Tag: Biology

Don’t Watch Cable News

gupta glassesIf you want to get scared keep cable news on all day. That’s my takeaway from a couple of days of doing just that! I’ve got the eebie jeebies over Ebola, or as it’s called in the Fox house, “The Ebola.”

That two health care professionals in bunny suits got infected seems totally Michael Crichton. Plausible fiction. But it’s real.

From here it looks like health care professionals were treating it too lightly. Dr. Nancy Snyderman, allegedly on voluntary quarantine, was ratted out for driving around her home in Princeton, NJ. Her quarantine is now mandatory.

And, as Crichton would have probably fictionalized for added drama, one of the two Ebola stricken nurses took two flights on jam-packed airliners. They’re petri dishes in the sky already. This is insult to injury.

I’m not an immunologist. I’m not a doctor. Take what I say with that admission.

We should have already figured out a cure. Maybe we already have in ZMapp–if there were any available.

Ebola is a nearly perfect disease to fight with genetically engineered drugs. Some people fight it off. Their blood has the answers.

ZMapp hasn’t been run through all the tests to be approved. It works flawlessly in monkeys. Human trials must be completed. Drugs have unforeseen side effects.

Beyond that, ZMapp takes time to produce. The drug is infused in growing tobacco leaves in a process is called “pharming.” This limits mass production.

This should have been done years ago, but it’s easy to not prepare for rare events.

Pandemics can happen. The last was the flu in 1918.

It infected 500 million people across the world, including remote Pacific islands and the Arctic, and killed 50 to 100 million of them—three to five percent of the world’s population—making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in human history. – Wikipedia

Today I worry about Ebola like I worry about a plane crash or car crash. All are possibilities, but remote.

In a week my opinion might change.

The Illustrated: How Does My Garden Grow?

Back in Connecticut there was a rush of color as plants flowered over a short period. Here, something’s blooming year round.

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Steffie picked a lemon earlier today. It came from one of the two little lemon trees (very pretty) near the patio. Wow! We grew that.

We have a small outdoor space. I’m the plant wrangler. Most of our plants are thriving. A few are suspect. We need more flowers!

Back in Connecticut there was a rush of color as plants flowered over a short period. Here, something’s blooming year round.

The flowers attached to this entry are in bloom now. In most cases photography makes them look larger than actual size. They’re all clickable for a larger view.

Thar She Blows

This is the money shot! As the whale goes down she arches her back and her tail comes out of the sea. Water pours off while her body straightens then disappears from sight.

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Helaine and I went whale watching this afternoon. We’d been before, in Alaska. A trip in shirtsleeves under sunny skies sounded very appealing.

IMG_3184_5769We headed out Newport Bay and into the open Pacific. Seas were light. Santa Catalina and San Nicholas Island were both visible in light haze.

Finding whales is part instinct, part deduction and part luck. Our ship was aimed where whales were seen headed a few hours ago.

IMG_3237_5822It didn’t take long. No one shouted, “Thar she blows,” but that’s what happened. A quarter mile off the bow a cloud of mist was thrown up from the sea.

From the bridge the captain started talking about the whale, but she was still invisible to me. All I could see was that blow!

She began to rise. A blue whale, she was around 100 feet long. The whale leveled off with a few inches of her back above the water line, then began to dive.

IMG_3274_5859_1This is the money shot! As the whale goes down she arches her back and her tail comes out of the sea. Water pours off while her body straightens then disappears from sight.

The whale stayed submerged 13 minutes then blew again well in front of the boat. I knew it was the same whale because of a distinctive ‘beauty mark’ on her tail.

IMG_3381_5965Next up were dolphins, dozens of them swimming near and often in front of our boat. We stayed far from the whales, but that’s not possible with dolphins. They sought us out.

What a great trip. One more thing to do to keep out-of-town guests entertained… and us too.

SoCal Weather: Mainly Gentle, But Interesting

Our earlier neighborhood wildfire is out. The Fire Authority reported 77 firefighters for the three acre blaze. I saw two copters. The air was pungent.

This area was built with the understanding that things burn. All the homes have fire suppression sprinklers. The roofs are mainly clay.

I’m sitting out in the California room. This is a protected spot, but I can see the effect of the wind whipping around me. The watering can is on its side. The thin mattress on the hammock is pointing down, not up. The overhead fan, turned off, is spinning slowly.

IMAG0936The sky is as blue as can be. I’m not sure it could be Photoshopped any bluer!

We’re at 94&#176. The dew point is 8&#176. It is very dry. I should be perspiring. Moisture evaporates before drops can form.

That’s part of the desert’s power. You can succumb to dehydration without suspecting you’re in trouble.

My lips are dry. Where’s the ChapStick?

IMG_0441Our earlier neighborhood wildfire is out. The Fire Authority reported 77 firefighters for the three acre blaze. I saw two copters. The air was pungent.

Thank you Orange County Fire Authority for keeping us safe. We appreciate your dangerous mission on our behalf.

This area was built with the understanding that things burn. All the homes have fire suppression sprinklers. The roofs are mainly clay.

I leave my laptop out here on the sofa. It’s full of dust. Maybe I should reconsider? Maybe it’s too late?

The weather here in SoCal is usually gentle, but it has interesting twists and turns. Another one is coming tomorrow.

Something I Noticed While In The Desert

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Cousin Michael has decided to become a birder. He was on-the-lookout for birds as we walked in Red Rock. As I mentioned earlier, we found one.

I wanted to come back to this bird (Click the photo to see a larger view) because he/she&#185 received a generous serving of evolutionary help. In real life she is as well camouflaged as any animal I’ve seen. She looks like the rocks she frequents!

We’re not sure what she is. Michael says Canyon Wren. I say Rock Wren. They’re both native to the Southwest. Neither Michael nor I are qualified to make a definitive call. Our opinions are based on web knowledge.

This shot was taken from fifteen feet. It’s cropped, meaning the bird fills more of the frame than she did when the shutter clicked. I didn’t have a long lens with me.

She was hopping from rock-to-rock, sometimes ducking in the little spaces between two. When she flew, it was low and not very far.

Like so much else on the desert, she favors gray.

&#185 – Wikipedia says “There is no sexual dimorphism in the plumage of wrens, and little difference between young birds and adults.” That means you can’t tell the sexes apart by look alone.