#Friday in North America

[ostdrossel]

It's Puff Grack season! I love the Grackles, and about a week after their arrival they have started to show off. Please enjoy the Grack Waltz! (Unmute for max fun!)

[sugas6thtooth]

If US politicians refuse to listen to our calls for ceasefire via letter, call, email, or petitions, then it's time to hit them where it hurts.

Don't buy anything during Black Friday or Cyber Monday. The American government cannot function without the funds of its people.

Free Palestine 🇵🇸

[rebeccathenaturalist]

It’s Tell a Friend Friday! Please enjoy this picture of a Steller's jay (Cyanocitta stelleri) feather.

Then tell someone you know about my work–you can reblog this post, or send it to someone you think may be interested in my natural history writing, classes, and tours, as well as my upcoming book, The Everyday Naturalist: How to Identify Animals, Plants, and Fungi Wherever You Go. Here’s where I can be found online:

Website - http://www.rebeccalexa.com

Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/rebeccalexanaturalist

Tumblr Profile – http://rebeccathenaturalist.tumblr.com

BlueSky Profile - https://bsky.app/profile/rebeccanaturalist.bsky.social

Twitter Profile – http://www.twitter.com/rebecca_lexa

Instagram Profile – https://www.instagram.com/rebeccathenaturalist/

YouTube Profile - https://www.youtube.com/@RebeccaLexaNaturalist

LinkedIn Profile – http://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccalexanaturalist

iNaturalist Profile – https://www.inaturalist.org/people/rebeccalexa

Finally, if you like what I’m doing here, you can give me a tip at http://ko-fi.com/rebeccathenaturalist

[shinigami-striker]

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 | Friday, 02.02.24

On this day, the North American release of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 remains as of the best games in the series, let alone a solid 2D game to anyone's Sega Genesis library even after 30 years.

P.S.: today's Groundhog Day!

[just-some-guy-joust]

alright so here's the current plan with the nominations to the main tourney, not the oc tourney. tomorrow will decide if i'm closing them early or not. if we get a bunch of submissions and it turns out the last 2 days were just slow, then they'll continue to stay open until friday at least. if we continue only getting a handful of submissions, then submissions will close wednesday the 10th, 11:59 pm PST

[palaeonecromancy]

Happy Fossil Friday!

Who: Smilodon

name meaning: "two-edged knife" "tooth"

pronunciation: Smile-oh-don

What: Saber-toothed tiger, though not really a tiger at all. The Smilodon was not related to tigers or even to modern day cats. While they hail from the same family, Felidae, saber-toothed cats diverged from the ancestors of modern cats about twenty-million years ago (dates may vary among sources).

When: Pleistocene

Where: Americas

Fun fact!: There are suggestions that the discovery of Smilodon fossils was one of the inspirations for the chupacabra. There were theories that the long, curved canines protruding from the skull might act like straws, sucking the blood from unsuspecting goats.

Why are they cool?: Unlike modern big cats like leopards and tigers, the Smilodon was probably ground bound, lacking a long tail required for balance and unable to climb trees or perch on high branches. This didn't mean it wasn't a pro jumper, able to conceal itself in vegetation and take down prey with small bursts of energy. An excellent ambush predator.

Image Credits: (Left: Sergei Ostankov, Right: Smilodon fatalis Skeleton Stock by LEXLOTHOR on DeviantArt)

[absolutely-not-my-main-blog]

No one is allowed to talk about how good fool’s paradise is or I’ll sob and wail in devastation that it’s not playing here, it’s actually illegal to speak any details of it, take a page from Latté Pronto’s book and don’t speak at all (except do, to keep the hype up because I want Charlie’s movie to do well but 😭😭😭)

[cjjasp]

#FineArtFriday: Autumn in North America by Frederic Edwin Church 1896

Artist: Frederic Edwin Church  (1826–1900) Title: Autumn in North America Genre: landscape art Date: 1856 Medium: oil on board Dimensions: height: 28.5 cm (11.2 in); width: 43.1 cm (17 in) Collection: Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum What I love about this picture: This is a New England autumn in full color, the way autumns never are here in my part of the world. Yes, non-native trees will turn these…

[ostdrossel]

The Juncos seem to enjoy the cold temperatures and were pewpewpew-ing happily at -18° C.

