Not on the ‘Oil is Bad’ news

 A new study led by scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science demonstrates that under realistic environmental conditions oil drifting in the ocean after the DWH oil spill photooxidized into persistent compounds within hours to days, instead over long periods of time as was thought during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This is the first model results to support the new paradigm of photooxidation that emerged from laboratory research.

After an oil spill, oil droplets on the ocean surface can be transformed by a weathering process known as photooxidation, which results in the degradation of crude oil from exposure to light and oxygen into new by-products over time. Tar, a by-product of this weathering process, can remain in coastal areas for decades after a spill. Despite the significant consequences of this weathering pathway, photooxidation was not taken into account in oil spill models or the oil budget calculations during the Deepwater Horizon spill.

https://phys.org/news/2021-03-oil-ocean-photooxides-hours-days.html

 

 

 

 

There’s about a 50% chance the fish you paid for is not the fish you got

From The Guardian 

In one comparison of sales of fish labelled “snapper” by fishmongers, supermarkets and restaurants in Canada, the US, the UK, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, researchers found mislabelling in about 40% of fish tested. The UK and Canada had the highest rates of mislabelling in that study, at 55%, followed by the US at 38%.

In one 2018 study, nearly 70% of samples from across the UK sold as snapper were a different fish, from an astounding 38 different species, including many reef‐dwelling species that are probably threatened by habitat degradation and overfishing.

Still other samples proved to be not entirely of aquatic species, with prawn balls sold in Singapore frequently found to contain pork and not a trace of prawn.

A 2020 study showed that between 8m and 14m tons of fish are caught illegally every year, the same weight of 15 million to 20 million cows being stolen every year.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/15/revealed-seafood-happening-on-a-vast-global-scale?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-1

Link at Maggie’s Farm.

There is no international fish patrol, and if there were one it would not be trusted. If you watch Animal Planet’s Lone Star Law, you have seen how small time commercial fisherman ignore laws on size, weight and endangered lists.

Can anything be done? Consumers should know what they’re looking for and can carefully inspect fish before buying.

Some people will jump on this and proclaim it as gospel*

 Some twit named Tea Pain:

“It shouldn’t be easier to buy a gun than to vote.”

Buying a gun, you fill out paperwork. You have to show official photograph ID. You to pass a background check. If you lie, it’s 10 years in prison.

So, as Gun Free Zone says, “Yes, 100% this. I’ll take it.”

https://gunfreezone.net/i-agree-100/

Yes. Make those items part of voter registration and we’re good to go.

*Not that a gun grabber would use the word “gospel.”

A good breeze

 One of the eagles is out today. It appeared a few minutes ago as a shadow on the lanai table, then became visible as itself as it flew above the screen. The eagle soared and dived, banked right and left, climbed, turned again, flew straight for a second or so, sailing on an almost-spring breeze. Not one time did it have to flap its wings. Nope, just sailed on the breeze. 

6,000-year-old mummified child found in Dead Sea cave

From The Times of Israel 

Some 6,000 years ago, a parent tucked his child in with a blanket for its eternal sleep. The complete skeleton is being researched by the IAA’s Ronit Lupu and Dr. Hila May from the Tel Aviv University School of Medicine, who estimate it was 6-12 years old, based on a CT scan.

Fittingly, the cloth-wrapped child was discovered in the Cave of Horror. According to prehistorian Lupu, after moving two flat stones, the team discovered that a shallow pit had been intentionally dug beneath the stones that held the child’s skeleton, which was placed in a fetal position and covered with a cloth around its head and chest.

“It was obvious that whoever buried the child had wrapped him up and pushed the edges of the cloth beneath him, just as a parent covers his child in a blanket. A small bundle of cloth was clutched in the child’s hands,” said Lupu. Due to the arid conditions in the cave, the child was naturally mummified. The cloth and other organic materials, including hair and even skin and tendons, were likewise preserved.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/bible-scroll-fragments-among-dazzling-artifacts-found-in-dead-sea-cave-of-horror/?utm_source=Breaking+News&utm_campaign=breaking-news-2021-03-16-2506625&utm_medium=email

Archeologists also found Bible fragments and a 10,500-year-old 25-gallon basket intact.

It ain't over 'til … Well, you know

Setting: Major league baseball game, Cincinnati at San Francisco, bottom of the 9th inning, tie game, 1 out, runners on first and third. 

The batter hits a line drive into center field, runner on third crosses plate, game over, right? Except, Reds center fielder Eric Davis is playing shallow. He charges in, fields the ball on one bounce and runs to second base and tags the base, making the base runner from first out, because the runner was lollygagging to second, because the game was over. That makes two outs. Davis turns to throw to first base. The batter who drove in the (presumed) winning run has to touch first. The batter is lollygagging to first, because the game is over. Davis is ready to throw and get the runner for the third out of the inning, which would eliminate the run, leaving the game tied and sending the game into extra innings. Davis is ready to throw to first, but the Reds first baseman is strolling to the dugout, because the hit meant the game is over.

It ain’t over ‘til it’s over. – Yogi Berra

Guard soldiers don't want to stay in DC

"I am concerned that the continued indefinite nature of this requirement may also impede our ability to man future missions as both adjutants general and guardsmen alike may be skeptical about committing to future endeavors.” – Gen. Daniel Hokanson.

“The Pentagon said on Thursday that it will be requesting that governors volunteer full National Guard units rather than individuals.”

https://justthenews.com/government/security/memo-national-guard-does-not-have-enough-volunteers-carry-out-capitol

(You really think the Pentagon asked governors to “volunteer” units?)