This team of Black archivists is dedicated to documenting the Black Lives Matter movement
The Blackivists work to preserve the documents and oral histories of Black social movements
How will the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement be remembered by future generations? That's what some archivists are working to cement — and Chicago-based collective The Blackivists is among them.
For months, videos of tear gas, police in riot gear dispersing crowds and impassioned cries calling for an end to police brutality and racial injustice have circulated across social media. The protests first engulfed the United States, Canada and the world, after the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in May.
The Blackivists, formed in 2018, is a group of six Black archivists dedicated to the preservation of Black heritage. Currently, they're arming budding archivists on the ground with the tools to document the Black Lives Matter protests responsibly.
Stacie Williams, Blackivists member and the director for the Center of Digital Scholarship at The University of Chicago, says that social media shouldn't be the only record of this movement.
She spoke to Day 6 host Brent Bambury about why documenting the ongoing protests for archives is dangerous, yet necessary work.
Here is part of their conversation.
The Black Lives Matter protests are historic because of their resonance around the world. Tell us why it's so important to catalog this moment.
One of the things that I think has been very instructive for me as an archivist is seeing the evidence of past resistance and past uprisings within the archives.
As someone who has worked in university archives, student activists have come to the archives on occasion and said, "We heard about a sit-in that happened here in the '60s or in the '70s. And we want to know what happened and how they did it."
And having students base their organizing work iteratively on the work that is evidenced within the archives — I think just having seen that up close is why I think it's so important. It's that history never has happened in a vacuum.
These events have always built on each other, over time. And because the systemic conditions haven't changed, we find ourselves still in this moment.
We're living in an age of digital information. We're bombarded by stuff all the time. And so much of what we've seen of these protests is being documented in real time on social media. Why isn't that enough? Why isn't that its own archive?
An archive is actually a space where, in theory, we are processing information; we're arranging and describing it according to a certain set of standards. And we're making it discoverable in specific types of ways and we're stewarding it for what we often think is a very long future.
Twitter was not designed for that. None of our social media platforms were designed for that. So it just means that everything on social media is ephemeral. It's here today, gone tomorrow.
Let's talk about what's happening on the ground level to collect and preserve as much information and experiences possible. You refer to that work as "memory work."
We use the term "memory work" to be inclusive of the people who have always been the keepers of the stories, the keepers of the memory, the documents, the oral histories and their families, communities or organizations.
We recognize that everyone who comes to this work doesn't necessarily have a library science degree or has gone through a program. We recognize that that's not a thing that should stop people from being able to engage in this work. And we want to respect and include the people who've been doing it far longer than we have.
.@Wribrarian making it plain: “As underrepresented folks, we have not always had access to the documentation...memory work as a term respects the ways that Black people have been traditionally locked out of those spaces.” https://t.co/4YR4wAqjRw—@blackivists
Who are the people doing the memory work? What are they taking on?
What we've been seeing in many instances are the activists themselves. They are documenting the movement as they are on the ground. They're documenting protests, but doing so and insisting that others do so, with a lot of attention and care and privacy for others.
I think that the folks doing that level of documentation, where they are an active resistance against police forces wherever they happen to be at, are doing such important work.
How do you turn the experience into a material, into a document or into something that can be archived, something that can be accessed in the future?
The Blackivists are not a collecting organization. So we advise people. We provide an intellectual resource, so we can help people plan what to do with their collections with their own resources.
These collections then are turned into various resources that can be accessed in the future. One of those resources is something called a mapping project. Tell us how a mapping project can work in the Black Lives Matter collections.
One of the best examples I saw of a mapping project that's relevant to a historical uprising was a project some researchers had done at UCLA of documenting the Arab Spring uprisings. And what I learned from that project was that they paid a lot of attention to privacy and anonymizing in some ways, because the folks who are doing this type of work on the ground, they are at great risk.
We know that law enforcement goes through the tweets just like everyone else, but they're looking to identify organizer leaders, activist leaders, for repercussion, or in some cases, extrajudicial detainment.
So the Arab Spring mapping project provided me with some really instructive ways to think about how we could deal with privacy questions on social media.
They scrubbed avatars; they scrubbed the geolocation information if it had been listed on a tweet. Anywhere that they could, they scrubbed and anonymized so that those organizers were not at risk of reprisal.
When you look back at the civil rights movement of the 1960s, do you think that it was poorly documented? Do you think that there were issues there?
Certainly, there are arguments to be made that there are records we do not have enough of because collection development policies in archives had white supremacy issues just like everywhere else. So those histories weren't being collected or they weren't being collected in large measure.
But certainly, the voices that we might have been missing were those of working class protesters, because archives have always favoured people with money. And that's in archives that serve predominantly white users or in predominantly white institutions — and in, say, minority serving institutions or historically Black colleges and universities.
But with the Black Lives Matter movement and with digital technology that is somewhat democratizing, we've seen that it's been effective in exposing police brutality.
Do you think that this movement will be more effective in taking on the institutional erasure of black history that you just described?
As a black woman, I want for the answer to be yes. I want this to be the movement that is the most effective that we've ever seen in our lifetimes — and in taking on systemic racism and being able to identify and amplify narratives to make a more complete part of our history, not just through the lens of trauma or through the lens of our luminaries, but through the people who actively make up the fabric of this country every day.
Written and produced by Samraweet Yohannes. Q&A edited for length and clarity.


Celebrate Cheese During National Dairy Month
People around the world have a love affair with cheese, and it’s easy to see why! Cheese is a flavorful and
healthful addition to many dishes. Most cheeses are a good or excellent source of calcium, a nutrient that many
people are lacking in their diet, and cheese also provides other essential nutrients like phosphorus and high-quality
protein. These three nutrients are particularly important to help build and maintain healthy bones.
With so many varieties to choose from, there is something to please everyone’s palate, and cheese can fit into most healthy eating plans. Those watching sodium in their diet, can choose softer, less-aged cheeses as they generally require less salt than harder, aged varieties. There are also cheeses available that are lower in sodium and fat available. Even people with lactose intolerance can enjoy cheese by choosing natural, harder cheeses like Cheddar, Colby, Swiss and Monterey Jack.
Cheese is a complex food made with just a few simple ingredients.
Did you know?
It takes 10 pounds of milk to make just 1 pound of cheese
There are more than 300 different cheeses in the U.S. and 2000 varieties in the world
Cheddar cheese is the most popular cheese in America while Mozzarella is the most popular globally
Cheese is the 2nd largest source of dietary calcium for Americans
The most popular cheese recipe in the United States is “macaroni and cheese”
Some varieties of cheese like mozzarella, cheddar, Swiss and American, may help prevent tooth as it promotes saliva flow which leads to the elimination of sugar and acids form the mouth
1 ½ oz. natural cheese or 2 oz. processed cheese is considered a serving about 4 dice-size cubes
Tips for Serving and Storing Cheese
Take cheese out of the refrigerator approximately 30 minutes before serving for best flavor and aroma
Create a delicious cheese platter by choosing up to 5 cheeses that differ in texture, flavor, size and shape
Arrange the cheeses from mild to strong and soft to hard and provide separate knives for each cheese to keep the flavors distinct
Choose a simple cracker without excess salt or flavors to enhance the flavor of the cheese(s)
Choose crusty breads for mild cheeses or a heavy fruit or nut bread with an aged or more complex selection when serving bread
Serve cheese with your favorite fresh fruit
Grapes can be served with almost any cheese
Pears go great with blue cheese, gorgonzola or aged Gouda
Fresh berries go nicely with a soft ripened cheese such as brie or camembert
Fresh or dried figs pair deliciously with Spanish Manchego or Reggiano Parmesan
Store cut cheese, tightly wrapped, in the refrigerator, away from other aromatic foods as it absorbs other flavors, and also loses both flavor and moisture when exposed to air
Cooking with Cheese
It is easier to shred or grate natural cheese when cold
Four ounces of ungrated cheese yields one cup when grated
When preparing sauces and soups, cook over low to medium heat and add toward the end of preparation as cooking over high heat, or for long periods of time, will cause the cheese to separate
For casseroles and baked dishes, sprinkle the grated/shredded cheese over the dish the last ten minutes of baking
Cheese can be enjoyed as an appetizer/snack or at any meal, and here’s a few recipe ideas.


If you’re like most teens, you probably get the majority of your news and other important information online—through social media and websites. Because just about anyone with a computer can publish web content (and make it seem believable!), it’s important to look at everything you’re seeing with a critical eye. This is especially true of information related to your health and safety.
Here are some ways to make sure that you’re not falling for “fake news” or other misinformation online:
- Check the source. Is the site name or the web address unusual (for instance, does it end with “.co” instead of “.com”)? If it’s not a trusted, valid source—like a well-known national news outlet, an .edu site, or a .gov site—it may be suspect.
- Check the writing. Does the writing contain words in all caps, and/or use exaggerated language like “The ONE THING you aren’t supposed to know” or “You won’t believe what happens next”? If so, it may be clickbait— attention-getting content whose main purpose is to get people to click on it.
- Check your gut. Fake news and clickbait often try to elicit strong emotions to reel you in. Does the information make you extremely angry, scared, or excited? Does it seem too good (or too bad) to be true? Dig deeper! Check multiple sources before you believe what you’re reading.
Here are some other useful resources to help you think critically about online media.
Google Safety Center
Helpful resources for digital safety from Google and their partners, including information about online privacy, avoiding scams, and how to be a good digital citizen.
PBS NewsHour: Media Literacy
Videos and articles related to media literacy—the ability to analyze and understand how, why, and for whom media messages are being created and used.
Snopes is a well-known, reliable resource for checking (and busting!) internet rumors, “urban myths,” and other widely-circulated stories.