[nonenglishsongs]

John Angaiak - Piukuvet (Alaskan Yup'ik)

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved on our archive

By Anthony Robledo

The side effects of newly discovered COVID-19 strain XEC might not be as severe, but is part of the more contagious variant class, experts say.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines XEC as recombinant or hybrid of the strains KS.1.1 and KP.3.3., both from the Omicron family that became the predominant strain in the U.S. late December 2022.

The variant, which first appeared in Berlin in late June, has increasingly seen hundreds of cases in Germany, France, Denmark and Netherlands, according to a report by Australia-based data integration specialist Mike Honey.

XEC has also been reported in at least 25 U.S. states though there could be more as genetic testing is not done on every positive test, RTI International epidemiologist Joëlla W. Adams said.

"We often use what happens in Europe as a good indication of what might happen here," Adams told USA TODAY Friday. "Whenever we're entering into a season where we have multiple viruses occurring at the same time, like we're entering into flu season, that obviously complicates things."

What is the XEC variant? New COVID strain XEC is a recombinant strain of two variants in the Omicron family: KS.1.1 and KP.3.3.

The hybrid strain was first reported in Berlin late June but has spread across Europe, North America and Asia with the countries Germany, France, the Netherlands and Denmark leading cases.

Is the XEC variant more contagious? While there's no indication the XEC strain will increase the severity of virus, it could potentially become a dominant strain as Omicron variants are more contagious. However, current available COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots are particularly protective against XEC as it is a hybrid of two Omicron strains.

"These strains do have the advantage in the fact that they are more transmissible compared to other families, and so the vaccines that are currently being offered were not based off of the XEC variant, but they are related," Adams said.

Like other respiratory infections, COVID-19 and its recent Omicron variants will increasingly spread during the fall and winter seasons as students return to classes, kids spend more time inside and people visit family for the holidays, according to Adams.

How can we protect ourselves from XEC and other variants? The CDC continues to monitor the emergence of variants in the population, according to spokesperson Rosa Norman.

"At this time, we anticipate that COVID-19 treatments and vaccines will continue to work against all circulating variants," Norman said in a statement to USA TODAY. "CDC will continue to monitor the effectiveness of treatment and vaccines against circulating variants."

The CDC recommends that everyone ages 6 months and older, with some exceptions, receive an updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine to protect against the virus, regardless whether or not you have previously been vaccinated or infected.

Norman urged Americans to monitor the agency's COVID Data Tracker for updates to new variants.

KP.3.1.1:This dominant COVID-19 variant accounts for over 50% of cases, new CDC data shows

What is the dominant strain of COVID in the US? COVID-19 variant KP.3.1.1 is currently the dominant strain accounting for more than half of positive infections in the U.S. according to recent CDC projections.

Between Sept. 1 and Sept. 14, 52.7% of positive infections were of the KP.3.1.1 strain, followed by KP.2.3 at 12.2%, according to the agency's Nowcast data tracker, which displays COVID-19 estimates and projections for two-week periods.

KP.3.1.1 first became the dominant strain in the two-week period, starting on July 21st and ending on August 3rd.

"The KP.3.1.1 variant is very similar to other circulating variants in the United States. All current lineages are descendants of JN.1, which emerged in late 2023," Norman previously told USA TODAY.

COVID XEC symptoms There is no indication that the XEC variant comes with its own unique symptoms.

The CDC continues to outline the basic COVID-19 symptoms, which can appear between two to 14 days after exposure to the virus and can range from mild to severe.

These are some of the symptoms of COVID-19:

Fever or chills Cough Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing Fatigue Muscle or body aches Headache Loss of taste or smell Sore throat Congestion or runny nose Nausea or vomiting Diarrhea

The CDC said you should seek medical attention if you have the following symptoms:

Trouble breathing Persistent pain or pressure in the chest New confusion Inability to wake or stay awake Pale, gray or blue-colored skin, lips, or nail beds

[shinigami-striker]

Community Survey (Bomberman) | Friday, 08.02.24

To all Bomberman players out there playing any game at the moment, the official X (formerly Twitter) page for all things Bomberman-related is having a community survey if you want to check it out and answer a few questions yourself regarding any player feedback.

