The Weird Times
Inner Monologues and Desultory Reporting from Outer Spaces
The Weird Times: Issue 58, June 20 2021 (V2 #6)
My father's house shines hard and bright
It stands like a beacon calling me in the night
Calling and calling so cold and alone
Shining 'cross this dark highway where our sins lie unatoned
—Bruce Springsteen, My Father’s House
I still feel your hand in mine
Your light buried the dark
A constant unwavering heart
Your light buried the dark
A constant unwavering heart
—Sarah McLachlan, Song for My Father
1971 was a great year for music (Spin Best Albums of 1971) — Marvin Gaye, Al Green, T Rex, Traffic, The Who, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Carole King, Yes, the Allman Brothers, Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, and many others — overall an incredible list of cultural icons. It is possible that the most important albums of 1971 were Joni Mitchell’s Blue and Led Zeppelin’s IV, but the ones I listened to the most that year were Traffic’s The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys, the Beach Boy’s Surfs Up, and David Bowie’s Hunky Dory, which I guess tells you something about who I was at 20.
Born with the moon in cancer
Choose her a name she will answer to
Call her green and the winters cannot fade her
Call her green for the children who've made her
Little green, be a gypsy dancer
He went to California
Hearing that everything's warmer there
So you write him a letter and say, "her eyes are blue."
He sends you a poem and she's lost to you
Little green, he's a non-conformer
— Little Green, Joni Mitchell, from Blue, released June 22, 1971
What is Out There
Line of galaxies is so big it breaks our understanding of the universe, Bas den Hond, New Scientist, 6/2/21
An arc of galaxies that spans 3.3 billion light years – about 3.5 per cent of the observable universe – presents a big problem for one of the core tenets of cosmology.
Dubbed the Giant Arc by Alexia Lopez of the University of Central Lancashire, UK, who discovered the structure, it isn’t actually visible in the night sky – if it were, it would be as long as 20 full moons side by side.
(sadly this article is behind their paywall)
CHIME telescope detects more than 500 mysterious fast radio bursts in its first year of operation: Observations quadruple the number of known radio bursts and reveal two types: one-offs and repeaters, Jennifer Chu, MIT News, 6/9/21
To catch sight of a fast radio burst is to be extremely lucky in where and when you point your radio dish. Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, are oddly bright flashes of light, registering in the radio band of the electromagnetic spectrum, that blaze for a few milliseconds before vanishing without a trace.
These brief and mysterious beacons have been spotted in various and distant parts of the universe, as well as in our own galaxy. Their origins are unknown, and their appearance is unpredictable. Since the first was discovered in 2007, radio astronomers have only caught sight of around 140 bursts in their scopes.
Now, a large stationary radio telescope in British Columbia has nearly quadrupled the number of fast radio bursts discovered to date. The telescope, known as CHIME, for the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment, has detected 535 new fast radio bursts during its first year of operation, between 2018 and 2019.
The woman who forced the US government to take UFOs seriously: In 1999, Leslie Kean was handed a 90-page report of UFO sightings by pilots. After publishing her first story on the subject, she was hooked, Soo Youn, The Guardian, 6/14/21
“My goal has been to take this out of the weird. Maybe it’s partly because I’m not weird myself,” she said….
Kean said she remained agnostic on what the findings are. “If there’s any agenda that I have, it’s to get the truth out, because I feel that people have a right to that truth,” she said.
“That doesn’t mean that we’re saying they’re aliens here from other planets. But we’re saying there is a phenomenon that cannot be explained. And there is plenty of data to show that. Finally, we’ve got our own government saying that now. So this is really an unprecedented time and there’s no turning back.”
What Is Inside Us
David Eagleman: The Working of the Brain Resembles Drug Dealers in Albuquerque, The neuroscientist, broadcaster and author on the evolution of the brain, the mystery of consciousnesss, and why the next generation will be much smarter than us, Andrew Anthony, The Guardian, 6/12/21
In what way does the working of the brain resemble drug dealers in Albuquerque?
It’s that the brain can accomplish remarkable things without any top-down control. If a child has half their brain removed in surgery, the functions of the brain will rewire themselves on to the remaining real estate. And so I use this example of drug dealers to point out that if suddenly in Albuquerque, where I happened to grow up, there was a terrific earthquake, and half the territory was lost, the drug dealers would rearrange themselves to control the remaining territory. It’s because each one has competition with his neighbours and they fight over whatever territory exists, as opposed to a top-down council meeting where the territory is distributed. And that’s really the way to understand the brain. It’s made up of billions of neurons, each of which is competing for its own territory.
Ageing process is unstoppable, finds unprecedented study: Research suggests humans cannot slow the rate at which they get older because of biological constraints, Amelia Hill, The Guardian, 6/17/21
“We compared birth and death data from humans and non-human primates and found this general pattern of mortality was the same in all of them,” said Aburto. “This suggests that biological, rather than environmental factors, ultimately control longevity.
