have done to get the work done so to speak then this book is for you.  If you are someone that is not an artist but are just curious, then this book is for you too.  It is a fun read and entertaining to say the least. 

This time I got the book as an audio book but it would work in any format.  You can probably find the book at your local book store or on Amazon.  Here is the amazon link:   https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Rituals-How-Artists-Work/dp

The next book I would like to review is one called “Boldly Go:  Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder” by William Shatner or better known, if you’re a trek fan, as Captain Kirk.  If you have been a Star Trek fan and even if you haven’t, then you need to get this book.  It is a kind of autobiography or reflection on his life by the subject himself.  He tells a pretty good tale on his struggles in life along with the celebrations.  As a bonus, you get his pearls of wisdom on living the best life.

To be honest, other than knowing him as Captain Kirk from Star Trek, I did not know much about him.  I got the book because of his age.  He is 91 years old, and well he might not be around that much longer.  I feel that when people have made it to that age and are still mentally competent, I want to learn from them.  I want to hear what they have to say about their lives and how they might have done some things differently or not.  I want to hear about how they dealt with problems, I want to hear their words of wisdom.  I want to hear how their attitudes changed over time.  I want to know more about them.  And I was not disappointed. 

One of the things that I leaned in the book is that Captain Kirk (he will always be the Captain to me) is an environmentalist and that is something that I can relate to.  And he seems to be of the mind, like I am, that you must strive to learn something new every single day.  Great book and an easy read. 

I got the book as an audio book but it would work in any format.  I am pretty sure you can get the book at your local book store or on Amazon.  Here is the link:  https://www.amazon.com/Boldly-Go-Reflections-Life-Wonder/dp   

The next book I would like to review is called “Conspiracy:  Why the Rational Believe the Irrational by Michael Shermer.”  Now if you not familiar with the author let me say he is an American Science writer, Historian of Science, and the executive director of The Skeptics Society.  He is an author of over a dozen books mostly dealing with beliefs in pseudoscience and religion.  I first came across one of his books when I was doing a book review of Carl Sagan’s book “The Demon-Haunted World.” By the way, the Sagan book is another one of those timeless classics that is as relevant today as when it was published back in the 90s.  Now to get back to the book at hand, “Conspiracy” is the newest book by the author and is an examination of how conspiracies get started.  He gives us great examples of imagined conspiracies, like the still ongoing ones of the JFK assassination, the QAnon groups, the Sandy Hook massacre, the 9/11 conspiracy, the Satanic Panic in the 1980s and 1990s, etc.…  Some are so out there you have to just kind of scratch your head and think what the hell is wrong with people.  Lol.

Now along with the imagined ones he gives us examples of where there were real ones and how they unfolded.  Like the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln Conspiracy, The World War One Conspiracy and how it almost did not happen, The Tuskegee experiments on black men and syphilis, Watergate, Iran Contra, etc.…  What I really liked in the book was the explanation of how the real ones usually play out in haphazard ways due to the nature of chance.  Pretty interesting stuff.

Humans are incredible at pattern recognition, after all this is what kept us safe in our ancient past.  Unfortunately in our more modern age we are really “good” at seeing patterns that are not there.

Great book.  I listened to the book as an audio book but it would work in any format.  You can probably find this book at your local book store or on Amazon.  Here is the Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Conspiracy-Why-Rational-Believe-Irrational/dp

The last book I would like to give a review on is called The Rise and Reign of the Mammals:  A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us by Steve Brusatte.   Let me start off by saying “Wow,” I really had no idea that paleontology had progressed so far with mammals.  Pretty cool if you ask me.  In college I got a degree in Biology that had an interdisciplinary minor that required courses in geology and paleontology.  At the time, (mid 80s) most of the talk in these classes was on dinosaurs, not much on mammals at all.  Of course in hindsight, the fossils had to be there all along but it was not talked about much at all.  I wonder if part of this was due to where the college was located (Texas), and the significant religious influence present in the town. It was like:  “We don’t want to talk about evolution – just don’t go there so to speak.” Lol.   

The book got me hooked as soon as I started to read, especially with the story on the Dimetrodon. A large (up to 15 feet in length) sail-backed looking lizard.  At the University I went to (Midwestern State University), there were a lot of photographs and drawings of the fossilized skeletons of this animal because it had been found in the this area of North Central Texas.  One of the college professor even lamented the fact:  “That there was not one skeleton on display in the area.  That they had all been whisked away to more cosmopolitan museums in bigger cities.” 

So all we had were drawing and photographs.   At that time, we were told it was a dinosaur.  From the book, I learned that it is a very early mammal (called a synapsid) and predates dinosaurs by almost a million years.  And that humans are also considered synapsids, meaning we have one hole in our skull for jaw muscles, just like Dimetrodon.  Pretty cool.

If there is one thing that this book has taught me is that earth has had a very complex and multifaceted evolution of life, from early mammals, to dinosaurs, to mammals again, all of which includes us. And when I stop to think about it, if the asteroid that created the Chicxulub crater off the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico 66 million years ago, wiping out the dinosaurs, had missed earth instead, most of the animal life we take for granted, including us, would not be here.   

I got this book as an audio book but I think it works better in the traditional version.  There is a lot of information.  If you do get the audio book make sure you download and print out the significant PDF.  The pictures and diagrams help a lot in the understanding.  You can find this book at your local book store or on Amazon.  Here is the Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Reign-Mammals-History-Dinosaurs/dp             

Well, I was going to have a new piece of art work to share but that did not quite work out like I wanted it to, so I am posting a few “practice pieces” that I have done with acrylics over the last few months. In the past, I have painted with acrylics but I have approached the painting like a pen and ink drawing. Very planned out. When drawing with pen and ink – there is very little room for error.

In the process of trying to get better at my painting techniques, I started to watch other artist on YouTube and Instagram. I had not done this before and it was an eyeopener. So much possibility with painting. So this has become a goal of mine. To broaden my painting ability this year.

Another thing that I learned from an Instagram artist was the practice of using cardboard for canvas – especially for practice pieces. So cheap and plentiful if your an Amazon Prime member. Lol.

The above three large scale paintings were done a few years ago and are more indicative of a pen and ink style of painting for me. The very top one has a little bit of freeform with the flowers but it was not something I was comfortable with at the time. The next few paintings below are the “practice” pieces. Very little planning, just looking at a picture and trying to paint it. All done on cardboard over the last few months. Lol.

The next two paintings below are of a wolf face, the first one is before the “freeform practice” and the second one is after. I am still working on the finishing touches on the second one.

The second wolf face was done “more freeform” and I like it a lot better. I cannot wait to start the next one in about a month. I am hoping that the new painting technique will continue to carry over into these larger paintings.

More of my art work. The finished pieces and not the practice ones (Lol) can be found on my Etsy site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/strugglingprotoplasm/edit?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

In support of Prochoice and Separation of Church and State, I will donate 10% of any sales to Planned Parenthood or the Freedom From Religion Foundation, but only if you wish me too. If not, I will be more than happy to keep the money! Lol

Well I have come to the end of another blog post. Yea! I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.

So take care my friends and if you have not gotten vaccinated or boosted, even if you have had Covid, then get it done. It would be stupid to say the least, if you were to lose your life or suffer significant disability with this virus when vaccines are readily available in this country. So until next time Adios!!

“It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.” Carl Sagan

“Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you cannot question.” Yuval Noah Harari

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous…, leading to the most amazing views.” Edward Abbey

Air Quality, Art, Book Review, Climate Change, Colorado, Covid 19, Dogs, Exercise, Fort Collins, Gun Control, Marshall Fire, Pandemics, Rico Colorado, Science, Space

MUSINGS FOR OCTOBER 2022

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“You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant.” Harlan Ellison

The above image is known as the famous Stephan’s Quintet. It is considered the first compact galaxy group ever discovered and gets it’s name from Edouard Stephan (French astronomer). He discovered it in 1877 at the Marseille Observatory. The galaxy on the left (NGC 7320) appears to be a part of the group but is actually closer to earth at 40 million light years. The other galaxies are about 300 million light years away. The image is a composite of Webb telescope data (Infrared data) and Chandra (X-Ray data) and some data from the retired Spitzer telescope (again Infrared data). The blue color is data from Chandra and indicates a shock wave of millions of degrees as one galaxy passes through another. If you would like to learn more please see these links: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasawebbtelescope/52404135772/in/photostream/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephan%27s_Quintet

Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO;IR (Spitzer): NASA/JPL-Caltech;IR (Webb): NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI

“The two most common elements in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity.” Harlan Ellison

The above image is of the Cartwheel Galaxy or ESO 350-40 or PGC 2248 and is consider a lenticular ring galaxy. It is about 500 million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor. The interesting shape is thought to be the result of a collision with a smaller galaxy sometime in the past – estimated 200 to 300 million years ago. The above image is a composite of the Webb telescope (Infrared data) and Chandra (X-ray data). If you would like to learn more please see these links: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasawebbtelescope/52404135532/in/photostream/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartwheel_Galaxy#X-ray_sources

Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC; IR: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI

“Gods can do anything. They fear nothing: they are gods. There is one rule, one Seal of Solomon that can confound a god, and to which all gods pay service, to the letter: when belief in a god dies, the god dies.” Harlan Ellison

This is an image of a cluster of galaxies know as SMACS 0723. This patch of sky (Constellation of Volans – Southern Hemisphere) has been imaged many time by the Hubble telescope and was one of the first spots to be looked at when the Webb telescope came online. What your looking at is around 4 billion light years from earth. The image is a composite of Webb (Infrared data) and Chandra (X-ray data). The blue haze at the center is superheated gas that has an estimated mass of about 100 trillion times that of the sun. Pretty hard to wrap my head around that one. If you would like to learn more please see these links: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasawebbtelescope/52405131881/in/photostream/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMACS_J0723.3%E2%80%937327

Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Durham Univ./G. Mahler; IR: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI

“I know that pain is the most important thing in the universe. Greater than survival, greater than love, greater even than the beauty it brings about. For without pain, there can be no pleasure. Without sadness, there can be no happiness. Without misery there can be no beauty. And without these, life is endless, hopeless, doomed and damned.
Adult. You have become adult.” Harlan Ellison

The above image is of the galaxy pair VV 191. It is an example of superimposed galaxies – where one seems to be in front of another one. So far there is about 2000 known examples of this type of galaxy pair. What is cool about this image (it is composite of the Webb telescope and the Hubble) is that the galaxy on the left shows a previously unknown lensed galaxy. You can just see it at the 11 o’clock position on the left galaxy. It is the red looking smudge. The gravitational lensing occurs when the gravity of a massive object distorts the fabric of space time and bends/magnifies the light from a more distant object located behind it. This lensed galaxy went undetected in the Hubble telescope data and it was not until the Webb scope came into play that we were able to image it for the first time. If you would like to learn more please see this link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasawebbtelescope/52406400196/in/photostream/

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, R. Windhorst (Arizona State University), W. Keel (University of Alabama), S. Wyithe (University of Melbourne, Australia), and the JWST PEARLS Team

“Like a wind crying endlessly through the universe, Time carries away the names and the deeds of conquerors and commoners alike. And all that we were, all that remains, is in the memories of those who cared we came this way for a brief moment.” Harlan Ellison

HEY!! I AM LOOKING AT YOU!! THAT’S WHO!!

If you are reading this then you have continued to survive Covid 19 so far and so have I!! Yea for all of us again!! Unfortunately some have not been so lucky. I am still hoping to be able to continue to say this for the rest of the year!

By the middle of September we were still seeing about 400 to 500 deaths per day and this continued into October. Unfortunately. The majority of these cases were over 65 adults, the immunocompromised and the unvaccinated. The first two you can do nothing about but the last one is just being stupid if you have not gotten vaccinated. There is plenty of data out there now that shows the vaccines work and they are safe. No excuses.

Data on how many new infections are occurring each month is really anyone’s guess at the moment. The “at home testing” does not allow anyway to gauge what is going on at the moment. The only ability we have now is the testing of waste water samples and then extrapolating from the amount of virus found to what community levels are. Of course that is assuming that the “political party” of a said state will actually do it. My guess is that we are still around 100,000 new cases per day. Who knows?! The death count has stayed pretty much the same so I am basing this guess on the fact that the positivity rate is also about the same.

The above picture has not changed. But again, I think North Carolina should be in the picture, which would push New Jersey out.

By the middle of October the total deaths in the US was about 1,090,000 or an increase of about 15 thousand deaths in the last 30 days.

On an interesting note, Germany had a spike in confirmed cases the first couple of weeks in October and tightened restrictions hoping to curb the spread of the virus. What usually happens in Europe, means that in a few weeks it will be here in the US. Unfortunately, with the large flu outbreak going on in Australia, which usually means a severe season for the US, things might get pretty interesting. We may be looking at a real “Twindemic” for this late fall and winter. Oh well, what are you going to do? Get vaccinated! Lol.

If you interested in looking at the numbers for yourself, please see this link: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

If you interested in getting a good understanding of what is going on with Covid every other week without having to watch the news, check out this link for the Osterholm Update on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FC1G09xkOFc

And if you don’t want to listen on YouTube you can check out Apple Pod cast. Dr. Michael Osterholm is an American epidemiologist, Regents Professor, and Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Osterholm gives an update each week on where we are with the virus. Really good information directly from the source and not spun by the news media channels.

Another great YouTube channel to follow on Covid, and other infectious diseases like Monkey Pox and Polio, especially if you are someone that is medical, is this one: https://youtu.be/786kiTxg6Bk

It is a part of microbe.tv/twiv. Vincent Racaniello and Dr. Griffin do a great job in presenting the “information” each week. Vincent R. Racaniello is Higgins Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Daniel O. Griffin is an American infectious disease specialist. He is an instructor in Clinical Medicine and an associate research scientist in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Columbia University.

The months of September and the first part of October were better for getting outdoors than the previous two months. We were still having high pollution afternoons along the front range of Colorado but they were decreasing in number as daytime temps cooled. And the wind patterns were favorable in keeping the smoke from the forest fires out west from tracking down into Colorado. Things were pretty good as compared to July and August.

After all the hiking we did, when we were in Rico, Colorado back in August (See last Blog post), I decided to take a week or two off from any serious outdoor exercise and give my left knee a rest so to speak. But I still got out every afternoon / evening and walked Marvin. I even made it up into the high country to see a little bit of the Aspen color change.

The pictures below were from one of my favorite trail running and hiking areas in the Rawah Wilderness Area – the West Branch Trail. The Aspens were just starting to change on September 20th.

The trees lower down were already in the process of changing, but higher up there was not much of a color change.
Temps at 9500 feet were still a little warm as Marvin is currently demonstrating.
This stand of Aspens at about 9500 feet had no color change yet.
Old loggers cabin from before the area was designated a Wilderness. I always find these kinds of artifacts / structures fascinating. When you look out at the trees in a Colorado forest today, very little of it is old growth. Almost all of it has been logged at one time or another.
Looking West towards Cameron Peak at 12,127 feet.
This is the view from the parking lot. One of my favorite spots.
Great beaver pond on the Laramie River close to the parking lot. This is what a lot of smaller streams and rivers in Colorado looked like prior to the 1700s. Before the beavers were trapped out. Again it is a reminder of what we see in Colorado’s mountain landscape is not natural but a human induced unnatural condition. Pretty interesting.

This last two pictures are of Janet and Marvin from our local neighborhood pond. The sunsets from this vantage point can be beautiful.

This picture was taken on October 8th at about 7pm in the evening.
This picture was taken October 10th, 2022 at about 6:30pm in the evening.

So all and all it was a great month here on the Front Range of Colorado. I am wondering what the rest of the fall will bring. We have not had much in the way of rain or snow in the last 30 days and the average temps are about 4 to 8 degree above normal. This has made for some great weather but at the same time it is a little worrisome. I don’t think anyone wants to see a repeat of the Marshall Fire situation that occurred last year at the end of December 2021. A lot of the Front Range Foothills and Plains are vulnerable to this type of situation. If you don’t remember what the fire was about check out this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Fire

It was another great month for reading and I would like to share a few new book recommendations. We are so fortunate to have the access to all the information that is out there. If you can at least read or listen to an audio book there is no reason that you could not set a goal of one book per month. In my opinion, this would be one the best habits you could ever have. Read, read, read and read some more! Lol.

The first book I would like to recommend is called Existential Physics by Sabine Hossenfelder. Let me start off by saying this book is about some of our biggest questions currently in physics and that Sabine is the perfect scientist to help you start to think about these conundrums.  Especially for those of us that are not scientist.  She has the rare talent of being able to explain some very complicated topics in layman’s terms.  But before I get too far let me say that Dr. Hossenfelder has the credential to do this, for she is a theoretical physicist at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, where she explores the intricacies of quantum gravity.  I first learned about her on YouTube.  She has a channel called “Science without the gobbledygook.”  If you interested check out this link: https://www.youtube.com/c/SabineHossenfelder/videos

In the book, she covers things such as “Does the Past Still Exist”, “Are You Just a Bag of Atoms”, and “Has Physics Ruled out Free Will”, among other topics.  She does this in a way that is in line with current known/tested real world models.   I found the book a refreshing look at what we know in physics and more importantly what is just conjecture or opinion.  As an example, take “Multiverse Theory.”  Now there is nothing wrong with pondering the possibilities of having multiple universes, but until it can be tested and proved or disproved it is basically just opinion.  Sabine does an excellent job at pointing these conjectures out.  It is a good look at what we know and what we don’t know. 

