Moths Just Trying To Orient Themselves

Science gets around to why moths act bonkers around lights:

The insects are not actually drawn to the glow like “moths to a flame,” as the old saying suggests, but rather trapped in a disorienting orbit around the artificial light, scientists reported in a study published January 30 in the journal Nature Communications.

By using motion-capture cameras — and filming with infrared illumination so as not to disrupt the creatures’ vision — the researchers showed that when the insects flew around a light source, they were tilting their backs toward the light and keeping their bodies in that direction. By maintaining this orientation, the hapless critters created odd orbits and steering patterns, according to the study.

...When artificial light does not interfere, nocturnal insects keep their backs pointed toward whatever direction is brightest, which is typically the sky versus the ground. 

This evolutionary trick has helped the critters know which way is up and keep them level during their night flights. However, when the insects pass by an artificial light source, they become disoriented, believing that the human-made lighting is the sky, said co-lead study author Samuel Fabian, an entomologist and postdoctoral researcher at Imperial College London’s department of bioengineering.

About Normal

The California rainy season (since Oct. 1) has been fairly mediocre, but after the recent rains we're almost at normal levels in Sacramento (with respect to average, 103% at Sac Exec Airport and 89% at Sac City). Things have been wetter than average at the coast and drier than average in the Sierra Nevada. Could be a lot worse!

A Sign in the Alley

Wind, and the World’s Best Stick

Last night, when the fast-moving Pacific storm finally reached California, I said to myself, “Well, where’s the wind? This is supposed to be a super-windy storm.” 

This afternoon, the wind arrived, and what wind! So hard! If one moment stands out, it was watching a harried woman speaking on a cellphone and staring straight ahead, dragging her dog on a leash behind her through a crosswalk. The dog was reluctant to follow because the winds had dropped at his feet the World’s Best Stick, and you just can’t leave that in the street.

Briefly Attended Palestinian Demonstration Today

I briefly attended the tail end of the demonstration organized by the Sacramento Regional Coalition for Palestinian Rights on Sacramento's K Street Mall.  I missed seeing special guest Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib.

I'm of divided mind regarding Palestinian rights in the current circumstances. I sympathize with Palestinians concerning their displacement and having their rights stripped away. Still, I also sympathize with the Israeli Jews in their effort to build a homeland. Unfortunately, this conflict is partly a legacy of colonial intervention in the Middle East, and I don't know how we'll ever set things right. "From the River to the Sea" - if it were only that simple!

Genocide or ethnic cleansing by one party or the other is never far from the agenda.  Back around 1977, for about two weeks, I had a college roommate who was Palestinian.  He told me his favorite fantasy was to have a loaded AK-47 and ten minutes alone in an Israeli nursery.  I never forgot that.  And that was 46 years ago.  Feelings have only hardened since then.

For all the ways that it's been undermined over the years, no one has come up with anything better than a Two-State solution.  It's time to start that process again.

Color in My Neighborhood

There's some pretty painted boxes in my neighborhood that I hadn't really noticed before.  This is at 21st St. and Broadway.

This is at 21st Street and X Street.

This is an unusual garage-door mural near Noodles to Thai For.