Public Posts

Groundhog Day, is a popular North American tradition observed in the United States and Canada on February 2. The weather lore was brought from German-speaking areas where the badger (German: Dachs) is the forecasting animal. This appears to be an enhanced version of the lore that clear weather on the Christian festival of Candlemas forebodes a prolonged winter. As the tradition goes, if a groundhog emerges from its burrows on this day and sees its shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and winter will go on for six more weeks; if it does not see its shadow because of cloudiness, spring will arrive early. While the tradition remains popular, studies have found no consistent association between a groundhog seeing its shadow and the subsequent arrival time of spring-like weather. In the U.S , the most popular Groundhog ceremony is held at Punxsutawney in western Pennsylvania, centering on a semi-mythical groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil. Other cities in the United States and Canada also have adopted the event. More

".....The study shows that when meaning is forced through such pipelines repeatedly, diversity collapses not because of bad intentions, malicious design or corporate negligence, but because only certain kinds of meaning survive the text-to-image-to-text repeated conversions".  More at The Conversation ➜

How did the American Samoans  living in the small town of Whittier, Alaska end up at the center of a dispute regarding voting rights, More at Bolt Magazine ➜

"A Denver MD has spent 2 decades working with hospitalized patients experiencing homelessness − here’s what she fears and what gives her hope"  More at The Conversation ➜

"Following the dismantling of the Kwoneesum Dam in the State of Washington, the area has been transformed and its wildlife is returning." More at Reasons to be Cheerful ➜

"Aging is inevitable but unpredictable. Aging is an unpredictable, highly individualized process that varies
depending on a person’s genetics, medical history, cognitive status and socioeconomic factors. More at The Conversation ➜

"Yasha Levine, a freelance journalist who has reported on the California Central Valley in depth, teamed up with filmmaker Rowan Wernham to direct the documentary Pistachio Wars. The film argues that billionaires Lynda and Stewart Resnick are harming California’s environment as they artwash their damage". More at Hyperallergic ➜

There are only two moments each year when the Sun lies directly above Earth’s equator. These moments are the equinoxes, when, at any location, the lengths of day and night are roughly equal. The March equinox happens sometime between March 19 and 21. The September equinox occurs sometime between September 21 and 24.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the March equinox marks the beginning of Spring and the September equinox the beginning of Fall. The reverse takes place in the Southern Hemisphere.

A key aspect of your immune system is to distinguish “self” from “nonself” so it can destroy and remove foreign materials from your body. While this immune reaction protects you from viruses, it also has implications for how well foreign materials such as medications work" More at The Conversation ➜ 

"Earth’s atmosphere contains carbon dioxide, which is good for life on Earth – in moderation." ..."The atmospheric concentration of CO2 has risen by more than 50% since industries began burning coal and other fossil fuels in the late 1700s, reaching concentrations that haven’t been found in the Earth’s atmosphere in at least a million years. And the concentration continues to rise..." More at The Conversation➜

"In an ideal world, getting medical care should be straightforward: You work with your doctor to figure out what ails you, then your doctor recommends a treatment that addresses the problem",........"Increasingly, insurance companies are using AI algorithms to decide which healthcare treatments to cover....."These coverage algorithms are a total black box – companies refuse to reveal how they work, often claiming they are trade secrets". More

Nationally, six-in-ten Americans say stricter environmental laws and regulations are worth the cost, while 38% say they cost too many jobs and hurt the economy. More at Pew Research Center ➜