California's Periods of Rain are Becoming More Focused

These folks are from the successor department that incorporated my old department at the University of Arizona. Apparently California precipitation is occurring in shorter bursts, and that the trend started some time ago.:

The researchers also found that precipitation variability is decreasing in the northern part of California in the fall. "That's where you get most of the water resources and also that's where you have a lot of the forested areas," Zamora-Reyes said. 

"We're also seeing that less of these really wet events are coming in the fall, and instead we're getting most of the precipitation concentrated in winter. We're seeing this pattern across California. If you look statewide, you see the same trend in both precipitation and stream flow."

...Zamora-Reyes was surprised by the team's results.

"I was expecting to see an increase in variability over the last 20 years at most," she said, "but we've been seeing a steady increase for much longer. People are noticing. I've talked to strangers about my research, and they say they've noticed what I'm talking about. It's been interesting and eye-opening to see my research play out in real time."

Katherine's Mission to Improve Hospital Care

After her recent alarming first-hand hospital experience, cardiac nurse Katherine is on a mission to improve patient care in hospitals through patient advocacy. She was among the healthiest people of all in Zumba class, until she got sick. Give her a listen!

 

Old Music Is Killing New Music

The cost of Oldies:

As record labels lose interest in new music, emerging performers desperately search for other ways to get exposure. They hope to place their self-produced tracks on a curated streaming playlist, or license their songs for use in advertising or the closing credits of a TV show. Those options might generate some royalty income, but they do little to build name recognition. You might hear a cool song on a TV commercial, but do you even know the name of the artist? You love your workout playlist at the health club, but how many song titles and band names do you remember? You stream a Spotify new-music playlist in the background while you work, but did you bother to learn who’s singing the songs? 

Decades ago, the composer Erik Satie warned of the arrival of “furniture music,” a kind of song that would blend seamlessly into the background of our lives. His vision seems closer to reality than ever.

Vank Walen - "Your Jumpin' Heart"

Breaking Bad and Surrealism

 

I'm intrigued by this video on Breaking Bad and Surrealism, particularly since I'm studying the same subject. The author, Angelo Restivo from Georgia State, approaches the subject from a background in Surreal Film. It's intriguing how we tend to gravitate to the same scenes.