The consipiracy nuts are at it again

Can Solar Storms Cause Wildfires? is a response to those science-poor individuals who think (and who have been accusing NASA of covering up) that the latest coronal mass ejection had anything to do with the fires that have been raging in Russia.

That said, astrophysicist Ian O'Neill points out that in 1859 we were hit with the largest CME ever recorded, which overloaded telegraph networks, causing sparking and falling of wires. So while indirectly it is not inconceivable, there's no direct correlation of CMEs to wildfires.

Cosmic show to peak tonight

See (and hear) the meteor show

I wish I could drive out into the county but I'm not in the centre of town so there may be a chance of some good ones, and Lexington's not huge by any means. I remember watching the Perseids at Edwards Air Force Base as a kid and the wonder of an absolute dark sky--no light pollution to speak of--with the Milky Way hanging above us. We saw hundreds an hour, lying on the top of a car watching them go by.

Do kids today even know what the Milky Way looks like?

Once again, the folks of 'The Guild' give us a great musical tease

This time with a Bollywood flair.



Enjoy. I so need to catch up on my episodes....

Thanks to YKWIA for showing it to us before the game.

Two bits of good news today, one minor, one more important

1. Because DOCLINE 4.5 (the National Network of Libraries of Medicine's interlibrary loan system) was released today, I was able to get an upgrade from Internet Explorer 6 to IE 8 at work, as DOCLINE (along with a slew of other things) won't support the old browser. As a result, the page loads that were limping along when I was trying to order interlibrary loans sped up to normal. Yay! Of course, at home, I'm a Firefox girl, but that's another story...)
   
2. More importantly, one of my bosses (the one for the data entry) came to me today and asked if I were interested in rounding out my hours by helping out another department with some additional duties. I said yes, definitely, so soon I should be able to stay until 7 pm (I got off work at 5:30 pm today). My other boss enquired about it; she'd suggested me, too. I really appreciate all the support that they and others are giving me. I'm also finding that as I wear other hats in the hospital, I'm getting to know more people, and several people whose names I don't know, know mine. I think in the long run this will also help my library work; one, I'm getting to know more people and make connexions, and two, I feel more productive and as a result I have been more productive in the library as well. :)
   

Huh? Okay, I like comics...

but a Broadway musical? Of Spider-Man?

Spider-Man musical to open in December: The long-awaited Spider-Man musical is to open on Broadway in December, its producers have said

Inspired by the Marvel Comics hero, Spider-Man Turn off the Dark spins a new take on the story of teenage science geek Peter Parker, who is bitten by a genetically-altered spider and wakes up with superhero powers....

The musical is reportedly the most expensive Broadway production to date, with a budget of almost $50m (£31.7m), thanks to its sprawling skyscraper sets.

Music is by Bono/the Edge of U2. I'm beginning to think they'll try to make a musical out of anything. But Marvel must be happy, as I'm sure there had to be a fee for licensing or some sort of involvement.

Indicators for Alzheimer's could lead to better and early management some day

Spinal fluid test may help diagnose Alzheimer's: Markers help spot disease early, but predicting who will develop disease is still years away

Measuring certain proteins in spinal fluid can accurately diagnose Alzheimer's and predict which patients with memory problems will develop the fatal brain-wasting disease, finds a new report by Belgian researchers.

Taken a step further, they may also help identify early signs of the disease in healthy people, the team reported Monday in the Archives of Neurology.

Geert De Meyer and colleagues at Ghent University in Belgium said measuring traces of beta amyloid and tau — two proteins associated with the telltale plaques and tangles that form in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's — accurately detected Alzheimer's in 90 percent of patients with the disease.

They were also able to detect 100 percent of people with memory impairments who would progress to Alzheimer's disease within five years. And they detected Alzheimer's proteins in 36 percent of people with normal brain function.

Alzheimer's took the vibrancy and life of my great-grandmother, and I must admit it is one of my fears of growing old, especially as I have problems with memory already in my 40s. But I have hope that developments like this can lead to early intervention and treatment, equaling a better quality of life for Alzheimer's patients.

