CANTALOUPE September 1, 2009
Posted by thenaturalist in Food, Health.add a comment
A cup of cubed cantaloupe (about a quarter of a medium melon) supplies more than a day’s vitamin A, nearly a day’s vitamin C, 12 percent of a day’s potassium, and 9 percent of a day’s folate — all for only 50 calories, no saturated fat, and virtually no sodium to burden your blood vessels. You know a cantaloupe is ripe when it has a strong aroma, the blossom end (opposite the indented end where the stem used to be) yields to gentle pressure, and the rind has a yellow cast. (Nutrition Action Healthletter, September 2009)
PLASTIC August 30, 2009
Posted by thenaturalist in Alarming, Environment.add a comment
A vast collection of plastic debris about the size of Texas swirls around the North Pacific in a zone called “The Great Garbage Patch.” An ocean circulation known as the North Pacific Gyre has been found to be responsible for swirling around an estimated 3.5-milllion-ton “island” of plastic trash about midway between Hawaii and San Francisco. (Steve Newman, “Diary of the planet,” BFP, 8/30/09)
DUBAILAND STALLS August 25, 2009
Posted by thenaturalist in Dubai.add a comment
Dubailand, launched six years ago as part of Dubai’s push to more than double its tourism numbers to 15 million visitors by 2015, has hit the harsh economic realities of the global downturn, much like the rest of Dubai, which once seemed unstoppable in its drive to build the biggest, the tallest, the most extravagant. Officials had intended to make Dubailand a vast amusement complex sprawling over 100 square miles of desert. It would be bigger than Orlando, Florida, twice the size of Walt Disney World, and studded with theme parks including Universal Studios, Six Flags, and Legoland, an artificial snow park housed under a glass dome, plus resorts, the world’s biggest shopping mall, and the first golf course designed by Tiger Woods. But easy credit has disappeared, and Dubai now faces crippling debt and a glut of brand-new real estate. Industry observers say the slump could be a blessing, giving Dubai a chance to rethink its priorities. A consultant says, “What Dubai thought they’d done was create this everlasting growth market…. The fundamental issue is Dubai had far too grandiose ideas for far too short a time.” (Adam Schreck, “A vast fun-park dream stalls in Dubai’s downturn,” AP, 8/25/09)
WALKING vs. DRIVING August 23, 2009
Posted by thenaturalist in Energy - Alternative, Money.add a comment
AAA estimates the national average to own and operate a car is more than $8000 a year. By very large contrast, walking is free. ( Peter Keating, “Choosing to walk instead of drive benefits all of us,” BFP, 8/23/09)
BALD EAGLES IN VERMONT July 31, 2009
Posted by thenaturalist in Birds, Natural World, Vermont.add a comment
In 2008, a pair of bald eagles nested near Lake Bomoseen and produced the first young eagle fledged in Vermont since the 1940s. In 2009, Vermont fledged two young eagles, one from a nest in Concord, another from a nest in Barnet. (From Wire Reports, BFP, 7/31/09)
WORLD’S OLDEST POTTED PLANT REPOTTED July 30, 2009
Posted by thenaturalist in Interesting, Plants, Records.add a comment
On July 29, 2009, what is believed to be the world’s oldest potted plant, a 234-year old cycad, was repotted at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London. A 13-foot-high lifting gantry was brought in to hoist the plant, with the help of several garden workers, to maneuver it into its new pot. This is the first time that Kew Gardens has repotted the ancient cycad, Encephalartos altensteninli, which was collected by Kew’s first plant hunter, Francis Masson, from the Eastern Cape region of South Africa in the early 1770s. (Caption under a photo taken by Matt Dunham, AP, 7/30/2009)
SEATTLE’S HOTTEST TEMPERATURE July 30, 2009
Posted by thenaturalist in Records, Weather.add a comment
On July 29, 2009, Seattle recorded its hottest temperature — 102 degrees — at 2:30 p.m. at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Jay Albrecht with the National Weather Service says that’s the hottest it has been in Seattle since temperatures were first recorded in 1891. (Wire Reports, BFP, 7/30/09)
HUMANOID ROBOT June 24, 2009
Posted by thenaturalist in Alarming, Amazing, Interesting.add a comment
Humanoid robot KOBIAN displayed a surprised expression during a June 23, 2009 demonstration at Waseda University in Tokyo. KOBIAN can express seven programmed emotions by using its entire body including facial expressions. It was developed by researchers at Waseda’a Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering and a robot manufacturer based in Kitakyushu, Japan. (Associated Press, 6/24/09)
FLU PANDEMICS June 11, 2009
Posted by thenaturalist in Health.add a comment
The H1N1 virus known as Swine Flu has produced the first flu pandemic since the Hong Kong flu of 1968. Swine flu emerged in Mexico and North America in April 2009. As of June 10, 2009 it had spread to 74 countries around the globe, with reports of 27,737 cases and 141 deaths. (“U.N. to declare pandemic,” Maria Cheng and Frank Jordans, AP, 6/11/09)
FOUR CORNERS April 21, 2009
Posted by thenaturalist in Dates, History, Measurement.add a comment
National Geodetic Survey officials say the Four Corners marker showing the intersection of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah is about 2.5 miles west of where it should be. This only place in the United States where four state boundaries come together was first surveyed inaccurately by the government in 1868 during the initial survey of Colorado’s southern boundary. (Wire reports, BFP, 4/21/09)
