Tag: Science
It Really Did Happen!
I slept in a bit today. Not only that, but:
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2026 January 17
Apollo 14: A View from Antares
Image Credit: Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14, NASA; Mosaic – Eric M. Jones
Explanation: Apollo 14’s Lunar Module Antares landed on the Moon on February 5, 1971. Toward the end of the stay astronaut Ed Mitchell snapped a series of photos of the lunar surface while looking out a window, assembled into this detailed mosaic by Apollo Lunar Surface Journal editor Eric Jones. The view looks across the Fra Mauro highlands to the northwest of the landing site after the Apollo 14 astronauts had completed their second and final walk on the Moon. Prominent in the foreground is their Modular Equipment Transporter, a two-wheeled, rickshaw-like device used to carry tools and samples. Near the horizon at top center is a 1.5 meter wide boulder dubbed Turtle rock. In the shallow crater below Turtle rock is the long white handle of a sampling instrument, thrown there javelin-style by Mitchell. Mitchell’s fellow moonwalker and first American in space, Alan Shepard, also used a makeshift six iron to hit two golf balls. One of Shepard’s golf balls is just visible as a white spot below Mitchell’s javelin.
Tomorrow’s picture: infrared Jupiter
For Science! And For Species Protection & Diversity, Too
New study reveals that 1,300 new species have been added to the global mammal count
Jan 12, 2026 1:24 PM
According to a new study published in the Journal of Mammalogy, the number of living mammal species has increased by 25% since 2005 — meaning that more than 1,300 new species have been added to the scientific record.
Just a few mammals in that crowded class include new creatures like the mouse opossum (Marmosa chachapoya) of the Peruvian Andes, the olinguito (Bassaricyon neblina) of Ecuador, and the dwarf shrew (Crocidura stanleyi) of Ethiopia.
“Our recognition of 25% more mammal diversity now than 20 years ago indicates an overall improvement in our understanding of how global mammals interact with their environments,” Dr. Nathan Upham, lead researcher and Arizona State University professor, told A-Z Animals.
“Each species is genetically unique, not interbreeding with their close relatives, and thus presumably doing something unique on the landscape — specializing in different food or habitat type or location of activity,” he explained.
Upham’s research centered on a series of mathematical equations.
Since 2005, the Mammal Diversity Database has listed an additional 1,579 species.
Of those new species, 805 were newly described and 774 were “splits,” or offshoots, of what was originally thought to be a single species. 226 species were also merged after new evidence came to light.
In total, that means 1,353 species have been discovered since 2005, amounting to an average of 65 new mammal species being introduced to the scientific record every year.
In his interview with A-Z Animals, Upham emphasized that species are not evolving at a faster rate; they are simply becoming easier to find and identify.
“Next-generation DNA sequencing technologies have dramatically lowered the cost of obtaining DNA across the genomes from hundreds of individuals simultaneously,” Upham said.
Upham’s spotlight on mammalian research is supported by a larger, separate study published in Science Advances by John Wiens, a professor in the University of Arizona Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
Together with his fellow researchers — Xin Li, Ding Yang, and Liang Wang — Wiens estimated that 16,000 new species are discovered each year.
“These thousands of newly found species each year are not just microscopic organisms, but include insects, plants, fungi, and even hundreds of new vertebrates,” Wiens told the University of Arizona.
In 2025, Wiens also spearheaded research on the rate of species extinction and found that it lags significantly behind new species identification.
“Our good news is that this rate of new species discovery far outpaces the rate of species extinctions, which we calculated to about 10 per year,” Wiens said.
“Discovering new species is important because these species can’t be protected until they’re scientifically described,” he added. “Documentation is the first step in conservation – we can’t safeguard a species from extinction if we don’t know it exists.”
Photograph of a newly discovered mammal, the Bassaricyon neblina, or “Olinguito,” taken in the wild at Tandayapa Bird Lodge, Ecuador. Header image via Mark Gurney / Wikimedia Commons (C. C By 3.0)
You may also like: This mammal vanished from Ohio nearly 200 years ago. Trail cameras just captured footage of it
Political cartoons / memes / and news I want to share. 1-12-2026
Putin runs the Republican agenda.
Russia has compromised each and every Republican in Congress. Not one of them stands up for the US or our NATO/EU allies.
All things they tried to use to bludgeon the Democratic Party members and presidents. It is all gone when a thug mob boss wannabe of their own threatens them with the loss of their elected positions that gives them personal wealth. Hugs
Jonathan Ross was not going to let an LGBT mother just drive away without submission. He performed the ‘scared cop’ persona for a few seconds, then code switched back with “fcuking bitch” and walked away.
These are great questions and MAGA will never answer them. Never.
They will deflect and try to assassinate the character of the victim.
MAGA are bad faith operators. Expect nothing
Political cartoons / memes / and news I want to share. 1-7-2026
“In my day, we had to use the C.I.A. to secretly finance military coups if we wanted to steal a country’s resources.”
Maduro was not in the US he was in a country that our law enforcement people had no authority to enforce laws. This was the kidnapping of a foreign leader which is a war crime. Hugs
Political cartoons / memes / and news I want to share. 1-6-2026
A curtained off section of a larger room is NOT a SCIF. The incompetence of this administration knows no bounds.
And the fact that X is pulled up on the screen behind them is just…embarrassing.
Who thought this was a good photo to release?
Looks like Pete Hegseth is either checking the online cocktail menu or lurking for exes on Facebook. Both can be true.
Political cartoons / memes / and news I want to share. 1-5-2026
The Trump administration wants it both ways.