I got the book as an audio book but it might work better in traditional format.  There is a lot of information here to unpack and I found myself listening to sections and chapters more than once.  I am guessing you can find the book at your local book store or on Amazon.  Here is the link for Amazon:   https://www.amazon.com/Existential-Physics-Scientists-Biggest-Questions/dp/

Another great book to read this fall, especially if you are over the age of 50 like I am, is called “Breaking the Age Code:  How your Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long and Well You Live,” by Becca Levy.  I found this book very interesting.  Especially now that I am over 60 years old.  Lol.  I am not so sure I would have appreciated it as much if I had read it back when I was thirty.  The author is a Professor of Epidemiology in Social and Behavioral Science at Yale University.  Her research is in social gerontology and the psychology of aging.  The book starts off by showing how our attitudes affect how we age as individuals.  And that by incorporating positive age beliefs we can reverse the process a bit.  Pretty interesting stuff.  Before getting the book I had developed a habit of teasing my wife about our ages (we are both over 60) and how “new” aches/pains are just the process of getting older.  Of course this was all done with a tongue-cheek kind of humor.  Lol.  But now, I am much more careful about this type of kidding.  What is the old saying: “Your body believes every word you say.”  (I think that this is the actual title to a book by the author Barbara Hoberman Levine.) 

While the part about internalized negative age beliefs vs positive age beliefs was interesting, it was not the best part for me.  What really opened my eyes was the sections on how society reinforces these beliefs.  And how a type of discrimination called ageism is much more prevalent than we think.  Everything from job discrimination to how you are treated in the health care system.  One of the best examples was the author describing a school play in which the kids were dressed up as “old people” and acting out stereotypical funny old age behavior.  She goes on to describe how everyone was laughing at the skit.  Of course, before reading the book and turning 60, I probably would have too.  This example caused me to stop and pause and ask myself is this OK?  Or is it part of a much bigger and deeply ingrained behavior.  Pretty interesting.

This is a great book to read even if you’re not over 50 right now.  Besides if you play your cards right, you might get lucky and become an old person someday too.  I listened to this book as an audiobook but it would work well in any format.  The book can probably be found at your local book store or on Amazon.  Here is the link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Age-Code-Beliefs-Determine/dp/   

The next book I would like to recommend goes along with the previous book but by a different author.  It looks at aging in a different light.  This book is called “The Science and Technology of Growing Young:  An Insider’s Guide to the Breakthroughs That will Dramatically Extend Our Lifespan…and What You Can Do Right Now by Sergey Young.  The author is the founder of the Longevity Vision Fund.  This fund is a 100 million dollar investment fund dedicated to making longevity affordable and accessible to all.  The idea is to accelerate research by investing in companies that are creating technologies, products and services that keep you healthy and extend lifespans. 

In the last few years I have been interested in research along these lines, so when I saw this book and read the author’s bio, I thought it might be a good one to read.   And it was.  The book goes into detail about all the research being done in this area of medicine.  Things like regenerative therapeutics, genetic engineering, health data tracking, and theories of why we age, etc.…  There is also a good portion of information scattered thought out the book on the sociology and psychology of longevity.  I especially liked the section on “precision medicine” and how it is slowly changing how we treat people in the medical landscape.  Traditionally, in medicine, it has been the old idea of one size fits all approach.  And this works to some degree for most patients, but is not quit perfect and for a lot of patients, it does not work at all.  Now que the development of AI and Health informatics and you have the ability to potentially tailor medical treatment for each individual based on that individual’s unique health profile.  Pretty cool. 

As a bonus, the final chapter is about how to live longer today.  The author describes the attitudes, habits and choices you need for today to hopefully take advantage of the current longevity research as it comes to fruition in the next decade.  It would be a real bummer to miss a longevity break through that might only be a few years away. 

I listened to the book as an audio book but it would work well in any format.  You can probably find the book at your local book store or on Amazon.  Here is the Amazon link:  https://www.amazon.com/Science-Technology-Growing-Young-Breakthroughs/dp/

The next book I would like to review is one on Global Warming that was published this year.  It is called “Hothouse Earth:  An Inhabitant’s Guide” by Bill McGuire.  The author is a volcanologist and Professor Emeritus of Geophysical and Climate Hazards at the University of London.  Let me start out by saying that this is not one of those feel good at the end climate books.  You know the ones which say we can prevent global warming, blah, blah, blah… and there is still time to turn it around.  No, this is a blunt look at what we are facing now and in the coming decades.  Dr. McGuire argues in the book that we are way past the point of no return in the ongoing climate crisis.  That our only hope for now is to try to mitigate the worst effects.  He starts the book out by giving us a good perspective on what our climate was and how it changed multiple times in the past.  Then he brings us up to date on where we are at now. It’s not good. 

Besides the usual “warming climate” effects like increased temperature, drought, forest fires, sea level rise, etc.…  The author had a section on how the melting of the polar caps and glaciers could spell an increase in large scale events like earthquakes and volcanic activity.  This is one that I had not read about before.  It did not occur to me that the weighing and un-weighing of the earth’s crust due to changes in rainfall and drought, could create potential slips along a boundary of two major tectonic plates and create an earthquake.  Wow, I had no idea. 

The other one was the melting of glaciers on large volcanic peaks or land surfaces could result in enough of a decrease in stress load on the earth’s crust, that you see an increase in volcanic events.  The idea is that there is less weight holding subsurface magma down so it is easier for it to come to the surface.  I did a little google searching on this topic and saw were this has already been found to have happened in the past in Iceland.  NASA has an article (published 2019) about these effects and can be found here:   https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2926/can-climate-affect-earthquakes-or-are-the-connections-shaky/

All in all this was a good book for a wakeup call.  No, we can’t prevent what is going to happen but maybe we can head the worst of it off.  I listened to the book as an audio book but it would work well in any format.  I think you should be able to find this book at your local book store or on Amazon.  The Amazon link is here: https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Hothouse-Earth-Hot-Science/dp/

The last book I want to give a recommendation to is called “The End of the World Is Just the Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization” by Peter Zeihan.  This book was suggested to me by a friend that had seen my earlier review of a similar book called Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order by Ray Dalio.  Both books cover the coming change in globalization but from different angles.  Both are good, Ray looks at the picture in a large historical context (the last 500 years) and Peter looks at it in the context of the last 100 years, specifically from the end of World War 2 until now.  And Peter’s book goes into a lot more detail of where we are currently and how we got here.   Peter is a geopolitical analyst and author on four other books on geopolitics.   

Until I read this book, I really did not give much thought as to how our current day “International / World Society” formed over the years.  Specifically the international trade game of where and who makes the products and food we all enjoy globally.  We take so many things for granted, that our parents, grandparents or great grandparents never had access to.  For better or worse, free market capitalism and globalization has given billions of people in the world ( including us) the opportunity to have a standard of living that would only be a pipe dream to our ancestors. 

In the book, Peter argues what will happen when this type of globalization, that we have known for at least the last 20 years, ends and what it will mean for countries, not just the United States, around the world. Questions like:  What if countries had to grow all their own food, create their own energy sources, produce all their own goods, fight their own battles, etc.…? We all depend on globe spanning supply chains, as the pandemic readily pointed out, but what if that ended?  How would the world cope?  This is a large part of what the book talks about.  Along with this aspect, the author touches on another topic that I had not given too much thought to – populations and birth rate.  For an economy to grow in a free market capitalistic system, people have to “buy” stuff.  But if your population significantly declines as populations age and die, who is going to pick up that slack.  Very interesting ideas. 

The previous presidency was based on the idea of ending globalization. But could it be, if America changed all of it trade policies and became a full isolationist country, would it be enough to throw the whole thing into a tailspin world wide? Well this is what Peter argues. That the only reason we have globalization like we do now is because of American involvement after WW2. And after listening to what this would mean to the rest of the world if it ended, I can see why people got so “bent out of shape” when this policy was being pursued by the previous White House administration.

This is a great book – “A WAKE UP CALL” in a way. After listening to it, I for one do not want globalization to end. Would America survive? Yes, but it would be a downgrade in our standard of living and absolutely disastrous for other parts of the world. I got it as an audiobook but it would work in any format.  I am guessing you can find it at your local book store or on Amazon.  Here is the Amazon link:   https://www.amazon.com/End-World-Just-Beginning-Globalization/dp/          

Last but not least I would like to show case a new piece of art work.

Third painted Wolf Face. I call this one Canis 3. I have always had a fascination with wolves. They have always seemed larger than life to me. The wolf has been a common theme in mythology since time immortal. Especially in the cultures of Eurasia and North America. I got the initial idea for doing a series of large wolf faces several years ago while reading the Game of Thrones books by George R.R. Martin. After watching the HBO adaption, I knew I had to do this. Instead of trying to do a realistic version, I thought it might be more interesting to create paintings that evoke more of the potential mythology of the wolf.

These are large acrylic paintings that are done on OSB or Oriented strand board. The boards or sheets were given to me by my neighbor when he was remodeling his basement several years ago. He was in the process of throwing them away but thought I might want them. In keeping with North American wolf symbolism, I cut the sheets into circles to symbolize creation, death and rebirth.

