Saturday, May 3

Spring

 

Most of us like the Spring and Fall of each year where the weather is mind and the environment around us is changing.  Some of us like the heat and humidity of summer while others like the cold and snow of winter.  For the most part, our likes and dislikes are predicated upon where we grew up, although they change as we grow old with many older couples in the north move south when they retire.


For me, I have always been in the south, if you consider Northern Virginia in the south, with a break of four years in the hot but dry climate of Cairo, Egypt from 1962-1966.  It was there that I attended high school, growing up away from the bad influences of an American high school.  I went to school with sons and daughters of diplomats from fifteen different countries and it was their influences that molded me.


As I grow older, I find that not only do I like the south because of its lifestyle and low cost of living but because of its mild and short winters.  As a result, where we live in the south only has 10-12 weeks of cold weather and maybe (just maybe) 3-5 weeks or really cold weather.  


This leaves us with FORTY WEEKS of relatively great weather.

Spring can start in the middle of March and Fall can last until the end of December.


With that said, Spring is my favorite season not just because nature is growing back out of winter, but because of the warm but not too warm temperatures and the lack of humidity.  As my wife and I grow older, humidity and freezing cold really bothers us.


In the spring, the trees and bushes start to grow back after being trimmed in the fall.  The leaves on the trees start to grow out.  We begin to see squirrels and rabbits moving through the yards.  Birds of all kinds are out, letting everyone know where they are.  We plant flowers, put out our deck furniture, and plant our vegetable from which we will eat most of the summer, freezing what we cannot eat for the winter.


Spring brings the pollen but that does not seem to bother me as much as it does my wife.  What bothers me are the bees and the insects and mosquitos that bite me, causing me to wear long pants and long sleeve shirts when I work outside.


BUT EVEN THEN...  this is the time of the year I prefer...

Somewhat Political

 





US scientists discover never-before-seen quantum ‘species’ in twisted material


Quantum mechanics governs the world of fundamental particles, where we can see a variety of quantum phenomena that emerge due to the collective behavior of particles like electrons.

These exotic quantum states are unusual, behaving differently from anything we know, and only emerge under extreme conditions like low temperatures or high pressures. Most of these exotic quantum states remain theoretical, as they are hard to produce due to the fragility and delicacy of the quantum world.

Now, researchers from Japan and the US have observed several previously unseen quantum states in a two-dimensional material. These materials join the growing list of what the researchers call a quantum zoo.


Michael Jackson Billie Jean Live 1997

Friday, May 2

Good Evening

 


Michael Jackson Billie Jean Live 1997

The White House

 

VINCE

 

The Big THINK


Aliens, everywhere: Why scientists once assumed every planet was inhabited

Robert Reich




The Great Pushback?






Friends,

Yesterday’s May Day demonstrations across America showed that the opposition to Trump continues to grow.

Hundreds of thousands of people swelled in resistance to his dictatorial agenda. Not just in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Washington, but also in small communities that voted overwhelmingly for Trump.

The size and breadth of these demonstrations will almost certainly lead to larger national mobilizations. On Sunday, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said, “It’s time to fight everywhere and all at once. Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now.”

Republican town halls are becoming so combative that many Republican lawmakers have stopped holding them altogether (in many cases, Democratic lawmakers have appeared in their places).


At A Glance


(4/9/25) A 30-second test reveals how well you're aging.

(4/29/25) What your earwax says about your health.

(4/9/25) What is your state's median household income?

(4/2/25) Farmer seeks to revive a biblical superfood.

(4/23/25) The 77-year-old as fit as a 25-year-old.

(4/4/25) Rock used as doorstop turns out to be worth over $1M.

(4/30/25) Child damages $57M Rothko painting.

(4/17/25) Panama City Beach is calling it quits with spring break.

(4/21/25) Meet the northern snakehead, the invasive land-walking fish.

(4/2/25) Why you might be tired despite getting enough sleep.

(4/8/25) America's 51 most beautiful places to visit.

Clickbait: Olympian demolishes other school parents.

Good Moning

 


Be Ready for Anything - 10 Tips for a Healthy Mind and Body !

