Kate Rauner's Blog, page 7

What bird is that? New names to learn #birdwatching and #civilization

Many birds have names based on people, names chosen for a variety of reasons, some profound and some petty. Do we, you and I, really want to honor those people today? They were folk of their times, and those times were often fraught.

The American Ornithological Society has vowed to change the English names of species currently named after people, along with any other bird names deemed offensive or exclusionary… Get ready to say goodbye to a lot of familiar bird names, like Anna’s Hummingbird, Gambel’s Quail, Lewis’s Woodpecker, Bewick’s Wren, Bullock’s Oriole, and more.

Thick-billed Longspur has already been re-named. Looks like some sort of sparrow to me, but I’m an amateur.

Deep breath. I have a lot of names to re-learn, and I’ll need a new field guide to the birds of America. You might think, well, those historical figures have mostly disappeared from the memory of everyone other than specialized scholars, so who cares? But I do believe that names have power. Why should the name of a bird cause anyone pain or even mere annoyance? Birding should be satisfying and fun for us all.

This latest effort is large in scope, but not unprecedented. The common names of birds have changed in the past.

The American Ornithological Society and its predecessor organization have maintained a list of the official English-language names for birds in North America since 1886. Occasionally, bird names have been changed.

Before you cry “political correctness,” consider this: Civilization progresses, in jagged fits and starts, by people expanding their feelings of sympathy for others from kin to tribe and beyond. As we look at the wars and terrorism in today’s headlines, there’s still hope that an arc toward less violence exists broadly across history. I re-read my notes (posted here – yes, that’s a post from me) from Steven Pinker’s book, Better Angels of Our Natures, and I want to be on the side of the angels. Re-learning some bird names isn’t such a chore.

Happy Halloween to you and your glow-in-the-dark friends

From polar bears to wombats, lots of mammals glow in the dark under UV light.

You may have already noticed that your teeth glow in the dark under “black light.” That’s a UV-A light and, BTW, don’t shine it into anyone’s or anything’s eyes. While the black lights you probably encounter are not nearly as powerful as the Sun, don’t take chances with your eyes! For more on safety, click here.

Animals that are fluorescent appear to glow under UV light because proteins in their fur or skin absorb the radiation and emit it as visible light… scientists now believe the quality is widespread across mammals. Guardian

Body paint that glows under black light

“We didn’t know that so many mammals had glowing skin or glowing fur,” said Dr Kenny Travouillon, curator of mammalogy at the Western Australian Museum and the study’s lead author. I guess no one ever thought to look, at least, not so extensively.

This interesting fact may not be especially significant to evolution. It could be that the types of proteins that absorb and re-emit UV light are simply very common and we usually don’t notice the effect because of pigments that mask the glow… or the lack of UV after the Sun goes down. But Dr Travouillon’s study seems appropriate to this time of year, so Happy Halloween.

Regarding glowing in the dark, I generally think of bioluminescence in insects or deep-ocean organisms. Their glow doesn’t require a black light.

The principal chemical reaction in bioluminescence involves a light-emitting molecule and an enzyme. The [reaction] requires other cofactors, such as calcium or magnesium ions, and sometimes also the energy-carrying molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Wikipedia

I loved chasing late-spring fireflies as a kid in upstate New York. In my current home in the mountains of New Mexico, tiny glow worms appear in the dry summer before our rains start. No one seems to have a local name for them, and life-long residents I’ve asked claim not to know them, so I count my yard as a lucky location.

Thanks to The Guardian for reporting on Dr Kenny Travouillon’s study.

Concrete generates CO2 – this alternative sucks it in #climatechange

Producing and using concrete releases lots of CO2. “Manufacturing a cubic yard of concrete (about 3900 lbs) is responsible for emitting about 400 lbs of CO2,” according to cement.org. I’ve found it ironic that many alternative energy technologies require a lot of concrete for their installations. Is there a better way?

The Bahamas is pioneering the use of a construction material that naturally absorbs carbon from the atmosphere… the material is made from organically recycled ingredients once considered industrial waste products… Among them: steel slag, a byproduct created when iron is turned to steel, and desalination waste. qz.com

I was particularly excited to see desalinazation waste mentioned. As the world runs low on drinkable water, countries resort to removing salt from sea water. But I’ve read reports that say, as the waste brine is pumped back out to sea, it raises the salt levels around the plants, making them less effective and more expensive to operate.

The Partanna website doesn’t detail the chemistry involved (that I found – you should look too, since the blog has many posts – maybe the process is proprietary,) but they say “As the carbon dioxide dissolves into our mix, it helps create a novel type of binding agent that serves the same purpose as traditional cement. It’s these reactive compounds that continue absorbing carbon throughout a building’s lifecycle.” Partanna [not the Italian town or olive oil, but a company]

I know that traditional concrete is a complex material. It doesn’t “dry.” It “cures.” An engineer with a PhD in concrete chemistry once told me that concrete continues to react chemically forever, and can become stronger over time. Apparently, Partanna’s version of concrete also keeps reacting, drawing CO2 from the air, even if the original construction is demolished. It stands up to saltwater too, which would be a benefit to sea-side construction, including off-shore wind farms.

