Fusion energy breakthrough by US scientists boosts clean power hopes

ARS TECHNICA

Net energy gain indicates technology could provide an abundant zero-carbon alternative to fossil fuels. Details here.

Record 2021 heat wave could become once-per-decade event

A study offers new insights into the record 2021 Western North America heat wave

Combined unusual weather systems, supercharged by climate change

COLUMBIA CLIMATE SCHOOL

The heat wave that hammered western North America in late June and early July 2021 was not just any midsummer event. Over nine days, from British Columbia through Washington and Oregon and beyond, it exceeded average regional temperatures for the period by 10 degrees C and, on single days in some locales, by an astounding 30 C. Among many new daily records, it set a new national benchmark for all of Canada, at 121.3 F in Lytton, British Columbia. The next day, the entire town burned down amid an uncontrollable wildfire—one of many sparked by the hot, dry weather. Across the region, at least 1,400 people died from heat-related causes. More here.

New research reveals incredible hunting secrets of the Great Grey Owl

by Larry Powell

 The Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa). Photo by Drsarahgrace, public domain.

A new study in Manitoba shows how the “Great Gray Owl,” a common site, either soaring over the plains and perching and nesting in the forests of the eastern Canadian prairies, overcomes many obstacles to find its prey.

  The prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) - Photo by Soebe, public domain

The bird is able to "punch" through as much as 50cm (20”) of hard, crusty snow - enough to hold a person’s weight - to catch a vole hiding beneath. (The vole is a small rodent which frequently serves as a meal for the winged predator.)

                       

But the snow presents the owl with other problems way before the “moment of capture,” too. Not only does it hide its prey from site, forcing the bird to rely on its hearing only, it deadens, or attenuates any sound the vole is making, and even "bends" or refracts it, creating an “acoustic mirage,” or false impression of its location. (See above.) The denser the snow, the more pronounced is both the attenuation and refraction. 

The owl soars towards its prey from its perch (above), then hovers as directly over it as it can until it reaches a “listening position” of least refraction and attenuation - defeating that "acoustic mirage" in the process. Then it plummets straight down on its target, forming a “plunge-hole” in the snow.

The owl is superbly adapted for this. While it has no ear tufts, it has the largest “facial disc” of any owl. That's where its ring of feathers filters and amplifies sound at its ears. (See above) This also allows it to pick up low-frequency sound, the kind that transmits best through snow. And its wing feathers are formed in such a way as to allow it to fly and hover more quietly than just about any bird, anywhere.

There are other features that make the “Great Gray” unique, too.

It is the largest owl in North America, with a wing span of well over a metre. It can be found across the province, year-round. And, since Manitobans “adopted” it in 1987, it’s been our official, provincial bird, too!

A three-member team, two from the US, along with James Duncan from “Discover Owls” in Balmoral, Manitoba, used loudspeakers and special cameras in their research.

The above images were extracted, with thanks, from the team's official study, just published in the proceedings of The Royal Society.

Some revolutionary advice for producers of seedless watermelon - and perhaps other fruits and vegetables, too!

by Larry Powell

A wild bee on a sunflower. A PinP photo.
 

For two years, US researchers studied the impact that both bee pollinators and beetle pests had on seedless watermelon.

        What they found was striking.        

Flea beetles feast on turnip-tops in Manitoba, A PinP photo.

    In both years, pollination by the bees was “the only significant factor” in both fruit set and marketable yield - even when compared to the harm done by the pests. Not only that, the wild bees increased those yields anywhere from one-&-a-half to three times more than honeybees.

    So the researchers conclude; If you want better yields, it’s more important to protect the bees that pollinate them than to kill the pests which eat them! 

    “These data," they state, "advocate for a reprioritization of management, to conserve and protect wild bee pollinations, which could be more critical than avoiding pest damage for ensuring high yields.”

    But the lead author of the study, Ashley Leach, is hesitant to extrapolate those findings to other crops like grains and oilseeds, so dominant on the Canadian prairies, for example. 

    He tells me in an email; "Our findings are intricately linked" to crops reliant on pollination (like seedless watermelon).

    "The pest we studied can have a variable effect of yield," Leach told me. 

    "However, multiple studies have found that insecticides may negatively impact pollinators so any reduction in insecticide spray could potentially impact yield and associated pollinator health outcomes. 

    "I wouldn’t recommend growers stop applying insecticides unless they don’t see a loss in yield, or they have another pest management practice in place."

    The findings are published in the “Proceedings of the Royal Society.”

Canada’s disappearing forests are a devastating hidden carbon bomb

NATIONAL OBSERVER

A PinP photo

The amount of wood in Canada’s forests has declined relentlessly for decades. Details here.

SAVE THE WILDERNESS - A MUSIC VIDEO WITH A MESSAGE

 A video I produced a few year ago with the generous consent of Eric Bogle, folksinger/songwriter extraordinaire. It's an appeal to save our wild places from human greed before it's too late. I believe it bears repeating. L.P.

Of Poets & Pioneeers - a book review

by Larry Powell

 At first, I thought I had made a mistake - agreeing to review “Of Poets & Pioneers.” 

After all, I’m no poet!

The last “poetic gene” in my family seems to have died when my own Grandfather, J.J. Powell passed away in 1953. 

But I was soon to discover, one doesn’t need a “poet’s pedigree” to appreciate the values which this work embraces. 

Poetry just happens to be the backdrop - a vehicle, if you will - that offers a glimpse into a rare and remarkably close relationship between the author, Bill Massey and his paternal grandfather, “Will.”

Bill’s earlier book, “Of Pork and Potatoes,” details the troubled home he grew up in and helps us better understand why his visits with his grandfather, recorded in this one, provided such a precious haven in his own life.

Woven between the poetic parts are stories “Grandfather Will” wrote about a sometimes harsh life in a British public school and later about the trials and tribulations he faced as a pioneering farmer in Manitoba. 

Bill’s own stories and poetry only add to the book’s appeal. 

If there were ever to be a literary contest with a “Labour of Love” category, “Of Poets & Pioneers” would definitely be a contender!