Climate change isn’t all bad. Depending on where you do your reading, you may only see the downside. But there are upsides. This post examines the three main benefits – warmer winters, longer growing seasons and more fossil fuels.
I’m writing this post because of the reader survey from the end of last year. One of you didn’t feel able to answer the question on how bad is climate change because you didn’t know about the upsides.
There are three main benefits as far as I can see. The first two are only benefits in the short-term; the last will keep on giving for centuries to come.
Firstly, at the moment in most of the developed world, there are more weather related deaths in the winter than in the summer. A warmer world will mean that the average winter will be milder than before, and so cold related deaths will decrease in the short-term and in higher latitudes, according to the IPCC. There are some important caveats, of course. Excess winter deaths are higher in milder countries at the moment, so maybe it could go the other way. And climate change brings with it much more variability, such as the chilling vortex over the US at the moment, which could stretch our ability to cope. By the way, the frozen US was caused by a very weak and wobbly jet stream allowing a chunk of polar air to descend deep into the south, all as a result of a warmer world. And of course the lower latitudes are stuffed.
The second benefit is longer growing seasons, again for the higher latitudes. That’s the UK, by the way. On average, spring will start sooner and summer will be longer over the next few decades, so we will be able to grow more food. In fact, in the short-term, there should be an overall global increase in food productivity, again according to the IPCC. Longer term it goes the other way, of course, and the lower latitudes are again the losers throughout. And in some years, due to flooded summers or droughts, we will have to wait for the next year to eat.
The final benefit I’d like to talk about is the receding ice-sheets exposing more land and sea, for food growing, travel and of course for fossil fuel extraction. Greenland, here we come, and we can start drilling in the Arctic. Like a smoking amputee reaching for another packet of cigarettes because of their unrelenting addiction.
So, all in all, in the next few decades, the richer people in the more northerly or southerly parts of the developed world will probably benefit from some domestic improvements. Will we be better off in that time, as the rest of the world withers away?
And will we be able to enjoy our spoils, with the knowledge that we have pushed the world out of its natural cycles into something new and unknown, with the inevitability that it will be coming to get us when we are old and our children are struggling on?


Alfalfa contains a wealth of nutrients that have been shown to be beneficial to plant growth. Alfalfa can be used in several forms – meal, cubes or pellets that are broadcast in the garden, or as a tea that is used as a foliar spray or soil drench. Alfalfa is a component of biological gardening.
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is a perennial herbaceous legume that grows to about 3-feet in height. It has blue-violet flowers that bloom from July to September. There are species found in the wild all over central Asia and into Siberia. As with other legumes, alfalfa has the ability to ‘fix’ nitrogen in the soil. Because it is known to improve soil structure (tilth) and control weeds in subsequent crops, alfalfa is an integral component of many crop rotation plans.
Alfalfa is classified as a ‘high water usage plant’ because it requires 18 – 36 inches of water per season, but alfalfa is resistant to drought because its roots penetrate deeply into the soil where it can reach all available water. Individual tap roots may reach depths of 20-feet, but the effective depth of feeder roots is approximately 6-feet. It is this characteristic that makes alfalfa so valuable to biological gardeners – the deep roots reach and absorb minerals and nutrients that are not available at the surface.
Alfalfa in history
Remains of alfalfa more than 6000 years old were found in Iran. The oldest writings about alfalfa are from Turkey, dating 1300 B.C. Alfalfa was probably domesticated near Turkmenistan, Iran, Turkey, the Caucasus regions, and other regions in Asia Minor.
Alfalfa was important to the early Babylonian cultures and to the Persians, Greeks, and Romans because of its importance for feeding horses used in war. The Arabs discovered alfalfa in Iran and dubbed the plant the ‘Father of All Foods’. They fed it to their horses claiming it made them swift and strong. The name ‘alfalfa’ comes from Arabic, Persian, and Kashmiri words meaning ‘best horse fodder’ and ‘horse power.’ The modern word alfalfa is derived from the Arabic word alfisfisa, meaning ‘fresh fodder’.
As early as 490 B.C. Roman writers described alfalfa as feed for horses and other domesticated animals. It was introduced into the eastern United States in 1736 and is our oldest introduced forage crop.
Early colonists, including Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, grew alfalfa on a few acres. However, it was not widely grown in this country until the California Gold Rush of 1849. Horses, beef, and milk cows were valuable, and everything was animal-powered. From California, alfalfa spread eastward to Nevada, Utah, Kansas, and Nebraska.
Alfalfa is one of the most nutritious cultivated forage crops in the US. Today, alfalfa is grown on 23 million acres from coast to coast and is the nation’s fourth largest acreage crop.
Out of every livestock feed available, alfalfa produces the greatest amount of protein per acre. It has a very high yield potential compared to other forage crops. It is low in fiber and high in energy when cut prior to early bloom, and is an excellent source of protein, vitamins, and minerals. It is used primarily as a hay crop and is a primary component in dairy cattle rations and feed for horses, beef cattle, sheep, and milk goats.
Alfalfa is so valuable that it is used for human consumption as well. We are all familiar with the alfalfa sprouts used in salads and sandwiches. It is available from health food stores and herbalists in leaf form, capsules, powdered forms and as a tea. It has been combined with dandelion and kelp extracts as a health tonic and is used to treat a number of conditions. As with all herbals, moderation and education should be part of the program.
How it works in the garden
Tests on dry alfalfa reveal that it contains an average of 3.75 –5.5% nitrogen, 0.75 – 3.5% potassium, 0.3 – 0.7% phosphorus, 1 – 2% calcium, 0.30 – 1% magnesium, 0.2 – 0.5% sulfur. Alfalfa also contains important micronutrients – manganese, iron, boron, copper, and zinc – a high concentration of Vitamin A and a number of amino acids. A complete list is available at the end of this article.
In addition to these valuable nutrients, alfalfa contains a powerful growth stimulant – Triacontanol. Triacontanol is a potent plant growth hormone. This naturally occurring stimulant will significantly boost the growth of your plants. In fact, alfalfa has been used as plant stimulant for more than 50 years.
Alfalfa tea will result in superior plant growth and greater bloom production. Plants that are fed alfalfa tea often have a greatly expanded root system over untreated specimens. They may break dormancy earlier and may have a noticeable increase in the thickness and number of leaves.
Daylily and iris growers report a doubling of the number and size of flower buds, flowers and seeds. Orchid and rose growers use alfalfa tea as a foliar spray. Delphinium and hosta growers have found that the Epsom salts included in this brew help to ward off slugs. Vegetable growers report more production by weight, particularly in leafy vegetables. Tomato growers dilute the tea with water 10:1 and use it as a constant drip feed.
Alfalfa supports the growth of beneficial microbes in the soil; particularly beneficial bacteria. Since it is more beneficial to bacteria than to fungi, if you have had problems with an excess of mushrooms or other fungi in your biologically active beds, using alfalfa can diminish their levels somewhat. Alfalfa is inexpensive and can be found at local feed or pet stores. There are advantages and disadvantages to each form available.
Alfalfa meal will breakdown in garden soil more rapidly than pellets or cubes. However, it is very light and dusty. The dust is non-toxic but any dusty material can create respiratory problems if inhaled. Use a mask to cover your nose and mouth when you apply meal, even on a calm day. Stay upwind of prevailing breezes and broadcast it as low as possible to the soil.
Alfalfa pellets are similar to those that are fed to animals such as rabbits. They break down fairly quickly, especially if applied before a rain storm or deep irrigation. The pellets are virtually dust free and can be applied without the alfalfa dust getting into your lungs.
Alfalfa cubes are similar to those fed to stock animals such as cows. Alfalfa cubes are not the best choice for garden use. They are larger than the pellets, making them more difficult to spread across the garden surface evenly. They will take longer to break down.
In general, all dry alfalfa products should be mixed into the soil. This will promote more rapid breakdown making alfalfa’s nutrients and growth stimulant more readily available to your plants.
One word of caution – if you have trouble with wild rabbits, pellets and cubes will only make that problem worse. Mice will also forage on the pellets, but mice seldom forage on your plants. Rabbits, on the other hand, are a destructive garden pest.
Alfalfa tea is a special brew that you can make and apply as a drench directly to your garden soil or use as a foliar spray. Alfalfa tea is the quickest and most effective way to supply alfalfa’s nutrients and growth stimulator to your plants. The tea can be brewed in small batches in a pail or bucket, or can be brewed in quantity in a large drum or trash can. There are several ways to brew alfalfa tea.
Here is one method for a 30-gallon batch:
You will need:
- 32-gallon plastic trash barrel with a fitted lid
- Alfalfa pellets or cubes
- Epsom Salt
- Iron Chelate
- Fish Emulsion
We recommend Brute® by Rubbermaid because these trash barrels are so sturdy. Place the barrel in a convenient location on a flat, sturdy surface. Water weighs 8 pounds per gallon and you will not be able to move it once it is full.
Place 24 cups of alfalfa pellets or cubes in the barrel and fill it with water. Let this sit for 24 hours then stir. Repeat stirring for the next three days to completely dissolve the pellets. If you have used cubes, you may have to stir more than once a day. Keep the lid on tight to prevent mosquitoes from breeding.
The tea will be ready in three days, but you can leave this tea to brew for up to a week. It may begin to bubble. This is just a sign of fermentation and it is not harmful to your product. Your nose will tell you when it is ready since it has a distinct barnyard smell. This is only temporary. If you can stand using fish emulsion on your plants, you can stand using alfalfa tea.
When you are ready to use the tea, add (2) cups of Epsom salt, (3) Tbls of iron chelate and (1) cup of fish emulsion to the barrel and stir thoroughly. Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate which improves nitrogen uptake and increases the production of chlorophyll. Iron chelate is an organic substance that holds micronutrients in a form that can be absorbed by plants. Fish emulsion is a fertilizer made from fish byproducts.
Making smaller batches
Don’t need 30 gallons at a time? Use the ratio of (4) cups of alfalfa to 5 gallons of water. When ready to use, stir in ¼ cup of Epsom salt, (2) Tsp of iron chelate, and (1) Tbls fish emulsion.
Using alfalfa tea
Before applying the tea, put on some old clothes. You may splash a little of the brew onto your clothing. It is not harmful, but it your friends may not want to socialize with you while you are wearing alfalfa tea.
Take a small or convenient size pail and scoop into the tea barrel after stirring one last time and apply to your plants. Apply up to a gallon around a large clump of bulbs or perennials. For smaller clumps, reduce the amount by about one-half.
If you want to use alfalfa tea as a foliar spray, you will need to strain it through several layers of cheesecloth or muslin. An old pillowcase or piece of a bed sheet works well. The solids you strain out can be broadcast in the garden and scratched in.
Apply the tea once per month in the spring and summer. For repeat flowering plants apply after the first flush of flowers to encourage the next flush of blooms.
Stop applying the tea in late August for plants you want to begin hardening off for the winter. Stop applying in early October for all other plants except for winter-blooming annuals.
Reduce or eliminate the Epsom salts in later batches. Epsom salt encourages new canes to break on roses and berries. You do not want to encourage this new growth that could be burned by an early frost.
Alfalfa nutrient information:
* Triacontanol (growth stimulant)
* Vitamin A (high concentration)
* Pantothenic Acid
* Folic Acid
* Crude proteins (16 – 25% in dry alfalfa)
Amino acids (% in alfalfa meal):
* Tryptophan, 0.3 %
* Aspartic Acid, 2.3%
* Threonine, 1.0 %
* Serine, 1.0%
* Glutamic Acid, 2.7%
* Proline, 1.2%
* Glycine, 1.1%
* Alanine, 1.1%
* Cystine, 0.2%
* Valine, 1.0%
* Methionine, 0.3%
* Isoleucine, 0.8%
* Leucine, 1.6%
* Tyrosine, 0.5%
* Phenylalanine, 1.0%
* Histidine, 0.4%
* Lysine, Total, 1.1%
* Arginine, 1.1%
Minerals (contained in dry alfalfa):
* Nitrogen 3.75-5.5 %
* Potassium .75 – 3.5 %
* Phosphorus .3 – .7%
* Calcium 1 – 2 %
* Magnesium .30 – 1 %
* Sulphur .2 – .5 %
* Manganese 30-200 ppm
* Iron 20-250 ppm
* Boron 20-80 ppm
* Copper 5-20 ppm
* Zinc 20-70 ppm


