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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, Climate Change, Colorado, Covid 19, Dogs, Exercise, Fort Collins, High Camp Hut, Minimalism, Pandemics, Religion, Rico Colorado, Science, Science Fiction, Space

MUSINGS FOR SEPTEMBER 2022

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“We’ve arranged a global civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces.” Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

The above image is from the James Webb Space Telescope and is called the Cartwheel Galaxy because it looks like a wheel from a cart. It is located about 500 million light years away in the constellation known as Sculptor. It is thought that the shape was created by the collision of a smaller galaxy though what was a large disk galaxy. And this produced ripples, similar to the ripples that are created when a stone is dropped into a pond. The outer ring is an intense area of star formation. To give some scale to this, the outermost ring of the galaxy is 1.5 times the size of our Milky Way. Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team. If you would like to learn more please see these links: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220824.html and https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2018/hubble-s-cartwheel

“In the way that skepticism is sometimes applied to issues of public concern, there is a tendency to belittle, to condescend, to ignore the fact that, deluded or not, supporters of superstition and pseudoscience are human beings with real feelings, who, like the sceptics, are trying to figure out how the world works and what our role in it might be. Their motives are in many cases consonant with science. If their culture has not given them all the tools they need to pursue this great quest, let us temper our criticism with kindness. None of us comes fully equipped.” Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

This is a photo that was taken back in August 2022 with the James Webb telescope. It is of Jupiter. This is considered one of our best views of the iconic planet to date, showing differences in cloud layers and the Auroras at each pole. Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun and the largest in the solar system. It is a gas giant. This planet is the third brightest object in the night sky after the Moon and Venus. Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team; Processing: Ricardo Hueso (UPV/EHU) & Judy Schmidt. If you would like to learn more about his image please see these links: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220830.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter

“Science is an attempt, largely successful, to understand the world, to get a grip on things, to get hold of ourselves, to steer a safe course. Microbiology and meteorology now explain what only a few centuries ago was considered sufficient cause to burn women to death.” Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

This stunning image was recently captured by the James Webb Space telescope. The picture showcases a group of stars that are known as NGC 2070 or Caldwell 103. They are part of what is known as the Tarantula Nebula. In this Nebula is a huge cluster of some of the largest and hottest stars known to date. It was first observed by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in 1751 and 1753. Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team. If you would like to learn more please see these links: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220907.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula_Nebula

“Think of how many religions attempt to validate themselves with prophecy. Think of how many people rely on these prophecies, however vague, however unfulfilled, to support or prop up their beliefs. Yet has there ever been a religion with the prophetic accuracy and reliability of science? … No other human institution comes close.” Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

This is one of my favorite images from the Hubble Space Telescope. It is called a Starburst Galaxy or Messier 94. It is 15 million light years from earth in the norther constellation Canes Venatici ( Hunting Dogs). It was first discovered by Pierre Mechain in 1781 and catalogued by Charles Messier two days later. The is a great example of a spiral galaxy. Even though 15 million miles is a very, very long way from earth, this galaxy is popular with astronomers because it is bright enough to be spotted with smaller telescopes. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA. If you would like to learn more please see these links: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220731.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_94

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 us again!! I am still hoping that I can keep saying this until the Covid Marry-Go-Round is done!! Oh well what are you going to do??

By the first week of August we were still adding about 60,000 to well over 100,000 cases per day and the total death toil was about 1,059,000. This was an increase in about 15,000 deaths from the first week of July. And the variant of concern was BA5. Unfortunately the numbers for new cases you have to take with a slight grain of salt due to the fact that home testing has no tracking. It is any bodies guess how high the actually numbers might be. The death count is probably much, much higher but again due to no national mandatory reporting laws, we really do not know.

The above picture has not changed. These are the top states as it stands with the highest morbidity and mortality. The only exception is North Carolina. My guess is if NC reported their counts correctly and honestly, then they would move into the picture and push Michigan out. Interesting to say the least.

By the end of the month (August 2022), we were still adding at least 60,000 cases per day and increasing the death toil by 300 to 500 cases per day. Covid is still considered the fourth leading cause of death, right behind heart disease, cancer and accidents. By the first week of September the total number of deaths for the USA was 1,730,000. Or again, another 15,000 deaths in the last 30 days for a total of 30,000 deaths in the last 60 days. We are done with the virus but unfortunately the virus is not done with us.

