2 March 2026
Kwaziwai zvakare, shamwari dzesainzi,
[15 million people speak Shona, one of 16 official languages of Zimbabwe.]
When the Environmental Protection Agency repealed the ‘2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding’ in February, it was abundantly clear it was done to favor the fossil fuel industry. That’s hardly surprising since 85% of oil and gas PAC money went to the Administration’s party in the most recent election. A Senate investigation now seeks to make public any correspondence between the current administration and the fossil fuel industry that led up to the repeal of the Endangerment Finding. Stay tuned!
SPACE
A month ago i mentioned that the crew of Artemis II (Two) were to blast off on February 8. That has been pushed back until sometime in May – out of an abundance of caution. Also, NASA has decided that Artemis III is no longer slated to land on the Moon in 2027. Instead, there will be additional Artemis flights for testing refueling in space and other goals – before a possible Moon landing in 2028. The first 7 minutes of this video explain the changes.
Earth’s shadow will completely eclipse the Moon in the wee hours of Tuesday morning beginning around 1:50 AM and reaching a maximum around 3:30 AM. [See ‘My Picks of the Week’ below.]
BIOLOGY / ETHOLOGY
In 2018, spelunkers discovered a new extension to New Mexico’s Carlsbad Cavern bringing the total length of its explored passages to 60+ kilometers. There they found green photosynthesizing cyanobacteria coating the walls of a pitch-black chamber. ¿But isn’t light necessary for photosynthesis? Yes, but the passages are indeed continuously illuminated with near-infrared electromagnetic waves, a.k.a. “light,” and the types of chlorophylls they use – types d and f – are functional using near-infrared “light.” [Allow me to ding the book “Project Hail Mary” where an alien species lacks organs to ‘see’ electromagnetic energy, ostensibly because their home planet is pitch-black under an opaque atmosphere. Here on Earth are many animals that ‘see’ where humans would call it pitch-black: species of snakes, insects, bats, arachnids, fish, and possibly others.]
RAFFLE
Our raffle prize is any “science” t-shirt of your choosing. [Great gift] Just send an email before noon Friday to david.almandsmith gmail com with your guess of an integer from 1 to 1,000. Last time, the random number dredged up “357”. Kristine won a science cap with her guess of 313. Thirty-six people played.
CIVILIZATION
“Civilization” is a rather broad term for a section heading, but that is exactly appropriate for this news. A group of scientists calls for a new discipline – “Future Dynamics” – that will study what is needed for the human species to thrive for millions of years. They point out that species of mammals do typically survive for millions of years. However, ‘our’ species is able to squander available resources, alter planetary weather and sea levels, eliminate entire ecosystems, create pandemics, and create a nuclear apocalypse. Obviously, planning is necessary to assure a healthy multi-million-year future of Homo sapiens sapiens. Potentially, we can avert most challenges to a thriving long-term civilization, but they posit it requires planning and implementation.
SEA LEVEL RISE
The French legend of the Kingdom of Ys, ruled by King Gradlon, tells of dikes that protected the land during high tides. The King’s daughter, Dahut, opened the dike gate for her lover but unfortunately it was during high tide. Fleeing from the waves, King Gradlon dropped Dahut into the flood where she became a mermaid. The Kingdom disappeared beneath the waves.
Recently, geologist Yves Foquet noticed straight lines in LIDAR data from underwater off of “the jagged western tip of France”. Subsequent dives revealed a massive (3,300 tonnes) human-crafted 120-meter-long stone wall 9 meters below low tide measuring 20 meters wide and 2 meters high. Another dozen stone walls were found in the vicinity. The last time sea levels were low enough for those walls to serve as dikes was over 7,000 years ago – long before the oldest Egyptian pyramid.
FUN NERDY VIDEOS
Annular Solar Eclipse from Space – European Space Agency – 18 seconds
Fire Amoeba – Cleo Abram – 1 min
Findings from Asteroid Bennu – @Astro_Alexandra – Alexandra Doten – 2 mins
¿Pancreatic Cancer Cure? – Dr. Ben Miles – 2mins
Telosa: City of the Future – 4 mins
¿Dead Wasps in Figs? – PBS NOVA Gross Science – Anna Rothschild – 5 mins
A History of Plastic – Cup O’ Joe – Joe Schwarcz – 9 mins
Ozempic: Benefits and Harms – SciShow – Hank Green – 12 mins
Grid-Scale Batteries – Just Have a Think – Dave Borlace – 12.5 mins
5 Warning Signs of Civilization Collapse – PBS Terra – Maiya May – 12 mins
Physics Is Unkind to Small Nuclear Reactors – Dr. Ben Miles – 16 mins
Laboratory Spider Silk – NHK Today – 16.5 mins
The Fridge Destroys the Ice Monopoly – Veritaseum – Derek Muller – 28.5
Fusion Rocket of “The Expanse” – Abigail James – 33 mins
Oxygen – Tales from the Periodic Table – Ron Hipschman – 48 mins
Mammal Origins – PBS NOVA – 52.5 mins
Have a great week – and keep expanding your circle of empathy,
Dave Almandsmith, Bay Area Skeptics
“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”
— Carl Sagan (1934 – 1996) American astronomer & science communicator