1 November 2026
Hello again, fans of science,
Pozdrav još jednom, ljubitelji znanosti,
[Over 5 million people speak Croatian as their primary language.]
The Union of Concerned Scientists counted 625 attacks on science by the current Federal Administration from 20 January 2025 through 20 October 2026.
Although the current elections do not directly change the Federal Administration, they could change the influence of the Houise & Senate over Administration policies.
RAFFLE
¿Want something to help guide you through the coming El Niño rainstorms? The winner gets this folding 97cm wide rain umbrella with the constellations. Just send an email to david<dot>almandsmith@gmail<dot>com before noon Friday with your guess of an integer from 1 to 1,000. In our previous Raffle, the eOracle chose 784. Of the 29 entrants, Roz was closest with her guess of 750, winning an I’M LICHEN IT botany-themed hat.
SPACE
A significant object has just been discovered orbiting our Sun beyond Neptune. It is hundreds of kilometers in diameter and could, perhaps, maybe, someday, be labeled as a Dwarf Planet if it is spherical – or nearly so. Because it was moving in front of the densest view of the Milky Way [see image above], it took the amazing capabilities of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory to recognize it as an orbiting object. Wikipedia lists 9 other Dwarf Planets in the Solar System; with a 10th as a borderline case.
For each orbit around the Sun, you celebrate another birthday. But if you lived on Mars, each orbit around the Sun takes almost twice as long. Amelia was born on 8 January 1993 and lives on Earth, so she has experienced 33 and 3 fifths orbits around the Sun. [see blue circle above] Instead, were Amelia living on Mars, she is about to complete only her 18th trip around the sun. [see red circle above] Go to Many Happy Orbits and enter your birth date to create your personal orbits diagram.
Curiosity Rover took this dramatic early dawn photo of yardangs (??) on the slopes of 6-km-high Mount Sharp on Mars, which it has been ascending for 12 years. A quick side trip to Wikipedia informed me that “yardang” is a Turkic word meaning a steep formation created by wind erosion.
ENVIRONMENT
The above is a screengrab from a video that displays data from 2006 to 2026 for the top ranked 20 countries. For much of those years, the USA was not in the top 20 but now ranks 9th. Japan ranked 3rd for a number of years but now ranks 19th, likely because the fossil fuel industry now dominates the funding in Japanese elections.
Much of China’s air pollution problem is due to winds carrying dirt from Gobi Desert dust storms to major metropolitan areas; and climate change is increasing wind speeds. Quite unexpected is the role solar panels are playing to reduce those dust storms. China has solar panels covering over 13,000 square kilometers in the Gobi Desert with plans for installing ten times as much. Already, solar panels have reduced dust pollution by an estimated 130,000 tonnes.
Something new is happening under the arctic sun: permafrost detachment slides. With global warming, large areas of permafrost are melting and enormous landslides of gooey permafrost are occurring for the first time in recorded history.
Fun Nerdy Videos
The Square One Fallacy – McGill OSS – Jonathan Jarry – 1 min
‘New’ fallacy
Paper Straws & Carbonated Drinks – Hannah Fry – 2.5 mins
Watch out for the flood!
Preparing for El Niño Effects – Your Local Epidemiologist – Matt Willis – 4.5 mins
Get ready for wet stormy weather
Physics Girl’s Medical Mystery – KPBS Arts – Anthony Wallace & Diana Cowern – 5 mins
A misery mystery
Roman Space Telescope and Dark Energy – Star Talk – deGrasse Tyson – 8 mins
Neil is Neil: a delight.
¿Where Did Everything Come From? – Sabine Hossenfelder – 8 mins
¿And where did my other belt go?
Defusing a Deadly Lake! – Sci Show – Ceri Riley – 14 mins
Refer to “Paper Straws” above
Experimental Virotherapy for Cancers – Kurzgesagt – 14.5 mins
Complex physiology reduced to cartoon-level explanations
¿Launch an Orbiting Star Shade? – Dr. Becky – Becky Smethurst – 16 mins
Exciting idea!
Hydrogen Fuel Hype – Just have a Think – David Borlace – 19.5 mins
Debunking the hydrogen hype
Tungsten – Tales from the Periodic Table – Ron Hipschman – 28 mins
Highest melting point of any metal: 3,422°C
The Weirdness of Menopause – Stephanie Samman – 30 mins
¿Social factors?
Evolution: Body Builders – PBS NOVA – 51 mins
From LUCA to Elephants