On Saturday, it tells us that Nicolás Maduro is such a uniquely dangerous despot — so criminal, so destabilizing, so irredeemable — that the United States had no choice but to remove him from power by force. Maduro, we are told, is a narco-dictator, a human rights abuser, a menace to his own people and to regional stability.
On Sunday, the same administration will continue putting Venezuelan asylum seekers on planes and deports them back to the country that, according to its own rhetoric, was so dangerous it required regime change.
This is not just hypocrisy. It is a logical impossibility masquerading as policy.
Julie Roginsky
Political cartoons / memes / and news I want to share. 1-4-2026
Political cartoons / memes / and news I want to share. 1-2-2026
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Two days of news that is all over the map.
Why I do these posts. This is three days of Joe My God that got away way from me. So why do I do these long news posts? Because I comb the Joe My God comment section for the best memes and snarkiest comments. It dawned on me I could post his news articles for those that want to read them. But three days is a lot to go throw and it is much easier just to quickly scan and snatch the comments rather than post them. So I need some inputs from everyone. Are these posts worth it? Or would you rather go to Joe My God yourselves. Or I can keep doing these. Up to you. Hugs
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tRumps Grifts / Scams / Ripping off the rubes / tRump’s ego / tRump’s Crimes / tRump’s health / Republican grifts & payouts for supporting tRump / other trump scammers
The Trump Mobile website recently scrubbed its “100% made in America” claim.
The Trump Golf Tracker estimates that the president’s golf trips have cost taxpayers some $110,600,000 so far in 2025. But that estimate, which was based on a 2019 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on four golf trips during his first term, doesn’t even take into account the month of December.
Epstein Files / Sexualizing women
Criminal Israel / Genocide / How easy tRump is played
The right wing media / the media arms of the GOP & Republican Party / The over the top thuggery and complete disrespect for common decency / Ask if you would like your child to act this way …. because maga does want their kids to be this crass as it makes them feel good / Kennedy Center debacle
The video was shared by Vice President JD Vance. FBI director Kash Patel said he is aware of the video and the FBI is investigating. The YouTuber says he is uncovering new fraud in Minnesota, but media outlets like KSTP reported more than a year ago about more than 62 investigations into Minnesota child care centers.
What this is really about is they are afraid Walz will run for office and win as he is so well liked. They are trying to gin up a fake scandal to Benghazi him like they did with Hillary Clinton. I posted yesterday how fake and full of lies / misinformation the “report” the YouTuber did was. In the article above this one you can see how the Republican Party had a hand in helping the right wing influencer to push a fake story. The state has been investigating these things for several years. Hugs
Can these people hear what comes out of their mouths? How nuts are they? Why are they relevant anymore? Hugs
Wars / Other countries taking advantage of tRump’s weakness / tRump’s false golden dome give away to defense contractors.
The chart posted shows that overall drug deaths dropped between 2023 and 2024, when the Biden administration was in the White House.
Before tRump started blowing up boats for oil. Hugs
$175 billion for a “golden dome” that experts doubt would actually work, but only $2 billion in humanitarian aid for the United Nations. It’s what Jesus would want.
Space based weapons are forbidden by treaties that the US signed. That said do we have space based weapons … well I was sending commands somewhere for something when I was in the Army Sat coms / intel unit. You decide. Hugs
Maga hate fail / tRump lost in court / tRump supporters doing what they do not want you to know about / ICE lies / tRump’s DOJ / Misinformation / Trying to change history by spewing & omitting facts or what really happened
The emails, which were made public as part of a newly unsealed judicial order, largely reflected communications about the case that Robert E. McGuire, the acting U.S. attorney in Nashville, had with members of his staff and with Aakash Singh, a top official in Mr. Blanche’s office. They raised serious questions about whether the Justice Department had misled Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr., who is overseeing the case, by telling him that local prosecutors had acted alone in charging Mr. Abrego Garcia.
Hate / Bigotry / DEI / White Supremacy / Christian Nationalism / US aid to only white countries or white dominated areas / US Healthcare / For Profit drug prices rip off the US public /
The civil probes are proceeding under the umbrella of the False Claims Act, which has traditionally been used to go after contractors who bill the government for work that was never performed or inflate the cost of services rendered.
The U.S. slashed its aid spending this year, and leading Western donors such as Germany also pared back assistance as they pivoted to increased defense spending, triggering a severe funding crunch for the United Nations.
U.N. data shows total U.S. humanitarian contributions to the U.N. fell to about $3.38 billion in 2025, equating to about 14.8% of the global sum. This was down sharply from $14.1 billion the prior year, and a peak of $17.2 billion in 2022.
The idea behind the legislation originated with the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal advocacy group that has gained prominence for its work to incorporate religion in public spaces.
West last appeared here for his bill that would create a database of abortion patients.
In 2024, we heard from West for his bill to ban Pride flags at public schools and government buildings.
He appeared here in 2023 for his bill that would make it a felony to perform drag in the view of minors. His bill called for a $20,000 fine and up to two years in prison.
West first appeared here in 2021 when Gov. Kevin Stitt signed his bill making it legal to run over protesters.
The tweet below refers to West’s attempt to pass this same bill earlier this year.
Last week Trump claimed that he was bringing down drug prices by 3000%.
Popolo is a Trump megadonor with business interests in the Netherlands. News about the removal of the displays first surfaced last month.
tRump’s attack on Colorado because they won’t bow to the whim of the tyrant. His withholding money is illegal but no republican will stand up to the demented king.
In the past two week, Trump denied FEMA relief for Colorado and ordered the dismantling of the nation’s premier climate research facility.
Renewable energy / fossil fuels / More tRump lies
AI / Chatbots / Advertising / Destroying education / Erasing Scientific knowledge /
Good things
Scottie's Playtime 
