Hello All - spring has sprung and we in the Rocky Mountains are enjoying the yo-yo weather of the season - 70degF days alternating with snow and freezing temperatures. Not complaining here - we need the moisture - for the year we are short on total precipitation by over 2". And now, fire season is an ever-present concern. For us, this variable weather makes planning what to wear to play golf a big problem.

This month marks the 100th anniversary of Weiner Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. As most know, our award-winning sci/fi-fantasy Nexus Series is based in all things Quantum. Science is the guiding principle we use to anchor each book - parallel universes, uncertainty principle, singularities, and now in Quantum Time, book 4 in the series, we use the relativistic nature of time and its non-linear behavior in the quantum realm as a plot point. So, hurrah to Dr. Heisenberg and a big thanks for the inspiration! It is also the 90th anniversary of Erwin Schrödinger's cat-in-a-box thought experiment. Gotta love cats! In the early part of the twentieth century, all this 'new' and wacky quantum stuff spurred the largest debate in science. It was Albert Einstein versus Neils Bohr. The battle of physics giants - one espousing the largest things in our universe versus the other concerned with the smallest. A debate between relativity and quantum theory which still rages today.   

This month there is so much going on in science we didn't know what to choose. So we decided to present snippets of things within some larger areas of study - genetics, medicine, geoscience, and space. You can pick what's of interest and dive deeper with the links.

And, after much debate, we will be adding a new section. To start we're simply calling it 'Opinion'. We here in the US are coming to the realization we're not as 'united' as we use to be. And are struggling with the ever changing political impact of the new administration and the changes to various governmental departments. The overall impact on science - with the cancellation of funding, firing of experts, DOGE'ing of departments, holding colleges and universities funding hostage - leaves all of us science types in a dark place. In the Opinion section, we will attempt to be even-handed - sticking with the facts, not naming names. After all that is what science is based in - FACTS. Focusing on the science behind some of the decisions and happenings in the hope of offering an explanation and effects of some decisions. If this isn't something you are interested in, feel free to skip over this.

Genetics: A new term arose this month - DeExtinction. On first glance, this appears to be the opposite of Extinction, and you'd be sorta correct. This isn't about cloning - no slight to Dolly and all we learned from that experiment. (NOTE: cloned animals are not fertile, whereas, animals produced by de-extinction would be capable of reproduction) No, this is about finding viable fossil-DNA hidden within an extinct species' teeth and bones, then using that to determine the extinct species genetic code. With this code, they would modify the genome of a host or relative species to rebirth the extinct species. If the John Williams' theme from Jurassic Park is rolling through your brain, go with it. Two extinct species - the woolly mammoth and the dire wolf - are being genetically reborn using CRISPR gene editing technology. Both species experiments are being conduct by the for-profit company Colossal Biosciences. In the instance of the woolly mammoth (an Elephantidae species, extinct 4000 years ago) - company scientists want to modify the genetic code of elephants to rebirth the wooly mammoth. Before they can gene-edit elephants, they began with a mouse. They made 8 alterations across seven genes-creating mutations for hair, fat storage and cold tolerance. Outcome - the woolly mouse. Obviously, that is a far cry from an elephant-size species, but it is a first-step for them. Next project for Colossal was the dire wolf (extinct 13,000 years ago). This ancestor of the gray wolf was a giant predator which preyed on the massive herbivore species of the time. The dire wolf was made famous in the Game of Thrones series. Using viable DNA found preserved in dire wolf fossil teeth, they edited 20 genes in a gray wolf genome. They then grew stem cells, created a viable embryo and implanted the embryo in a dog surrogate. Three healthy pups were born - 2 males and a female. They are larger than the gray wolf and do have dense white coats. However, they are not dire wolves. They are genetically-modified gray wolves, with dire wolf traits. With the genetic changes made, these three pups are only about 1/100,000th of a dire wolf-obviously recreating extinction is a long way from actuality. Scientists around the globe are skeptical and most concerned about the impact these experiments will have on living species. (Wolves in other clothes)

Medicine: Marburg, Ebola, Marburg, Hendra, Nipah, SARS-Co-V-1, MERS-CoV, and of course SARS-Co-V-2. Does this startling list of viruses raise the hairs on the back of your neck? It should, especially as most of the viruses listed are deadly, mutate easily, are easily-spread by contact or aerosol from animals to humans. All of the above are also trans-species viruses originating in bats. Why are we mentioning these - it's all about us. Humans have caused climate changes, food source scarcity, and habitat crises which are stressing bats around the world and increasing the chance of interactions between bats and humans. Though bats have unique immune systems which allow them to carry many infectious viruses, stressing their systems enhances viral development, and with the increasing chances of contact as habitats shrink, the next viral pandemic will originate in bats and is just around the corner. (Bats and Humans) It was 100 years between the Spanish flu H1N1 pandemic and COVID-19. Scientists predict the next pandemic will occur within next 5 years. (Not If - When)

