Camelot Climate Index

It was a beautiful afternoon and evening in northeast Kansas...one of those that makes a person happy to live here. Typically, it seems that out of 365 days in a year, 100 are too hot, 100 are too cold, 100 are rainy, and the rest are windy (alot of those hot, cold, or rainy days are also pretty windy). Every now and then, though, you get a really perfect day sandwiched between the rest. And while this morning was chilly and windy, this afternoon and evening were stellar.

This reminded me of something that I read last month. Jan Null (great science name) has published what he calls the "Camelot Climate Index". Basically he's ranked 158 U.S. cities on their average year-round climate, and while it's more "fun with numbers" than hard science, it's still pretty interesting.

The top 4 cities are San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles, all in California (scoring 88, 87, 86, and 85, respectively). Cities in the top 10 also include Honolulu, Hawaii, Key West, Florida, and Galveston, Texas. The city that earned the distinction as being the worst in terms of climate was Juneau, Alaska, with a score of 52.

So how does our local weather stack up to the best and worst in the nation? Kansas City comes in at number 82 on the list with a score of 65. Topeka did slightly worse, scoring 64 points and landing at number 111 out of 158.

(via weather.com blogs)

Robin update part II: More bad news, a death talk, and an empty nest

Bailey the Wonder Dog chewed up another of our young robins yesterday. We didn't mean for it to happen...it was an oversight to even let her into the back yard. You see, a pretty good line of storms moved through town yesterday afternoon and dropped about 3 inches of rain on us. For a little while, there was concern that the storms could become severe or even turn tornadic. And in the middle of it all I found myself back in the yard, in the middle of a downpour, gently scooping up the mauled remains of a second fledgling.

In all fairness to the dog, there's no way to know if the bird was dead before she got to her or not. I also think it needs to be mentioned that the fledgling had to be on the ground when Bailey got it. And a bird that small and defenseless stuck on the ground in a torrential downpour was probably doomed...BTWD might have just been speeding up the inevitable. But it still sucked.

This time I felt like I couldn't dance around the issue with Littlemagette. The "I have to clean up some Bailey poop" excuse doesn't really work when there's a storm going on. On the other hand, it could have come in handy when he goes to grade school:

Bully kid: My daddy's tough!
Littlemagette: Well my daddy's tough to!
Bully kid: Oh yeah? Well my daddy's bigger than your daddy!
Littlemagette: Oh yeah? Well my daddy runs out into thunderstorms to pick up dog poop!
Bully kid: Ooohhh....here's my lunch money...take it and please just don't hurt me.

So after conducting my second trash can solo funeral in two days, I got to have another "death talk" with Littlemagette. (As a side note, if I can handle these "death talks", the inevitable "sex talk" is going to be a piece of cake. I teach biology...I can talk about sex. This metaphysical death stuff, though, is hard.) The conversations went something like this:

Littlemagette (LM): What did you do?
Mistermagette (MM): One of the litte birds died. I had to go get it.
LM: One of the robins?
MM: Yes.
LM: Why did it die?
MM: Sometimes baby birds blow out of their nests in storms.*
LM: And they die?
MM: Yes.
LM: What happens when they die?
MM: Well, when something dies it goes to live with God.**
LM: How does it get there?
MM: I think sometimes God comes to get it.
LM: Did God come to get the little baby robin?
MM: I think he probably did.
LM: (Looking out the window at the pouring rain) How? I didn't see Him?***
MM: God usually comes when we're not looking.
LM: Did you ever see him?
MM: No.****

Notes on this conversation:
*This may make me a liar, but I don't have the heart to tell Littlemagette that our dog is a vicious killer of baby birds. He can learn the whole "nature red in tooth and claw" stuff when he's a little older. (Maybe I'll work that into the sex talk.)
**I don't wish to argue about whether or not animals go to heaven. I'm trying to explain something to a 3-year-old.
***I remember having this exact conversation with my parents when I wasn't much older than Littlemagette. A calf had died on the farm, and I spent the next morning waiting for God to fly down in a helicopter and get it.
****For the record, I see God every time I look at Littlemagette...but I'm pretty sure his head would explode if I tried to explain THAT one to him.

When everything was said and done, I decided to check the nest one last time. Empty. All four birds were gone. I can confirm that two are dead. I saw one leave the nest. I'm not sure what happened to the fourth...I hope the little guy made it.

