Transcript

6.12.25 · Science Show KY

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Speaker 1: Welcome to Radioized Diary of Science and Nature. Your reader's
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Kelly Taylor. I have some articles related to the topics
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of science and nature. But first a reminder that RADIOI
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is a reading service intended for people who are blind
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or have other disabilities that make it difficult to read
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pern in material. Our first article is going to come
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from BuzzFeed and the date on this is June fourth.
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The headline reads, so that's why mosquitoes bite some people
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more than others. If you've ever been in an outdoor
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party or barbecue during the fading hours of daylight and
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don't personally notice an increase in the number of mosquitoes,
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you'll probably hear someone complaining about it. That's because mosquitos
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are selective insects, and some people are more likely to
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get bites than others. There are a few factors that
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could contribute to why this happens. In one controlled study
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by the Journal of Medical Entomology, the bugs landed on
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people with blood type OH nearly twice as frequently as
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those with type A. The researchers noted this has to
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do with secretions we produce, which tips mosquitoes off on
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a person's blood type. More research needs to be conducted
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on mosquito's potential preferences for certain blood types over others,
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said Jonathan F. Day, entomology professor at the Versity of Florida.
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But he agreed that mosquitoes do pick up on some
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cues we give off that make the bugs more likely
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to land on certain people. Quote. These cues let them
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know they are going to a blood source, they said.
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Perhaps CO two is the most important. The amount of
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CO two you produce, like people with high metabolic rates, genetic,
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other factors, increases the amount of carbon dioxide to give off.
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The more you give off, the more attractive you are
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to these arthropods. But what separates us from the non
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living entities that give off carbon dioxide like cars? Mosquitoes
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look for primary cues in conjunction with what Day calls
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secondary cues. Lactic acid, the stuff that causes our muscles
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to cramp during exercise, is one of those secondary cues.
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For example, lactic acid is released through the skin, signaling
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to mosquitos that we are a target. Mosquitos also have
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other qualities that help them pick up on secondary cues. Quote,
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Mosquitoes have excellent vision, but they fly close to the
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ground to stay out of the wind. Day said, they
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are able to contrast you with the horizon, so how
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you are dressed matters. If you have on dark clothes,
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you're going to attract more because you'll stand out from
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the horizon, whereas those wearing light colors won't as much.
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A mosquito also takes in tactile cues once it is
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landed on you. Quote. Body heat is a really important
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tactile cue. Day said that comes into play with genetic
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differences or physiological differences. Some people tend to run a
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little warmer when they land. They're looking for a place
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where blood is close to the skin. That means those
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whose temperatures are a little higher are more likely to
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get the bite. Lifestyle or other health factors may also
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play a role, said Melissa P. Lang, a dermatologistic Cleveland Clinic. Quote.
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If body temperature is higher, you're exercising and moving around
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a lot, or if you're drinking alcohol, you are more
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attractive to mosquitoes, to Lang, sid being pregnant or being
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overweight also increases metabolic rate. One study showed that people
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who consume just one can of beer were more at
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risk of attracting mosquitoes than those who didn't. Of course,
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drinking outside is a popular summer in fall activity. If
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you've been moving around all day doing yard work and
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then you stop around dusk and drink a beer on
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your patio, you're definitely at risk of bites. Pi Lang
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sid Well how to prevent mosquito bites. Just because you
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might be more prone to bytes doesn't mean they have
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to be and inevitability. One of the very best things
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to do is to avoid peak activity times for mosquitos.
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Day said. There are very very few species that are
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active in the middle of the day. They are very
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selective sunrise and sunset or when you'll see peak activity.
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Switching your early morning run to an after work run
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could help here. Of course, this tip won't help if
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you are, say, throwing a barbecue for friends later at night.
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Try to cover as much skin as you can in
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these cases, Day said, especially in areas or at times
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mosquitoes are most likely to be present. I love the
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fishing shirts and the long legged outdoor pants that are breathable,
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but they prevent mosquitoes. Day said. A repellent that has
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a good protection time defined is the time for when
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you apply to when you get the first bite is
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also great. Roughly five percent deep sprays that's d e
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T gives you ninety minutes of complete coverage. Deet is
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a common gredient in insect repellents, and sprays with deat
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are probably the way to go if you know you're
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at risk of bites. Despite the controversy over the health
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effects of deat, a twenty fourteen review by the EPA
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reconcluded that normal use of deep products does not pose
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a risk to one's health, including children, pregnant women, and
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breastfeeding women. Deet is the most effective Pilliang said. If
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you're going to be in a mosquito prone place, knowing
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that they can carry disease, it is your best bet.