The diameter is about 46 inches across, and the weight is about 50 lbs.

Canis 3

This piece and other types of artwork are for sale and can be found on my Etsy site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/strugglingprotoplasm/edit?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

In support of Prochoice and the Separation of Church and State, I will donate 10% of any sales to Planned Parenthood or the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Well I have come the end of another blog post! Yea! I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. It takes a lot more time than I ever realized. Lol.

No shout out to Minimalism for now. I will save that one for next time. But if you are disappointed and are interested, here are a few links to get you started on sustainability, minimalism and the steady state economy: https://www.sustain.ucla.edu/what-is-sustainability/ and https://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/ and https://steadystate.org/ and https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2018/12/27/35-ways-reduce-carbon-footprint/

So take care my friends and if you have not gotten vaccinated or boosted, even if you have had Covid, then get it done. It would be stupid to say the least, if you were to lose your life or suffer significant disability with this virus when vaccines are readily available in this country. So until next time Adios!!

“It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.” Carl Sagan

“Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you cannot question.” Yuval Noah Harari

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous…, leading to the most amazing views.” Edward Abbey

Air Quality, Art, Book Review, Colorado, Covid 19, Dogs, Environment, Exercise, Fort Collins, Fort Collins, Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, Minimalism, Pandemics, Politics, PurpleAir, Science, Science Fiction, Space, Wildfire

MUSINGS FOR FRIDAY 25TH, JUNE 2021

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“Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world. Science is the highest personification of the nation because that nation will remain the first which carries the furthest the works of thought and intelligence.” Louis Pasteur

This is an image of Arp 299 and was created by using X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory (pink), higher-energy X-ray data from NuSTAR (purple), and optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope (white and faint brown). It is an image of two colliding galaxies approximately 134 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa major. The two systems have been locked in gravitational combat for millions of years blending and merging stars from each galaxy into a cosmic goulash. Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ of Crete/K. Anastasopoulou et al, NASA/NuSTAR/GSFC/A. Ptak et al; Optical: NASA/STScI. If you want to learn more about the above image check out these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/galactic-goulash and https://phys.org/news/2017-06-arp-galactic-goulash.html and https://youtu.be/YfF83mXMC7U

“We have to remember that what we observe is not nature in itself but nature exposed to our method of questioning.” Werner Heisenberg

This is an image of galaxy NGC 5037 in the constellation of Virgo. It is about 150 million light-years away from Earth. The image was created using Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3. The first documentation of its existence was by William Herschel in 1785. A barred spiral galaxy is a spiral with a central bar-shaped structure. The central structure is composed of stars. It is thought that about half of all spiral galaxies have bars. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, where we live, is classified as a barred spiral galaxy. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Rosario; Acknowledgment: L. Shatz. To learn more about this image or the galaxy NGC 5037 please see these links: Hubble Captures a Captivating Spiral | NASA and https://www.digitaltrends.com/news/hubble-galaxy-ngc-5037/

“I am utterly convinced that science and peace will triumph over ignorance and war, that nations will eventually unite not to destroy but to edify, and that the future will belong to those who have done the most for the sake of suffering humanity.” Louis Pasteur

This image was created using a large mosaic of data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the MeerKAT radio telescope in south Africa. The orange, green, blue and purple colors are from Chandra Observatory and the radio data from MeerKAT are shown in lilac and gray. This image made news because it is thought to be showing X-ray and radio emissions intertwined. The idea is that they are held together by thin strips of magnetic fields. This concept has been put forth in a study by Q. Daniel Wang of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. “Such strips may have formed when magnetic fields aligned in different directions, collided, and became twisted around each other in a process called magnetic reconnection. This is similar to the phenomenon that drives energetic particles away from the Sun and is responsible for the space weather that sometimes affects Earth.” Image credit: Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/UMass/Q.D. Wang; Radio: NRF/SARAO/MeerKAT. To learn more about this image please visit there links: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/images/magnetized-threads-weave-spectacular-galactic-tapestry.html and https://phys.org/news/2021-05-magnetized-threads-spectacular-galactic-tapestry.html

“All one can really leave one’s children is what’s inside their heads. Education, in other words, and not earthly possessions, is the ultimate legacy, the only thing that cannot be taken away.” Dr. Wernher von Braun

This is an image of Uranus – the 7th planet from our sun. It is four times the diameter of Earth and rotates on its side and has two sets of rings. This side rotation makes it different from all other planets in our solar system. The above image is made from combining a Chandra X-ray image from 2002 (pink) superimposed on an optical image from the Keck-I Telescope made in 2004. The planet made news recently because astronomers have detected X-rays for the first time coming from Uranus, using NASA’s Chandra Observatory. Most of the X-rays are thought to becoming from the Sun due to scattering but there is a possibility the rings of Uranus could be creating the rays themselves. Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXO/University College London/W. Dunn et al; Optical: W.M. Keck Observatory. If you want to learn more about this please visit these links: Detecting X-Rays From Uranus | NASA and https://phys.org/news/2021-03-x-rays-uranus.html

“Fortune favors the prepared mind.” Louis Pasteur

Apollo 16 was the tenth crewed mission of the Apollo space program. It was the 5th landing on the moon by astronauts. This mission started on April 16th, 1972 and ended on April 27th. The mission was crewed by Commander John Young, the Lunar module pilot was Charles Duke and Command module pilot was Ken Mattingly. In the above image, John Young salutes the flag while jumping on the moon. The Lunar landing Module Orion and the Lunar Roving Vehicle are in the background. Image Credit: NASA/Charlie Duke. To learn more about the above image and the Apollo 16 mission please visit these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/flag-day-2021-saluting-the-us-flag and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_16 and https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo16.html

“Our sun is one of a 100 billion stars in our galaxy. Our galaxy is one of billions of galaxies populating the universe. It would be the height of presumption to think that we are the only living thing in that enormous immensity.” Dr. Wernher von Braun

HEY!! I AM LOOKING AT YOU!! THAT’S WHO!! LOLOLOLOLOL

If you are reading this then you have continued to survive Covid 19 so far and so have I!! That my friends is a very, very good thing for all of us. And I am crossing my fingers that I can continue to say this each and every month for the next year.

When I started to write this blog on June 8th, the death count in the USA stood at 613 thousand. That is a difference of 20 thousands deaths from May 6th. While this is a large number it is an improvement from the previous 30 days by 6000 individuals! The big question becomes can we keep this downward trend?

By the middle of the month the downward trend was continuing with 200 to 500 deaths per day and new cases averaging about 10,000 per week. Again, even though these are large number we were still in that downward trend.

By the end of the month the total added death count was about 5000 or 618,000 total and while this number is large it is a significant improvement from the previous 30 days by more than half. And our infection rate has continue to fall so that was good news. If you want to see the numbers yourself check out these links: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/ and https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

The only fly in the ointment was the Delta variant of the virus – first identified in India. By the end of June it was responsible for one in every five new infections in the United States. Part of this rapid rise is that it is much more transmissible than previous versions of the virus. The good news is that the two main vaccinations do seem to offer protection. But there are still a lot of unanswered questions about it, like how severe it might be compared to prevision versions. There is some evidence that you are twice as likely to be hospitalized with this version than the last. Due to the unevenness in vaccinations around the country and age groups we may see a rise with infections in the South and an increase in young people. I guess time will tell, but the best thing to do now is to get as many people fully vaccinated as possible.

It has now been 24 weeks since I got the Pfizer Vaccine for Covid and… so far there have been no side effects for me!! Yea!! While there has been a rise in heart inflammation reported in adolescents and young adults with the two main vaccines it does not appear that this is a long term condition and generally most individuals recover without further concern.

As of June 15th, in the US, there were 174 million individuals or 53% of the population that had gotten at least one shot of the two main vaccines. And there were about 145 million or 44% that have full vaccination!! This is a very good thing, not only in terms of health but also in terms of economic recovery.

If you want to look at the numbers yourself check out these links: https://usafacts.org/visualizations/covid-vaccine-tracker-states/ and https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/01/28/960901166/how-is-the-covid-19-vaccination-campaign-going-in-your-state and for a look at world vaccinations check out this link from CNN: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/health/global-covid-vaccinations/

Well enough about Covid. Time to move on to something different. May was another good month for running along the Front Range in Colorado. While there were some unsettled weather days and even a little snow along the Front Range, it was a good month for air quality and exercising outdoors.

This picture was taken May 11th, 2021 at 6:50am in the morning. Winter was not quit through with us. I believe on the Front Range this was the last snow fall for the season. Being at 5000 feet in elevation you just never know when the last snow might fall but it is usually somewhere around Mother’s day. Lol. I have gotten to where I do not plant out any new flowers or vegetables until the middle of May. The Quad Rock trail race was 3 days before this photo was taken! At that time the trails were dry and running was supreme. What a difference a few days can make!

