EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS OPEN HOUSE: An information session will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at the North Branch Library, 232 Northern Ave. E. from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Canadian Red Cross Algoma Public Health, Vulnerable Persons Registry, Sault Fire Services and the City of Sault Ste. Marie will present information on what it takes to be prepared for 72 hours without power. Prizes and light refreshments will be provided.

RETRO VIDEO GAMES: Retro Video Gaming Night is back at the James L. McIntyre Centennial Library, 50 East St. Get your game on with: Atari, Intellivision, ColecoVision, TurboGrafx-l6, Sega, PlayStation and Xbox. Register now for the remaining Retro Video Gaming Nights: Thursday, Feb. 27 Disney Night 2; Thursday, March 26, TBD; Thursday, April 30 TBD. Gaming nights will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. All ages are welcome. Children under 10 must be accompanied by an adult. Register by phone or in person at the Reference and Information desk. Space is limited. Call 705-759-5236 to register.

BOOK CLUB: North Branch Public Library, 232C Northern Ave. E., invites participants to a single event book Club on Tuesday, March 3, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Registration begins in person on Tuesday, Feb. 4, at 10 a.m. This event is free, but space is limited. For all inquiries call the North Branch at 705-759-5248.

RADON GAS: Ontario Lung Association and Sault Ste. Marie Public Library have teamed up to help residents screen for radon gas, believed to cause cancer. Test kits will be available at James L. McIntyre Centennial Library, 50 East St. and at North Branch, 232C Northern Ave. E., for a six-week loan period. Learn more about radon and other lung health issues at lungontario.ca/radon or the Lung Health Line, 1-888-344-5864 (LUNG). For more information about the program call Helena Huopalainen, manager of community engagement, 705-759-5243.

POETRY: Poetry Circle North has resumed at James L. McIntyre Centennial Library, 50 East St. Meetings will continue on the first Wednesday of every month, with the final session on June 3. Meetings take place in the Computer Commons Room from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Register at 705-759-5236. Everyone is welcome to bring poetry to share.

KNITTERS CIRCLE: Join fellow knitters at the James L. McIntyre Centennial Library, on Wednesdays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Knitters Circle is a drop-in group for adults to share stories, share knitting tips, and meet new friends. Bring your own projects. This program is not designed to teach knitting but intended to be a self-sustaining group where members will learn from each other.

CHESS ANYONE? Do you like to play chess or have you always wanted to learn? Beginners and enthusiasts are invited to join the Adult Chess Club at the James L McIntyre Centennial Public Library. This free event will take place every Tuesday evening from 6 to 8:30 p.m., until the end of May. The Adult Chess Club is for ages 13 and up. Meet in the adult reading area to challenge yourself and other players. This is a Drop-In Evening Event and registration is not required. For more information, call the Reference and Information Desk, 705-759-5236.

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There are plenty of Game Pass deals going around at the moment, and we've found one to suit any situation. That means we've found cheap Game Pass Ultimate prices for those with a new Xbox Live account, even cheaper memberships for those who are new to the service, and astonishingly low prices on three month Game Pass subscriptions. You can grab three months of Xbox Game Pass (without online play) for just $9.99 / 7.41. That's an astonishingly cheap price if you're just after access to Microsoft's 100+ game library. But we've also been spying some excellent Game Pass Ultimate deals that package the Game Pass library with Live Gold online play that may swerve your decision.

The latest deals from CDKeys offer some of the lowest prices we've seen on six-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions so far. Before you dive straight in, however, you might also want to look at those 12-month Live Gold deals because Microsoft has a little trick up its sleeve that can save you a wad of cash on your 2020 gaming.

You can pick up a six-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate deal for just $30.79 / 22.99 at CDKeys right now. Note that these codes will only work with new Xbox Live accounts, so if you've already got an existing account you might want to check out our best Xbox Game Pass prices.

If you are a new player, that's a fantastic price and one that beats a similar deal from Amazon UK last week. Nevertheless, there are more savings to be had for the savvy shopper. That's because Microsoft is still running its own Xbox Game Pass Ultimate deals, which offer the first month of the service for just $1 / 1. Similarly, you have to be new to the Game Pass Ultimate service, but if so there's a kicker in this deal that makes this all-in-one subscription particularly cheap at the moment.