Quick Clips

 









In The NEWS


Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> Barbra Streisand announces new studio album to be released June 27; will feature collaborations with Sir Paul McCartney, Mariah Carey, Bob Dylan, Ariana Grande, and others (More)

> Renowned sports agent Jeff Sperbeck dies at age 62 after sustaining injuries from falling off a golf cart driven by NFL legend John Elway (More)

> Nominations for the 78th Annual Tony Awards (June 8) to be announced this morning (8:30 am ET, CBS) (More)


Science & Technology
> Brain study reveals human consciousness may depend more on sensory input than previously believed and challenges two leading theories on its origin in the mind; results of seven-year study may inform treatments for incapacitated patients (More)

> Researchers achieve strongest-ever coupling between a qubit and a light particle; advance may allow the readout of information from quantum computers in a few nanoseconds (More) | Quantum computing, explained (More)

> Young bats learn to tell the difference between the sounds of various prey at an early age, suggesting the ability is not an ingrained evolutionary trait (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 +0.2%, Dow +0.4%, Nasdaq -0.1%) as investors digest a batch of new economic data and earnings reports (More)

> Microsoft shares rise nearly 7% in after-hours trading after beating forecasts, with quarterly revenue rising 13% year-over-year to $70B, driven by cloud business (More) | Meta shares rise 5% in after-hours trading after posting stronger-than-expected Q1 results, with quarterly revenue rising 16% year-over-year to $42B (More)

> Amazon plans to invest $4B by end of 2026 and add 200 delivery stations across the US as part of its expansion into small towns and underserved areas (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> Ukraine and the US sign deal giving the US preferential access to Ukraine's rare earth minerals, oil, and gas in exchange for ongoing military support; countries will co-own and manage an investment fund for extraction projects in Ukraine (More) | See latest war updates (More)

> Pakistan says it has credible evidence India will strike within 36 hours; statement comes amid heightened tensions following last week's gun attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir (More) | See previous write-up (More)

> Diabetes deaths fall to their lowest levels in years, new CDC data finds; in 2021, the condition was the eighth leading cause of death in the US (More)


SOURCE:  1440 NEWS

Our Downsized Home

 

Our downsized home of 1,400 square feet is smaller than our previous of 2,600 square feet but a little bigger than the 1,300 square feet that was on the first level in which we lived 99% of the time.


Our yard was an acre and now our yard is 1/4 to 1/3 of that size and takes considerably less time to mow and maintain.


We have lived in this house for almost two years now and find it a more pleasurable experience that our previous home, especially since there are no stairs to climb up or down.


Our neighbors on both sides and across the street are our age and are very friendly and supportive, plus we have younger neighbors farther away that are also very friendly.


Don't get me wrong, this house was not perfect when we moved in, and we have made a lot of changes and done quite a lot of refurbishing, but we got it to where we are content and pleased.


We have used our experiences and our savings and investments to pretty much have exactly what we want for the next decade and a half of our lives.  If we live longer than that, it may be assisted living that we move into next.

Somewhat Political

 






Physicists Found an Entirely New Way to Measure Time


Determining the passage of time in our world of ticking clocks and oscillating pendulums is a simple case of counting the seconds between 'then' and 'now'.

Down at the quantum scale of buzzing electrons, however, 'then' can't always be anticipated. Worse still, 'now' often blurs into a haze of vagueness. A stopwatch simply isn't going to work for some scenarios.

A potential solution could be found in the very shape of the quantum fog itself, according to a 2022 study by researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden.  Their experiments on the wave-like nature of something called a Rydberg state revealed a novel way to measure time that doesn't require a precise starting point.

Rydberg atoms are the over-inflated balloons of the particle kingdom. Puffed up with lasers instead of air, these atoms contain electrons in extremely high energy states, orbiting far from the nucleus.


Grand Funk Railroad - We're an American Band (1973 Studio Footage)

Thursday, May 1

Good Evening

 

Our Lives

 


Lips

 

Oranges


 

The White House

 

Lara Trump

 

Brookings Brief


The future of income-driven repayment for federal student loans

Robert Reich


Mayday! And May Day
We are inching ever closer to the end




Friends,

May Day has two meanings, both of which are directly applicable to today. It commemorates the solidarity of the labor movement (139 years ago today, workers gathered in the streets of Chicago to demand an eight-hour day).

“Mayday!” is also a distress signal used by pilots to indicate imminent danger or a life-threatening emergency (derived from the French phrase “m’aider,” meaning “help me”).

That about sums it up: Our solidarity is necessary to overcome the imminent dangers we now face — all from Donald J. Trump.

I doubt we can wait until the midterm elections to contain him. Unless we stop the damage he’s doing to both our democracy and our economy before then, much of it will be irreversible. It’s not even clear what sort of election we’ll be able to have 18 months from now.


At A Glance


Seagull imitators compete in European screeching championship.

Blue Jays player makes behind-the-back catch after falling.

Professors staff a fake company entirely with AI agents.

... and why you shouldn't always rely on Dr. Google.

What are core memories, and how do you create them?

Forbes releases list of the richest person in every state.

Disney and Make-A-Wish celebrate 45 years with week of wishes.

What happens to the Sistine Chapel during a conclave?

Clickbait: The newest "Golden Girls" move into the Philadelphia Zoo.

Good Morning

 

Healthy Body Yoga - Yoga With Adriene