Now in better news, on September 1st, the CDC endorsed the use of an updated booster for the omicron subvariants. One was from Moderna and another was from Pfizer. My guess and it is only a guess, because there is no real data yet, this will become a yearly occurrence just like the flu shot. A good link to check this out is from the PBS news hour: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/updated-covid-19-booster-shots-are-now-available-heres-what-you-need-to-know

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 July and August were again not as good as it was in the spring for being outdoors. There were air quality issues as in “Ozone action days each and everyday.” And heat, it was hot here on the front range of Colorado. It was so hot that I had to resort to walking Marvin twice per day – everyday. Once in the mornings and once in the evenings. The only time that this was different is when I got a change to get up into the high country. And even then, temps above 10,000 feet were higher than usual. Oh well what are you going to do?!

This month instead of showing pictures from in and around Fort Collins, I thought I would post some from a trip we took in August to the town of Rico, Colorado. Janet and I with Marvin made this trip to visit the middle daughter. She moved there with her significant other Dave this past year to become the managers along with the owner Cindy of the “High Camp Hut.” We got to see the place while we were visiting and I have to say it is pretty cool. The hut is located at about 11,000 feet in the San Juan National Forest. It is situated on about 300 acres of private land in the Forest. To call it a Hut is somewhat of a misnomer in my opinion. It is more of a large fully outfitted cabin in the woods. There is no cell service and no Wi-Fi, so you are definitely unplugged from the rest of the world. And if you are like most of us in modern society, being unplugged from our hyper-connected world every once and a while is a good thing. If your interested and want more information, please check out their website: https://www.highcamphut.com/

The pictures below are from the area around the Hut and the Hut itself.

Sheep Mountain 13,176 feet
San Miguel Peak 13,734 feet
Lizard Head Peak 12,996 feet
High Camp Hut

The next set of pictures are from a couple of local trails around the town of Rico. The town is not a big place, less than 200 residents at any give time. There is a gas station if you need gas, but the only hotel had closed when we were visiting and only a few choices for dinning with limited hours. When asking about this, I got the feeling that the “locals” kind of like it that way. Lol. Rico was a silver mining center in the late 1800s. A good website to learn more and see pictures of Rico is here: https://www.uncovercolorado.com/towns/rico/

This picture is just outside the town of Rico along the Dolores River.
Janet and Marin on a trail in Rico.

The next few pics below are from the Scotch Creek Toll Road and Pinkerton Trail. This trail/road was the only route into Rico in the 1800s until the railroad reached Rico in 1891. Incredible to think this was the only way into the valley if you had to move large items and by horse and oxen no less. So many things we take for granted in our modern lives.

The next few pics are from an area that is called Horse Gulch Creek Trail and is a launch point for paragliders when the weather is cooperative. Janet and I were amazed at the number of Aspen in the area. There were a lot and I am guessing that you could get a spectacular fall viewing if the conditions are right.

I believe this is Heartleaf Arnica or Mountain tobaccos. Arnica cordifolia. These flower were everywhere but especially on this trail.
Lots of Aspens all around Rico!
This trail climbed a bit from the highway parking lot and had great views of the valley from several locations. We found out later it was a launch point for paragliders. Pretty cool.

These next pictures were from the East Fork Trail to Twin Creek. This trail follows the Dolores River as it climbs into the mountains above town. If you were to follow it far enough it connects to a whole network of other trails in the same area. Pretty cool.

Looking towards Rico and Highway 145.
Looking down toward the Dolores river at the bottom of the hill. It is not that large at this point. We were not too far from it’s headwaters. The river is named, “El Rio de Nuestra Senora de Dolores” or The River of Our Lady of Sorrows. It was named by a Spanish trader in 1765. If you would like to learn more about the River please see this link: https://www.americanrivers.org/river/dolores-river/
Hawk’s Wing Mushroom
Our favorite “middle” daughter Jean-Marie and her dog Benson! Lol
Janet, Me and Marvin at the first of Twin Creeks. This was about three miles back.

It was a good trip to see Jean-Marie and Dave and to check out some of the local hiking areas. I did not do any running because of an overuse injury to my left knee. Runners are their own worst enemy but I will save that story for another time.