I write a lot about the air quality here in Colorado because there are times it is really, really bad. It was not until 1963 that the “Clean Air Act” was passed in the United States and in 1970 congress gave the EPA the legal authority to regulate pollution from cars and other forms of transportation. This dramatically improved air quality a lot, but I have come to realize it does not go far enough.

This picture was taken May 13th, 2021 at 7:30pm in the evening. It is looking West along one of my favorite in town sections of the Poudre River. Here you can see that the river is filling in with spring runoff. The City and County had filled most of the reservoirs by this time and the river was allowed to run free. Most of the water is spoken for, but the consumers are “downstream users”, so the the river is running full through the city. As I write this, I am wondering where the next “water” source will come from for Colorado? We are a headwater state (meaning all of our rivers begin in the Rocky Mountains and flow out of the state) and most of Colorado is very dry – think high plains desert. The eastern half of the state makes up 40% of this type of topography. And on the West side it is not much better. Precipitation averages 8 to 14 inches per year. As growth continues, at some point, there will not be any more “water” to obtain. The questions become: When do you say enough is enough? Do you damn every river in the state just so you can have growth and when every river is damned, then what? Hard questions for the State, City and County governments here in Colorado. If you want to learn more about Colorado’s climate please visit this link: https://climate.colostate.edu/climate_long.html

To understand this, it is important to see one of the reasons the Clean Air Act came into being. After World War 2 with the returning soldiers several things occurred. Economic growth skyrocketed and there was a soon to be baby boom. With the impending increase in population the suburbs become the “hip” place to live. The only problem was that the mass transit infrastructure did not exist like it did in the cities. This forced an increase in the reliance on private motor vehicles with a corresponding significant increase in air pollution. Hence the need for the Clean Air Act. Of course this was not the only reason for the CAA but it was a substantial one.

This picture was taken May 16th, 2021 at 6:15pm in the evening. Here Janet and Marvin are on the banks of the Poudre River and it is still flowing full. This picture reminds me of how “big” Marvin actually is! Lol. His breed is called a King Shephard. For Marvin, it is a mixture of German Shephard, Alaska Malamute and Great Pyrenees. He’s got a little more Pyrenees due to the fact that his father was full Pyrenees. Hence the floppy ears. I find it interesting that he did not get the thicker Pyrenees coat.

The part of the CAA that regulates vehicle pollution is considered a success story by many measures. Lead has been eliminated and sulfur levels are 90% lower than they were prior to regulation. If you compare cars from the 1960s to now, you are looking at a decrease of about 98% in tailpipe pollutants. So why is air quality terrible at times here on the Front Range of Colorado? I will try to explain.

This picture was taken May 20th, 2021 at 12:15pm in the afternoon. It is looking out East towards Weld County. It was a great day for running in Horsetooth Mountain Park. There was just enough wind from the West to increase the air quality around Fort Collins. If you look very closely at this photo you can just see the thin layer of brown. That my friends is the infamous “brown cloud.” And it is created when temperature inversions trap the cooler air near the ground, preventing pollutants from rising into the atmosphere. The topography slopes downward as you move away from the foothills, so the colder air had moved out toward Weld County, taking the bulk of the pollution with it. Of course, Weld County has over 33 thousand oil and gas wells, which does not help with the brown cloud. The interesting part is the entire state only has about 53 thousand wells. Therefore, 62% of the wells are in Weld County alone. I wonder how many people realize this?

When you are looking at pollution here along the Front Range, I am not talking about Greenhouse gas pollution per se. But more about the sources of hazardous chemicals that help to create ozone and wildland fire sources that contribute to particulates. Colorado unfortunately has become one of the worst violators of the federal air quality health standards due to VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and nitrogen oxides. Colorado emits around 200,000 tons of these each year. There are several sources but one of the biggest is oil and gas development and processing, something around 45%. The next greatest portion comes from people driving vehicles that burn fossil fuels. But you would think with tailpipe emission getting better, the air quality should improve? At least from the automotive end? Right? Well unfortunately this has not been the case. Colorado has seen another population boom in the last 20 years and it has double the number of citizens. We are now in the range of about 6 million as of 2020. This and the increase in oil and gas development has erased many of the air quality improvements seen since the 1980s.

This picture was taken May 20th, 2021 at about 12:45pm in the afternoon. The same day as the above picture but looking West and not East. Here you see Mount Meeker and Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. This is the view, looking West, from the top of Tower’s Road in Horsetooth Mountain Park. Some of the darker areas in the lower half of the image are from last years historic fires. I love this view from the top!

Another significant cause of Front Range Air Pollution in recent years is the overall increase in Forest Fires. This increase has resulted in a significant up swing in particulates. The stuff that you see from a fire or driving down a dusty road, are called PM-10. These include smoke, soot, dust and dirt. These particles irritate the eyes, nose and throat. This stuff can be annoying but usually it does not have a long term health consequence. But and there is always a but, the smaller particles, called PM 2.5 or particles smaller than 2.5 microns can and do cause problems. They are composed of everything from sulfates, nitrates and heavy metals to combustion byproducts including hydrocarbons. These fine particles are often bound to toxins in the air. Because of their small size they can easily get into your lungs and then into the blood stream. Once in the blood stream they can travel to any part of the body. They have even been found in the unborn fetuses of pregnant mothers. These particles have been causally linked to increased risk of heart attacks, stroke, pneumonia, exacerbation of COPD, Asthma, Lung Cancer, preterm birth, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease and other forms of cancer. They stay in the air for a long time and can travel long distances with the wind. This is why you can still be exposed when a forest fire is hundreds and hundreds of miles away.

This picture was taken May 28th, 2021 at 1:30pm in the afternoon. It is looking south from the top sections of Tower Road and is an image of the iconic Horsetooth Rock. You can just make out a few individuals standing on top of the rock. It was another beautiful day for running along the Front Range.

Now you might ask why is this such a problem for Colorado? Doesn’t all these same issues affect other parts of the country as well? The answer, yes they do, but… Let me explain. Due to the Front Range’s topography, we get a consistent “temperature inversion type of condition” in which the cooler air is trapped closer to the ground with very little wind movement for long periods of time. This really allows for the combination of VOCs/nitrogen oxides with resultant ozone and particulates from forest fires to accumulate in one place with resultant terrible air quality. It gets so bad at times that I wish for it to be a super windy day just to clean the old, dirty stagnant air out.

This picture was taken June 6th, 2021 at about 8:30pm in the evening. The days in June were getting progressively hotter and we found ourselves walking later with the dog so that he would not get overheated.

I have written about this issue before but thought it was good idea to revisit it. Fort Collins just moved up in rank this month, on the list of cities with the worst air pollution. By Ozone, Fort Collins is number 17 in the nation out of 226 metropolitan areas and 50th for short term particulates out of 216 metropolitan areas. While not exactly at the top, close enough in my opinion and not something that should be allowed to go any higher. To see some of the numbers check out this link at the American Lung Association: https://www.lung.org/research/sota/city-rankings/most-polluted-cities

“Environmental pollution is not only humanity’s treason to humanity but also a treason to all other living creatures on earth!” Mehmet Murat ildan

Will it be an easy problem to solve? No way. But some things we can do. Get rid of your gas mower – move to electric. And encourage the landscaping companies to do the same. When you start thinking about buying that new car, think hybrid or full electric. When the next election cycle starts, ask the candidates how they are going to fix this. Will they be plugging the regulatory holes to target major polluters inside and outside Colorado? Will they be encouraging the trucking companies to go electric? Will they be pushing for the upgrades needed in the electric grid? Information is powerful and I encourage you to visit the websites of Purple Air and Air Quality Colorado if you live here. Check them every time before you plan an outdoor activity and if they are not optimal send a screen shot to your elected representative. Ask what they are doing about it.

You can find those links here: https://www.purpleair.com/map?opt=1/mAQI/a10/cC0#11/40.5524/-105.0534 and https://www.colorado.gov/airquality/air_quality.aspx

A couple of book reviews and a piece of art work before wrapping things up. The first book I would like to talk about is “The Physics of Climate Change” by Lawrence M. Krauss. The first thing before reading this book you need to understand is that Krauss is a world renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist. In the book he admits that this is not his area of expertise, but after looking at all the data and the arguments about climate change, he felt it was important to write a book that would help to explain the “science” in a way that makes sense to the rest of us. Now with that said, if you are someone that needs all the equations and math in minutiae for the science of CC to make sense, then you will be disappointed. This is not that book.

I found the book an enlightening look at the complexity of the research that has gone into the science. And it helped me to understand how the lay person and even other scientist could get confused when looking at all the data. A truly daunting task for climate researchers. The take away: Is global warming real – absolutely and are humans responsible for a large contribution to this phenomena – most assuredly. I believe this book would work well in any format. I got it as an audio book and found it thoroughly enjoyable while out for long runs.