I haven’t found any cost break-downs on using the material vs traditional concrete, but the company is planning to build a larger plant in the Bahamas. Time will tell if the technology takes off world-wide.

Companies and universities often announce advancements, and just as often, those technologies seem to sink without a trace. I try not to get excited about the latest cool-sounding thing, especially when it’s the company with a financial stake doing the telling. But it’s hard to dismiss concrete that lets us keep constructing what we want/need while actually reducing CO2 in the air.

Partanna says they are “licensing our technology to Concrete Manufacturers that produce masonry.” If you’re in that business, click here. Let us all know what you think.

Mice Can Grow New Teeth – Can You?

Where would you go to learn about research into teeth? Popular Mechanics, of course!

Researchers can grow a replacement for a lost tooth in a mouse… but you can do almost anything with mice. What about people?

Dental implant – the current method for replacing a lost adult tooth

There’s hope, because humans have the start of a third set of teeth already embedded in our mouths. Who knew! Even Wikipedia doesn’t admit to such a thing (as far as I discovered.)

Activating that third set of buds with the right gene manipulation could promote teeth regrowth [apparently via CRISPR gene editing, removing] cells from patients, genetically altering them, and then injecting the cells back into the patients. popularmechanics.com

I didn’t find a lot of details, but we may hear about clinical trial results by 2030. As someone with a mouthful of dental work, I’ll be watching for news. I don’t want a lab full of mice to show me up!

Halloween opens the Holiday Season – get started here and now with good reads

You know you’ve seen this word before:

Triskaidekaphobia

Fear of the number 13. But why? And why Friday the 13th, a day & date combination we survive at least once a year? Perhaps it came from a book! Friday the Thirteenth by T. W. Larson, published in 1907. Some books have staying power!

Scroll down for more possible origins, but first…

Here’s a new story I absolutely love, by my award-winning friend Alethea Eason. Fascinating characters, and a great imaginative premise. What if a girl prays for a guardian angel, but gets a guardian demon? Can she survive her dysfunctional family… and Hell? Click here for Charlotte and the Demons in Kindle Unlimited, Kindle, Paperback, or Hardcover.

Links to more suitable holiday stories too!

Woo woo Halloween: Click here for magical realism, paranormal, fantasy, sci-fi, and supernatural.

Anti Heroes: Click here for characters you love and hate.

Clean Sci-fi: Click here for stories for young adults of all ages.

Unexpected First Contact: Click here for my thought-provoking sci-fi adventure, Chronicle of an Alien World, also for young adults of all ages.

Find more about Friday the 13th on the Wikipedia pages: Triskaidekaphobia and Friday the 13th.

Here comes the Holiday Season – are you ready?

Real-life triumph for NASA, and book-life stories for you

I’m traveling in damp & chilly upstate New York, so rather discombobulated on internet stuff, but I watched NASA’s sample return mission touch down safely a few days ago. Bits of a real asteroid, dark with (presumably) carbon and frozen since the earliest days of the solar system, are on Earth in scientists’ hands today. Should yield fascinating results. The capsule looks like a small UFO, but we know what this spacecraft is! Here’s a nice mission overview:

Humans are the travelers in my latest book. They colonize a planet that’s home to an alien culture, and that required adding a touch of fantasy to my science fiction. (A touch more… since fantasy usually worms its way into scifi.) So I picked book offers running the spectrum of speculative fiction. Check these out.

Arriving on an alien world, colonists find an unexpected indigenous culture. Can one tired old pilot be the hero both peoples need? Click here for Chronicle of an Alien World.

In a remote Northwest forest, ancient forces for good and evil battle over two sisters. Katy feels powerless to save Celeste or herself. The sisters embark on a perilous journey, but will they both be lost forever? A wonderful tale of magical realism. Click here for Whispers of the Old Ones.

 An injured warrior seeking a new path is derailed by a horrendous message that changes everything. Free download. Click here for Blind Fury.

Looking to go full fun fantasy? A curse drives a dark cycle, sending this hero questing. Click here for The Chosen Rainheart.

Seeking the scifi end of the spectrum? Check out this bundle of titles, available in Kindle Unlimited or buy your own copy to keep. Click here now.

Dump your trash in space? It’ll cost you

Space junk is a real-life problem. Debris crashes and scatters, endangering functional satellites and astronauts on the International Space Station. But it’s no longer free.

The FCC (USA Federal Communications Commission) announced its first penalty regarding space debris in a settlement with Dish Network… “a breakthrough settlement” in the increasingly concerning realm of space debris… Dish admitted it was liable for failing to properly dispose of the EchoStar-7 broadcast communications satellite. CNBC

The fine isn’t very substantial. I could see a company deciding it’s just a ‘cost of doing business.’ But it’s a start, and there are companies trying to develop spacecraft to clean up Earth orbit before we trap ourselves on the planet under a blanket of junk.