Eye
The lust for power
is a disease
that rusts
head and heart
making people
callous and stupid
At its best
the small hole
through which
we study the world
is just an eye,
an unprejudiced
portal
steeped in accuracy.
—Geoff Young
All Around Us
Freeing Oysters from a Parasite’s Hold: Armed with traditional knowledge and modern science, a small team hunts for the sweet spot that could save oysters from a parasite that has decimated populations in Cape Breton and beyond, Karen Pinchin, Hakai Magazine, 6/15/21
As Climate Warms, a Rearrangement of World’s Plant Life Looms, Previous periods of rapid warming millions of years ago drastically altered plants and forests on Earth. Now, scientists see the beginnings of a more sudden, disruptive rearrangement of the world’s flora — a trend that will intensify if greenhouse gas emissions are not reined in, Zach St. George, Yale Environment 360, 6/17/21
U.N. warns drought may be the ‘next pandemic,’ Arthur Neslen, Reuters, 6/17/21
Water scarcity and drought are set to wreak damage on a scale to rival the COVID-19 pandemic with risks growing rapidly as global temperatures rise, according to the United Nations.
What 50 years of data from a backyard weather station can teach us about climate change:A short film from Local Motives introduces a Virginia weather buff and what he has learned from collecting weather data, Samantha Harrington, Yale Climate Connections, 6/14/21
Toxic, long-lasting contaminants detected in people living in northern Canada, Mylene Ratelle, Joshua Garcia-Barrios, The Conversation, 6/13/21
Researchers have recently found that several long-lasting human-made contaminants have been building up in Arctic lakes, polar bears and ringed seals and other wildlife.
These contaminants belong to a family of chemicals called polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and are used in food packaging, waterproof clothing and firefighting foams.
Palm Oil Is in Almost Everything We Eat, and It’s Fueling the Climate Crisis: In her new book, ‘Planet Palm,’ journalist Jocelyn Zuckerman investigates the devastating environmental, health, and human costs of the global palm oil industry, Gosia Wozniacka, Civil Eats, 6/16/21
'The ocean is coming.' A chieftess sees her islands sink, Daniel Cusick, E&E News, 6/16/21
The Gullah/Geechee Nation of the south Atlantic coast is one of the most climate-threatened peoples in the world.
Its members are direct descendants of enslaved West and Central Africans brought to the United States to toil in remote wetlands — the Sea Islands — to produce indigo, rice and cotton.
Thousands of Gullah/Geechee later gained title to the lands they worked, in part because the islands were of little economic value to planters after emancipation.
Over the subsequent 150-plus years, the Gullah/Geechee developed a "nation within a nation" based on a unique blending of African and American cultures, religions and traditions.
Their homeland is in a climate change bull's-eye.
Where We Are Headed
New Analysis Suggests We Have Already Hit Peak Internal Combustion Engine, Yale Environment 360, 6/11/21
Tiny specks bring big hope that ocean is improving after the devastating ‘Blob,’ Linda V. Mapes, Seattle Times, 6/14/21
Plankton — from the Greek word meaning drifter — are the base of the marine food chain. And for the first time since a devastating marine heat wave that peaked through 2014 and 2015, researchers see in the abundance, condition and diversity of plankton recently sampled off the West Coast signs of a change for the better in ocean conditions.
Threatened Caribbean coral reefs get a new ally: insurance: Policies could help fund the growing need to quickly clean and repair reefs after hurricane damage, backers say, Christine Murray, Reuters, 6/11/21
Tech firms use remote monitoring to help honey bees, Bernd Debusmann, BBC, 6/14/21
An even more futuristic bee tech project is the pan European Hiveopolis scheme, which is studying the possibility of putting tiny "waggle dancing" robots inside hives to influence bee behaviour.
While no photos are available, and the technology is said to still be in an early stage, the idea is that the robots will try to imitate how bees communicate using movement. And from that the hope is that the robots will be able to direct the worker bees to the best sources of nectar.
Scientists make DNA breakthrough which could identify why some people are more affected by Covid-19: Scientists from the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine at Oxford University have developed a method that allows them to see, with far greater accuracy, how DNA forms large scale structures within a cell nucleus, University of Oxford News, 6/9/21
Gray Wolf Pups Are Spotted in Colorado for the First Time in 80 Years: The litter was born amid a contentious plan to reintroduce the species to the state, Jennifer Jett, NY Times, 6/14/21
New material inspired by spider silk could help solve our plastic problem, Hom Dhakai, The Conversation, 6/10/21
Now researchers at the University of Cambridge have found a way to make plastic from abundant and sustainable plant proteins. Inspired by spider silk, the film works in a way similar to other plastics, but it can be composted at home.
This compostable plastic is actually compostable: When it’s no longer needed, the plastic starts eating itself from the inside, Adele Peters, Fast Company, 6/9/21
“We’re basically degrading these materials from the inside out, rather than what typically happens in a compost facility, which is the product degrading from the outside in,” says Aaron Hall, a former UC Berkeley doctoral student who launched the startup, called Intropic Materials, using technology he worked on at the university.