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Take a shower later to wash it off and put
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on just a little bit. Always read the directions on
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the spray before using it, and help children apply products
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by following the United States Centers for Disease Control and
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Prevention guidelines. And while you may have heard the candles
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containing natural repellents like citronella oil can be useful, there
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is no research to support it yet. Instead, keep the
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fan on or hang out in a breezy area. Mosquitoes
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can't get around very much, especially in wind. To fill
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Leang said, you can run a fan to keep air moving.
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If you do end up with a bite, you may
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or may not be bothered. This all depends on how
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allergic you are to the chemicals and the saliva of
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the mosquito, and that can vary based on the type
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of the mosquito or how reactive you and your skin
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are to things in the environment. If it is itchy,
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the worst possible thing you can do is scratch it.
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If you do, then more histamine is released and it
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gets itchier, she says Pilliang. If you scratch it, you're
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also more likely to break skin. You can get bleeding
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scabs and put yourself at risk for infection and scarring.
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But there are a few simple things you can do
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to alleviate the itch, like putting an ice cube on it.
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The sensation of cold travels on the same nerve as itch,
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so you cannot feel both at the same time. Piliang
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said even a drink with ice on it will help
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relieve itch immediately if you've received several bites after a
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morning or even outside. She also recommended over the counter
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anti itch creams with a mild topical steroid like hydrocortisome.
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You can apply that two or three times a day
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to reduce itch, she said. And the last thing you
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can do if you're really bit up is take an antihistamine.
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It can counteract the reaction a bit. While over the
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counter types that make you drowsy, like benadryll are more common,
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you can take non drowsing antihistamines like Xertec or Allegra
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for daytime relief. Of course, prevention is always better than treatments.
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Of use these tips to stave off bites in the
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first place as you head out for the season's remaining
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barbecues and tailgates. Turning now to USA Today, and this
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headline reads where are the hurricanes? Top forecast says a
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busy season is still on the way. This is from
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June eleventh. In USA Today, the tropics may be relatively
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quiet for the moment, but the latest forecast outlook for
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the twenty two twenty five Atlantic hurricane season doesn't expect
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that to last. A more active than normal season is
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still expected, reports the Tropical Research Team at Colorado State University.
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The forecast is unchanged from its initial April release. Which
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calls for seventeen named storms, nine hurricanes, and four major hurricanes.
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Activity is expected to be about one hundred and twenty
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five percent of the average hurricane season from nineteen ninety
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one to twenty twenty. Activity in twenty twenty four, with
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five landfalling hurricanes in the mainland United States was about
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one hundred and thirty percent of average. The Colorado State
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team also sees an above average probability of major hurricanes
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making landfall along the continental United States coastline and in
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the Caribbean. So far, the twenty twenty five hurricane season
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is exhibiting characteristics similar to nineteen ninety six, ninety nine,
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two thousand and eight, one eleven, and twenty twenty one,
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says the lead author, Phil Klotzback, senior research scientist at
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Colorado State's Atmospheric Science Department. His co authors are CSU
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Professor Michael Bell and research scientists Levi Silvers. The risk
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of a major hurricane with winds of more than one
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hundred and eleven miles per hour making landfall somewhere along
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the entire US mainland coast is about fifty one percent.
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Hurricane season outlooks provide clues for emergency responders and risk managers.
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Forecast experts say it's important to remember that even just
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one hurricane or tropical storm can be disastrous, regardless of
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what happens the rest of the season. The Colorado State
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update included this reminder. Thorough preparations should be made for
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every season, regardless of how much activity is predicted. No
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tropical storm activity is indicated over the next seven days
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by the National Hurricane Center. A longer range outlook through
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July first shows the risk of tropical development elevated only
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in the waters just to the north of Mexico's Yukatam Peninsula,
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according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center.
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Now to National Geographic and This is an article headlined
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Everything you Need to Know about Joshua Tree National Park.
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This is from June to fourth, written by Joe Yoghurst.
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Joshua Tree National Park is often described as an out
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of this world experience or healing for one soul, says
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Donovan Smith, the park's public information officer. With sunny skies
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almost all year round, the wide open vistas allow the
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visitor to experience the true vastness of the landscape from
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almost anywhere in the park. It's an extraordinary place to
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connect with the beauty and reliance nature as to offer.