Microsoft states that when you redeem your first month for $1 / 1, all your existing Live Gold or Game Pass months will be upgraded to Game Pass Ultimate, up to 36 months. That means a stacked Xbox Live Gold subscription, a substantially cheaper service, can be converted into a premium Game Pass Ultimate membership.

Six months of Xbox Live Gold can be found for the same price as this particular Game Pass Ultimate deal right now, but picking up 12 months for $52.19 / 38.99 gives you far more value for money and sets you up with free games for the whole year once you convert your months. Just make sure you redeem your Live Gold membership before signing up to Game Pass Ultimate.

Xbox Game Pass | 3 months | $32.09 $9.99 at CDKeysA three month Game Pass membership is under $10 at CDKeys right now. That's a fantastic price for access to over 100 games in the Game Pass library, and certainly one to snap up before it disappears. View Deal

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate | 6 months | $30.79 at CDKeysThis deal is for new Xbox Live accounts only, but if that's you this $33 six-month membership is an excellent Game Pass Ultimate deal. You're saving roughly $56 on a subscription to the massive Game Pass library of free titles, online play, and extra discounts across the Microsoft Store. View Deal

Xbox Live Gold | 12 months | $52.19 at CDKeysIf you've never used Xbox Game Pass Ultimate before, you'll be able to take advantage of the fantastic $1 trial deal. That means you'll be able to redeem these 12 months of Live Gold and then convert them to the more expensive Game Pass Ultimate subscription when you sign up. View Deal

Xbox Game Pass | 3 months | 23.99 7.49 at CDKeysThree months of Game Pass for just 7.49? You'd be mad not to take CDKeys up on this fantastic deal. You're getting a membership that grants you access to the massive Game Pass library for less than 8 right now. View Deal

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate | 6 months | 22.99 at CDKeysThis code is 62% off at CDKeys right now, meaning new Xbox Live accounts can take advantage of this fantastic Game Pass Ultimate deal for less. We were previously seeing this subscription go for over 30 on sale at Amazon, so you're saving plenty today. View Deal

Xbox Live Gold | 12 months | 38.99 at CDKeysPicking up this 12 month Live Gold deal means new Game Pass Ultimate players can get a fantastic price on a whole year of free gaming. Simply redeem your Live Gold code on your Microsoft account before signing up to the 1 trial of Game Pass Ultimate. Once you do so, your remaining Live Gold months will be converted to the more expensive membership. View Deal

Looking for more great Xbox Game Pass prices? We've got them all right here on TechRadar. We're also tracking all the latest Live Gold membership prices to keep you ahead of the game. While you're shopping, it might also be time to refresh your equipment - check out all the best Xbox controller deals around right now.

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These Game Pass deals offer over 60% off cheap subscriptions, with big savings on a year's membership - TechRadar India

The blue-throated barbet, illustrated here in 1871, is native to southern Asia.

Botanical illustrations offer mesmerizingly detailed and vividly colored glimpses of the natural world. Now, reports Hakim Bishara for Hyperallergic, more than 150,000 such artworks are freely available for download via the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL), an open-access digital archive that preserves images and documents related to botany, wildlife and biodiversity.

Captured in watercolor paintings, lithograph prints and black-ink linework, the collected illustrations demonstrate the diversity of Earths wildlife as observed over hundreds of years. The BHLs earliest texts date to the mid-1400s; its digital collection includes illustrations as recently created as the early 1900s.

The practice of creating detailed illustrations of flora and fauna, whether to document an expedition or a medical practice, gained popularity well before photography was up to the task. Even today, an illustration can offer more clarity than a photograph.

An illustration can show various parts of a plant at the same time, something a photo really cant, Robin Jess, director of the New York Botanical Gardens Botanical Art and Illustration program, told the Associated Press Katherine Roth in 2019. It can show extra details of the fruit, for example, and what it looks like bisected.

Founded in 2006 by a consortium of natural history libraries, among them the Smithsonian Libraries, the BHL launched its online portal the following year. Then 300 titles strong, the database has since grown to more than 200,000 volumes, 150,000 illustrations and information on some 150 million species. Per Hyperallergic, selections range from animal sketches to historical diagrams and botanical studies.

