Dog Tip of The Day, January 31

When your dog chews through it’s leash, you can easily replace the webbing.  Get some flat webbing from an outdoor store and you can cut it to the desired length.  Tie it onto the buckle with a water knot (simply an overhand knot and follow through), you can add a loop for a handle with another water knot.   If you get a leash made by Lupine, they are guaranteed for life even if the dog chews through it.  Just take it back to one of the stores that sell them. They will replace it.  Making your own leashes allows you to design your own.

Natural Disasters, January 31

On this day in 1953, the North Sea Flood caused over 1800 deaths in the Netherlands and UK.  Then in 2011 a winter storm in North America for the second time in the same month, caused 1.8 billion dollars in damages and killed 24 people.

Science Birthdays, January 31

1/31/1868        Richards Theodore     chemist           His father was a painter and his mother a poet, in addition he was interested in music and science. He worked on determining with the greatest possible accuracy the atomic weights of elements.He advanced the theory of isotopes with his studies on lead. He worked with Meyer, Ostwald and Nernst. He died in 1928 at age 60

1/31/1881        Langmuir Irving         chemist           worked under Nerst at Gottingen, discovered the use of inert gases to extend the life of a light bulb. He discovered an atomic hydrogen blowtorch that could reach temperatures of 6000 degrees. He invented high-vacuum tubes, he devised a theory of catalysis on platinum wires, he also worked on “rain making.” He died in 1957 at age 76

1/31/1929        Mossbauer Rudolf      physicist          in 1958 he announced the Mossbauer effect. Atoms recoil as they emit gamma rays, the energy of the gamma ray depends in part on the amount of recoil. This is why gamma rays are emitted with a considerable spread in energy and wavelength. If a crystal takes up the recoil since it is so massive, it confines the wavelength to a very narrow spread. This is the Mossbauer effect.  He is still alive as of 3/10/2010

Dog Tip of the Day, January 30

How many have done this?  Give the dog a toy or a knuckle and where do they leave it? Right where you can step on it.  When you have a house dog that is going to be playing with a lot of toys, you have to watch where you step or get a pair of slippers with thick soles.  This tip is for the people thinking about getting a dog.  I think the ones who have them have already stepped on their share of toys.

Science birthdays, January 30

Today is the birthday of Max Theiler, Born in 1899, He worked out the vaccine for Yellow Fever by passing the virus back and forth in mice then chickens. Got the Nobel prize in 1951 and had no academic degrees.

Automotive History, January 29

On this day in 1886 Karl Benz patented the first successful gasoline automobile.

Dog Tip of The Day, January 29

Yesterday I talked about putting a treat in your dog’s crate if you have to leave it for a few hours.  What if you had to leave it for a few days, say for a hospital visit or something like that?  Put a pillow that you no longer want, in your bed for a few days before leaving, then put the pillow in your dog’s crate when you leave.  The dog will welcome your scent in it’s crate even in your absence.

Science Birthdays, January 29

1/29/1773        Mohs Friedrich           mineralogist    devised the Mohs scale in 1822. died in 1839 at age 66

1/29/1838        Morley Edward           chemist           He worked on the relative weights of hydrogen and oxygen in the 1870s and collaborated with Michelson on the famous Michelson-Morley experiment. he died in 1923 at age 85

 

Natural Disasters, January 28

This is the time of the year for Snow and Ice related natural disasters.  A snowstorm in Fort Keogh, Montana reported snowflakes as large as 15 inches wide and 8 inches thick.  Wow! I would consider those as snowballs, not snowflakes, but I guess they were light and fluffy.  I hope they were.  The Knickerbocker Storm in Washington, D.C.  caused the Knickerbocker Theater to collaps, 98 people were killed and 113 injured.

The Great Blizzard of 1977, resulted in 10 feet of snow in one day in Upstate New York.

Heavy snow killed 65 people and injured 170 when the roof collapsed at the Katowice International Fair in Poland.

At this time of the year, you get heavy snow, then it warms up and starts raining.  This causes ice and heavy snow which many structures aren’t designed to take.  It doesn’t take much ice on wires and branches for them to fall.

An ice storm is defined by the National Weather Service and a storm that results in 1/4 inch of ice accumulation, 1/2 inch of ice on wires can bring them down from what I have been told.

Natural Disasters, January 27

Yesterday (January 27) was an interesting day in natural disasters because I usually don’t have information on some of the really old ones, but in 447 the Walls of Constantinople were so severely damaged by an earthquake that 57 towers had damage.

In 1974 the Brisbane River caused the largest flood to affect Brisbane in the 20^th century.  A 66,000 ton vessel became unmoored.  Brisbane is in Australia, for those that didn’t know that.  And the Brisbane River is the largest river in South East Queensland.