Even though the town of Rico is only about 30 miles from the big resort of Telluride there does not seem to be the same level of development and activity as you see in Frisco/Breckenridge area or the Vail/Edwards area. While there is an advantage in having certain amenities with increased development, there always comes a point of diminishing returns. The challenge is to create enough growth to have certain things but not too much that you permanently change the feeling and character of an area. In my opinion Rico could use a little extra growth but just a little. I was blown away when I first saw the town with it proximity to Telluride. You could say it is even a bit run down looking. My guess is that it has something to do with the locals and being a Home Rule Municipality. They recently voted down a local initiative to get a regular sewer system. The entire town is still on septic!

On an interesting note, a mining company in the area is selling what appears to be all or part of it’s holdings called Silver Springs at Rico. It totals 181 separate parcels of land (146 mining claims, 6 tracts and 29 platted lots) for a total of about 1146 acres. It has been on the market since April 2022 and list for 10 million. Which, when you think about it, is not much since you are less than 30 miles to Telluride. It will be interesting to see who buys this and what happens with the rest of the town when this occurs.

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

A great Science Fiction book to take a look at this late summer and early fall is one by Blake Crouch called Upgrade:  A Novel.  If you are someone that has occasionally followed the science of gene editing and the CRISPR technique, I think you would really find this novel entraining.  But, even if you have not followed anything about gene editing, this is still a great read.  So, if you do not know what CRISPR is then let me give a very brief synopsis of what it has allowed scientist to do.   First what does it mean?  CRISPR is an acronym for “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats.”  Do you need to know what that really means to enjoy the book?  No, not really.  Lol.  What it has allowed though, in a nutshell, is a more rapid, accurate and cheaper way of editing genes in DNA. It really increased the precision in manipulating genes in any living organism.  From viruses to humans and everything in between.    

The story takes place in the not too distant future, in which the main character’s mother has invented a gene editing technique that makes CRISPR look like child’s play.  And because of this, the whole world has been or has the potential to be transformed.  If you have read the book by Nancy Kress called Beggars and Choosers (published in 1994) then you will understand all the possibilities this opens up.  If not, no worries.

This book explores one of the many possible futures that gene editing makes possible.  I loved this SiFi book because it points out our potential blind spots. We are all worried about climate change, the war in Ukraine, the lingering pandemic, etc.… We all have our eyes on what we think is the approaching “disaster bus” as it bears down on our car (humanity), but in reality we do not see the speeding train (unregulated gene editing) that crashes into us as we cross the tracks!  Of course the story is only Science Fiction but it still gives me chills thinking about it.  Lol. 

Of course I listened to the book as an audio book but it would work well in any format. You should be able to find it at your local book store or Amazon. Here is the Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Upgrade-Novel-Blake-Crouch-ebook/dp

Another good Science Fiction book that I would like to recommend is called “Atropos” by John Japuntich.  This is a good science fiction yarn that has to do with current topics in science, like genetic engineering, information technology, longevity, the possibility of future space travel, etc.… There is also some good content on geopolitics and religion.  The author takes all of these topics and weaves them together to give the reader an interesting story with good food for thought.  It made me wonder, what would happen if there was a way to end all death due to natural causes but at the cost of zero birth rate?  How would humanity as a whole respond to this type of crisis?  And I think it would be seen as a crisis.  Especially with the zero drop in birth rate.  Interesting ideas.     

I believe this is the author first crack at a full length novel and I have to give him an A minus.  The story line was good and it kept me interested to the very end.  There was a little bit of jumping around in the different story arcs of the characters but once I got used it, the narrative flowed fairly smoothly.  I got this book as an audio book but I think it would work better in traditional format.  The narration did not work for me as well as it has with other stories of this type.  You should be able to find this book at your local book store or on Amazon.  Here is the Amazon link:  https://www.amazon.com/Atropos-John-Japuntich-ebook/dp 

The next book I would like to recommend is also a Science Fiction book.  This one is called “The Kaiju Preservation Society” by John Scalzi.  If you have read any of Scalzi’s previous books then you will understand the kind of entertaining and talented writer that he is.  This book is no exception.  It is a quick and fun read that is just pure brain bubble gum.  Lol.  I love the fact that he weaves the story line into current events with the Covid pandemic.  There is just enough “science” to be plausible and believable. 

