Eye on Faith: March 2019

Sunday, March 31, 2019

Space 'Butterfly'

Westerhout 40 (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

For the poetically inclined, outer space is one huge Rorschach test.

The latest mythological discovery is Westerhout 40’s “space butterfly.” This so-called creature is actually a

star nursery, from which hundreds of fiery babies will fly the coop.

Which just goes to show… Reality is infinitely more astounding than poetry.

Resources

https://www.mirror.co.uk/science/nasas-spitzer-space-telescope-captures-14198173

Saturday, March 30, 2019

Balmy in March at 35⁰ Fahrenheit

Thawed Permafrost (Photo by Awing88)

When Alaska is consistently warmer than usual, it could be a sign that all is not well.

So what could be wrong with liquid glaciers and gaseous permafrost? In a word: plenty.

When sea ice breaks up, coastal cities particularly pay the price. They are no longer protected from “monster storms” and are easily flooded.

Permafrost is a vast storehouse of carbon. When thawing, it releases large amounts of methane, a gas that is “30 times more potent” than carbon dioxide at trapping heat. This vicious cycle can accelerate warming trends even further.

It’s not too late to reverse the cycle. However, it very soon might be.

Resources

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/weather/alaska-temps-expected-to-soar-40-degrees-above-normal/ar-BBVmmNw?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=BHEA000

Friday, March 29, 2019

Feeling no pain, literally

Ouch! (Photo by Sasha Wolff)

Even a simple headache could make a body wish for pain to go away. But what if it did? For real? Totally?

Such is the boon (plight?) of Jo Cameron, who at 71 has never felt pain. Hardly a twinge. Even during childbirth.

Sounds delicious? Well maybe not. She’s been burned many times. Literally. After all, pain is nature’s way of saying, “Get away from that hot stove!” Ditto on sharp knives. Cameron’s no stranger to cuts, either.

Blame it on her genes. In particular, a gene that “scientists call FAAH-OUT.” We all have it, but Cameron’s version is different. She “has a deletion that removes the front of the gene.”

Along with this lack of pain comes a tendency to forget. But hey, who wouldn’t want to forget what a migraine feels like?

Resources

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/health-news/at-71-shes-never-felt-pain-or-anxiety-now-scientists-know-why/ar-BBVlpnB?OCID=ansmsnnews11