That was absolutely, incredibly fun

And I'm not being facetious. First, you must understand that the heat index was in the triple digits today. When I went out to the bus stop after work it was beautiful, sunny, scorching, but with a breeze that built up a bit that had a cooling edge to it, so even though I was standing there perspiring like crazy, it could have been worse. Second, you must understand that I was listening to happy, upbeat music on my phone. Thirdly, you must understand that I was carrying a pizza box with me.

I got on the bus, and halfway through the Idle Hour loop these giant, absolutely huge, raindrops started hitting the bus' windshield, first one or two, then quickly it went to a downpour of large raindrops, all the while with the sun shining through them, shining through the water.

Then we turned onto Richmond Road, and knowing that it was sunny, I looked opposite to the sun to see if there might be a rainbow. There was, a gorgeous one that is even now still hanging in the sky, I believe. It certainly stayed there the entire time that I was on the bus and walked home. I was watching the rainbow as we travelled down the road, and it just made me very happy. I kept a smile on my face the rest of the trip. I pulled my umbrella out to be ready for my stop, but when we reached it, I stood up, accidentally triggering it. So I had an open rainbow umbrella to put back down quickly and make my exit. Is it bad luck to open an umbrella in a vehicle, I wonder?

So I got off the bus and quickly got soaked, but that was okay with me. My sandals were so wet it was hard to cross the street. All the while I'm balancing an umbrella in one hand and a pizza box in the other, mind you, listening to happy music, and getting quite soaked despite the umbrella, with a giant rainbow hanging behind me.

I cut through the car lot and didn't even twitch despite the start of thunder (phobia be damned, I was enjoying myself). I finally got home and peeled the wet clothes off. The pizza survived, I am not quite as soaked and will eventually dry, and I have a wonderful purse that zips up tight as a drum, so the Kindle should be fine. It's just now starting to lighten up. There is still blue sky and white fluffy clouds, although the sun has abated somewhat.

Anyway, it was the most fun I've had in a rainstorm, and frankly, the nicest I've felt in awhile. Sometimes it's the little things in life you appreciate. :)

Here's hoping...

Camden, NJ Libraries Get Lifeline

Officials in New Jersey have apparently found a way to save the city of Camden's public library system in whole or part.

Last week came the report that Camden's library board had voted to close the three-branch system by the end of the year for lack of funding.

And the board said it wasn't bluffing in an attempt to squeeze more money out of Camden Mayor Dana Redd.

On Monday, Redd said a new plan called for the city's library system would join the county's, thereby maintaining library service in the hard-scrabble city across the Delaware River from Philadelphia.

According to Wikipedia:

Although once a thriving center for manufacturing and industry, Camden is perhaps best known for its struggles with urban dysfunction. Three Camden mayors have been jailed for corruption, the most recent being Milton Milan in 2000. Since 2005 the school system and police department have been operated by the State of New Jersey; the takeover will expire in 2012. In 2009, Camden had the highest crime rate in the U.S. with 2,333 violent crimes per 100,000 people while the national average was 455 per 100,000 Camden public schools spend $17,000 per student per year yet only two thirds of the students graduate. Two out of every five residents are below the national poverty line.

Public libraries are not a luxury; they are vital, especially in a world where you can't apply for a job at even low-end jobs without going online. In a city like Camden, this is even more so. I hope they can save the libraries. It was looking last week like they would be the first system to totally shut its doors and liquidate their collections and facilities in the country. I'm glad there's a good chance that isn't going to happen now.

Crazy news story of the day

Woman starts fight over chicken nuggets (video included)

In Toledo, Ohio a woman got very irate when she went to a drive-through window and ordered chicken nuggets only to be told they were still serving breakfast. She started screaming and hitting the clerk, coming out of her car and nearly into the store through the window. Someone had the great idea to shut the window, and she fought them tooth and nail but finally the window shut and she tried to smash it with her hand, then her elbow, then she got in her car and picked up something she used to smash a great big hole in the glass (it wasn't like automobile glass, either...it was a gaping big hole the size of a large head. She's been arrested and charged with vandalism. In my opinion, they need to charge her with assault and battery, and maybe do a drug check and psych evaluation at the same time, because that was a lot of crazy in that video.

It's people like this that make me sometimes feel uneasy about working in retail.

I find that

the Wikipedia article on the military brat subculture is right on target. For good or bad (well, a bit of both), I am very much a product of that subculture, one that my best friend finds utterly alien. :)