If you have not googled the word Kaiju yet, let me tell you what it is.  It means “Strange Beast” and is a Japanese genre of films and television featuring giant monsters.  Think Godzilla but in an alternate dimension in which humans are absent.  In the book, the Kaiju are in trouble and humans help to keep them safe, but there is someone trying to make a profit off them.  And of course, this is where the trouble begins.  Don’t be turned off by the “Godzilla theme,” thinking it’s a little hokey.  I thought the same thing at first but due to author’s reputation I got it anyway and I am glad that I did.    

I listened to the book as an audio book but it will work in any format.  You can probably find it at your local book store or on Amazon.  Here is the Amazon link:    https://www.amazon.com/The-Kaiju-Preservation-Society/dp  

Also if you have never read any of Scalzi’s books, another one I highly recommend is “Old Man’s War.”

The last book I would like to review is called “The Forest of Vanishing Stars:  A Novel” by Kristin Harmel.  Let me start out by saying that this is not my usual type of fiction book, but I find it good to read outside of your traditional likes a few times per year.  This one was recommended by my sister and I am glad that she did.  It is a WW2 survival novel that takes place in a forest of Eastern Europe.  It has a somewhat similar story line to the 2008 movie called Defiance.

It took me a little time to get engrossed in the book, mainly due to some of the mysticism and religion that is part of the book, but by about half way in, I wanted to find out how it was going to end.  In a very brief nutshell, the main character (Yona) is put into an impossible situation of being a forest dweller and encountering an ill-prepared group of Jews fleeing the Nazi occupation. It does not take long for her to come to the realization that she is the last hope of these people being able to survive a harsh winter in the wild. Not to mention that she must keep them and herself hidden since they are still being hunted by the Nazis. 

   

It was a good story, but not one that really stands out in my mind initially. What made the “good to great review” was the author’s note at the end.  It was rather lengthy but this was a good thing.  The author goes into all the research that helped to inspire her with writing the story.  Very interesting and definitely was the icing on the cake so to speak.

I got the book as an audio book but it would work in any format.  I am sure you can find it at your local book store or on Amazon.  Here is the Amazon link:   https://www.amazon.com/Forest-Vanishing-Stars-Novel/dp

Last but not least I would like to show case a new piece of art work. This is the fifth version of what I call Jesus of Borg or SiFi Jesus. Or what you could call “Transhumanist Jesus” depending on whether you believe Jesus was an alien or inspired and created by humanity’s need to find meaning in an uncaring Universe.

I decided to do these pieces initially over anger of the Texas GOP’s enactment of their draconian anti-abortion law. I had only planned to do a limited number, but now with the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe vs Wade, I will continue to make them.  I have three adult daughters and while they might not agree on whether it is right or wrong to get an abortion, they all agree that it is “their right” to choose. And I agree with them. So that is how the project started out, but it morphed into something a little different. Did you know that there are at least 10,000 different denominations of Christianity in the world? Of course, some say this number is much higher, but I figure 10,000 is a safe estimate. Knowing this I thought why not make up my own Jesus?! A lot of other people have. So, I did. And what I came up with was a tough but accepting LGBT SiFi Jesus. A Jesus that would assimilate all other Jesuses, even Republican Jesus, into a hive mind and create an accepting and loving collective for all people and all religions. AND the Jesus Brothers would support all women in their right to choose! In Star Trek, the Borg are considered the enemy but, in my version, I have turned it around and made “Jesus of Borg” the good guy, the savior from the Conservative Christian Taliban.

This drawing is done in pen and ink with a little acrylic paint thrown in. It is mounted to painted white board and coated with Mod Podge. It measures approximately 9.25 inches wide by 12.25 inches tall. When hanging the overall height is 17.25 inches. I have called these studies of Jesus by several different names, Jesus of Borg or SiFi Jesus or the current name of Transhumanist Jesus.

Transhumanist Jesus #5

These pieces and other types of art work 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 to the end of another blog post! Yea! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it! But before I go, I would like to give another shout out to becoming minimalist. I think that the quote below from the movie “Fight Club” says it best. Lol. Of course minimalism is much, much more than that, but if you had to boil it down to one reason for being minimalist then this would be it.

There is way too much to go into detail here in the blog post about minimalism and others have done it a lot better than me, so if your interested and want to learn more about sustainability, minimalism and the steady state economy, please see these sites: 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, then get it done. It would be stupid to lose your life or suffer significant disability with this virus when vaccines are readily available in this country. So until next time Adios!!

“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