Lawrence Maxwell Krauss is an American / Canadian theoretical physicist and cosmologist who previously taught at Arizona State University, Yale and Case Western Reserve University. To learn more about him please visit this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Krauss

You can find the book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/The-Physics-of-Climate-Change/dp

The next book I would like to talk about is called “Neuromancer” by William Gibson. It is a book that is consider a Science Fiction staple and that you cannot truly call yourself a SiFi fan unless you have read it. So I felt the need to read it at 59 years old. Lol. This book deals with AI, computer programs, cyber space, and transhuman technology among other things. The crazy part is the book was written in 1984 – about 37 years ago! And the concepts put worth are more relevant today than there were back then. It is consider one of the best known examples of Cyberpunk and after reading it, I believe it still holds true.

Now in all honesty I did have a little trouble following the plot at times and had to go back and re-listen to several sections. And I am not sure if that was accidental or if Gibson had intended this to be the case. Neuromancer was his first novel, so I will cut him a little slack in this regard. I used Wikipedia as a guide to help me keep on track with the characters and the plot – this helped immensely. I listened to the book as an audio book while on long runs but it would work in any format.

Willian Ford Gibson is an American / Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as cyberpunk. If you want to learn more about his author check out this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gibson

You can find this book on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/Neuromancer-William-Gibson-audiobook/dp

Well last but no least a piece of art work before I go. This one is a piece of sculpture that is a sunface. It is constructed of scrap wood that is nailed, screwed and glued together – painted with acrylic and latex paint. After any summer project I hate to see anything go to waste and the year this face was made I had plenty of plywood and 2×4 pieces left over for a sunface. My inspiration was from the cartoon Sponge Bob Square Pants. In one of the episodes I watched with the kids, Squidward is seen relaxing and trying to get a tan before he is harassed by the usual characters.

This is a good size sunface: 42 inches by 42 inches and 10 inches deep. The sculpture is all wood and is about 14 to 15 pounds. This sculpture is meant to be indoors only.

I call this sculpture “SQUIDWARD SUNFACE”

The inspiration behind the sculpture. Lol

This piece is for sale and can be found on my Etsy site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/strugglingprotoplasm/edit?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

Well that is going to be about it for me on this blog post. My intent was that it would be informative, especially for those that live here in Colorado. We reside in a great place for being outdoors and I hope that it stays that way. Unfortunately “hope” like thoughts and prayers will only go so far without action. There are some big environmental challenges we need to fix in order to keep the air quality from getting any worse.

So what can we do? One of things, without a lot of effort initially is to become “Minimalist.” Our consumeristic culture is unsustainable at it’s current levels and you could even say that the air quality issues we are encountering around the country are the indirect result of this consumption mindset. I will repeat what my biology professor told me years ago about the destructions of our environment: “Growth for growth’s sake is the definition of cancer.” It does not matter if it is in the human body or the destruction of natural resources or a form of unfettered economic growth for profit and profit alone. It all leads to the same conclusion if it is not checked – death of the system.

Becoming minimalist is just a change in mindset. Nothing to by, nothing to purchase, just a change in how you look at your life and the world. If this appeals to you and even if it doesn’t at the moment but you are curious, a good place to start is here: https://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/

So take care my friends and remember to wash your hands, stay informed of current Covid 19 developments – especially of the Delta variant, and wear you mask (N95 now) when appropriate. And when a vaccine becomes available, please get it. No excuses – just do it. Adios!!

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous…, leading to the most amazing views.” Edward Abbey

Colorado, Dogs, Exercise, Fort Collins, Horsetooth Half Marathon, Politics, Psychology, Quad Rock 50, Religion, Run Rabbit Run, Science, Science Fiction, Sociology, Space

MUSINGS FOR FRIDAY 28TH, FEBRUARY 2020

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“Today’s science fiction is tomorrow’s science fact.” Issac Asimov

Soul Nebula

All of these images are courtesy of NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. It was launched in 2003 and was recently shut down in January 2020 due to mechanical issues. A 16 year mission. Pretty cool if you ask me. For more information on these images visit: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/infrared/index.html

“The function of science fiction is not always to predict the future but sometimes to prevent it.” Frank Herbert

The Helix Nebula

“Anything you dream is fiction, and anything you accomplish is science, the whole history of mankind is nothing but science fiction.” Ray Bradbury

The Triangulum Galaxy

“Science, my lad, is made up of mistakes which it is useful to make, because little by little they lead to the truth.” Jules Verne

The Swirling Core of our spiral Milky Way Galaxy

“Blessed are those who read science fiction for they shall inherit the future.” Thomas M. Disch

Large Magellanic Cloud. This image shows a satellite galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy.

HEY!! I AM LOOKING AT YOU!! THAT’S WHO!! LOLOLOLOLOL

I hope that everyone had a great February. I sure did. For most of the month Old Man Winter made a comeback on the Front Range and in the mountains. It does make it a little difficult to run outdoors but we live in a high plains desert, so all moisture is welcome.

In January, I again did not get into the Leadville 100 Run. But I will try again next year. Lol. Probably if I did some volunteer work for them it would up my chances in the lottery. I did sign up for a few other races in the process though. The Horsetooth half marathon here in Fort Collins. Always a great race and fun to do. The next one was the Quad Rock 25 / 50. Which is in Fort Collins too. I have done the 25 mile version of this multi times but I always sign up for the 50. Unfortunately I have never been able to complete it. Usually I time out at the 25 mile mark and last year was no different. Of course my goal this year is to complete the whole 50 miles. So we will see!! The third race I signed up for was the Run Rabbit Run 100. I will try it again. It is tough. I think the Leadville is an easier race but don’t tell Ken Chlouber! For those of you who don’t know him he was the founder of the Leadville 100 Run. I would probably never get in again if he knew. I will probably add a fourth race. The Silver Rush 50 in Leadville to have one more 50 miler in prior to the Run Rabbit Run.

This picture was taken January 2nd, 2020, around 4:30 pm, up by Cameron Pass. It was Marvin’s first ski trip into the back country and he learned very quickly that it was best to stay on trail and not to wonder off or he would sink up to his ears in snow! Lol.

In this blog post I want to continue with the theme of Space and to add Science / Science Fiction. Now you might be wondering why I am continuing on this path of “Space” and getting off the planet? I mean it seems like I might be pounding on the soap box too much? Right? Well recent events this past January and February have me thinking otherwise. The out break of the “new to humans” Corona virus in China is a very, very good reason for getting off the planet in a big way if we are serious about the survival of humanity. As the world population continues to grow you can expect more outbreaks like this, especially with the ease of international travel. There is always the chance that the next one will be even worse, higher fatality rate, easier transmission, etc… Humans need a second home. Not to abandon the first one but a second one in which we can establish a firm foothold, so when the next pandemic hits, we have insurance to prevent extinction.

This picture was taken January 7th, 2020 at about 6 pm. Here I was looking West and the bright star in the sky was Venus. Marvin and I had just come down from skiing. When we got to the car I happened to look across the parking lot. Wow is all I can say! The moon was behind us to the East and shining brightly. With the snow, it was providing a ton of back lighting. Just beautiful. Again this was just “luck” in being in the right place at the right time.

Another aspect of getting off the planet is part of what you see going on with politics right now. Specifically I am talking about the isolationist tendencies of our current government, among other things. There was a time in history in which our country welcomed immigrants. Truly welcomed them. We needed them to help “tame” the West so to speak. Western Civilization was expanding and people were desperately needed in this expansion. To build the railroads, to open up new towns, to mine resources, populate the vast open stretches of the Western United States. Now, what do you hear and see: Keep them out, go home, we don’t need you, we’re building a wall, etc… The truth, this will get worse. And not just here in the United States. We have tamed the West and the world. Humanity needs a new place to build and grow AND more importantly to explore! And the only viable alternative is up. What was the line that Captain Picard stated at the first of every “Next Generation” Star Trek episode? “Space the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. It’s continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations to boldly go where no one has gone before.”

This picture was taken January 16th, 2020, at about 4 pm, looking West across Horsetooth lake. Compare this picture to the one below. They are only about an hour apart on the same day! Crazy colors and lighting with Colorado sunsets.

Now to get to the other part of this blog post. I want to talk a little bit about Science / Science Fiction and in the process, religion. To start, I want you to know Science and Science Fiction are one of my favorite types of literature. So I am a little biased towards the genre. I see both as a “literature of ideas” that explores how scientific and technological innovations affect our psychology and more importantly the sociology of humans. When you look back at the history of the last 10,000 years you can see how warfare, religious movements, famine, natural disasters, disease, etc… caused significant change in human society. These events were the original drivers of transformation. That was until about the seventeenth century. A switched occurred at this time and it was all brought about by revolutions in science and technology. Think Galileo, Rene Descartes, John Locke, Blaise Pascal, Robert Hooke, Pierre deFermat, Thomas Hobbes, Edmond Halley, Sir Issac Newton, etc…. The scientist of the 17th century and later have greatly altered humanity’s knowledge base and with it, changed our understanding of our place in the natural world and the universe.