Atlantis update

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-125) has now been in orbit for 4 1/2 days, so I thought this would be a good time for a little bit of an update. Most of what I'm giving you comes from NASA's website, which is posting a very detailed status blog.

After lifting off early Monday afternoon, the astronauts spent most of Tuesday using cameras attached to the shuttle's boom to inspect the heat shield for damage. This is standard protocol after the Space Shuttle Comumbia (STS-107) disintegrated upon reentry at the completion of its mission to space. Seven astronauts were killed in the disaster which resulted from damage sustained by the heat shield during liftoff. The initial inspection of Atlantis's heat shield showed only a minor defect, which at this point isn't thought to pose a risk to the shuttle or her crew. (BTW...the question I asked a few days ago relates to this. Space Shuttle Endeavor is still setting on a launch pad in Florida. There is a crew of 4 astronauts on "stand by" ready to do rescue the Atlantis crew should that orbiter be determined to be unsafe.)
The main order of business on Wednesday was to capture the Hubble Space Telescope using the shuttle's boom arm, and secure it to the cargo bay of the orbiter.

Yesterday, Astronauts John Grunsfeld and Andrew Feustel completed the first of 5 scheduled spacewalks for this mission. The spacewalk lasted about 7.5 hours and was spent replacing a camera and a computer on the telescope, doing some maintenance work, and making preparations for subsequent spacewalks later in the mission.
Today (Friday), Astronauts Mike Massimino and Michael Good completed the mission's second spacewalk. At just under 8 hours, this was the 8th longest spacewalk in history. (Think about that...a normal work or school day spent in a space outside of the spacecraft...) This time was spent replacing several sensors and a batteries on the telescope.

The last three spacewalks are scheduled to be completed in the next three days.

Robin update Part I: Bad news, Good news

Yesterday morning I let BTWD (Baily the Wonder Dog)out to do her thing while I ate breakfast. Typically, she'll go out, run around for awhile, and show up at the back door begging to be let back in within a few minutes. Lately, however, she's been content to stay outside and sniff at the deck boards above the robin's nest that I've been telling you about. Yesterday, she didn't even come back up on the deck...she was content to stay down in the yard. In fact, I had to call her several times to finally get her to come in. This was clue number one that something wasn't right.

I noticed clue number two when she finally came in. She was literally foaming at the mouth. Not the mad-dog-Atticus-get-your-gun type of foaming, but the frothy spit that means she's been nibbling on something pretty excitedly. Those of you with big dogs will know what I'm talking about. Those of you with cats won't.

Clue number three came when I got home from school yesterday afternoon. Momma bird was setting on the fence making her alarm call before I even let BTWD out into the yard. When I finally did let the big black beast out, momma bird was as bold as I've ever seen her, making repeated dive bomb swoops, and diligently sharpening her beak on her perch between attacks. That's when I finally realized that I should probably check things out.

Sure enough, right at the bottom of our deck stairs was what remained of one of the fledgling birds. While it's impossible to know if the bird was dead before Bailey got to it, or if it died of lab attack, what was left post-mortem was pretty torn up. So I had an impromptu little solo birdie funeral, wrapped the poor little guy up in a baggie, and gave him as dignified a burial as I could in our garbage can. All the while telling Littlemagette (who was quite curious about all of this) that I was scooping up some really messy Bailey poop.

After the Weldon Enterprises burial, I returned to the back yard and heard a new sound. It was momma robin, setting in her usual spot on the fence...but instead of the shrill alarm call I've grown used to, I heard a much deeper, throatier call. It was almost as if she was asking us a question. I listened to it for a minute before realizing that it was a searching call. She was vocalizing in an attempt to locate her missing chick. It was truly a heartbreaking sound.

Almost as if on cue, though, her searching call was answered by a short little peep which sent her zooming across the yard. When she landed on our shed, I could hardly believe my eyes. There, clinging desperately to the sloped roof, was a second fledgling robin! I got to watch him for a couple of seconds before he flapped his wings twice and disappeared over the fence and out of our lives. Momma bird followed right behind him, and while I can't be sure, I like to think that in that moment she and I felt a common emotion of grief overcome by joy.

I don't know what happened to that second little bird. The odds are definitely against him. But I have to think that being able to get out of that nest, past BTWD, and over the fence means he's a survivor that has at least a chance.

Flu update

Here's a little different look at the data. This graph shows total confirmed flu cases in the US for each day since April 23:
Can any of my biology students explain the significance of the shape of this curve?

