Gardening is considered the number one American past-time with garden center revenues exceeding $25 billion annually. This passion for plants and gardens is likely true in England, Japan, Australia, and elsewhere in the world. However, when you see trees starting to bloom and bees trying to pollinate in February in northern states something is happening in the backyard and the impacts could become wide spread.

It is being called the “climate change garden” by horticulturalists at the New Your Botanical Garden ( NYBG ) and discussed in a New York Times article. Species of Japanese flowering apricot trees, camellias, and yellow adonis are now in full bloom a month ahead of their typical flowering time in late March.

a

...

 

If you’ve been wondering about all those auroras being observed lately, this NASA and ESA photograph shows their power source. A massive solar prominence was captured in mid-eruption blasting off a cloud of charged particles into space. The orange sun is viewed in extreme UV light and shows a filament of the solar flare that broke away from the sun.

The composite image consists of two captures superimposed with a green infrared filtered image offering almost an artist’s view of the energized flares.



...

Auroras have been particularly impressive lately due to an increase in charged particles generated by solar storms hitting the Earth’s upper atmosphere.

This beautiful image of auroras captured from the shores of Lake Superior is particularly striking. The northern lights shimmer beyond the frozen shoreline of the lake in a 17-minute long exposure that captured star trails revolving around the north star. The photographer said it “was 9° F, no wind, and made for a perfect night of star gazing and aurora watching.” He relaxed in a beach chair on the Upper Peninsula and enjoyed a bottle of a local northern Michigan brew.



...

Microbes, insects, and bugs are everywhere. They are found at the top of Mount Everest, attached to marine corals in the oceans, even in hotel beds around the world annoyingly.

Now new critters have been identified underground in two highly unlikely places---an insect discovered deep in a cave over a mile deep near the Black Sea and an ancient bacterial colony buried six feet beneath a hyper-arid desert in South America. These bugs definitely deserve the designation of an extremophile.

The first discovery was made by researchers from Chile and Spain when strange bacteria and primitive microorganisms were found living in a layer below hyper-saline surface soils of the Atacama Desert. According to one of the field scientists: "We have named it a 'microbial oasis' because we found microorganisms developing in a habitat that was rich in rock-salt and other highly hygroscopic compounds.” Hygroscopic materials attract and hold water gathered from...

Here is a short video of recent solar eruptions captured by NASA’s Solar and Heliosheric Observatory ( SOHO ). Captured in infrared by the orbiter, it demonstrates the power of solar flares.

Storms on the Sun’s surface are directly responsible for the increase in spectacular auroras that have been experienced lately in the night sky from the northern to the southern hemispheres on Earth.





Sun’s Explosive Whiplash in Infrared





(credit: NASA)

WHB

...

This month, NASA researchers launched a rocket into an aurora in northern Alaska in an attempt to understand these amazing atmospheric displays better. According to the lead scientist from Cornell: "We're investigating ‘space weather’ that is caused by charged particles from the sun interacting with the Earth’s magnetic field.”

Whatever it is called, a fish-eye image taken during the launch is certainly impressive.

PermaLink Read More »

Silene is a genus of wildflowers typical of cold regions of Europe, North America, and elsewhere. Silene species are  common high Arctic and Alpine mountain environments. They hybridize easily to produce plants with pale pink flowers, thus are often called pinks. Hybrid Silenes are grown as favorite garden plants.

Russian scientists have now announced the propagation of a Silene species kept dormant for more than 30,000 years in Siberian permafrost. Their horticultural feat was just published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). With assistance from laboratory micro-propagation techniques, preserved seeds and leaves were revived and brought into flower. The original material may have been collected by Siberian squirrels and buried in their burrows for winter munching. The plant material was likely frozen quickly, survived...

Mobee, or Monolithic Bees, is a tiny drone crafted by engineers at Harvard's Microrobotics Laboratory. Like an origami folded puzzle, the micro-device uses intricate layering and uses a folding process that allows fabrication of multiple pop-up robots. It can fly.

The first prototypes consist of layers consisting of carbon fibers, brass, plastic, sturdy titanium, light weight ceramics, and adhesives laminated in a complex, laser-cut, design. The structure incorporates flexible hinges allowing the bug to assemble itself in a single movement. The Harvard engineers worked for years to build the bio-mimicry inspired, insect sized, robots that can fly and behave autonomously. Suitable materials, software, and fabrication methods were lacking prior to Mobee’s development so they were all invented by the Harvard researchers in its proff-of-concept design. The fabrication...

Climate Deniers are having a hard time.

First, information was leaked to the magnifying glass of the media, including the Los Angeles Times, that efforts to create dis-information and confusion about the science of climate change was actually supported by large supporters of a climate denial think tank and now two scientific reports actually bring clear focus to the actual facts of the situation facing everyone:

Researchers find unprecedented, man-made trends in oceans acidity  and  NASA study confirms man-made influence over global warming 

The...

John Muir once called the glacial carved Hetch Hetchy Valley next to Yosemite “one of nature’s rarest and most precious mountain temples”. In the early 1920’s, that wild temple was flooded and turned into a placid reservoir. The City of San Francisco succeeded in its campaign to dam the valley.

However, a desire to reverse the 19th-20th Century decisions, breach the dam, and restore the valley has never died. This recovery effort has now received the endorsement in a strong opinion regarding:

Hetch Hetchy's Past and Future.



              ...