Glaucoma is a very dangerous condition which results in blindness. It is the most common cause of blindness in cats and dogs. Cats of various breeds are susceptible to Glaucoma and as such care should be taken if one finds any early symptoms in your pet.
What is Glaucoma?
For this, one has to understand the working of the eye and its aqueous humor. This fluid maintains the shape of the eye as well as nourishes it. But for smooth functioning of the eye, the amount of aqueous humor produced should be equal to that which is drained out so that a balance is produced. Sometimes there is an excess of this liquid which is produced or some problems generate by way of blockage due to which the draining procedure is reduced. This results in a imbalance resulting in increase of pressure in the eye causing it to bulge or get enlarged. This pressure can destroy the retina and optic nerve causing permanent damage to the eye which can result in blindness. This disorder is called Glaucoma. There are two types of Glaucoma found in cats, Primary and Secondary Glaucoma. The first type i.e. primary Glaucoma is mostly caused due to inheritance tendency in which there is a problem in the drainage of aqueous humor from birth. This may cause the disorder of Glaucoma in later stages of life of a cat. This is a rare disorder and is found in only 5 to 10% of the Glaucoma affected cats.
The other type of Glaucoma i.e. secondary Glaucoma is basically the most common of the disorder. It is caused due to side-effects of some other disease or disorder in the cat. Various diseases can cause the blockage of the fluid aqueous humor from draining out. In this, inflammation is the most common cause. Inflammation results in debris which then blocks the flow of the fluid. Another cause of secondary Glaucoma are tumors caused inside the eye which block the smooth process of the flow. There are also other causes such as trauma during injury or lens laxation i.e. dislocation of the eye lens.
Symptoms of Glaucoma – The symptoms of Glaucoma in cats can be easily seen externally. The first indication is that of Red eye. The eyes of the cat appear red and this goes not increasing as the disease advances. The cat yells a lot as the eye becomes painful. You may often find the cat squinting again and again, the cornea becomes cloudy. Some other symptoms are taring or dilated pupils which does not react to light. Blindness in the eye is the last symptom. At times green or yellow discharge from the eye is also seen.
Diagnosis of Glaucoma in cats – Diagnosing of Glaucoma in cats can be done by the veterinary doctor and results may be identified if it is a primary or a secondary Glaucoma. It is done by measuring introcullar pressure (IOP). For this instruments such as Schiotztonometer or Tonopen is used.
Treatment of Glaucoma in cats –
- Hospitalization is required for treatment of Glaucoma in cats.
- Medications are prescribed to be given for removing the blockages caused due to above mentioned causes & for the smooth drainage of excessive fluid. These medications are in the form of eye-drops.
- The other option is to go in for surgery to reduce the process of manufacturing of fluid. For this, a process called cryotherapy i.e. freezing of the cells is used or else laser surgery may be the other option. Surgery kills the cells in front section of the eye.
- Surgical removal of the eye is the last resort for treatment. If the cat has lost its vision completely, but if the pain continues, it is advised to remove the eye and if required a prosthetic ball can be fitted in. The glaucoma can be removed thus curing the disorder. This process is called as enucleation.
Prognosis – Glaucoma is a very common disease found in cats of various breeds. Treatment of Glaucoma is very expensive as the cat has to undergo surgery and hospitalization. As such frequent and periodic checkups should be made along with eye readings if symptoms of Glaucoma are found. Normally if one eye is infected, the other eye may soon catch up the infection. Also apply topical or oral medications as directed at the first signs of the disorder. Lastly, it can be said that your cat is valuable to you, please take its proper care.


