The Daily Drift

We could use a dozen or so of these around here - a couple of dozen, even ...!

 

Carolina Naturally is read in 199 countries around the world daily.   

Queen for a Day ... !

Today is - Mother's Day

Don't forget to visit our sister blog: It Is What It Is

Some of our reader today have been in:

The Americas

Mountain View, Monte Sereno, Mount Gilead, Mount Pleasant, Pilot Mountain, Black Mountain, Montara, Green Mountain and Suwanee, United States

Pikangikum, L'ancienne-Lorette, Montreal, Quebec, Ottawa, Britannia and Nunalla, Canada

Mexico City and Ecatepec, Mexico

Bogota and Medellin, Colombia

Luquillo, Puerto Rico

Tipitapa, Nicaragua

Santiago, Chile

Rio De Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil

Europe

Gornja Tuzla and Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Salon-De-Provence, France

Ryazan, Vladivostok, Saint Petersburg and Velikiye Luki, Russia

Huddinge and Stockholm, Sweden

Merida and Madrid, Spain

Milan, Rome, Treviso, Novara, Padova and Genoa, Italy

Kent, London and Gosport, England

Dublin, Ireland

Lublin, Warsaw, Olsztyn and Chrzanow, Poland

Novi Sad, Serbia

Ruse, Bulgaria

Reykjavik, Iceland

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Espoo, Finland

Rothe Erde and Bonn, Germany

Oslo, Norway
Den Haag, Netherlands

Asia

Singapore, Singapore

Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Seri Kembangan, Malaysia

Kolkata, Bankura, Chetput, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune and Thiruvananthpuram, India

Jakarta, Indonesia

Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepal

Tehran and Ahvaz, Iran

La Dagotiere, Mauritius

Cyberjaya, Malaysia

Sialkot, Pakistan

Ratchaburi, Thailand

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Amman, Jordan

Muscat, Oman

Africa 

Anaba and Algiers, Algeria

Rosebank, South Africa

The Pacific

Sydney, Australia

Quiapo and Simpaloc, Philippines

Today in History

1573		Henry of Anjou becomes the first elected king of Poland.
1689		French and English navies battle at Bantry Bay.
1690		In the first major engagement of King William's War, British troops from Massachusetts seize Port Royal in Acadia (Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) from the French.
1745		French forces defeat an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army at Fontenoy.
1792		The Columbia River is discovered by Captain Robert Gray.
1812		British prime Minster Spencer Perceval is shot by a bankrupt banker in the lobby of the House of Commons.
1857		Indian mutineers seize Delhi.
1858		Minnesota is admitted as the 32nd U.S. state.
1860		Giuseppe Garibaldi lands at Marsala, Sicily.
1862		Confederates scuttle the CSS Virginia off Norfolk, Virginia.
1864		Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart is mortally wounded at Yellow Tavern.
1960		Israeli soldiers capture Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires.
1967		The siege of Khe Sanh ends, the base is still in American hands.

Non Sequitur

How ‘selfies’ create confidence

How ‘selfies’ create confidence

sel·fie /ˈselfē/ (noun)- a photograph that one has taken of […]

Playing outside could make kids more spiritual

Playing outside could make kids more spiritual

Children who spend significant time outdoors could have a stronger […]

In sickness and in health

In sickness and in health: How illness affects the risk of divorce

In the classic marriage vow, couples promise to stay together […]

Yawning to cool the brain

Yawning to cool the brain

Why do we yawn? We tend to yawn before sleep […]

Extreme sleep

Extreme sleep: Change in durations may affect brain health in later life

A new research study led by Brigham and Women’s Hospital […]

Out of shape?

Out of shape? Your memory may suffer

Here’s another reason to drop that doughnut and hit the […]

People with autistic tendencies vulnerable to alcohol problems

People with autistic tendencies vulnerable to alcohol problems 

Young adults with autistic tendencies don’t often engage in social […]

Acupuncture Helps Kids Manage Pain, Nausea

Acupuncture Helps Kids Manage Pain, Nausea

The pink plastic box thatCynthia Kim, MD, EdD, opens at […]

Vitamin D deficiency may be linked to aggressive prostate cancer

Vitamin D deficiency may be linked to aggressive prostate cancer

Vitamin D deficiency was an indicator of aggressive prostate cancer […]

Rare Polio-Like Disease in California

Rare Polio-Like Disease in California

UCSF and Stanford physicians and researchers report on five cases […]

Autoimmune Diseases May Succumb to New Drug Strategy

Autoimmune Diseases May Succumb to New Drug Strategy

New pharmaceuticals to fight autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, […]

Electronic nose sniffs out prostate cancer using urine samples

Electronic nose sniffs out prostate cancer using urine samples

Novel noninvasive technique successfully discriminates between prostate cancer and benign […]

Ziggy

Why Is It So Hard to Thread a Needle?

Why Is It So Hard to Thread a Needle?

Scientists are shedding light on why threading a needle can be such a challenge, even if you do have good eyesight and a steady hand.

Why did lighthouse keepers go mad?