GeoScience: Geologists have often wondered why Chomolungma (Mt. Everest) is taller than its neighbors and is still growing. It seems the mighty peak's growth was aided by a course-change of the small Arun River. The Himalayas were created as the Indian continental tectonic plate moved northward and collided with the Eurasian continental plate. Since these plates have the same rock compositional density, one could not subduct under the other. Instead the collision folded the edges of each plate up - like pushing a throw rug up against a wall, it folds and lifts up. This uplift created the Himalayan mountain range which is responsible for the Indian monsoons, created the arid Tibetan plateau, and provides freshwater to the most populace region in the world. The uplift also impacted the course of many rivers. About 90,000 years ago, the Arun River eroded into another river's valley. This action, called river capture, changed the flow direction of the river and increased erosion over of the area around Chomolungma. Removing material due to increased river-erosion unweighted the area, allowing the mountain to increase its rate of uplift growth. This little river helped Mount Everest grow an additional 50m more than its neighbors. (50m Higher) The same process of river capture created the Grand Canyon in the US and continues to shape the course of the Colorado River.

Space: Before we talk about this month's latest and greatest events in Space, we must take a moment and say our good byes to the European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft Gaia. Launched in 2013, this mighty craft orbited at LaGrange Point 2 (L2 is the neutral gravity point between Earth's mass and the mass of the Sun, about a million miles away) for over ten years. Its mission was to map all the stars in our Milky Way galaxy, as well as track their orbits. In its 10+year mission, Gaia mapped >2billion stars, millions of galaxies outside our Milky Way, and over 150,000 asteroids. Only a fraction of all the data collected by Gaia has been studied in over 13,000 projects. The remaining data will be released in increments over the next five years. In January, the ESA used the craft's remaining fuel to send it on a course to the Sun. Their final message from Earth: "Enjoy the peace, Gaia. Thank you for guiding us to the stars. Thank you for helping us realize our dreams. Thank you for inspiring our future. Almost family." Dr. Sahlmann, project scientist, Gaia mission. (Solar Cartographer)

Heliophysics - another new term, is all about the study of our sun. This year we are entering the solar activity maximum within the overall 11 year solar activity cycle. Three missions are planned to study the sun-IMAP, ESCAPADE, and PUNCH. Why is this important? Solar activity has a direct effect on the production of solar winds, the release of highly energetic particles in solar flares and coronal mass ejections, all of which can shut down our electrical grids, disable and destroy satellites, and bathe the Earth in increased solar radiation. More to come on all the new mission discoveries! (Let the Sun Shine In)

Not only are we studying the Sun, a number of new missions and observatories will increase our ability to study deep space - since 2021 the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has awed scientists with its discoveries. This mission will continue to gather more information about the early universe. Euclid, operated by the European Space Agency, is paired with JWST at the LaGrange point and will study the 'dark universe'. Only 24% of the known mass of the universe is visible. Where is the other 76%? This is what Euclid hopes to learn. On Earth, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile will begin studying the night skies of the southern hemisphere. Using the largest camera ever built (the size of a small car and twice as heavy), the LSST camera will take a 3200 megapixel image of the sky in ultra high-resolution. Working with the same technology as the photo sensors in our smartphones, the camera will use three color filters to produce its wide-aperture images. By looking outward, we can see how small we are in this amazingly complex universe we inhabit. (Time to Look Up)

Within our own solar system many are searching for an elusive 9th planet. We use to have a 9th planet - little Pluto. But in 2005, Dr. Mike Brown used his astronomical studies to relegate Pluto to 'trans-Neptunian object' status. Booo... Dr. Brown's young daughter stated - if you're going to discount Pluto then you need to find another 9th planet. And so now he is searching for Planet Nine. The Vera C. Rubin observatory will aid in his search. The unknown 9th planet is an illusive and dark mass thought to be larger than Earth, orbiting at the farthest reaches of our solar system. The irregularities in the orbits of the two ice-planets - Uranus and Neptune - tell astronomers something is out there. We'll see if the new observatory can find it.

541 kilometers per second? The orbital speed of the fastest solar system in the Milky Way Galaxy. This system was discovered by Gaia. Our solar system orbits at 240 kilometers per second. It takes us about 250 million years to make one revolution around Sagittarius A* (A-star) at the center of the galaxy.

Are there more trees on Earth than galaxies in the Universe? Trees on Earth! Based on the latest survey there are 3.04 trillion trees in our global forests. Finland has the densest tree coverage at 72,644 trees per square kilometer. There are approximately 2 trillion galaxies in the known universe.