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Newcomers among the three million visitors who pass through each
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year are often surprised by the abrupt transition between the
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park's Mojave and Colorado deserts. The Mohave or high desert,
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claims the park's western half, where giant, branching yuccas thrive
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on sandy plains studied by massive granite monoliths and rock
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piles there. Among these are among the most intriguing and
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photogenic geological phenomena found in California's many desert regions. The
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Colorado or low desert, thrives on the parks gently declining
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eastern flank, where temperatures are usually higher. It often seems
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sparse and forbidding, yet here and there are colorful desert
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gardens of flowering up cootillo and choya cactus. Dozens of
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trails are open to high biking and horseback riding, and
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the stony terrain makes it one of America's rock climbing meccas.
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Spring brings a carpet of wildflowers and the super clear
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desert night sky makes the park at oasis for stargazing.
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Joshua Tree is open to the public year round. Temperatures
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are most comfortable in the spring and fall, with an
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average high of eighty five fahrenheit and a low of
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fifty fahrenheit. When winter brings cooler days around sixty fahrenheit,
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freezing nights and the possibility of snow. At the park's
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higher elevations, summer's swelter, with midday temperatures frequently above one
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hundred degrees fahrenheit. The spring wildflower bloom usually starts in
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January or February at lower elevations and peaks part wide
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in April through June. October through May is our busiest
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time of year, especially holiday weekends, says Donovan Smith. During
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this busy time, some parking lots and first come, first
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serve campgrounds can fill up as early as eight am.
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We often see extended entrance station lines from ten am
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until two pm. Park's premiere attractions, forests of giant branching
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Yuccas known as Joshua Trees, massive rock formations, fan palm oases,
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and seasonal gardens of Choya and Ukto I'm sorry Alkokiyo
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can be enjoyed on a leisurely half day auto tour
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along the main park roads. Starting from the main visitor
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center in the town of Joshua, Tree Park Boulevard crosses
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the western half of the park to Hidden Valley. Along
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the way, there's a trailhead for the short hike up
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Cap Rock and Ranger led tours of historic Ryan Ranch,
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as well as the turnoff to Panoramic Keys View. Continuing
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over Sheep Pass, the boulevard drops into Queen Valley and
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a huge Joshua Tree Forest. The eighteen mile Geology Tour
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road runs south through the valley, with sixteen stops along
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the way that explain how the park's dramatic landscape was formed.
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Along the valley's eastern edge are the Jumbo Rocks and
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Erie Skull Rock, a natural formation that looks like a
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skeleton's head. Reaching the t junction at Pinto Y, drivers
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turn left and explore the lush oasis of Mara Palm
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Grove beside the Oasis visitor center, or hang a right
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and follow Pinto Basin Road into the park's lesser known
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eastern expanse, where other iconic desert plants Choya cactus, Okotellyo
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cottonwood trees and California fan palms overshadow the famous trees.
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The most popular stop along this route is the gorgeous
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Choya Cactus Garden. Cottonwood Visitor Center anchors the park's southeast
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corner and a hiking area that includes trails to Mastodon
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Park and the remote Lass Palm's Oasis. Just outside the park.
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The General Patton Memorial Museum at Cheriaco Summit includes a
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large collection of battle tanks and mementos of the general's
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military exploits from World War II. Keys View is one
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of the most iconic panoramas in the entire park system.
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Is located on the crest of the Little San Bernardino
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Mountains and offers a mile high vista of Coachella Valley
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and at a distance the Salt and Sea mount sanyacinto
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Sanadrea's Fault and the Ansa Orega Desert. The view is
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especially enchanting at dusk, when Palm Springs, Indio and other
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valley cities sparkle with millions of lights. In the heart
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of the park, and fifty six foot Ryan Mountain renders
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bird's eye views of Hidden Valley and Queen Valley at
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the top of a steep, difficult hike that totals three
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miles from the San Francisco Chronicle comes this article California's
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massive dam removal hit a key milestone. Now there's a problem.
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This is dated June eleventh, ridden by Curtis Alexander. Last year,
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after the historic removal of four dams on the Klamath River,
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thousands of salmon rushed upstream into the long blocked waters
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along the California Oregon border, seeking out the cold, plentiful
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flows considered crucial to the fish's future. The return of
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salmon to their ancestral home was a fundamental goal of
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dam removal and a measure of the project's success. However,
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a problem emerged. The returning salmon only got so far.
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Eight miles upriver from the former dam sites lies a
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still existing dam, the forty one foot tall Keno Dam
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in southern Oregon. The dam has a fish ladder that's
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supposed to help with fish passage, but it did proved
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to work. While many proponents of dam removal say they're
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thrilled with just how far the salmon got, most of
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the four hundred and twenty miles of waterways that salmon
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couldn't reach before the damned demolition still appear largely unreachable.
