Category Archives: Nature

Engineering The World’s Longest Suspension Bridge

I use to work in the engineering field (marketing specialist) and have always had an interest in infrastructure/engineering. The Strait of Messina Bridge scheduled to begin construction next year, will be the world’s longest suspension bridge if they can get through several hurdles.

Located in Italy, the bridge will connect Torre Faro in Sicily with Villa San Giovanni in the Italian Peninsula. Many challenges need to be addressed including the impact of earthquakes, strong currents in the strait, concerns of disruption of bird migration routes, and even the infiltration of mafia groups!

From the YouTube video description:

“The Strait of Messina Bridge, once complete, will become the longest single-span suspension bridge. This ambitious project will take 6 years to complete and aims to connect Sicily to mainland Italy and Europe. However, this project has its own unique challenges; the bridge will be subject to high winds and earthquakes that have never been witnessed at a bridge site before. From the design to the construction process, we will uncover the fascinating details behind this ambitious project. Whether you’re a bridge enthusiast, an engineering student, or simply curious about large-scale infrastructure, this video will provide you with a captivating insight into the world of civil engineering.”

Read more about the bridge here.

This will be quite the engineering feat if they are succesful in their design and construction. Course I don’t think I’d want to drive over this bridge on a windy day!

DCG

Dear Kansas, We borrowed your tornadoes, but promise to return them ASAP

Wedge tornado hits Fort Pierce, FL

First, thank you for your prayers.

Second, now that we are back from North Carolina,  we had another hurricane to face in Florida.

In the days leading up to the arrival of “Milton,” we were in heavy downpours. Someone wanted to know what it was like, so I answered, “Think of Vietnam in rainy season.” This made it much harder to put the armor onto the house.

We finished putting shutters up, and within an hour the tornado warnings began. They went on for hours, one after another, and when I checked the links it was alarming to see how many came close to our house. Then I saw some videos and was surprised to see these were not the usual Florida tornadoes, aka glorified waterspouts. No, these were long track tornadoes, some of them wedge shaped.

There were surprisingly few casualties, thank God. But some people lost their lives. Some we need prayers for those who lost someone.

TD

Step outside to witness new life and relief

The world today can just be too crazy. With the US economy and politics, “wokeness” shoved down your throat in every issue, tensions in the Middle East and with Russia, and reading the news — it can just about drive you crazy.

How do I escape from it all? I enjoy reading and cooking. I also step outside to my backyard and enjoy nature.

For the second year in a row, we had two Goldfinch (I believe that is the species) nest in a backyard tree and have witnessed the birth of their babies. This could be the same pair from last year as they tend to be monogamous.

On Saturday the mama was sitting on our fence and we approached it as I thought it had a claw stuck in the wire around one of the posts. It managed to flutter a bit as we got closer and moved just a bit down the fence line. But I knew it was not okay. Then the Goldfinch ended up on the ground. We figured it must have flown into something and was “stunned” for a bit. We left a plate of water nearby, retreated, and prayed that the bird would recover.

And recover she did!

On Monday I saw two babies pop their heads up from the nest and in the afternoon they had managed to leave the nest for a nearby branch. From a good distance I was able to capture some photos:

Mama Goldfinch on the right, two babies to the left.

Closeup of the babies.

Both parents have been very protective of the babies, chirping whenever we (or our cats) get too close to the nest. The parents have even been “dive bombing” our cats on the back patio. Once I noticed this I’d go outside with the cats to deter the birds from coming too close to a cat and avoid being caught by one of them.

Baby Goldfinch, day two out of the nest.

As of today, the babies are still staying close to the nest. From what I’ve read, they’ll be around for another week or so before the family moves on.

It’s been a great distraction from the craziness in our world to be able to step out into the backyard and watch the new bird life. A much-needed and stress-relieving break!

DCG

Embrace the groundhogs!

Chunk and his family are so cute!

DCG

NYC “rat czar” doing a bang up job…not!

