essays on science for the common good
Introduction At the risk of overkill, I will limit myself to two more essays on global warming, this one on a review of the past two years and the final one on present conditions of the Arctic and Antarctic regions. From late 2019-, “Study after study published in recent months has underscored the rapid pace …
Continue reading “Part XLIX: Promises Made, Promises Broken; Are They Real or Just a Token”
Once again, I say that COVID-19 and global warming are the two most important world issues facing humanity today and while Carona Virus (hardly anyone uses that term anymore) is perhaps thought, by many, to be the more pressing problem, climate change could be the longer lasting and more severely challenging issue. Therefore, I will …
For those of us who live in a temperate climate zone (four seasons) we look forward every fall to the changing colors. Indeed, many people plan short trips or plan vacations around the color changes. But what makes the trees turn the bright yellows, oranges, reds, or rustic browns? What environmental factors and anatomical/physiological influences …
Welcome to the City of Belvidere, Illinois’ “City of Murals”. Belvidere is located in North Central Illinois, 25 minutes south of the Wisconsin border. Only 75 miles from downtown Chicago, 83 miles from downtown Madison, Wisconsin, and 88 miles from downtown Milwaukee, Belvidere is attractive to businesses and residents that want to work or play in …
Continue reading “Part XLVI The Good, the Bad and Ugly Belvidere, IL, USA Highlights & Lowlights”
In the Rockford Register Star April 22, 2021 edition, there appeared a small article titled Study: Millions in U. S. breathe polluted air. The study was done by the American Lung Association. According to the report 40 % of Americans. (135 million) live where the air is polluted and that people of color were 61% …
My absence from writing the past few months is only partly explained by the fact that spring, summer, and fall bring about extraordinary responsibilities and time demands, demands which, I’m sure, everyone reading this can relate to. It’s not for a lack of available material on global warming. On the contrary, part of the problem-is …
Continue reading “Part XLIV: The importance of Teaching About Climate Change”
Looking back on the past 14- 15 months, we have learned quite a bit about coronavirus and ourselves. We have learned that a tiny particle that exhibits characteristics of life and non-life can bring us to our knees. We now know that we as an inhabited world was not prepared for such an onslaught and …
The first part of the following essay was adapted from an article by Jonathan Corum and Carl Zimmer that appeared in The New York Times on February 24, 2021. All diagrams as well as the text were modified for the purpose of this essay. Johnson & Johnson is testing a COVID-19 vaccine known as JNJ-78436735 …
Continue reading “Part XLII: Johnson & Johnson Vaccine and More”
I am publishing this post again to commemorate the thirteenth observance of the tragic shootings at my alma mater. I especially grieve for the families of the deceased and the wounded students and others in the class. Beyond that I grieve for the NIU community at large. I was on campus yesterday morning. I …
Like Bandit before her, Brandie developed stenosis and neuropathy of the lumbar spine along with arthritis in both hips and knees, with slight canine cognitive dysfunction (animal equivalent to Alzheimer disease). The neuropathy resulted in deteriation of the myelin sheath (like insulation on wires) She lost control of the hind limbs with muscle atrophy. I …