Sunday, February 28, 2021
An iceberg the size of Los Angeles broke off the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica on Friday.
The iceberg had been slowly breaking away from the Brunt Ice Shelf, a nearly 500-foot-thick floating ice shelf, at about a half-mile per day since January as it pushed northeast. That crack widened several hundred feet in a matter of hours Friday before completely breaking free.
The iceberg covers from 469 to 503 square miles, roughly the size of California's largest city and slightly bigger than New York City's 468 square miles.
Saturday, February 27, 2021
Ready for work
Received a couple of fine vintage razors from Stefan out in Sweden today. I'm a sucker for a nice etch, and especially if it's in some teutonic language like Swedish or German.
Stefan always gives good value for the money, and these are no exception. Nasty sharp out of the box and ready to go -- but be attentive! They'll shave like a dream but nick you in an instant if you're not paying attention!
I'm going to put the Hellberg to work tomorrow, and maybe at some point send it off to Max for new, more interesting scales.
Good all around fun for sure. I love this stuff.
An elaborate fresco adorning a garden wall in the House of the Ceii in Pompeii has been restored to a point where its original vibrancy can be truly appreciated
The starting point -- very faded.
Excavated between May 1913 and August 1914, the House of the Ceii is notable as a rare surviving example of a home from the later Samnite era (2nd century B.C.). Its fine paintings were more recent additions, commissioned in the decades before the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D.
Characteristic of the Romans, the scene is full of activity and violence.
The lower parts of the frescoes were particularly susceptible to damage from the capillary effect drawing water up from the ground. The moisture leaves salt deposits on the surface (efflorescence) which causes severe damage to the paint layer. Over the past year, conservators have undertaken a program of consolidation to keep as much of the paint layer attached to the backing as possible, and cleaned the deposits by both chemical and mechanical means. The most stubborn efflorescence could only be removed with a laser.
Wolves have moved from Oregon into eastern California
A gray wolf (canis lupus) has been observed in counties of California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range, with the animal returning to territory from which it’s been absent from for nearly a century. The GPS-tracked wolf, designated OR-93, has traveled south from Oregon, passing through Modoc County and Alpine County. Most recently, the wolf entered Mono County.
The journey of the young male wolf represents new territorial range from the species. Biologists believe it’s possible the wolf’s presence could result in the formation of new wolf packs in the Sierra Nevada region, should the animal prove successful in returning to the area with a mate. The wolf broke off from Oregon’s White River Pack southeast of Mt. Hood sometime within the past few months. Previously, wolves that ventured into California from Oregon didn’t travel south of Lake Tahoe, the single largest alpine lake in North America, that straddles the California-Nevada border.
Wolves can get to be surprisingly big when living in a deer rich environment.