Mt. Everest towering over its neighbors. Credit: Nir B. Gurung, WKIMEDIA COMMONS

Infrared satellite image of the Eaton Fire in Altadena, CA showing the heat signatures of burning buildings. Fire spread was fueled by wind-blown embers, which can travel > 2 miles - note: the isolated spot fires in far eastern portion of the image. Credit: Maxar/Getty Images

Ms. Young joined NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the predecessor of NASA) in 1922 as a laboratory assistant. She was the first woman employed by NACA and it was 13 years before another woman was hired. In 1919 she graduated with honors from University of North Dakota with triple bachelor degrees (physics-math-chemistry). Early on after her hiring, Young realized the engineers she worked with struggled to communicate their findings, through lack of time and expertise in cogent writing skills. She recommended establishing a technical editor department to meet this challenge. Throughout her career, she fought against sexism and gender bias. Her staunch advocacy for the editing department as well as for women, earned her the title of hellion. Her Style Manual for Engineering Authors, published in 1943, is still used at NASA today. (You Go Girl! )

Dr. Chory was a pioneering biologist whose work transformed molecular plant biology. Her most important work was the idea of using plants to mitigate global warming through carbon sequestration. She died after fighting Parkinson's disease for 20 years at the age of 69. After receiving a PhD from University of Illinois, Dr. Chory completed a post-doc fellowship at Harvard Medical School. Her seminal work was discovering the genes which regulate seed growth in the dark under soil and the switch to other genes which regulate growth in light. She formed the Harnessing Plant Initiative at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA to develop crops which are capable of capturing and storing carbon in the soil. Her 2019 TED talk convinced donors to support this research program.(TEDPlants/Carbon)

In this new section, we will explore the impact decision-making has on science and science-related topics. As we said above, if this isn't to your liking skip over this section.

Greenland - the world's largest island - is an autonomous territory of Denmark, with a population of just over 56,000 souls. The country has occupied a lot of the news during and after the last US presidential election. So why is this arctic island nation (which has the lowest temperature ever recorded in the northern hemisphere -69.6degC (-93.3degF) and is 81% covered in ice) of interest to others? In one sense, it's all about SCALE. In another its natural resources. And lastly it's about location.

If you look at a standard map of the world, which uses a Mercator Projection, Greenland looks huge, almost as large as continental Africa. In actuality Greenland is relatively small - about 1/4 the size of the continental US and just 25% larger than Alaska. This size anomaly is the result of the map projection used. This scale problem was not understood and continues to be used in deceptive visual displays. A better projection would be an authagraph projection. The perceptual-size problem is due to Greenland's position near the top of the sphere of our world, when the images on a spherical surface are plotted on a two-dimensional flat surface, the scale of objects near the north and south poles change. So, Greenland is not as large as one thinks it is.

81% of Greenland is covered in a massive, thick ice sheet. This 'hides' the majority of the landmass from geologic exploration. However, the ice-free edges are rich in precious metals as well as the ultra-valuable Rare Earth Elements (REE). REE are made up of 17 elemental metals in the Lanthanide group. They are used in the production of almost all batteries and fuel cells, magnets and other catalytic reaction products. Everything from smartphones, TVs, electric vehicles, wind turbines and other consumer electronics require REE in their production. The term - Rare Earth - is a misnomer. These metallic elements are not rare and are more abundant than copper, occurring at 68 parts per million in the Earth's crust. However, they are widely distributed as trace impurities, thus mining and concentrating the elements is a difficult and environmentally-damaging endeavor. China currently controls over 98% of the REE production in the world. Due to the recent tariff situation, China has banned the export of REE. They hold the key to REEs. The US has one REE mine in California. The REE, metals, petroleum and strategic resources in Greenland are no more prevalent there than those in the US. It would be a fools errand to think one could economically-develop the resources on this island continent in a timely manner.

As climate change warms our planet and the polar ice caps melt, open seas are forming in the northern Arctic. This allows shipping lanes to be available across the top of the world. It also opens access to natural resources - petroleum, mining, fishing. Greenland occupies a geographically-strategic position to monitor activities across this area. The US operates one military base in Greenland - Pituffic Space Base. The base monitors the skies over the North Pole serving as a missile early warning system for NATO and a surveillance outpost for space-based activities. Located 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle and staffed by 6000 personnel, the base is in a strategic locale for monitoring activities across the Arctic. Other bases could be added to keep watch over this evolving geographic area.

Lastly, Denmark, Greenland and the US are signatories to the NATO alliance. Any advance against Greenland would not only be seen as imperialism by other countries, but would fracture the strategic military alliance protecting the world.

IT'S DONE!! Quantum Time is in the hands of my editors. The cover is ready, thanks to the amazing creative genius of Rachel George. The audio book companion will be narrated by Hillary Huber. Keep an eye on Instagram (C.A. Farlow) and Facebook (Facebook) for the publication date!

Just a reminder for our readers - we always provide the reference to the information shared - it's usually in a link. Make sure you click on the link if you're interested in learning more about the subject.

AI is never used in the design, construction or editing of our newsletters.

We'll be back next month with another installment. Be well, be kind. CA