RenoVous

 This time we camped for Hubby's birthday, and Wall Canyon is his favorite spot. Moonrise was much later, so our view of the stars was phenomenal. We even saw Jupiter with some shimmer on the water. Our next trip is set for the week of September 12th. More desert, more camping, but we're driving south.

 The whale shark is in fact the largest fish in all the sea.  The largest on record was 61.7 feet long. They're slow moving filter feeders, hence the whale name.  They have 300 rows of tiny teeth and 20 filter pads, and unlike most sharks, their mouth is located on the front of the head. Their skin is unique like our fingerprints, and can be up to 15cm thick.   They are the sole member of the family Rhincodontidae.   While pupping has never been documented, in 2019 grounds may have been located in the Ticao Pass of the Philippines.  During a WWF Photo Identification series, there were numerous resightings of previously recorded sharks and many juveniles were spotted. Because of their pace and preference to roam in shallow waters, they are quite vulnerable to ships and fishing nets.  In 2016, the IUCN listed them as endangered, their numbers decreasing.  Recently assessed, the classification is now "largely depleted." China is still opera...

  Taylor Swift Anitta Lil Nas X Maneskin Blackpink Offset Rachel Smith Chloe Bailey Nikki Minaj won the Video Vanguard Award Chloe Fineman This is a partnership with Instacart, created by a team of New York based artists. Trimmed with orange gumballs, it also includes jelly bean shaped pouches full of chips, candy, and dried fruit.

 The Truckee never felt so good! The horses didn't care about us, they were just thirsty. From a friend's place, alongside Bordertown. And with that, this will be an Open Thread as I will be off tomorrow.  :-)

  Since I'll be off on Friday, I wanted to touch base on this Science today. James Webb has captured new images of Jupiter. We can see Northern and Southern auroras, and around the middle, a slight glimpse of the rings. Further out, we can see the moon, Amalthea. "The numerous bright white spots and streaks are likely very high-altitude cloud tops of condensed convective storms," said Heidi Hammel, Webb interdisciplinary scientist. The Great Red Spot also appears white as it is reflecting sunlight. Of course, this image is produced from multiple images and various filters.  Jupiter is even more difficult to map because of how fast it rotates. NASA

  Today's Google Doodle brings our attention to Anna Mani, Indian physicist and meteorologist. She would have been 104 today. She earned a Bachelor of Science with honors in Physics and Chemistry.  At the age of 22, she received a scholarship from the Indian Institute of Science.  Although she completed five research papers and a dissertation, they wouldn't give her a PhD without a Master's degree, so she obtained another scholarship to attend the Imperial College of London.  There she specialized in meteorological instruments, their calibration and standardization. In 1948, she returned to India and joined the Meteorological Department.  She wanted to make India self-sufficient by designing and manufacturing its own weather instruments.  She constructed rain gauges, hydrographs, thermographs, barographs, barometers, anemographs, etc.  She was most interested in solar energy and set up a network of stations to measure solar radiation.   She r...

I came across this unexpected wedding gown this weekend, and Vogue created an article about the major moment pink is having. Olive Uniacke Anna Rhodes Harriet Hall Charlie Porter Jamaica Walden Of course, it isn't a new idea. Gwen Stefani wore a pink dipped dress in 2002. Jennifer Biel in 2012. Mandy Moore, 2018 And more. Pallas Couture Christian Siriano Monique Lhuillier

  Since 1959, the US Navy has trained dolphins and sea lions as teammates, to help guard against threats underwater. With their sophisticated sonar system, dolphins are trained to search for and mark the locations of mines, while sea lions are trained to locate and attach recovery lines to Navy equipment.  Both animals assist in security by detecting and apprehending unauthorized swimmers and divers. Dolphins have also assisted in locating the elusive and endangered vaquita. More recently, a team decided to put cameras on the dolphins and get a new perspective on how they hunt. They also found that one dolphin had a particular preference for venomous sea snakes. It's really easy to miss though.  The video on the article slows it down, as well as another feeding. Link My dogs really reacted to those squeaks.

  Curious about what I share my birthday with, I came across this, a celebration of the "Occasion of the Birth of Krishna." An annual Hindu festival, it doesn't always occur on this day.  According to their lunisolar calendar, it is the eighth "tithi" of the Krishna Paksha in Bhadrapada Masa.  This overlaps with August or September. Krishna was born in chaos, a time of persecution.  His uncle, King Kamsa, was told by fortune tellers that a child of his brother, Devaki, would kill him.  So Krishna was taken across the river to be raised by foster parents.  When his uncle tried to kill him, he appeared as the Hindu goddess, Yogmaya. He later returned to Mathura to kill the tyrant king and reinstated his grandfather. Krishna is one of the most popular and widely revered among Indian deities.  He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love.  He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu. Dahi Handi is a traditional competition that ta...

 Last week I mentioned we'd be camping near Lassen - turns out, the campsite was in the park! We had a pretty nice spot right near Summit Lake. Driving out past Lassen Peak, Lake Helen. We also passed by Sulphur Works, which you smell before you see.  We didn't walk up to the Ridge Lakes but I could hear the water flowing all around us. So that's National Park #3 that we've been to.