Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Literacy, Miscellaneous, Science & Society
Tuesday, December 5, 2023
Scientific Literacy In Everyday Use
Monday, December 4, 2023
Illuminated River Art Installation, London
Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Art & Environment
Sunday, December 3, 2023
Tornado Inside Another Tornado?
Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Earth & Space Science, Earth Systems, Solar System, Geology
Saturday, December 2, 2023
Hot Fishing
Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Nature, Wildlife, Global Warming, Global Climate Change, Global Change
Friday, December 1, 2023
Friday Poem
Environmental & Science Education, Poetry, Art & Environment, Nature, Wildlife, Biodiversity
Ed Hessler
The Snail is by Donald Hall.
The poem was published in The Yellow Room (Harper & Row, 1971).
And welcome to Meteorological Winter.
Thursday, November 30, 2023
A Slight Interruption In Posting
Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Miscellaneous
Ed Hessler
I will be off the blog after this post, November 30, for about a day.
I am the "nurse-in-residence" following what I expect to be a routine surgery but the patient needs someone around that first day. I'm it and glad to be of help which is mostly being there.
So the December 1, Friday poem will be delayed until about midday plus or minus. This could be longer if any complications occur which are unlikely.
Thanks.
What Can Be Learned From Dead Fungi aboutLife?
Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Biodiversity, Biological Evolution, Global Change, Climate Change
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
A High Altitude Plant Facing Climate Change in Tibet
- •Steepest temperature increase at 4 km elevation threatens highly adapted moss species
- •Sequenced genome with highest number of fast-evolving genes under positive selection. (There are two types of natural selection in biological evolution: Positive (Darwinian) selection promotes the spread of beneficial alleles, and negative (or purifying) selection hinders the spread of deleterious alleles. See here.
- •Adaptation to severe UV-B radiation and freezing likely evolved at high altitudes
- •Morphological peculiarities of Takakia plants likely evolved earlier than 165 mya
- There are probably several points which will attract your attention. Here are 3 that caught mine.
- 1. Takakia is a "sister to all other mosses, including Sphagnum...despite their morphological dissimilarities."
- 2. "Takakia lacks rhizoids, ,,, Instead of rhizoids that attach plants to the soil matrix, Takakia evolved a morphology that is not known from other mosses." (Oxford Languages Dictionary defines matrix as "an environment or material in which something develops; a surrounding medium or structure.")
- 3. Stomata were one of the first developmental innovations of land plants, at about 400 mya (million years ago). However, Takakia lacks stomata."
- From the Summary:
- In short the authors documented "the steepest temperature increase (2010–2021) on record at altitudes of above 4,000 m, triggering a decline of the relictual and highly adapted moss Talakia." The summary is short.
- The modern origin of protective traits in Takakia.
- Whereas Takakia evolved characteristic morphological features before 65 mya, the duplication and divergence of genes involved in stress protection occurred mainly during the uplift of the Himalayas, namely from 50 mya to the present. This period is characterized by a sharp increase in harmful UV-B radiation and a sharp drop in temperature, both caused by the uplift of the region." WhereasTakakia evolved characteristic morphological features before 65 mya, the duplication and divergence of genes involved in stress protection occurred mainly during the uplift of the Himalayas, namely from 50 mya to the present. This period is characterized by a sharp increase in harmful UV-B radiation and a sharp drop in temperature, both caused by the uplift of the region. Whereas Takakia evolved characteristic morphological features before 65 mya, the duplication and divergence of genes involved in stress protection occurred mainly during the uplift of the Himalayas, namely from 50 mya to the present. This period is characterized by a sharp increase in harmful UV-B radiation and a sharp drop in temperature, both caused by the uplift of the region. The uplift of the Himalayas has caused the annual average temperature in the area of our experimental site to drop from 27°C (50 mya) to about 5°C at present, forcing Takakia to evolve enhanced freezing tolerance." (This sounds somewhat intentional which I doubt is the intention of the researchers. I prefer the idea of natural selection.)
- This is a technical scientific paper but the paper's discussion, a couple of short videos and parts of the discussion are accessible and downright fascinating. Every day we are learning more about the reach of global climate change and its effects on the large, the small, the deep, the high, the widespread and the isolated.
- The authors conclude with a short section on the limitations of the study.
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
Challenging Quantum Orthodoxy: Physicist Jonathan Oppenheim
Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Nature of Science, History of Science, Cosmology
Monday, November 27, 2023
A Regional Guide to The Fifth National Climate Assessment
Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Earth & Space Science, Earth Systems, Sustainability, Global Change, Climate Change