Super Bomberman R and Super Bomberman R 2 are both available now!

Take the survey here.

[amnhnyc]

Make some noise for Fossil Friday! Corythosaurus was a duck-billed dinosaur that lived in what is now North America. Its name is a nod to the helmets worn by Corinthians in ancient Greece: This species’ strange skull is capped by a crescent-shaped helmet that contains extended tubes, which form elaborate nasal passages. See it up close in the Museum’s Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs. Plan your visit.

Photo: Image no. K505_02 / © AMNH Library

[thatsleepymermaid]

On Friday, the Georgia EPD granted permits to Twin Pines to strip-mine three miles from Okefenokee Swamp. This will be a "demonstration mine" of 600 acres digging out titanium dioxide, staurolite, and zircon. I cannot state how disappointed I am in my own state's environmental department to approve something so damaging to our natural wetland. The Okefenokee is the largest blackwater swamp in North America and one of the most endangered rivers in America. Hopefully, John Ossoff will block it again as he did back in 2022.

If you are looking for ways to help go ahead and check out 100miles.org and Georgia River Network.

[dduane]

It’s not over yet! May 11/12 aurora watch continues

It was a good night for aurora watchers all over Europe on the evening of May 10th/11th, 2024. Here's a great brief timelapse video sequence from Berkshire in the UK (via @Rainmaker1973 over at the Bye Bye Birdie place).

Among numerous other displays, this particular broad, pink "banner" structure was widely observed across the UK and Ireland around midnight local time / 2300 UT. It persisted, twisting and morphing into a variety of new shapes, for something like half an hour. The night's display as a whole was definitely one for the record books.

The early projections at the NOAA site suggest that the power of the incoming geomagnetic storm will be significantly less on Sunday, May 12th. But the night of May 11th still holds possibilities, as for the time being the storm seems to be holding at the relatively high Kp 8 level (on a scale of 0-9).

NOAA space weather forecasters have observed at least seven coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the sun, with impacts expected to arrive on Earth as early as midday Friday, May 10, and persist through Sunday, May 12, 2024. 

Here are the early graphic projections for the zone of visibility on the evening of May 11 2024. Please note that (a) these are approximations and estimates, not hard and fast indicators of where the solar wind makes planetfall; and (b) as they did last night, they may well improve over the course of the day as newer and better data reaches the predicting devices and personnel.

The European animated projection comes via ITV (UK) weatherman Chris Page.

North American prediction images come via the Space Weather Prediction Center at the NOAA website. Right now (9:30 PM IDT / 2139 UT on May 11th) the NOAA's evening prediction animation for Europe and North America hasn't been generated yet. This still image (updated 1900 IDT) shows where the auroral viewing zone stands right now. The "likelihood of viewing" for Europe seems to have dropped pretty much into the 30-40% range.

That said, though, it's worth noting that the NOAA earlier issued yet another geomagnetic storm watch warning for 12 May, as the Sun apparently popped off both X-class and M-class flares early today; the effects of those are now in transit toward Earth. So we'll see in a day or so what comes of that. Sunspot region 3664, which has been responsible for all this excitement, is plainly not done spitting out flares just yet.

As regards tonight's predictions, it also remains to be seen whether what we get will be better... considering that last night's displays far outpaced everybody's expectations. I for one am quite willing to be surprised. 🙏

It's also worth noting here that so far today, the Kp index illustrated at the Space Weather Prediction Center's experimental aurora dashboard page—an indicator of the current strength of the geomagnetic storm—hasn't dropped off very much from last night's highs. It'll be interesting to see how this behaves as the day goes on. (ETA 2: image updated 11/05/2024, 2140 IDT)

Other useful resources for those interested in space weather generally, and solar weather:

NASA's SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) satellite's "The Sun Now" page

ESA Space Weather Service Network

NOAA (US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Space Weather and Prediction Page

OVATION auroral prediction model from the DSCOVR spacecraft, via SpaceWeatherLive

AuroraWatch UK