Iron constitutes about five per cent of the Earth's crust and is the fourth most abundant element in the crust.
98% of the iron ore mined is used to make steel
Steel represents around 95% of all metals produced
The biggest producer of steel by far is China (1607 million metric tonnes in 2013), followed by the EU (165), Japan (110), USA (87) and India (81)
Steel use per capita increased from 150kg in 2001 to 220kg in 2010 (Wsteel Assoc)
51% of global steel is used for construction (Wsteel Assoc
6.5% of CO2 emissions derive from iron and steel production (IEA 2010)
1 Mineral Extraction
Iron doesn’t occur naturally. Being highly reactive, it combines easily with other minerals to form ores. Those with the highest iron content are found near the surface of the earth and are relatively easy to mine.
The principal iron ores are hematite (Fe2O3) and magnetite (Fe3O4).
Most iron ore is extracted through opencast mines.
To be economically viable for mining, iron ore must contain at least 20% iron.
The three major sources of iron are China (23%), Australia (18%) and Brazil (18%). (2011 figures)
Where to find it
Iron ore mining in Western Australia
Iron ore is converted into various types of iron through several processes. The most common process is the use of a blast furnace to produce pig iron which is about 92-94% iron and 3-5% carbon with smaller amounts of other elements. Pig iron has only limited uses, and most of this iron goes on to a steel mill where it is converted into various steel alloys by further reducing the carbon content and adding other elements such as manganese and nickel to give the steel specific properties.
Limestone is calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is mainly composed of the skeletal remains of marine organisms.
Geologically, limestone occurs as a sedimentary layer over bedrock. As such it is relatively easy to extract through quarrying.
Limestone is removed from the quarry, crushed and transported to steel mills.
Coke is produced from coal. The coal is heated, or ‘carbonised’ in an oven until it becomes coke. It is then removed from the oven and cooled before use in the blast furnace. The coal gas produced during carbonisation is collected and used as a fuel in the manufacturing process while by-products such as tar, benzole and sulphur are extracted for further refining.
2 Manufacture of Iron
Coke, ore and sinter are fed, or ‘charged’, into the top of the blast furnace, together with limestone. A hot air blast, from which the furnace gets its name, is injected through nozzles, called ‘tuyeres’, in the base of the furnace. The blast fans the heat in the furnace to white-hot intensity, and the iron in the ore and sinter is melted out to form a pool of molten metal in the bottom, or hearth, of the furnace. The limestone combines with impurities and molten rock from the iron ore and sinter, forming a liquid ‘slag' which, being lighter than the metal, floats on top of it.
Fe2O3 (iron ore) + 3 CO (carbon monoxide) >>> 2Fe(iron) + 3 CO2 (carbon dioxide)
The molten iron from the bottom of the furnace can be used as cast iron.
Cast iron is very runny when it is molten and doesn't shrink much when it solidifies. It is therefore ideal for making castings - hence its name. However, it is very impure, containing about 4% of carbon. This carbon makes it very hard, but also very brittle.
3 Manufacture of Steel
Methods for manufacturing steel have evolved significantly since industrial production began in the late 19th century. Modern methods, however, are still based around the Bessemer Process, namely, how to most efficiently use oxygen to lower the carbon content in iron.
Today, steel making comes from both recycled as well as from raw materials. Two processes:
Basic Oxygen Steelmaking (BOS)/ Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) and
Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) account for virtually all steel production.
Primary steel production
Primary steelmaking methods differ between BOS and EAF methods. BOS methods add recycled scrap steel to the molten iron in a converter. At high temperatures, oxygen is blown through the metal, lowering silicon, manganese and phosphorous levels and lowering carbon content to between 0-1.5%. The addition of chemical cleaning agents called fluxes help to reduce the sulfur and phosphorous levels.
EAF methods, alternatively, derive from 90 -100% recycled steel scrap and passed high power electric arcs (temperatures up to 1650 °C) to melt the metal and convert it to high quality steel.
Secondary steel production
Secondary steelmaking involves treating the molten steel produced from both BOS and EAF routes to adjust the steel composition. This is done by adding or removing certain elements and/or manipulating the temperature and production environment.
The molten steel is cast into a cooled mould causing a thin steel shell to solidify. The shell strand is withdrawn using guided rolls and fully cooled and solidified. The strand is cut into desired lengths depending on application; slabs for flat products (plate and strip), blooms for sections (beams), billets for long products (wires) or thin strips.
The steel that is cast is then formed into various shapes, often by hot rolling, a process that eliminates cast defects and achieves the required shape and surface quality. Hot rolled products are divided into flat products, long products, seamless tubes, and specialty products.
Manufacturing, Fabrication and Finishing
Finally, secondary forming techniques give the steel its final shape and properties. These techniques include:
shaping (e.g. cold rolling)
machining (e.g. drilling)
joining (e.g. welding)
coating (e.g. galvanising)
heat treatment (e.g. tempering)
surface treatment (e.g. carburising)
4 Types of Steel
Carbon steels contain trace amounts of alloying elements and account for 90% of total steel production. Carbon steels can be further categorised into three groups depending on their carbon content:
Low Carbon Steels/Mild Steels contain up to 0.3% carbon
Medium Carbon Steels contain 0.3 – 0.6% carbon
High Carbon Steels contain more than 0.6% carbon
Alloy steels contain alloying elements (e.g. manganese, silicon, nickel, titanium, copper, chromium and aluminium) in varying proportions in order to manipulate the steel's properties, such as its hardenability, corrosion resistance, strength and ductility along with its abilities to be formed and welded
stainless steel pipes
Stainless steels generally contain between 10-20% chromium as the main alloying element and are valued for high corrosion resistance. Stainless steels can be divided into three groups based on their crystalline structure:
• Austenitic: Austenitic steels generally contain 18% chromium, 8% nickel and less than 0.8% carbon. They form the largest portion of the global stainless steel market. Typical use of austenitic steel is in masonry support systems.
• Ferritic: Ferritic steels are weaker and less ductile than austenitic steels. They contain trace amounts of nickel, 12-17% chromium, less than 0.1% carbon. They are prone to ‘pitting’ so if appearance is important, their use tends to be limited to internal applications such as shop fitting.
• Martensitic: Martensitic steels are strong but brittle and harder to weld and shape. They contain 11-17% chromium, less than 0.4% nickel and up to 1.2% carbon. Though cheaper than austenitic steels, their low resistance to corrosion limits the range of suitable applications.
• Duplex Steels: Are a mixture of austentic and ferritic which makes them suitable for applications where corrosion resistance and strength are equally important .
Average energy in the production of primary steel: 18.68 GJ/t
Average CO2 intensity: 1.77 t CO2/t
Basic Oxygen Steelmaking (BOS): 70% of total production energy
Electric Arc Furnace (EAF): 30% of total production energy
Electric Arc Furnace in operation
Energy sources in producing primary steel:
50% coking coal
5% natural gas
5% other gasses
(source World Steel Association)
7 Recycling & Reuse
42% of crude steel produced is recycled material
Re-melting proportion of steel scrap is constrained by availability. Availability can sometimes be defined as cost effective recovery.
Iron and steel are the world's most recycled materials, and among the easiest materials to reprocess, as they can be separated magnetically from the waste stream. Recycling is via a steelworks: scrap is either re-melted in an electric arc furnace (90-100% scrap), or used as part of the charge in a Basic Oxygen Furnace (around 25% scrap). Any grade of steel can be recycled to top quality new metal, with no 'downgrading' from prime to lower quality materials as steel is recycled repeatedly.
Recovery and reuse in construction
Globally around 85% of construction steel is currently recovered from demolition (sourceWSA) (UK 96% source steelconstruction.info)
Re-use of structural steel
Steel reuse is any process where end-of-life steel is not re-melted but rather enters a new product use phase.
Steel buildings and products are intrinsically demountable. Easily re-usable components include:
Piles (sheet and bearing piles)
Structural members including hollow sections
Light gauge products such as purlins and rails.
Design for reuse
To facilitate greater reuse it is important that designers not only use steel but also do what they can to optimise future reuse. Steps that the designer can take to maximise the opportunity for reusing structural steel include:
End plate beam to column and beam to beam connections
Use bolted connections in preference to welded joints to allow the structure to be dismantled during deconstruction
Use standard connection details including bolt sizes and the spacing of holes
Ensure easy and permanent access to connections
Where feasible, try to ensure that the steel is free from coatings or coverings that will prevent visual assessment of the condition of the steel.
Minimise the use of fixings to structural steel elements that require welding, drilling holes, or fixing with Hilti nails; use clamped fittings where possible
Identify the origin and properties of the component for example by bar-coding or e-tagging or stamping and keep an inventory of products
Use long-span beams as they are more likely to allow flexibility of use and to be reusable by cutting the beam to a new length. (source: SteelConstruction.info)
8 The environmental impact of steel production
Steel production has a number of impacts on the environment, including air emissions (CO, SOx, NOx, PM2), wastewater contaminants, hazardous wastes, and solid wastes. The major environmental impacts from integrated steel mills are from coking and iron-making.
Virtually all of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with steel production are from the carbon dioxide emissions related to energy consumption.
Emissions to air
Coke production is one of the major pollution sources from steel production. Air emissions such as coke oven gas, naphthalene, ammonium compounds, crude light oil, sulfur and coke dust are released from coke ovens.
Emissions to water
Water emissions come from the water used to cool coke after it has finished baking. Quenching water becomes contaminated with coke breezes and other compounds. While the volume of contaminated water can be great, quenching water is fairly easy to reuse. Most pollutants can be removed by filtration.
Slag, the limestone and iron ore impurities collected at the top of the molten iron, make up the largest portion of iron-making by-products. Sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide are volatized and captured in air emissions control equipment and the residual slag is sold to the construction industry. While this is not a pollution prevention technique, the solid waste does not reach landfills.
Gaseous emissions and metal dust are the most prominent sources of waste from electric arc furnaces.


Drumbeats and bugles resound through the buildings. The sounds "scatter the congregation" and disturb the bridegroom, the farmer, the city traffic, the sleepers, the talkers, the singers, and the lawyers. All these people hear the war cry, but the timid, the old, the children, and the mothers do not react positively to the call. The poet exhorts the drums and bugles to drown their dissenting voices. The drumbeat is a symbol of war and it creates highly passionate, even extremist responses; Whitman's poems reflect these emotions. The verse is characterized by a rapidity of movement which reflects the poet's enthusiasm, ardor, and passion. The poem also suggests Whitman's faith not only in the continuous cycle of history but also in the process of mystic evolution in the universe — that is, that the world will continue to progress in all spheres of life.
The poet expresses the spontaneous reaction of the North in the early years of the Civil War, following the South's attack on Fort Sumter in 1861. The three stanzas show the steady development of the theme. The poet feels the cause of war was justified by the events of that period. The drums, he says, should be able even "to shake the dead."


The refusal of the government from the reforms policy and the growth of the reaction provoked the appearance of the first Russian revolutionary movement, which was composed of the progressive-adjusted militaries from the liberal layers of the nobility. The patriotic war was one of the sources of origin of 'the free thinking in Russia".
In 1814-1815 were created secret officers organizations (the Union of Russian knights, the Sacred artel, the Semenov's artel). Their founders (М.F.Orlov, M.A.Dmitriev-Mamonov, A. and M.Muravyevs) counted inadmissible the preservation of the serf condition of peasants and the soldiers who accomplished civil feat during Napoleon's invasion.
In February 1816, the Union of rescue was created in St Petersburg. 30 patriotically adjusted young militaries entered that centralized secret organization. In one year the Union "status", the program and the charter were approved, after that the organization began to be called 'the Society of true and faithful children of the Fatherland". The purpose of the struggle was the destruction of the serfdom and the establishment of the constitutional system. These requirements were supposed to be presented at the moment of change of the monarchs on the throne.
In 1818 a special commission (S.P.Trubetskoy, M. Muraviov, P.P.Koloshin) elaborated a new charter named of the color of the book-cover " he Green Book". The first secret society was liquidated and the Union of prosperity was created. Ultimate goals of the Union were the political and social revolution.
Soon in the Union of prosperity there were about 200 members. Educational societies of semi-legal character were formed around the Union. However the dissatisfaction of the educational activity in conditions of growth of peasants' revolts, the agitations in the army and the revolutionary events in Europe conducted to the radicalization of a part of the Union.
In January 1821, the congress of the Radical board took place in Moscow. It declared the Union of prosperity "disbanded", in order to facilitate the elimination of the "untrustworthy" members acting against violent measures. Immediately after the end of the congress, the secret Northern and Southern societies uniting supporters of armed revolution was created and prepared for the revolt of 1825.
After the liquidation of the Union of prosperity, a new secret society at once was created, the Northern, which basic nucleus was initiated by N.Muraviov, N.Turgenev, M.Lunin, S.Trubetskoy, E.Obolensky and I.Pushchin. It was possible to judge the program of Northern society through the constitutional project of Muraviov. Russia became a constitutional-monarchic state. The Federal division of the country into 15 "powers" was introduced. The power was shared by the legislative, executive and judicial. The supreme legislative organ was the two-chamber National veche, elected for a period of 6 years on the basis of a high property qualification. The two-chamber veche, elected for a period of 4 years, was the legislative power.The executive power belonged to the Imperator.The judicial power was in the hands of the Supreme Court. The Class build was cancelled, proclaiming civil and political freedoms.
The project of Muraviov was discussed in the Northern society, but did not become the document expressing views of all the members of society. A more radical current, leaded by Kondraty Fedorovich Ryleev (1795-1826) became more and more powerful. K.F.Ryleev adhered to republican views.
The most intense activity of the Decembrists organizations took place in 1824-1825: the preparation for the opened armed revolt was going on, a great work was being done for the coordination of political platforms of the Northern and Southern societies. In 1824 the decision to prepare and carry out the unification of the congress and a military revolution the summer of 1826, was accepted. In the second half of 1825, the forces of Decembrists increased: the Southern society of unified Slavs joined the Vasilkovskaya board; it was created in 1818 as a secret political "Society of the first agreement"; in 1823 it was transformed to the Society of the United Slavs, which intended to create a powerful republican democratic federation of Slavic peoples. In May 1821 the Emperor knew about the plot of Decembrists: they informed about the plans and the structure of the Union of prosperity. But Alexander I just said two words: "It is not my duty to execute them".