NYC Rat Czar Kathleen Corradi

New York City has many problems, one of them being an out-of-control rat population. Mayor Adams appointed Kathleen Corradi as the “rat czar” in April 2023, with an annual salary of $155,000.

It’s been almost a year, so how are things going for Corradi in her new position? Just about how you’d expect:

Eric Adams’ war on rats ‘smoke and mirrors’ as NYC rodent complaints spike nearly 8%

From NY Post:

“Rodent complaints have spiked nearly 8% across New York City since Mayor Eric Adams took office — despite his ballyhooed multi-million dollar war on rats and vow from Day One to make headway against the vermin, troubling 311 data shows.

There were 41,748 rat sightings and other vermin-related complaints made through the city’s 311 hotline in 2023, up 1.5% from 41,120 a year before; up 7.6% percent from the 38,809 complaints fielded in 2021 during Bill de Blasio’s final year as mayor; and 32% more than the 31,644 complaints in 2019, a Post analysis of city records found.

For at least the fifth straight year, Brooklyn — where Adams previously served as borough president — was home to more rat complaints than any other NYC borough with 15,769, up 5% from 15,032 in 2022.”

Read the whole story here.

I’m fresh out of sympathy for these democrat-run cities. Y’all voted for this. They got one choice at this point since they never change their voting habits:

DCG

NASA captures amazing “Christmas Tree Cluster” of stars

From NASA:

“This new image of NGC 2264, also known as the “Christmas Tree Cluster,” shows the shape of a cosmic tree with the glow of stellar lights. NGC 2264 is, in fact, a cluster of young stars — with ages between about one and five million years old — in our Milky Way about 2,500 light-years away from Earth. The stars in NGC 2264 are both smaller and larger than the Sun, ranging from some with less than a tenth the mass of the Sun to others containing about seven solar masses.

This new composite image enhances the resemblance to a Christmas tree through choices of color and rotation. The blue and white lights (which blink in the animated version of this image) are young stars that give off X-rays detected by NASA’s Chandra X-ray ObservatoryOptical data from the National Science Foundation’s WIYN 0.9-meter telescope on Kitt Peak shows gas in the nebula in green, corresponding to the “pine needles” of the tree, and infrared data from the Two Micron All Sky Survey shows foreground and background stars in white. This image has been rotated clockwise by about 160 degrees from the astronomer’s standard of North pointing upward, so that it appears like the top of the tree is toward the top of the image.”

Read more about the cluster here.

Truly amazing!

DCG

Baby swept away in Tennessee tornado found alive!

Last Sunday Tennessee had a EF-3 tornado which killed six people. A four-month-old baby was swept away and miracously survived!

More from NY Post:

“A Tennessee couple and their two children are seeking a new home after a large tornado ripped through their community and swept up their 4-month-old child, who was found alive in a nearby tree following the tragedy.

Sydney Moore, her boyfriend and their children were inside their home last Saturday in Clarksville when the EF-3 tornado, which left six people dead and more than two dozen injured, touched down in Montgomery County.

Moore said the tornado, which destroyed the couple’s mobile home and other belongings, picked up her 4-month-old child, who managed to survive the horrific event.

Recalling what exactly happened that evening, Moore told the outlet that her boyfriend could see the tornado envelop their home before it was ripped to shreds and the baby’s bassinet was picked up. “The roof came off first, the tip of the tornado came down and picked up the bassinet with our baby,” she said. “He was the first thing to go up.”

“I thought he was dead,” she said. “I was pretty sure he was dead and we weren’t going to find him. But he’s here, and that’s by the grace of God.”

Read the whole story here.

So glad that this baby was found alive!

DCG

Touching Moment Vanilla the Chimp Experiences the Sky for the First Time in Captivity

A story that has a wonderful ending!

https://youtu.be/mEyntFb9fto

DCG

Men go to great lengths to save a deer

These ment went to extraordinary lengths to save this deer. Quite heroic!

DCG

A happy ending: Blossom and Frankie find love!

Love this story!

DCG