It wasn't the solitude. The Old Salt Blog explains:

In the 19th century, lighthouse keepers had a high frequency of madness and suicide.  Many assumed that they went mad from solitude and the demands of the job. It turns out it was something simpler and more sinister.

Fresnel lenses were the great lighthouse innovation of the 19th century.  The lenses developed by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel greatly increased the intensity and range of the lighthouse beacon. For rotating lights, just as importance as the strength of the light, however, was maintaining a specific speed of rotation, so that if the chart said that the light flashed every twenty seconds, the light, in fact, rotated so that the light was visible every twenty seconds.  The best near zero-friction bearing of the day was created by floating the light and the lens on a circular track of liquid mercury.  When dust, dirt or other impurities built up in the mercury, part of the light house keeper’s job was to strain the mercury through a fine cloth.

For an exhaustive academic study of the subject, see Lighthouse Keeper's Madness: Folk Legend, or Something more Toxic? in the Proceedings of the 11th Annual History of Medicine Days at the University of Calgary.

The last operating lighthouse Fresnel lens in the United States is in the Split Rock Lighthouse near Two Harbors along Minnesota's famed North Shore of Lake Superior (top photo).

Their blog entry from 2009 describes the extreme precautions taken nowadays when the lens needs to be serviced:

Nearly two gallons of mercury was drained, and the mercury bowl and float cleaned, and the mercury replaced.  The very small surface area of mercury that is exposed to the air when the float is closed was covered with mineral oil to stop any mercury exposure to the air.

Neanderthals Weren't Stupid

Neanderthals Weren't Stupid: They Had Skills

Think Neanderthals were inferior to Homo sapiens? Think again.

Study questions Neanderthal inferiority to early modern humans

Study questions Neanderthal inferiority to early modern humans

Neanderthal demise may be the result of interbreeding, assimilation, not […]

Daily Comic Relief

Bacteria Could Stop Dangerous Gas Leaks

Bacteria Could Stop Dangerous Gas Leaks

Bacteria that chow down on methane gas could trap greenhouse gas before it contributes to global warming, reports a new study.

U.S. corn yields are increasingly vulnerable to hot, dry weather

U.S. corn yields are increasingly vulnerable to hot, dry weather

Corn yields in the central United States have become more […]

Citizen scientists provide clarity for lake researchers’ big questions

Citizen scientists provide clarity for lake researchers’ big questions

A massive new study of water clarity trends in Midwestern […]

Drought in West?

Drought in West? Tree rings reveal nightmares from past

If you think the 1930s drought that caused The Dust […]

How NASA Might Build Its Very First Warp Drive

A few months ago, physicist Harold White stunned the aeronautics world when he announced that he and his team at NASA had begun work on the development of a faster-than-light warp drive.

His proposed design, an ingenious re-imagining of an Alcubierre Drive, may eventually result in an engine that can transport a spacecraft to the nearest star in a matter of weeks - and all without violating Einstein's law of relativity.

Can We Grow Plants on Mars?

Can We Grow Plants on Mars?

Last year, NASA announced that they had found water on Mars. This posed a question to scientists: Could we grow plants in the soil of Mars? Trace explains what is necessary to grow crops on Earth, and if Mars is able to sustain life.

‘Wimpy’ dwarf fossil galaxy reveals new facts about early universe

‘Wimpy’ dwarf fossil galaxy reveals new facts about early universe

Faintest galaxy ever detected illuminates unusual aspects of the universe’s […]

Astronimical News

China's 'Great Wall of Dust' Seen From Space

Northern China is infamous for dust storms that can sometimes choke Beijing in a yellow haze. A new satellite image shows one of these storms from above.

X-Rated: Sun Erupts With Massive Flare, Again

The first few months of 2014 have certainly been active for our nearest star and last night the sun unleashed another X-class flare -- the most powerful type of solar flare.

SpaceX Falcon Rocket Flies Itself Back to Earth

For the first time, a Space Exploration Technologies’ Falcon 9 rocket successfully flew itself back to Earth for an experimental touchdown at sea, company chief executive Elon Musk told reporters.

DNews: Could Aliens Be Living on Exomoons?

Astronomers are fascinated by exoplanets and the possibility of life on these worlds. Should they also focus on exomoons? Ian O'Neill from Discovery News explores the possibility of alien life and oceans on the moons of other planets.

Curiosity Snaps First Ever Photo of Asteroids From Mars

By now we should be used to Curiosity's "firsts," but it doesn't make them any less spectacular.

Eta Aquarid Meteors: Passing Through Comet Halley's Tail

The Eta Aquarid shower is coming, but where do the meteors come from and how can we see them?

Top Secret Military Mini-Shuttle Marks 500 Days in Orbit

A robotic miniature space shuttle on a classified mission for the U.S. Air Force marked its 500th day in orbit on Friday, with no word about when and where the space plane will land.

Coming Tomorrow

Coming Tomorrow

• How a hospital contributed to the deaths of five children
• The brutal yet refined art of Boat Jousting
• LA's House of Davids de-tackified
• Good Samaritan turns trash into mobile homes for the homeless

And more ...

This bird is our Animal Picture, for today.