Tag Archives: Nature

Cobra Gypsies: the Kalbelya of Rajasthan

Filmmaker Raphael Treza traveled to northern India and lived among an ancient tribe known as the Kalbeliya for three months. Cobra Gypsies is the vibrant and enlightening document of that journey. The Kalbeliyas are a highly spirited people; ebullient in their celebration … Continue reading

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New Word to Start the Year: “Sarchasm”

SARCHASM – The gulf between the author of a sarcastic joke and the person who doesn’t get it. ~Found on QI, one of the winners in the Washington Post’s Style Invitational) In hopes of escaping the memories of the anno horribilis we’ve … Continue reading

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Sea Shepherd finds Japanese whaler ‘hiding behind iceberg’

Japan persists in hunting whales despite the International Whaling Commission having found their claims of “scientific research” to be blatant lies. But now they are facing Sea Shepherd’s new faster interceptors that can keep pace with the murderous harpooners. After … Continue reading

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Tracing the Sun from Solstice to Solstice

 Today, December 21st, would have been my mother’s 99th birthday and of lesser import it is also the Solstice, the first day of winter in the north and summer in the south. To celebrate, watch this amazing timelapse video tracing the Sun’s apparent movement … Continue reading

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Amazonian ‘Stonehenge’- the Rego Grande Sun Stones

It pleases me greatly that I have lived long enough to see that modern scientists have come to understand that before it was tropical rainforest the Amazon was a cultivated landscape. A huge complex of cities and farms connected by advanced … Continue reading

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Aurora Borealis Live Webcam

Living in San Francisco one learns to not get too excited about our planet’s celestial shows. In the summer and winter it is often overcast so the Leonid and Perseid meteor showers are almost never visible. So watching the live … Continue reading

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Godric Gryffindor Inspires Name for Unusual Spider in India

A new species of peculiarly shaped spider has been named after the owner of the Hogwarts Sorting Hat.   It’s almost as if the Sorting Hat apparated to a forest in southern India where it was transfigured into a spider. … Continue reading

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About that Header Image of San Francisco Bay

The image at the top is from the webcam of the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California. It sits high in the Berkeley Hills and is one of the sites I visit daily. It’s an excellent ‘weather report’ … Continue reading

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Blind Rescue Goat with Anxiety Only Calms Down in Her Duck Costume

  It all started when Leanne Lauricella went shopping at Marshalls before Halloween. She was browsing the aisles when something caught her eye — a child’s duck costume, complete with a big orange bill and two webbed feet. Lauricella runs … Continue reading

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NASA Guide to Air-Filtering Houseplants 

In the 1980s NASA joined forces with the Associated Contractors of America (ALCA), to determine the most effective indoor plants for removing toxic agents from the air. The study, led by Dr. B. C. Wolverton, found that some plants were effective … Continue reading

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