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This stands to keep the fish from spreading and reproducing
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in the high numbers anticipated with the project. Other migratory fish,
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including steelhead trout and Pacific lamb prey, may face similar streets.
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The shortcoming has opened a new chapter in the decades's
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long effort to liberate the Klamath River, this one focused
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on Keno Dam. It has also left some people frustrated
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that the dam wasn't undressed sooner when the other dams
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were dealt with. It's too bad that there wasn't enough forethought,
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says William Ray, Junior chairman of the Klamath Tribes, who
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represent the native communities in the upper section of the
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Klamath Basin where salmon haven't been able to get to.
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The fish have gone a lot farther, and that was
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the whole point. The job just wasn't done. Far from it.
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The five hundred million dollar dam project, considered the largest
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in U S history, was overseen by the states of
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California and Oregon in partnership with tribes and environmental groups,
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which initiated the effort to restore the two hundred fifty
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mile wide or two hundred fifty mile long Klamath River
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to its natural conditions. The former owner of the power
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generating dams, Pacific Corp, agreed to dam removal to rid
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itself of the river's aging and increasingly costly hydroelectric operations.
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The Portland based utility and state of California paid for
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the work. Pacific Corp. Also owned Keno Dam, but because
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the dam provides flood control unlike the others, it was
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transferred to the federal government's Bureau of Reclamation for continued
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operation as part of the dam removal agreement. In recent months, federal, state,
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and tribal officials have been evaluating Keno Dam to see
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what might be done to make sure it's passable for salmon.
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The possibilities range from rebuilding the old fish ladder to
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removing the dam. Making changes, though, will be complicated by
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the facility's role in regulating river flows, and it could
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be years, if not decades, before there's permanent fix. Restoration
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is not a flip of the switch and everything is
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fine endeavor, said Philip Millburn, district manager at the Oregon
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Department of Fish and Wildlife. It took hundreds of years
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for the basin to get to the way it is
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now and is going to take time to modify it
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to suit fish above Keno Dam, where migratory fish haven't
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been for more than a century because of the dam's
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three hundred and fifty miles of rivers, lakes and creeks,
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Let's see, lakes and creeks are believed to be key
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for the struggling salmon population. Salmons spend most of their
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short lives at sea, but they need fresh water to spawn.
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With the warming climate, the cold water springs, higher elevations,
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and nutrient rich waters of the Upper Klamat Basin are
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particularly important for reproduction. The revival of the basin salmon
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would be a boon for the commercial fishing industry and
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culinary world, as well as for the many tribes that
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see the fish as a spiritual force in their communities.
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We haven't had the fish for a long time, said
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Ray Junior. It harms the culture and the health of
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our people. We're becoming impatient. The apparent problem that Keno
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Dam became clear late last year following what many federal, state,
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and tribal officials considered an immediate success with the dam
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removal project, The number of salmon swimming in the newly
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opened up waters of the Klamath River downstream of Keno
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Dam was generally more than what was anticipated so soon.
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Roughly two thousand chinook salmon were counted after the last
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of the dams was raised in August. In surveys recently
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released by a multi jurisdictional team of scientists, Sonar Reports
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suggests the number could have been thousands more. The fish
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were part of the river's fall run, its most populous run.
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The salmon journeyed from the mouth of the Klamath River
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in California's redwood filled north to the sunny rolling hills
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of Siskiyou County, a total of one hundred and ninety
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miles to the first of the former dam sites. Beyond
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going the distance, the ability of the salmon to enter
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a new stretch of river inged on navigating cloudy waters
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whipped up temporarily with the damned demolition, as well as
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resisting the urge to stay in familiar territory. Salmon are
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built to return to their place of birth, though they
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sometimes stray when it's in their interest. A lot of
22:00
people expected it would take years for the fish to
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show up in these numbers, said Mike Belchik, a senior
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fisheries biologists for the Northern California's Irok tribe. That was wrong.
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He says, Coho salmon, steel had trout, and Pacific lamprey
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also have been documented in the footprint of the old dams.