WOMAN FIGHTER after CAPTURE, during the WARSAW GHETTO UPRISING
The triple-image photo was taken by a Nazi soldier during the time of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, each frame probably taken seconds apart. These Jewish young men and women, children and teens among them, were non-professionally trained. Armed with a small number of handguns, a few rifles and "Molotov cocktails" (gasoline-in-bottle bombs), they were no match for the German's machine guns, planes, tanks and flamethrowers.
Nevertheless, it took longer for the Germans to defeat 600-800 Jewish civilian fighters than it took the professional German Army to defeat the national armies of several European countries at the beginning of World War II.
In controlling their
own deaths and by killing some of their Nazi murderers, these Jewish Holocaust
victims were able to die with dignity, an act of monumental importance
and meaning for them. The Nazis had systematically stripped not only life,
but human dignity from so many of the victims of their brutal fascist
campaign of racial cleansing.


This course will introduce students to Screenwriting Adaptation techniques, focusing primarily on the challenges of adapting “true stories” pulled from various non-fiction sources. The class will address the ethics of adaptation, questions and techniques surrounding the need to fictionalize truth for dramatic purposes, as well as touching on the differences between fictional and nonfictional original materials. Students will be exposed to various contemporary non-fiction adaptations, and will write a short film (under 15 pages) and one longer project (30 pages).
Sample reading list:
Andy Bienan and Kimberly Pierce, Boys Don’t Cry (Script)
Truman Capote, In Cold Blood
Joshua Morrison, Maria Full of Grace (Script)
Lynn Barber, An Education
Linda Hutcheon, A Theory of Adaptation
See instructor for complete list
Weekly participation in table-top readings and critiques of peer materials. Active participation in film clip and screenplay text analyses. Completion of first screenplay. Completion and revision of final short screenplay (20-30 minutes). 60 pages of reading per week.
Prerequisites and Restrictions:
Interested students complete a creative writing application by attaching a statement about why they want to take the course and, optionally, a 3-4 page creative writing sample in any genre.
This course is open to both advanced and beginning students of screenwriting. All students should purchase or have access to Final Draft or equivalent screenwriting software.


The verse actually states (Genesis 2:17), “Ume’etz hada’at tov va’ra lo tochal mimmenu ki beyom achalcha mimmenu mot tamut – And of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you must not eat, for on the day you eat from it you shall surely die.”
The Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 16:10) notes that the verse concludes with the words mot tamut, a repetitive phrase from which we derive that the infraction of eating of the fruit of that tree will cause death for Adam and Eve as well as death for all their future generations.
Thus, the violation of this commandment meant that this mitzva was lost forever, and it altered the course of history in that death was introduced, counter to G-d’s original plan for humanity.
However, since man did not withstand the evil impulse to violate this one mitzva, he caused the circumstance whereby death comes at the end of man’s days, and he has to leave the living behind.
The Midrash on Parashat Toldot (Bereishit Rabbah 65:4) relates that Abraham requested signs of old age so that we may be able to differentiate between the young and the old, and the young would be able to honor their elders accordingly. Isaac requested pain and suffering so that the harsh judgment meted out to man could be lessened by the pain and suffering he endures while living. Jacob requested that illness precede death so that a person will not die suddenly, before having had a chance to sit with one’s children and discuss matters, whether it is to rebuke them and thus set them on a straight path, or to discuss their inheritance.
The Midrash then adds that King Hezekiah requested that one may be healed from a sickness, and only die from his final illness. This, too, was granted.
My uncle, HaRav Sholom Klass, zt”l, was asked a similar question many years ago (Responsa of Modern Judaism, Vol. 3 p. 201). We conclude with his discussion:
“The reasons for illness, pain and tragedy are discussed in various sections of our Torah (Leviticus 26:14-46; Deuteronomy 28:15-69, etc.), and it is pointed out that these troubles come upon us because of our bad behavior and because we have forsaken the Torah.
“No one asks for illness,” my uncle explains, “which, unfortunately, visits us at various times in our life. The Gemara (Eruvin 13b) states that for two-and-a-half years the House of Shammai and the House of Hillel had disputed on the subject whether it were better for man not to have been born, seeing the many tragedies which befall him, or in the long run, it is good for man to be born. At the end they came to the conclusion that it would be better if man were not born, but since he was born, let him examine his deeds.
“When something bad or tragic befalls man he always blames G-d, not himself. When a catastrophe occurs it is called an ‘act of G-d.’
“The Gemara (Shabbos 55a) points out that death, pain and suffering are the result of our own sins. Therefore we are taught not to blame G-d but to examine our own behavior. The Gemara (Berachot 5a) reiterates this view by stating: ‘If a person incurs illness and pain, let him examine his behavior and deeds.’
“The Gemara (Berachot 33a) emphasizes this view with a story of a poisonous snake that would kill passers-by. They notified R. Chanina ben Dosa, who visited the place and put his foot over the hole where the snake dwelled. The snake came out and bit R. Chanina ben Dosa, but instead of the sage dying, the snake died. R. Chanina took the snake to the House of Learning and announced: ‘See, my children, it is not the poison of the snake that kills but the sin of man.'”
My uncle continues, “Except for rare cases, no one wants pain and suffering. The rare case is told in the Gemara (Bava Metzia 84b): R. Eliezer b. R. Shimon prayed and brought illness upon himself to atone for possible sins he may have committed when, in his capacity as a government official, he sent many thieves to the gallows.
“When R. Chiya b. Abba became ill, R. Yochanan visited him and asked, ‘Do you enjoy your illness?’ To which he answered, ‘I do not like it, nor the reward which I may receive because of it.’ He gave him his hand and prayed for him and he became well. The same occurred to R. Yochanan and R. Eliezer (Berachot 5b).
“Illness will strike even the greatest and most pious of our tzaddikim. The Gemara (Sanhedrin 101a) narrates that when R. Eliezer became sick his disciples visited him and began to cry, but R. Akiva laughed.
“When questioned why he laughed, he explained, ‘As long as I saw that my master’s wine didn’t turn sour, nor was his flax smitten, nor his oil putrified, nor his honey become rancid (meaning he was prosperous in everything – he was wealthy, a great scholar and a righteous man), I thought, ‘G-d forbid, he may have received all of his reward in this world (leaving nothing for the next world), but now that I see him lying in pain I rejoice, knowing that his reward will be given to him in the next world.’
“R. Eliezer said to him, ‘Akiva, have I neglected anything of the whole Torah?’ (That I’m being punished for my sins?)
“R. Akiva replied, ‘Thou, O Master, have taught us, ‘There is not a just person on this earth that doeth all good and sinneth not'” (Kohelet 7:20).
Quarreling and aggravating other people, especially shaming a person publicly, are considered very grave sins (Bava Metzia 58b). Even the great sage Rabbah, who boasted that he was born under the planetary influence of Mars, was accused by the sage Abbaye as being a shedder of blood (an allusion to his strict behavior of punishing people who didn’t agree with him, thus embarrassing them – Shabbos 126a). The Gemara (Bava Metzia 58b) explains that when you embarras a person publicly it is considered as if you killed him, for the blood departs from his face as he turns white with shame.
“Rav Huna has another version regarding illness. He says, ‘Those whom G-d loves, He punishes with pain, as it states in Mishlei (3:12): ‘Those whom G-d likes He visits with sickness.’ Others call it a ‘pain of love'” (Berachot 5a).
“The Gemara (Horayot 10b) explains the view that the righteous suffer so that all their sins will be expunged in this world and they can enjoy the pleasures of the next world. To which Rabbah said, ‘Would the righteous find it so distasteful if they enjoyed both worlds?'”
My uncle concludes, “Therefore, let us pray and do good deeds (mitzvot) so that G-d will spare us any pain or illness. For we are taught (Avoda Zara 54a): Heaven decrees that every illness is given a specific time to remain in the person and is not to leave until ordered by the Heavenly Court. Repentance, prayer and good deeds will nullify any bad decree. Therefore we pray that it be the will of the Almighty to remove all sickness and pain from all our people. Amen.”