A situation worrisome in real-life gets worse in science fiction – but, you knew it would, didn’t you? See how Winnie Bravo, Space Pilot handles the dangers she finds in orbit.

Winnie Bravo is brash, reckless, and more than a little annoying as she sets out to prove herself, careening from adventure to adventure.

In orbit, across the Moon, and on Earth, she pursues the truth about a nefarious probe and a scoundrel who will stop at nothing. What she discovers brings her closer to the truth than she bargained for, and may get her killed, or worse, fired.

If you love traveling to the future for rollicking adventures, you won’t be able to put Winnie’s story down. Binge on through, because the complete trilogy is available.

Click now and start reading today.

Asteroid material returning to Earth – will it be a gentle touch down or a crash? #NASA #asteroid

NASA has samples from the asteroid Bennu about to land on Earth on Sep 24th. The samples will definitively land, but will it be a crash, like a similar mission in 2004? Or a triumph?

Watch live on NASA’s You Tube channel:

The mission’s asteroid sample return capsule is currently projected to land on Sunday (Sept. 24) at 8:55 a.m. MDT (10:55 a.m. EDT, 1455 GMT) Watch a spacecraft deliver an asteroid sample to Earth! Our OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer) spacecraft is approaching Earth, and on Sept. 24, 2023, it will release its sample return capsule into the atmosphere on a path to land at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range. The touchdown will mark the end of a seven-year journey to explore asteroid Bennu, collect a sample from its surface, and deliver it to Earth as the U.S’s first pristine asteroid sample. Scientists around the world will study the sample over the coming decades to learn about how our planet and solar system formed, as well as the origin of organics that may have led to life on Earth. For more information about OSIRIS-REx, visit https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/osiris-rex/in-depth/ There are some excellent videos covering the entire mission on the site.

New Release, Reviews Coming In: Science Fiction Fantasy on a Strange Planet

After months of work, tapping away at my computer with only an old dog and a sleepy cat for company, my new science fiction adventure is published. I’ve been holding my breath, waiting for that first review… UPDATE: now I’ve got four. This really helps other readers know if my book is for them. Thanks!

A journey to a new world. An unexpected indigenous culture. Two reluctant leaders struggling to save their people

Yee ha! Thanks, Cany58, Kris, June, and Alethea. And more thanks to everyone reading the book on Kindle Unlimited or who bought your own copy. If you haven’t gotten yours yet, join my happy dance and click here now.

In my story, you’ll find a science fiction colony sharing a planet with a primitive alien culture.

Read the story in Kindle Unlimited, or buy Kindle, paperback, or hard copy editions.

Here’s wishing you your own happy dance for the day.

Science Fiction Fantasy Adventure on a Strange Planet (if you missed the offer, click Submit a Form at the bottom to request your review copy)

Wander farther than ever before in my latest story. Cross the galaxy with colonists to start life on an exoplanet and discover an alien race touched by fantasy. Join me in this stand-alone tale – the entire story is right here in one book.

A journey to a new world. An unexpected indigenous culture. Two reluctant leaders desperate to save both their people.

Trey Jackson yearns for purpose. Burdened by guilt over his lover’s death four decades prior, the old pilot languishes in a small community fearful of exploring the planet they colonized. But he’s inspired by a fresh-faced teen studying native whales… and shocked when their research raft gets dragged by one of the creatures to the aliens’ shore.

Zahra strives to protect her own kind. Unwillingly serving as a Shamanic herbalist for an abusive chieftain, she struggles to stop him from his murderous raids by keeping him drugged. But once her herbs lose their effectiveness, she desperately steers the violent man’s attention from her birth home to plunder other islands.

When Jackson seeks Zahra’s help returning to the colony, his communication with the mysterious natives risks triggering a dangerous chain of events. And while Zahra fears her leader’s unquenchable greed and plots the unthinkable to save those she loves, she senses the tired old man could be the hero they all need…

Will their mutual first contact bring opportunity and understanding, or end in tragedy?

Chronicle of an Alien World is an action-packed science fiction adventure. If you like relatable heroes, fascinating what-if scenarios, and heartbreaking moral quandaries, you’ll love this thought-provoking tale.

Buy Chronicle of an Alien World to cross faraway frontiers today! Click here.

I can offer a few promotional copies. Are you willing and able to post a review/rating on Amazon? Then contact me before September 30, 2023, tell me if you’d like an EPUB, MOBI for kindle, or PDF and I’ll email a free copy for you to read and review. Why? I want to know what you think of the story, and your review will help other readers find Chronicle. That’s vital for an indie author like myself, and good for your karma too. (If you receive this via email, there should be a link below for “submit a Form.” Click that to request your copy.)

Submit a form.