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The fall run chinook. Once they got above the former
22:24
dam sites, spawned either in the Klamath's main stem or
22:28
in a tributary such as Ginny or Shovel Creeks. This spring,
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newly born salmon began migrating to the sea. The adults
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die after spawning. I don't know if the fish ran
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out a room or not. Belchik said. Some of the
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habitats seemed fully occupied, but we're pretty stoked that so
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many went up there. More than five hundred adults were
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estimated to have gone as far as Oregon, with the
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unknown number making it to Qino Dam. At least a
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few were observed in the dam's fish ladder, which is
23:00
a series of more than twenty step pools designed to
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help fish bypass the dam, but none were documented to
23:07
have reached the top. While a lack of monitoring could
23:11
explain the complete absence of fish above the dam. The
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challenges at the dam are unmistakable. One issue is believed
23:19
to be a component called the trash racks. The vertical
23:22
bars at the intakes of the fish ladder, which keep
23:25
logs from clogging the passageway, were too narrow for salmon,
23:30
an obstruction that federal officials at the View of Reclamation
23:33
have since worked on. But the larger problem, according to
23:37
Oregon Wildlife officials, is that the fish ladder a Kino,
23:40
dates to when the dam was built in nineteen sixty
23:43
seven and simply doesn't work well. The openings between the
23:46
pools where fish pass are too small, the gates controlling
23:50
the flow of water or faulty. The ladder is located
23:54
too far from where fish approach. To provide fish passage
23:58
that meets current State of WA Oregon and federal fish
24:01
passage criteria, a new passage facility would be required, Wildlife
24:07
officials wrote. In twenty twenty three, the Bureau of Reclamation
24:11
confirmed in a statement to the Chronicle that it was
24:14
working on fish passage solutions at the dam. The agency, however,
24:19
declined a request for an interview about the details of
24:22
the work. And the timing. While the Bureau of Reclamations
24:27
acquisition of Keno Dam last summer meant that the agency
24:30
was enable to address fish passage until recently, state and
24:35
tribal officials say there were other reasons the issue wasn't
24:39
taken up sooner. One was uncertainty about whether the dam
24:43
removal project downriver would ever get done after years of delays.
24:48
Another was skepticism that SAMA would make it to Keno
24:51
Dam even if the dams below came down. Furthermore, the
24:54
focus on the removal of the four dams left little
24:57
time and resources to figure out what to do with
25:01
potential hurdles upstream. There just wasn't the capacity to do
25:05
everything at once, said Milburn. Now we're tackling the things
25:09
that were sidelined during the initial project. With two new
25:13
grants from the federal government, Oregon Wildlife officials have been
25:16
tasked with identifying both short term and long term fixes
25:21
for Keno Dam. The state recently received the first one
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hundred thousand dollars of a four and a half million
25:27
dollar grant for immediate repairs, such as making sure the
25:31
trash racks on the fish ladder don't block salmon state
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officials have also convened a group of experts to study
25:37
and recommend a permanent solution over the next three years.
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With the second one point nine million dollar grant, the
25:44
recommendation will be forwarded to the Bureau of Reclamation for
25:48
consideration and now from USA Today dated June the eleventh,
25:55
the headline is which US cities report forever chemicals in
26:00
drinking water? Water pouring from the faucets of at least
26:03
forty two million Americans is contaminated with unacceptable levels of
26:08
forever chemicals. Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFA's, are a
26:17
family of chemicals engineered to be nearly indestructible. Studies have
26:21
shown they can accumulate over time in human bodies, leading
26:25
to certain cancers and other health complications. Over the past
26:29
two years, the EPA has collected complete sets of test
26:33
results from about sixty nine hundred drinking water systems, and
26:37
thousands more are expected as the PFA's testing initiative continues
26:42
another year. USA Today's analysis of these systems with complete
26:47
results shows nearly a quarter of large water utilities serving
26:51
at least one hundred thousand customers exceeded limits that the
26:55
EPA approved last year on two chemicals, pfo S and PFOA.
27:02
Water systems in Fairfax County, Virginia and San Juan, Puerto
27:06
Rico have now joined the list of utilities with test
27:09
results that averaged over the limits in EPA's latest data.
27:14
USA Today's analysis also shows that Tempier, Arizona, which provides
27:19
water to more than one hundred and sixty five thousand people,
27:22
has joined that list. Multiple test locations there failed to
27:26
meet the standards. Pfos at one sample site averaged fifty
27:30
five parts per trillion, several times higher than the acceptable
27:34
limit of four parts per trillion. Altogether, USA Today found
27:40
seven hundred and seventy four systems don't meet the limits
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for forever chemicals. Those utilities probably will need to install
27:47
advanced filtration systems or find other sources of drinking water
27:52
by twenty thirty one. Well, that's it for today's Diary
27:56
of Science and Nature. Your reader was Kelly Taylor. Now
28:00
stay tuned for the Health Corner on RADIOI