Could years of drought in India strike again, bringing famine and mass migration? New science says “yes”. Professors Gayatri Kathayat and Ashish Sinha explain. NCAR scientist Kevin Trenberth reports two marine heat waves right now. Endangered tree expert Malin Rivers with a survey of global trees. Scientists warn almost a third of tree species are in danger of extinction.
A quick note: in last week’s show, Stanford’s Professor Rob Jackson said recapturing the powerful warming gas methane may be humanity’s only way to save a livable climate in our lifetime. Then someone blew up two massive natural gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea. Methane is erupting out of the sea into the atmosphere by the ton. Experts like Drew Shindell say that methane is not enough by itself to warm the planet much. Rob Jackson says whoever blew up those pipelines should be charged with War Crimes. I guess we don’t have Climate Crimes yet.
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THE INDIAN MONSOON CAN FAIL FOR YEARS:
GAYATRI KATHAYAT AND ASHISH SINHA
Even without climate change, some natural systems are unstable. Long droughts, running from decades to centuries, were not uncommon in the last few thousand years. They appeared in the American SouthWest, Australia, and many other places. In the early 1790s, the Indian Summer Monsoon failed several years in a row. An estimated 10 million people died of famine. Now the Indian Monsoon rains have to feed over a billion people.
There is something for everybody in this paper – a marriage of history and science, stories of mass famine killing millions, and questions about climate stability and our assumptions about the future. The title is: “Protracted Indian monsoon droughts of the past millennium and their societal impacts”. It was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy on September 21st, 2022. However, the paper is behind a paywall and it’s a difficult read with lots of tech notes. You may prefer this interview, and other articles listed below.
The lead author Gayatri Kathayat is Associate Professor at Xi’an Jiaotong University, in China. Second author is Professor Ashish Sinha from California State University, teaching Big Ideas in Earth Science.
Dr. Ashish Sinha & Dr. Gayatri Kathayat
“Dr. Sinha is a Professor in the Earth Sciences Department. He teaches courses in Global Change, World Ocean, Earth’s History, and Big Ideas in Earth Science. Professor Sinha’s research centers on climate change with a particular focus on high-fidelity reconstruction of precipitation patterns in tropical and monsoonal locations over the past several millennia.” Sinha has co-authored a number of papers on the Indian Monsoon over the past 4,000 years, and related collapse of civilizations. One 2012 paper led by M. Berkelhammer says:
“The emergence of high-resolution proxy records from the Asian monsoon region suggests that the monsoon system is bistable and can abruptly transition between a suppressed and active state.“
Climate models and governments assume the Indian summer monsoon is self-regulating, keeping within a narrow range between dry and wet years. This work from Kathayat and Sinha suggests instead: “a system prone to abrupt nonlinear transitions between strong and weak states”.
Our guests tell us about 60% of agriculture in India – which feeds over a billion people! – is dependent on rainfall from the summer monsoons. That has failed, leading to widespread drought in the last 100 years, but only for a year, not many years. But the historic record shows the monsoons can fail to feed India many years in a row. Recurring drought appears over a decade.
WHAT HISTORY SAYS ABOUT DROUGHT AND FAMINE
The records come from two sources. First, India has a long (thousands of years) or literary traditions. Many of the ancient documents speak of long droughts (and famine). Eventually British records add to that history. The Kathayat/Sinha paper says:
“For example, classical ancient Indian texts such as Arthshastra (ca. 150 CE) and Rigveda (ca. 1500 BCE) contain numerous accounts of continuous multiyear droughts and ensuing famines, some lasting for as long as 12 y (7). Periods of protracted droughts (defined here as droughts lasting more than three consecutive years and/or multidecadal periods with drought every other or every third year) are evident in the systematic compilations of historical droughts and famines that occurred between ~1500 CE and 1900 CE.”
But how reliable are those stories – especially when current climate models do not show long droughts when creating the past?
WHAT THE CAVES RECORD
There is a another record, kept by nature not by humans. In a certain cave in Northeast India, conditions are perfect to record rainy years and drought. When it is wet – and it can get very, very wet, – water drips down from the ceiling of the cave to form piles of stone, like limestone, on the bottom of the cave. These are called “stalagmites” – one of several varieties of cave drippings called “speliothems”.
“Mawmluh cave is located in one of the wettest places on Earth with an average annual precipitation of over ~11,000 mm [443 inches or almost 37 feet of rain a year, average!], with 70 to 80% of its annual precipitation falling during JJAS (June to September).”
Mawmluh Cave is listed as UNESCO’s one of the ‘First 100 IUGS (International Union of Geological Sciences) Geological Sites’ in the world. It is becoming a tourist destination. Scientists, led by Gayatri Kathayat, who has been in Northeast India for the last 10 years, managed to measure rains for the last 1,000 years. Because the rock conditions are perfect, the experts are able to identify the year within a four year margin of error. This allows them to find even short-term droughts, and certainly the big ones. Generally, the physical record reinforces the historical accounts.
TERRIBLE DROUGHTS FROM 1780s TO 1810s – MILLIONS DEAD
From this paper (Kathayat/Sinha)
“The period from the 1780s to 1810s stands out as an exceptional interval in both historical and proxy data. The historic drought compilations for this period principally draw their information almost exclusively from one East India Company report by F. C. Danvers, a British officer with the company. His report, in turn, was compiled from contemporary accounts of droughts and famines from various regions of the subcontinent.
Danvers’ report—“A Century of Famines”, shows that there were at least 11 drought-related famines during this period, six of which, including the well-known Chalisa and Doji Bara or Skull Famines, occurred between ~1782 and 1792 CE, with a combined estimated death toll in the excess of 11 million, making it one of the deadliest decades in Indian history.”
After another famine, the one-time capital of the Mughal Empire was completely abandoned by 1610 (Fatehpur Sikr). That is serious. The failing monsoons also affected Tibet and China, like the “so-called ‘Ming Dynasty drought’ (~ 1638 to 1641 CE) that affected large parts of northern China and India.” So this isn’t just a story about India.
Environmental historian Richard Grove published in Nature the fatal Indian drought may have been part of a world-wide reaction to El Nino. But Kathayat and Sinha write the mechanism of the Indian Monsoons are still not fully known. They could be driven by an internal mechanism that requires no outside forcing like an El Nino, or even climate change. Nobody knows how climate will rearrange the already unstable Indian Monsoon system. That is a huge unknown risk. This paper has a section on the Monsoons and the ENSO system. They caution: “not all summer monsoon droughts are caused by El Nino events over India.”
Kathayat and Sinha question whether this recurring pattern of drought in late 1700’s India contributed to a “deindustrialization” of India in that period. The arrival of the British Empire trading system was probably the main reason India no longer became the workshop of Asia, as it had been under the Mughal Empire (around 1650 to 1750). But drought would have increased food prices, which led to rising wages hurting India’s competitive position. We still have a lot to learn about the real impact of long-term drought where a billion people presume rains will feed them.
By the way, the long periods of drought were often followed by a decade or more of extremely heavy rains and flooding. This looks like an unstable two-pole system. It looks to me like global warming could push that to even further extremes (but this is unknown). The authors say present day Indian water planning and other social infrastructure, including agriculture, does not include preparing for extended drought years. They say:
“Recurrence of protracted droughts can easily overwhelm the adaptive capabilities of modern societies unless a longer-term and holistic understanding of monsoon variability is incorporated into drought management and mitigation planning.”
OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD NEED TO PAY ATTENTION
This study reminds me of findings that white settlers coming to Australia lucked out by arriving during a long wetter period, helping agriculture. We do not know if Australia is now entering a very long dry period, or whether global warming will make that more likely.
Modern humans think this civilization is stronger than such natural events. If there is a crop failure in India, we will ship in grain from somewhere else. With over a billion Indians, I doubt that. What are your concerns for India, and do you think planning for such extremes is possible? What would be the impact of a multi-year drought on the global economy? India is again a global workshop and tech hub. In a long agricultural failure, would a tide of Indian migration overwhelm parts of the world, with political repercussions?
KEVIN TRENBERTH: HEAT WAVES IN THE SEA
This is the third of three conversations with Dr. Kevin Trenberth in New Zealand. Stefan Rahmstorf, a leading scientist, calls Trenberth a “top climate scientist”. That follows a long career of insightful research papers and leading role in reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Now we are working with Kevin’s new climate textbook for all: “The Changing Flow of Energy Through the Climate System”.
Kevin Trenberth spent 42 years as a scientist in the United States, leading climate analysis for NCAR, the National Center for Atmospheric Research. But when I read Kevin’s new book – he talks more about the role of the ocean than the atmosphere.
We are shocked at land temperatures in so many parts of the N. Hemisphere at once. Pakistan roasted, stormed, and about one third of the country went underwater with floods. In China, extreme heat stayed for weeks. More painful heat struck Europe and the U.S. Should we presume that ocean temperatures change so slowly, that all these land events are not accompanied by anything shocking in sea changes?
Kevin says “no”. The oceans are also heating due to the greenhouse effect. In fact, while Turkey and China continue their all-time heat records into October, there are two marine heat waves right now. One is in the Tasman Sea off New Zealand. The other is a giant blob of abnormally hot waters in the North Pacific. Here is Kevin’s heat map for 2022, found in his article just published in the Conversation: “2022’s supercharged summer of climate extremes: How global warming and La Niña fueled disasters on top of disasters”.
It bothers me when people say 90% of our excess heat goes into the ocean, as though that doesn’t matter. Marine heat waves endanger ocean life and warming waters melt polar glaciers. The excess heat we stuff into the sea will come back in future centuries. It’s like spending money on a credit card – putting off paying for warming – into future centuries.
Kevin Trenberth is a co-author of a paper released in July 2022. The title is: “The ocean response to climate change guides both adaptation and mitigation efforts”. Trenberth, John Abraham, Michael Mann and other eminent scientists suggest Earth temperature will stabilize when we stop adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. The planet will stop warming. I am doubtful about that. What about natural feed backs like thawing permafrost or melting clathrates? Should we really promise temperatures will stabilize as soon as we kick the fossil habit?
Kevin publishes heavily-cited papers fundamental to climate science. His new book is “The Changing Flow Of Energy Through The Climate System“. That book lived on my bedside table all summer as my teaching guide.
SCIENTISTS WARN: TREE SPECIES ARE DISAPPEARING
DR. MALIN RIVERS
Humans spend trillions to get off this planet and we still don’t know who lives on this one. For example: nobody is sure how many kinds of trees there are. What we do know now: after a massive multi-year project, scientists report back with a warning: Earth is losing tree cover. And trees are facing a massive species extinction event. That affects everything, from the economy to climate and countless other species.
Experts behind the Global Tree Assessment just issued their: “Scientists’ warning to humanity on tree extinctions.” This paper is Open Access, free for you to read. Here to explain why the plight of trees matter, is the lead author, Dr. Malin Rivers. She is an internationally recognized expert from Botanic Gardens Conservation International.
Dr. Malin Rivers
In this Warning we find:
“Societal Impact Statement
Trees play vital roles in many of the world’s ecosystems while providing many benefits to people. New evidence indicates that a third of tree species are threatened with extinction, representing a tree extinction crisis. Here we demonstrate how tree species extinction will lead to the loss of many other plants and animals and significantly alter the world’s ecosystems.
We also show how tree extinction will negatively affect billions of people through loss of livelihoods and benefits. We highlight a series of urgent actions needed to avert an ecological, cultural and socio-economic catastrophe caused by widespread extinction of tree species.”
In 1992, over 1700 scientists called for an end to environmental destruction and new relationships with nature. A second warning came out, this time with over 15,000 scientist signing. Radio Ecoshock guest William Ripple led that Second Warning in 2017.
Since then, Second Warnings came out from specific fields, like (quote from the paper) “scientist warnings to humanity on microorganisms and climate change (Cavicchioli et al., 2019), insect extinctions (P. Cardoso et al., 2020), the freshwater biodiversity crisis (Albert et al., 2021)”… and more. Scientists in many fields are deeply worried about the future for nature, and of course, for our species.
Now, unseen to most of us, the forest experts warn us:
we are approaching extinction of tree species, with widespread impacts throughout not just nature, but our human economy.
I bet more of our listeners have never been in a first-growth mature forest. The canopy is so full, primordial forests in the North are dark places, a little foreboding, a place humans to travel through, but do not stay. Human beings apparently evolved from ape-like creatures adapted for living in trees. Now the city dweller is estranged from the trees. That is part of the problem.
THE FOREST NEWS IS NOT GOOD
These authors report:
“… global forest area has declined by around 40% in the past 300 years, and 25 countries have lost their forest cover entirely (Shvidenko et al., 2005). At the same time, many remaining forest areas have been highly degraded by unsustainable land use practices such as illegal extraction of timber.”
29% OF TREE SPECIES THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION!
This is just out. We are rapidly losing species, and all the creatures they support. Forever. Why have we not heard that in headline news stories? The web site for the Global Tree Assessment is here. Their web site says:
“Around 43% of the already assessed trees are assessed as threatened to some level and 37% of all assessed trees are threatened globally. This means that at least 29% of all tree species are threatened with extinction globally.”
Read more about the Scientists’ Warning on Earth’s trees from Science Alert here.
That’s it for this week. Please don’t forget to support the show. Tune in next week as we explore investigative reporting into the Big Lie from fossil fuel companies. It filled their pockets and helps wreck the future for all species.
Thank you for listening, and caring about our world.