More from the birds...

This is what I'm talking about:

Here we have Bailey (the wonder dog) trying to figure out how to get her big ol' mouth wedged down between the boards of the deck to the tasty-smelling little birds below. You'll notice behind her is the momma robin sitting on the railing making a lot of noise. I don't speak robin, but I'm sure what she's saying isn't really school appropriate...

My feathered friends

I just wanted to take a minute and update you on the family of robins that's taken up residence under our back deck. The young are either fully fledged or close to it, and will probably be leaving the nest in the next few days. I guess that's a good thing, since they're just about to outgrow it:


The mother, for her part, still doesn't like me, and at one point this afternoon I actually thought she was going to come after me. Bailey (the wonder dog) pretty much lets momma robin push her around...and after watching the bird sharpen her beak on the fence I can understand why. She can be a pretty intimidating little bird when she wants to be. The father was keeping a close eye on me also, but he isn't quite as bold as the momma. Both of these pictures are of the bird I'm referring to as the mother...

Space Shuttle question

This NASA image was take a few weeks ago at the Kennedy Space Center and shows two shuttles sitting on launch pads. The Shuttle in the foreground (on the left in this image) is Atlantis, which lifted off on Monday afternoon as STS-125. The second shuttle in the background is Endeavor:
My question is this: why are there TWO shuttles ready to launch?
And no, it doesn't have anything to do with this scenario:

Flu update

Here's the latest numbers from the CDC:
3009 confirmed cases in 45 states with 3 deaths. This rate of mortality here is consistent with typical seasonal flu strains. What's not typical is how quickly this thing is spreading. The last time I did an update was last Thursday, and the numbers then were 893 cases in 41 states, with 7 confirmed cases in Kansas.

The question I have is this: Is it, perhaps, a GOOD thing that this virus is spreading quickly? Since it doesn't appear, at this point, to be exceedingly lethal, maybe it's a good thing that it's spreading rapidly. If the virus goes away over the summer and returns in the fall as some health experts are predicting, then wouldn't it be beneficial that a large percentage of the population was exposed to it now and will therefor have a degree of immunity to it? Especially if it mutates and becomes more deadly between now and then? I don't know...it's just a thought.

For now, it's still something to be taken seriously. And by that I mean keep washing your hands and covering your mouths to cough and sneeze. If you feel sick, stay home and call your doctor. Get lots of rest and drink lots of fluids. And don't panic...we've got a long ways to go before we reach "HFC" level.

Atlantis off to Hubble

At 1:00 yesterday afternoon, the space shuttle Atlantic (STS 125) successfully lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Atlantis is carrying a crew of 7 astronauts on an 11 day mission to service and add equipment to the Hubble Space Telescope. This will be the last shuttle mission to Hubble, since NASA will be retiring the fleet of spacecraft next year.

Here's video of the launch. For reasons that I plan on discussing later, a shuttle launch always fills me with a sense of awe. (BTW...I recommend clicking on the "HD" button that comes up once the video is playing...very cool.)

The crew spent their first full day in space today inspecting Atlantis's heat shields for any damage that might have occurred during liftoff. That inspection turned up a few minor dings which the experts at NASA will have to analyze. They are not, at this point, expected to cause a problem with the shuttle's flight or re-entry.

Atlantis is expect to rendezvous with Hubble tomorrow morning. Once the shuttle has secured the telescope, the crew will spend the rest of the mission completing 5 separate spacewalks to install the new equipment.

Daily Recap: Monday, 5/11

Anatomy and Physiology:
Work day for portfolio assembly and final exam prep.

Biology:
Portfolio assembly

Happy Monday...

Geez...there's a lot to get to this week. I want to spend some time talking about Space Shuttle Atlantis, which lifted off earlier today from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. I also have some thoughts about saying good bye to our senior class this week. Of course, the swine flu statistics still need to be updated, and I've got another Mystery M for you. There are always daily updates to keep...well...updated. And I read an interesting article by one of my favorite writes that I'd like to discuss. And I have some thoughts on Manny Ramirez and steroids in baseball...

Of course it's finals week, which is always one of my busiest times of the year. It's also a week where Missesmagette is in Maryland at a conference, so Littlemagette and I are on our own for a few days. To make a long story short, it's going to be a crazy busy week...so posting might be lighter than normal. But I'll do my best to get to everything. (After all, I'd hate to disappoint the 2 or 3 people who actually read this...)