Wow. We have good friends in Whangārei — they live at the top of a hill:
220 millimetres [8.66 inches] of rain fell in Whangārei from 7pm last night until around 7am this morning.
we’re expecting that once in 500 years.
And the rain is showing no signs of easing.
If this is a boring flat rectangle, I think take-up will be slow. If a clever designer makes an attractive ‘badge of honour' lapel pin though…
a bluetooth contact tracing ‘CovidCard’…
people only have to carry the CovidCard and don’t have to download or scan anything.
Excellent: Netflix ☛ One Day at a Time, S3E3, abuelita has made a ‘bouquet list’:
Do you mean a bucket list?
No, that makes no sense.
It is a bouquet list because it is an arrangement of all of the beautiful things you still want to do before you kick the bucket.
I was somewhat entertained by Netflix ☛ Warrior Nun
Warrior Nun revolves around the story of a 19-year-old woman who wakes up in a morgue with a new lease on life and a divine artifact embedded in her back.
The largely female cast was a bonus amongst all the mumbo-jumbo. 📺
Sasha’s throat Xray didn’t show anything to worry about. She has a little throat inflammation. The benign but growing cyst was removed from her back. Now 10 days of taking her on a lead to pee or for brief walks. Carprieve pain relief. 🐶
Our dogs are brachycephalic which means flatter faces and shorter noses, breathing problems. Sasha snores a lot and has increasing episodes of ‘choking’. Today she’s with the vet for surgery to check her throat, and to remove a slowly growing harmless cyst on her back.
Hmm, I just watched a preview of a movie about Marie Curie which includes her saying “My science could cure cancer”.
When I was a kid in the 1960s people around me didn’t say the terrible word “Cancer”. They’d whisper simply “C”, in case the word would conjure the phenomenon.
Nessie Hill encourages us all to be science communicators in this 10 minute video: How to Convince Others to Wear a Mask. She talks about methods that work … and methods that don’t.
Hey @martinfeld I listen to and enjoy most of the Lounge Ruminations. 😀 On #33 start at 6:15 you say: “the crucial element of a conversation is the words”. 🤔 Can’t speak for blind, deaf, folks with body movement issues, but gesture, posture, face, breathing etc are = crucial.
Interesting: Why Older People Really Eschew Technology
The assumption that seniors are “alienated” by technology…ignores the essence of her research: older adults’ resistance to technology is a value-based choice. Thus, many seniors resist some technologies and embrace others.
I cleaned the window so I could see the Tauhou better. The more I watch them, the more I love them. Look at this little cutie! 🐦
The United Arab Emirates is about to launch its first mission to Mars. It will be the Arab world’s first flight to another planet.
The SUV-sized spacecraft, called the Hope probe, …will reach Mars by February 2021.
Also launching soon: NASA and China.
a detailed DNA analysis of the genomes of more than 800 Polynesians and Native Americans, both modern and prehistoric, [shows] evidence of contact … as far back as 1200 CE.
…a single contact event … between Polynesian individuals and a Native American group
Oh, there was a blast from my youth, when the good music was! The Shangri-Las ‘Leader Of The Pack’ .
Many thanks to @agilelisa for introducing me to musicians Abigail Washburn and Wu Fei. I found this enjoyable 30 minute video: Abigail Washburn and Wu Fei at the National Immigrant Integration Conference. A wonderful fusion of Appalachian and Chinese music. And in 2 languages. ♬
If you enjoy both nature and words then this 22 minute episode of Brit Garner’s Nature League is for you: Nurse Sharks and Other Strange Names
Brit investigates how the nurse shark and other species got their intriguing English names.
Seems one may have come from Portuguese.
Matariki is the time when Māori celebrate the new year. The Matariki star cluster is known to many of us as Pleiades. 🌟
Now the year turns and we look towards spring. Already our peach and nectarine trees are showing buds. We have 15 more minutes daylight than at solstice. 😎
This Micro Monday I suggest @kimberlyhirsh , a space mermaid sparkle goth who also is a doctoral candidate in information and library science. Nice variety of posts.
By lunchtime the Tauhou had completely emptied one feeder and the other was disappearing quickly. I bought more ‘cakes' and decided to only put food out for a few hours each day. I don’t want them to forget to forage… 🐦
This applies to Covid-19 testing done in Aotearoa New Zealand, but tests elsewhere may well use the same methods: Coronavirus testing - how does it work?.
Some excellent videos of how a nasal swab is done and how samples are processed. Great informative science article. 🦠