Since the college’s founding, graduates have used their Converse experience as launching pads for successful careers and active citizenship. Among Converse alumnae are a Pulitzer Prize winner, a renowned heart researcher, a Texas Supreme Court Justice, a prominent civil rights attorney, Broadway performers, the deputy crew commander for Titan IV Rocket launches at Cape Canaveral, and the first female circuit court judge in South Carolina.
Although the doors of Converse opened October 1, 1890, the first step towards the founding of the college was taken in 1889 when a prominent attorney assembled a group of Spartanburg citizens to discuss the project. Among the 13 men was Dexter Edgar Converse, a native of Vermont who had settled in Spartanburg before the Civil War and had become a successful pioneer in the cotton mill industry.
Mr. Converse was especially interested in establishing a college for women because his daughter, Marie, was approaching college age and he wanted her to have every possible educational advantage. His initial and subsequent contributions to the cause were so valuable that the college was given his name.
Initially, the college was operated as a stock company and Mr. Converse headed the first board of directors, comprised entirely of Spartanburg citizens. They elected the Rev. Benjamin F. Wilson as the first president. The first faculty roster was comprised of sixteen members and the student body numbered one hundred sixty-eight.
On January 2, 1892, the main building was destroyed by fire, but was immediately reconstructed and enlarged. The work of the college hardly suffered interruption. In 1896, by the voluntary act of the stockholders, Converse College was incorporated under the laws of the state of South Carolina and a self-perpetuating board of trustees was established. This meant that Converse was converted into a permanent gift to the cause of higher education for women.
Beginning in the 1900s, Converse matured into one of the leading colleges for women in the South. Academic requirements were strengthened, the ablest teachers supplemented the faculty and new buildings were constructed. It was during this period that the College’s Petrie School of Music received a national rating as a professional school of music. Converse became a charter member of the National Association of Schools of Music, which is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the accrediting agency for music curricula.
In 1964 Converse introduced graduate programs, including the Master of Art in Teaching (MAT) program, the first degree of its kind in South Carolina. The graduate program would later become the School of Education and Graduate Studies and offer a wide range of degrees in fields such as music, education, the liberal arts, and marriage and family therapy.
In 1983 the college introduced Converse II to fit the schedules and ambitions of adult women, whether they are a few semesters shy of a bachelor’s degree or a freshman taking college-level courses for the first time.
In 2003, the college completed the most successful capital campaign in its history with $82.5 million in private gifts. The campaign led to the establishment of the Nisbet Honors Program, the Chapman Study Abroad Experience endowment, and an endowment to fund faculty initiatives for innovative teaching and scholarly achievement; renovation of residence halls and the Montgomery Student Center; and construction of The Rose Physical Activity Complex, the Justine V. R. “Nita” Milliken Addition of Milliken Fine Arts Building and Phifer Science Hall.
Momentum continues today as Converse focuses on providing distinct educational experiences that enable creativity and develop the adaptive capacity necessary for students to succeed in the ever-changing world.
Converse Model Programs (Arab League, NATO) are national leaders having defeated such institutions as Harvard, UC–Berkeley, Northeastern, Ohio State, and three U.S. military academies. Converse is home to the Southeast Region Model Arab League competition, headquarters of the Carolinas Committee on U.S.-Arab Relations, and helped establish and run a high school Model Arab League program in Amman, Jordan.
The Daniels Center for Leadership and Service is a partnership between academic affairs and student affairs to provide leadership development training and opportunities to learn, serve and lead on campus and in the community.
In 2006, Converse became the first women’s college to attain the prestigious All-Steinway School distinction.
A member of Conference Carolinas, Converse competes in NCAA Division II – the highest level of any women’s college.
The curriculum supports more than 30 majors including South Carolina’s only Master’s in gifted education program, only low-residency MFA in creative writing and first Bachelor of Fine Arts in creative and professional writing, and the Upstate’s first undergraduate music therapy degree program.
In 2013, Converse made national headlines by announcing a 43% reduction in tuition – leading the national movement for transparent college pricing and making a top-quality private education accessible at a public-university price.
In 2017, construction was completed on Converse’s new junior housing complex. It is named after former Converse President Betsy Fleming.
In 2018, Converse expanded its reach by joining the University Center in Greenville. Converse provides a rapidly growing array of co-educational degree programs on the UCG campus, which began with the MAT in Early Childhood Education and expanded in 2019 to include an undergraduate degree completion program, the Master of Marriage and Family Therapy, and the Doctorate in Professional Leadership.
2019 marked a historic milestone as the College announced its new status as a doctoral degree-granting institution following approval of its request for a level-change by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). In addition, SACSCOC approved Converse’s first doctoral program, a Doctorate of Education in Professional Leadership. The program began with cohorts on the Converse campus and at UCG.
On February 7, 2020, after many months of careful deliberation and research, Converse College decided to expand its undergraduate residential program from single-gender to co-ed beginning in Fall 2020. The Board of Trustees also approved a name change from college to university, effective July 1, 2021. Under the university umbrella, Converse will maintain a Converse College for Women and expand its international school into an international college.
On July 1, 2021, Converse officially changed its name to Converse University. The name change acknowledges Converse’s long-held university status and positions the institution to lead the charge for educational and economic excellence in the region.
Presidents of Converse
|1890-1902||Benjamin F. Wilson|
|1902-1932||Robert Paine Pell|
|1933-1955||Edward Moseley Gwathmey|
|1956-1960||Oliver Cromwell Carmichael, Jr.|
|1961-1989||Robert T. Coleman, Jr.|
|1989-1993||Ellen Wood Hall|
|1994-1998||Sandra C. Thomas|
|1999-2005||Nancy Oliver Gray|
|2005-2016||Elizabeth A. Fleming|
|2016-2021||Krista L. Newkirk|
|2021-Present||Jeffrey H. Barker|


19 June 2011
In a speech on June 11, 2011, Economics instruction and the brave new world of monetary policy, John C. Williams, president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, said: "Let's take a closer look at the classic quantity theory of money: MV = PY. It becomes very tenuous when traditional measures of M make up a smaller and smaller fraction of the value of transactions. For example, the velocity of M1 was around three or four in the 1950s. Now it is about eight -- and that's down from a peak of about 10-1/2 a few years ago. Today's economy uses cash and checking accounts much more efficiently."