This picture was also taken January 16th, 2020, looking West about 5pm. It was on the same trail run with Marvin. But about an hour later!! What a difference in the light from the above picture.

This “Scientific and Technological” transformation has continue all the way up to present. But there is a difference. Now we are fast approaching a time in which changes in techno-science, that once took years, decades, and even centuries to develop are happening in months, even days sometimes. The question becomes, how will humanity continue to adapt to this rapidly changing environment? What framework do we have to help with this adaptation? Our mythologies, our religions, our current framework, without a corresponding transformation, will not adapt to this rapid pace of technological advancement. We need something different. A new philosophy that is based on the religions of old, except for one big change.

This pictures was taken January 17th, 2020 with Janet (my wife) beside Marvin. He is 11 months in this picture. I forget how big he is until Janet is beside him. Lol

And here is the idea. Imagine if you were to take all the religions of the world and condense them down by removing all the “godhead” mumbo jumbo of mythical beings and just set it aside. In my humble opinion it is a detriment to world harmony and is not needed. Imagine that. No more “my god is the only true god, my god is better than your god, my god told me to…, blah, blah, blah, blah….. You get the picture. So what are you left with? The lessons, the parables. All the things that humanity has painstakingly learned and relearned over 1000s and 1000s of years. Sounds good right? But we are not done yet. Now go through all that is left and only take the best. Anything that is derogatory to women, race, color, sexual orientation, etc… Throw it out. If there is something that promotes slavery, violence, hatred and/or divine right, then throw that out too. And keep doing this process with each religion until you have the core essence of the best parables and lessons on humanity, philosophy, morality and love, etc…

This picture was taken January 18th, 2020 at about 4:52pm. What a beautiful afternoon in Fort Collins. I believe that the temperatures were in the 40 to 50 degree range and a very light breeze was blowing to keep the smog away. Very nice indeed!

Now combine them and rewrite it. After that is done, go back through, read it, review it and rewrite it again. And again. Combining the best of each religion with each other by writing and editing and rewriting. Over and over again and again. Until you have a cohesive whole. A new manifesto. A new world philosophy without a godhead but based on the old religions. A philosophy that all of humanity could get behind because all parts of humanity had a “part” in its creation. Wouldn’t that be cool? No justification for the subjugation of women. No justification for war, violence, hatred of one race over another. No justification for slavery. No justification for “one sexuality” over another. And on and on it goes. That would be pretty cool and you might think that would be it. That would be enough? You have this great philosophy that everyone can get behind, what else do you need?

This picture was taken January 23rd, 2020 at about 4:13pm. This one is looking West across the Horsetooth lake but at the shoreline level. It was another beautiful day in Fort Collins with temps approaching 60 degrees.

Good question. What else do we need? We need a way that the new “philosophy” can be tweaked a little bit when needed. As our tools change so does our reality. And this is what is happening to the “Old mythologies” or religions. Reality changes but they don’t. So the idea is not to write it in stone but to make something that is a little more malleable. The rate of world change is heating up. What was once “SiFi” yesterday is tomorrow’s reality and it is only going to get faster. We still need the lessons from the old religions. After all for now, we are still “human” and destined to make mistakes. Hubris is part of the human condition. The atomic bomb was the first real scientific development that put all of humanity at risk for extinction. But it will not be the last. How will we manage these emerging technologies for the betterment of humankind? And what framework can we use to analyze them with in order to make intelligent choices? The old religions with the godhead figures are at best passe, at worst dangerously inadequate. It is time for something different.

This picture was taken February 1st, 2020 at about 5:33pm. Again this was one of those times that I was in the right place at the right time. Lol. This one is looking West across our neighborhood lake. It only lasted for a few minutes but unreal colors for the sunset.

Well that is going to be about it for this soapbox. I think that it was long enough! Lol. I am hoping that I have given you something to think about. All I can say is that it is more important than ever to do your own research on this subject. Again there is that technology thingy – changing your reality. You have sooooo much information at the tip of your fingers. All you have to do is access it. Unreal when you think about it. REMEMBER at one time it was just Science Fiction. Oh and one last thing before I finish, I want to include a YouTube video by Alain de Botton. He does a pretty good job on this subject. It is well worth the watch no matter what your beliefs are. https://youtu.be/2Oe6HUgrRlQ

I am excited to see what the next 10 years brings in scientific research and understanding of our place in the Cosmos. I feel that we are just on the verge of some truly amazing breakthroughs. Of course only time will tell. So take care my friends and I hope to see you out there!! Adios!!

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous.., leading to the most amazing views.” Edward Abbey

Dogs, Environment, Science, Space

MUSINGS FOR SUNDAY 21ST, JULY 2019

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“This is one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” -Neil Armstrong

“The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever.” -Konstantin Tsiolkovosky

“Nobody knows what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.” -Robert Goddard

Wow it has been a month since I last posted. Time just got away from me and one thing led to another and before I knew it…. Well, lets just say that a month has passed. And in truthfulness, I think that I needed time to recharge. The last four weeks have been pretty good. Although I pushed myself a little too hard and did not get enough sleep back during the first part of July which led to a summer cold. This took about 4 to 5 days to get over which translated into no heavy running or biking for about 8 to 9 days to help in recovery. That is one thing I have found out as I have gotten older is that it takes a lot longer to recover than it did when I was 25. This forced rest from doing heavy exercise was hard. I really wanted to get out and push it but that would not have been good. Thankfully I am feeling better now. And things are back to normal so to speak for me. Oh well you live and learn and sometimes you get to repeat those mistakes of the past. Lol.

Astronaut Edward H. White II, pilot on the Gemini-Titan 4 spaceflight, is shown during his egress from the spacecraft. His face is covered by a shaded visor to protect him from the unfiltered rays of the sun. White became the first American astronaut to walk in space. He remained outside the spacecraft for 21 minutes during the third revolution of the Gemini-4 mission. He wears a specially designed spacesuit for the extravehicular activity (EVA). In his right hand, he carries a Hand-Held Self-Maneuvering Unit (HHSMU) with which he controlled his movements while in space. He was attached to the spacecraft by a 25-feet umbilical line and a 23-feet tether line, both wrapped together with gold tape to form one cord. He wears an emergency oxygen supply chest pack. Courtesy of NASA.

In this blog I wanted to briefly talk a little bit about space and what it might mean for humanity if we really tried as a global community for a more permanent presence in space. Also July 20th, 2019 was the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission and the first human to step foot on the moon. Unreal to think it has been 50 years. I was 7 years old at the time and watched the event on TV. Both of my parents in attendance. All of us glued to the TV set watching in awe. When this occurred, hand held calculators as we know them today did not exist, cell phones did not exist, the internet did not exist as it does today, and the modern day computer was still just a dream.

AS11-40-5874 (20 July 1969) — Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot of the first lunar landing mission, poses for a photograph beside the deployed United States flag during Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA) on the lunar surface. The Lunar Module (LM) is on the left, and the footprints of the astronauts are clearly visible in the soil of the moon. Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, commander, took this picture with a 70mm Hasselblad lunar surface camera. While astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin descended in the LM the “Eagle” to explore the Sea of Tranquility region of the moon, astronaut Michael Collins, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) “Columbia” in lunar orbit. Courtesy of NASA

A few years later, I remember reading and listening to my dad talk about Skylab. I believe it was launched in 1973. And how we all thought that by this time there would be all kinds of futuristic space stations, moon and mars bases, and much easier access to space than riding the “Roman Candle” as my father liked to call it. But life moved on and I forgot all about space. Then, about the time I was in College, I remember being in a world history class and the professor was watching a live feed of the launch of the first Space Shuttle. This I believe was in 1981 and it was the Columbia. For the life of me I do not remember the professors name but I do remember him saying after the successful launch “This changes everything.” And it seemed to for a while but then like Skylab it faded. If I remember right, the launches did become more common place (135 total), but the only time the Space Shuttle seemed to make really big news, unfortunately, was when there was an accident. The last shuttle flight was Atlantis, July 8th, 2011.

Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-50) launched into history carrying crew of seven and its payload was comprised of the US Microgravity Laboratory 1 (USML-1).The USML-1 was one of NASA’s missions dedicated to scientific investigations in a microgravity environment inside the Spacelab module. Investigations aboard the USML-1 included: materials science, fluid dynamics, biotechnology (crystal growth), and combustion science. Managed by Marshall Space Flight Center, the STS-50 mission was plarned for a 13-day duration, the mission ended with 14 days in space, the longest Shuttle mission to date. Courtesy of NASA

With the shuttle flights came the ISS (International Space Station), completed between 1998 and 2011. It has been continuously occupied since November 2nd, 2000. 230 individuals from 18 different countries have visited it, with the crew size usually being 3 to 6 people at any given time. It has severed as a great platform for research into how human health is affected by micro-gravity. They have also done research in product design, robotics, and botany as a few other examples. This is just a very brief over view of the ISS. If you want to learn more, the web site “space.com” has a more comprehensive review of the ISS. You can find it at this link: https://www.space.com/16748-international-space-station.html

iss059e016574 (April 8, 2019) — Expedition 59 Flight Engineer David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency takes a quick self portrait while working outside the International Space Station. In a six and a half hour spacewalk, Saint-Jacques and NASA astronaut Anne McClain successfully established a redundant path of power to the Canadian-built robotic arm, known as Canadarm2, and installed cables to provide for more expansive wireless communications coverage outside the orbital complex, as well as for enhanced hardwired computer network capability. The duo also relocated an adapter plate from the first spacewalk in preparation for future battery upgrade operations. Courtesy of NASA

Now fast forward a little and you have a lot of new private “space companies” – Space X is the one that I think most people are familiar with due to the fact it has been successful with cargo launches and cutting down the cost of said launches by creating reusable first stage boosters. I am always amazed when I see those rockets re-landing on the pad. Like something out of a science fiction movie. Crazy. When I say that there are a lot of space companies, there really are. Check out this listing on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_private_spaceflight_companies

https://youtu.be/u0-pfzKbh2k
So cool!!

Now with all this advancement you would think that we are on the fast track to becoming a space-fairing species, but here is the rub, in order to do this, we need to drastically increase our presence in space with significantly more hardware and humans. Much, much more than what is involved with the current ISS. I would go even as far as to say that our very existence as a species depends upon it. There is an old argument that we need to spend less money in space and more of it here on earth. It is as false now as it was years ago when I first heard it. Let me explain.

Nothing in life truly changes until there is a change in technology. Whether it be good or bad. Humans have always been good at procreation and technology has only helped to make us the most prodigious species on earth. Some estimate that we will be at the 10 billion mark by 2050. But I think it will happen sooner than that. The earth is a finite system and overpopulating it will only lead to our eventual extinction. The more money you spend here on earth will only increase our procreation and at some point there will never be enough “money, space, and resources” for all of us. Our only option, besides culling the herd, is to get off the planet. And in a big way.

World population in 30 years. Somewhere around 10 billion but I think we will hit this mark much sooner. All it would take would be a slight improvement in life expectancy (billions of research dollars are being used for this) and or improvement in general health care around the world in third world countries (this has been going for quit sometime now).

So how do we do this? Some have thought that building “Planetary Surface Settlements,” think moon or mars bases, would be the way to go. While others have said that the best way to do this is with “Settlements in Orbit,” think very large space station design. Both design ideas have their advantages and disadvantages. I personally believe that the Orbital Space Station is the cheapest and the easiest idea with today’s technology. Besides saving the world, you could harness sunlight for power and use it back on earth. No pesky atmosphere to get in the way.

But the thought that gets me really excited with orbital settlements is the idea that you could use them as a means to mine asteroids. A learning and jumping off point for deep space. The technology that would be developed to keep people healthy in orbital space stations would be easily adapted for deep space. The orbital stations could also be used as construction facilities for the ships that would take human into deep space. I firmly believe we have to make “space” profitable. Otherwise the altruistic notions of pursuing space for only scientific knowledge… Well, we are a greedy bunch and that idea will only take you so far.

The only flies in the ointment to me is how do you get out of the gravity well of earth without using large “Roman Candles” and what to do about “Micro-Gravity.” NASA has figured out how to do a lot of things in micro-gravity, but problems still remain due to the weak link – the human body. We are not evolved to live in MG long term. But what if there was a better way to manipulate gravity in general? What if you could lift very heavy and massive objects into space without a lot of effort?

If you could, a lot of issues would become much, much more easy to solve. Imagine being able to create a floating space station the size of a small city in space. You could add all the radiation and micrometeorite shielding that you could possibility need to protect equipment and the human occupants. Spin a large structure and you create artificial gravity. Now MG would not be a problem.

So many possibilities open up if you can easily get out of earths gravity well. I am not really sure if anyone is working on this but I would like to believe that there are some. For right now it appears that Elon Musk and SpaceX will be the “go to” company if you want to get into space relatively cheaply. You still have to ride a Roman Candle, and it will still cost millions of dollars but now thanks to their company it is not as many millions.

So thinking about this and organizing my thoughts. I have come to realize that if we want to save the human species (it is not save the planet – it will go on with or without us), then we need to be able to create one thing and one thing only in the next 10 years. A way to cheaply and safely get out of earth’s gravity well with the ability to life heavy, massive objects into space. Another words we need to be able to manipulate gravity in general. The movie “Interstellar” used this very idea as a main theme. By the way if you have not seen it, it is a good one to rent. You can find it on Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=movie+interstellar&hvadid=78340254007781&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&tag=mh0b-20&ref=pd_sl_73fyd8nqi4_e

Well I could go on and on about this but I think I will save further thoughts about space for later posts. There is too much to cover with one blog post for a subject of this importance. I firmly believe that the survival of humanity is dependent on whether we become a true space faring society or not.

Marvin and Janet at the Canine Learning Academy, Thursday 18th, July 2019. He is 5 and 1/2 months old in this picture and just shy of 70 lbs.

I want to post a picture of Marin at dog school. He is doing pretty good so far in his first dog obedience class. We had to resort to the “gentle leader” for a training tool. He is going to be a big and powerful dog and we really wanted to get a quick start on his “rambunctious adolescent behavior.” Lol.

Well this is about it for me on this post. Hopefully I will have more trail porn pictures for you in the next one. Take care my friends and I hope to see you out there, whether it be on the trail, bike path or just hanging out and enjoying the beautiful Colorado landscape. Adios amigos!!

Book Review, Exercise, Life and Meaning, Skiing, Space, Truth and Perception

MUSINGS FOR MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5TH, 2018

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“Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.

Our posturing’s, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.”  – Carl Sagan

 

Damn what can I say…  It has been a really good week!!  Ski season has started and life is good!!  Got a chance to go up to Loveland Ski area on Thursday, November 1st and the snow was great.  I am hoping this winter will deliver a ton of snow.  The last couple of years have been on the wimpier side or I have just gotten used to a more abundant snowfall when my kids were little.  Not really sure.  I have not had a chance to really look at the records myself, but I do know that the “water guys” that keep track of this said that the last couple of years were not good for moisture in the mountains.  So maybe we are due?  That would be fantastic.  I used to get upset if we did not get our usual 50 inches of snow here in Fort Collins, but after living here for 30 plus years I am OK with it not snowing!  I guess I have gotten old!?  What is that about?  Where does the time go?  Lol.  Anyways – all kidding aside, if it would just dump in the mountains so to speak, then most of the state’s water woes would take care of themselves.

I have been watching a course called “The Search for Exoplanets: What Astronomers Know” and I have to say it is pretty amazing.  I did not know that the first serious science proposals of what might be out there in the rest of the Universe started in the 1940s.  I was thinking that it was much more recent.  But it truly started in the 1940s – at that time the technology of astrometry became good enough to detect planets.  Astrometry is the measurement of the position of a star on the sky, and if the star has planets, its position will wobble back and forth.  Because the technology was crude in today terms, there was conflicting evidence reported back then, so it did not get a lot of attention.  Fast forward to the late 1980s and early nineties, add in a few more techniques for detection and things start to get really serious.  In 1995 and on, the discover of exoplanets began to grow exponentially, and scientist from around the world were able to corroborate each other’s results.  This made a huge difference with the acceptance and birth of “Exoplanetary Science.”  What was once Science Fiction has now become accepted scientific fact.  It is well worth the money for the course.  It is about 12 hours of lecture divided up into 24 mini-lectures.  You can find it at the Great Courses:  https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/the-search-for-exoplanets-what-astronomers-know.html and you can find used editions on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Search-Exoplanets-What-Astronomers-Know/dp/1629972037/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1541360656&sr=8-4&keywords=the+search+for+exoplanets+what+astronomers+know, you can do this course as a audio book or as DVD or Online streaming.

I wanted to post the above quote by Carl Sagan.  I think it really hit home with me after finishing the course.  We truly are just a speck of dust in a sunbeam.  And my guess, is that as we look for more exoplanets, we will find that we are not that special or unique.  Very, very sobering indeed.

An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet that orbits a star other than the Sun. Over 2000 exoplanets have been discovered since 1988. Specifically, 2098 planets in 1342 planetary systems including 509 multiple planetary systems as of 24 March 2016.

Well that is about it for me on this post.  I think that the Ultra season for me this year has come to an end.  Even though I did not successfully finish the Run Rabbit Run 100.  I still feel pretty good, after all it was 50 miles when I timed out and as someone much wiser than I am at times said, 50 miles is still 50 miles.  So, time to get ski season on and enjoy the snow while it is there.  I do plan on racing some shorter runs for the remainder of the year and the start of next year, mainly to work on speed.  I will let you know how it goes!

A late evening Fall afternoon in Fort Collins.

Take care my friends and maybe I will see you out there on the trails or at the ski slope!!