"Arctic drilling is a violation of human rights" A group of young climate activists are taking their case against Norway's oil drilling in the Arctic to the European Court of Human Rights, Atle Staalesen, Barent Observer, 6/15/21
According to Lasse Eriksen Bjørn, the allowance of new oil drilling in vulnerable areas in the Barents Sea is a violation of Articles 2 and 8 in the European Convention on Human Rights.
“As a young person from the Sea Sámi culture, I fear the impact that climate change will have on my people’s way of life. The Sámi culture is closely related to the use of nature, and fisheries are essential. For our culture to continue without the traditional harvesting of the oceans would be impossible. A threat to our oceans is a threat to our people,” he underlines.
New treatment stops progression of Alzheimer's disease in monkey brains, NYU LANGONE HEALTH / NYU GROSSMAN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, Eurekalert, 6/15/21
A new therapy prompts immune defense cells to swallow misshapen proteins, amyloid beta plaques and tau tangles, whose buildup is known to kill nearby brain cells as part of Alzheimer's disease, a new study shows.
Is the Controlled Shrinking of Economies a Better Bet to Slow Climate Change Than Unproven Technologies? New research suggests social transformations that prompt “degrowth” could cut humanity’s climate footprint in time to meet the Paris climate agreement target, Bob Berwyn, Inside Climate News, 6/18/21
Efforts to slow climate change that are built on structural social changes, like rethinking the way we work, produce food, heat our homes and move around could be more successful than those that rely on uncertain carbon removal technologies, they said.
How the U.S. Made Progress on Climate Change Without Ever Passing a Bill: A “green vortex” is saving America’s climate future, Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, 6/16/21
The green vortex describes how policy, technology, business, and politics can all work together, lowering the cost of zero-carbon energy, building pro-climate coalitions, and speeding up humanity’s ability to decarbonize. It has also already gotten results. The green vortex is what drove down the cost of wind and solar, what overturned Exxon’s board, and what the Biden administration is banking on in its infrastructure plan.
The Lithium Mine Versus the Wildflower: The deposit could power 400,000 clean-energy car batteries. There’s just one roadblock: a rare, fragile species of buckwheat, which for a mine might mean extinction, Gregory Barber, WIRED, 6/17/21
Comparing the value of things, weighing the costs and benefits of one against the other, is increasingly the preoccupation of environmentalists. Sometimes those competing things both have a claim in the natural world; sometimes one has a claim to bettering human life. Or the planet as a whole. If the mine at Rhyolite Ridge were digging for gold or copper, perhaps it would be easier to dismiss its value. Everyone benefits from raw materials, but it can be easy to say that you don’t “need” gold or that dollar value isn’t paramount. With lithium, denial is harder. Donnelly and Fraga both agree that the country—the world—needs to wean itself from fossil fuels. Lithium and sunshine are abundant in the desert Southwest, and so the transition to green energy will likely bring a new level of industrialization to its landscape. Mines and solar power plants will compete with rare buckwheat and desert tortoises. But in the absence of those mines and power plants, the desert will still suffer. For all their harsh conditions and seeming barrenness, deserts are fragile places, the life there is easily imperiled by higher temperatures and more frequent droughts. The conditions demand we formulate a moral equation: What is the value of the mine versus the value of the plant?
(Ed note: this is a great article, quite long but well worth the time and effort to read)
I wrote a short piece about my father, Max Wilk, earlier this year, a kind of meditation on fathers and sons, baseball, time and the mysteries of our parents’ lives called “Is it just a game?” It is too long to reprint here, but if any of you want to read it, send me a note and I will send it along, my contribution to anyone who might be thinking about their father today.
My father was Max Wilk; his father was Jacob Wilk; his father was M.L (Moshe Lieb) Wilk; his father was Aaron Joseph Wilk; and his father was Elchonon Wilk, and that’s as far as I know of my patrilineage.
I’ve been lucky to talk to some really interesting people for my interview series called Publishing Talks, which is part of the Writerscast podcast I have been doing since 2008. My latest conversation is with an old friend, Roxanne Coady, who founded and operates RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison, Connecticut. It’s a terrific store that reflects the business acumen and creativity of its founder and staff, inspired by a wonderful shoreline community. Listen to it here if you have a few minutes free.
I join many others, including the novelist Daniel Wallace, in sadness at the closing of the wonderful Chapel Hill restaurant, Crook’s Corner, introduced to me by my generous, recently passed friend, David Southern. I recommend reading Wallace’s recent elegy for the place, Farewell, Crook’s Corner, published in Garden & Gun.
Yankee great Bobby Murcer retired on June 20, 1983, following a 17 year career.
Thank you all for your ongoing support. Today is the Summer Solstice. Enjoy the longest day of the year, the light without and within.