“a place of mystery, legacy & lore”
A tiny jewel in the setting of the Hudson Highlands is called Pollepel, now familiarly known as Bannerman Island. Once an uninhabited place, accessible only by boat, it was considered haunted by some Indian tribes and thus became a refuge for those trying to escape them. These superstitions and others promoted by later Dutch sailors make for many fanciful tales. Even the name Pollepel (Polopel) originated with a legend about a young girl named (Polly) Pell who was romantically rescued from the breaking river ice and landed on the island shore, where she was promptly married to her sweetheart, who rescued her and her companion. The island was thereafter called Pollepel. History reveals a connection to the American Revolution in attempted defense of the Highlands against the British fleet in 1777 using the famous “chevaux de frise”. These were devices constructed of wooden cribs sunken in the river, filled with metal-tipped, pointed logs to obstruct the passage of ships up the river by damaging their hulls, built by men commandeered from the local prison. The attempt was however, unsuccessful, as the British took to flat bottom boats and avoided the chevaux de frise. One of the “points” is now on display at Washington’s Headquarters in Newburgh, New York. Francis Bannerman purchased the island in November 1900, for use as a storage facility for his growing surplus business. Because his storeroom in New York City was not large enough to provide a safe location to store thirty million surplus munitions cartridges, in the spring of 1901 he began to build an arsenal on Pollepel. Bannerman designed the buildings himself and let the constructors interpret the designs on their own. Most of the building was devoted to the stores of army surplus but Bannerman built another castle in a smaller scale on top of the island near the main structure as a residence, often using items from his surplus collection for decorative touches. The castle, clearly visible from the shore of the river, served as a giant advertisement for his business. On the side of the castle facing the western bank of the Hudson, Bannerman cast the legend "Bannerman's Island Arsenal" into the wall. Construction ceased at Bannerman's death in 1918. On August 1920, 200 tons of shells and powder exploded in an ancillary structure, destroying a portion of the complex. Bannerman's sales of military weapons to civilians declined during the early 20th century as a result of state and federal legislation. After the sinking of the ferryboat Pollepel, which had served the island, in a storm in 1950, the Arsenal and island were essentially left vacant. The island and buildings were bought by New York State in 1967, after the old military merchandise had been removed, and tours of the island were given in 1968. However, on August 8, 1969, fire devastated the Arsenal, and the roofs and floors were destroyed. The island was placed off-limits to the public.. Today, the castle is property of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and is mostly in ruins. While the exterior walls still stand, all the internal floors and non-structural walls have since burned down. The island has been the victim of vandalism, trespass, neglect and decay. Several old bulkheads and causeways that submerge at high tide present a serious navigational hazard. On-island guided hard hat tours were recently made available through the Bannerman's Castle Trust. The castle is easily visible to the riders of the Metro-North Railroad's Hudson line and Amtrak. The sign is easily visible to southbound riders.
I'm not sure where this map is supposed to lead you, but the castle is literally on an island in the middle of river. Unless your car can drive through the Hudson, you have to kayak.
If you want to go to the island, you need yo go with a tour. The boat ride is about 30 minutes down the Hudson. The island is beautiful. Along with the large castle ruins there is a small castle near the top of the island where the Banermans lived when they visited the island. It is partially restored and the lower floor turned into a museum.
We went there and found out that this castle is on an island that you can't get to unless you got a boat.
This is now open to the public, with tours.
I wonder whether the name "pollepel" stems from the name of a girl. "Pollepel" is an old Dutch word, (pictured in many famous paintings by old masters, such as Jan Steen), still in use and refers to a spoon, ladle or pot ladle. Pim Gillissen, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
This island is also in one of the transformer movies!
This place looks straight out of a Ye Old England book. I imagine on my visit I'd be doing a lot of terrible impersonations of Monty Python jokes.
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Today I released the last of twelve wild monarch butterflies. Each year I plant their host plant, tropical milkweed, in my registered Monarch Waystation where females lay their eggs. A few days later, I find the tiny larva, raise them indoors until large enough to place back in the garden, then monitor their growth, protect them from predators, then return them to the safety of the house, where they form their chrysalises.
About nine days later, they emerge into the magnificent Monarchs we readily recognize. When these beauties are fully dry and active, I release them back into the garden, where they nectar on the milkweed and phlox, gaining strength for their long migration.
Over the past four years, I raised over one-thousand monarchs and dozens of black swallowtails and handfuls of Fritillaries and Red Spotted Purples.
Monarchs are endangered therefore I do my part to insure that those who find my garden prevail while they are here. Fewer than 1% of monarch eggs will survive in the wild without help. When I began this hobby, I had an excellent teacher, who to this day continues to answer questions, that to the novice bystander, would seem bizarre. Check out her website at www.socialbtrflies.com.
- An excellent documentary to learn more is entitled In the Company of Wild Butterflies.
- Learn more and help at www.monarchwatch.org
- West Coast, USA residents may want to visit www.monarchbutterfly.org
This day is one of celebration, as 100% of my caterpillars emerged healthy. This day is also bittersweet, as I must bid my creatures farewell, never to know their ultimate fate. So fly strong and high mighty Monarchs. May gentle currents glide you to your winter home.
May you be happy and peaceful,
May you be healthy and strong.
May you be safe and protected from harm.
May you be at ease in your lives.
~ S. Laufer
Copyright © 2011 by Diane LaSauce all rights reserved


Week Three: December 13
On that first Christmas night, the angels appeared to shepherds on a hill near Bethlehem. Alfred Edersheim, the great 19th-century Jewish-Christian scholar, wrote in his book The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah that the shepherds and the sheep to whom the angels appeared near Bethlehem were no ordinary shepherds and sheep.
The sheep were those bound for the temple sacrifices. The shepherds were outcasts because of their necessary isolation from religious ordinances. And their manner of life rendered legal observances unlikely, if not absolutely impossible.
How wonderful that in God’s wisdom and love the angels should appear to them—the doomed and the outcast—that night.
Today we can declare to the world that the Good Shepherd cares for all people and wants to give them peace. Christ came on that first Christmas for one great purpose—to die on the cross for our sins. Now God offers forgiveness, inner peace, and eternal life to all who will repent and believe in His Son. This is the Christmas message!
Do you know people who need to hear about God’s love and forgiveness? Will you share the true Christmas message with them this year?


Learning English? Check out my study guides.
Most English adjectives that describe an emotional experience end in either -ing or -ed.
For instance, take the word interest:
 The book interests me. (verb)
 I’m interested in the book. (the experiencer, -ed)
 The book is interesting. (the source of the experience, -ing)
The experiencer takes an -ed adjective, while the source of the experience goes with an -ing adjective. Generally, inanimate objects can only take -ing.
Animate objects can take either -ing or -ed. Hence, a teacher could be boring if the students are about to fall asleep, or a teacher could be bored if they’ve already taught the same lesson a hundred times.
Looking at our example again:
 The book [source] interests [emotion] me [experiencer]
 [source] [to be] [emotion]+ing
 [experiencer] [to be] [emotion]+ed
If you’re not sure which form to use, rephrase your sentence with a verb instead of an adjective. The word order will always tell you whether the adjective should take -ed or -ing.


Bailee Kiara January 21, 2021 Coloring Pages
When H for Horse or Home or House is linked with pictures or cartoons of the objects, they find it interesting and funny and remember quickly.
Besides helping the children to develop their imaginations, parents can utilize stories from the coloring pages to teach their kids practical lessons.
As children practice coloring, their abilities to stay within the lines improve over time.
Children who have a strong and active imagination possess a powerful tool that will serve them well throughout their lives.
You just need to click on the pages listed in the site and select them.
Coloring Pages Create Interest
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LituanicaSAT-1 is the first Lithuanian satellite mission. The primary mission objective is to provide university students and young engineers knowledge & real hands-on experience in satellite engineering.
Lithuanian satellite mission helps develop infrastructure and know-how in space technology by interdisciplinary interaction between academia and industry in Lithuania.
LituanicaSAT-1 is a cube measuring 10x10x10 cm. It was carrying locally manufactured primary and secondary flight computers which control the payload consisting of an onboard VGA photo camera and FM Mode V/U Voice Repeater, designed and built by Lithuanian radio-amateurs.
The Satellite’s external solar panels were specially built and donated by Lithuanian based R&D company „Precizika-MET SC“. One of the mission secondary goals is also to test under space environment different micro-controller designs and MEMS sensors that are integrated into on-board computers.
This mission is specially dedicated to honor the 80th Anniversary of the flight across the Atlantic by Lithuanian-American pilots Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas. Therefore the satellite bears the name of the original aircraft used during this historic flight – “Lituanica”.
LituanicaSAT-1 is one of the two first Lithuanian satellites, and the first to transmit a Lithuanian message from space-a salutation from the Lithuanian president to all Lithuanians around the world.
The 1U CubeSat carries technology that conducts experiments such as FM voice repeater operation, taking pictures of Earth, and testing various controllers and sensors in microgravity.
The data collected asseses satellite health, attitude, and operational modes. It carries an FM transponder (uplink 145.950 MHz/downlink 435.180 MHz) and an AX.25 packet transponder (uplink 145.850 MHz/downlink 437.550 MHz). The CW beacon is on 437.275 MHz. The CubeSat was launched along with the second Cygnus spacecraft and 28 Flock-1 CubeSats aboard an Antares 120 carrier rocket flying from Pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island to the International Space Station.
The nanosatellite NanoRacks-LituanicaSAT-1 is a cube, with its sides 10 centimeters long, complying with the standard CubeSat design specifications. Four communication antennas are attached to the body of the satellite.
The total mass of the body including the equipment within it is 1,090 kg. The satellite uses low cost open-source software and hardware for primary and secondary flight computers that control the payload consisting of an onboard VGA camera and FM Mode V/U Voice Repeater.
Transfer of multiple NRCDs from the launch vehicle to the JEM. Visual inspection for damage to the NRCDs. Installation of the NRCDs on the Multi-purpose Experiment Platform. Transfer to external via JEM airlock. Operation of JEM Remote Manipulating System (RMS) – grapple and position for deployment. Deployment of the NanoRacks CubeSats via NRCD operations.