Collected illustrations and digitized pages of preserved plants, called herbaria, provide insights for researchers studying the ways plants have adjusted to a changing climate. Other works, like the zoological sketches of Joseph Wolf, show how societal norms have shaped the ways people imagine animals.

Wolf illustrated two volumes of rare animals depicted in their natural environment rather than the London zoo where they actually lived. In one lithograph, a trio of African elephants stands by a river. As BHLs Elisa Herrmann points out in a blog entry, the illustration reflects the ideal of a Victorian family, with two parents and a child, but fails to capture actual wild elephant behavior. Unlike whats shown in the illustration, bull elephants are rogue, and adult female elephants have tusks.

The Flora Graeca, compiled by botanist John Sibthorp between 1806 and 1840, exemplifies the importance of illustrators field notes. Described by 20th-century botanist W.T. Stearn as the most costly and beautiful book devoted to any flora, the text features drawings printed with hand-colored engraved plates based on Austrian artist Ferdinand Lukas Bauers trove of 1,000-plus field sketches.

The BHL is currently cataloging thousands of field books in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution Archives, the Smithsonian Libraries and the Smithsonians National Museum of Natural History. Since the project began in 2010, the group has cataloged more than 9,500 field books and digitized some 4,000.

In its mission statement, the BHL cites swiftly changing ecosystems and extinctions as reasons for bringing together a body of knowledge about biodiversity that may help researchers track how the world is changing today. In the wake of Australias wildfires, for instance, scientists could make use of this 1907 catalog of Australias insects.

Today, writes Adrian Higgins for the Washington Post, botanical illustrators are rare and becoming as endangered as some of the plants they draw. The fruits of their labor, however, have and continue to be essential for botanists detailing new species or assembling lists of regions native plants.

Speaking with the Associated Press, Jess of the New York Botanical Garden explained, Contemporary botanical artists share a concern for the environment, particularly in light of climate change, as well as for drawing attention to plants.

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You Can Now Download 150000 Free Illustrations of the Natural World - Smithsonian.com

Monday Feb10,2020at2:00AM

PORT JERVIS The Hub, (The public computer center at the Port Jervis Free Library) is pleased to host an internationally recognized mountaineer, Nimdoma Sherpa, who in 2008 became the youngest woman to climb Mount Everest. The program will be held on Feb. 20, at 6:30 p.m.

Sherpa, will discuss the challenges of climbing the highest summits on each of the seven continents and why she does it. In May of 2008, she became the youngest woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Today she serves as the flag bearer for the United Nations World Food Program whose goal is ZERO HUNGER worldwide.

Sherpa was born into a poor family in a remote Himalayan village in Nepal. At five years old, she began attending school through a school meals program run by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP).

After finishing high school, Sherpa joined the First Inclusive Women's Sagarmatha Expedition, an all-female mountaineering team supported by the WFP. In May, 2008, all ten team members successfully summited Mount Everest, making 17-year-old Sherpa the youngest woman to have reached the summit. Her success on Everest was recounted in a children's coloring book titled Snow Leopard, the Yeti and the Girl Who Climbed Mount Everest, published by the WFP to promote the use of school meals to reduce child hunger. Copies of the coloring book will be distributed to program attendees.

In 2009, Sherpa and six of her Nepalese Sagarmatha Expedition teammates formed the Seven Summits Women Team, an all-female team whose goal is to climb to the summit of the highest mountain on each of the seven continents. They completed the task upon reaching Mount Mt Vinson Massif on Antarctica in 2014. Less than 400 people in the world have climbed the 7 Summits. Less than 100 of them are women. Sherpa is one of them.

Pre registration is required for this program since seating is limited, so reserve your place by calling The Hub at 856-7313 ext. 5, email thehub@portjervislibrary.org, or register in person at Port Jervis Library at 138 Pike Street in Port Jervis.

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Internationally recognized mountaineer coming to the PJ library - Times Herald-Record

While the Enlightenment of the late 17th and 18th centuries was a time when science blossomed and revolutions in the United States and France occurred, it was also a time when millions of people were enslaved and transported from Africa to the Western Hemisphere.

It can be helpful "to think about the Enlightenment as a series of interlocking, and sometimes warring problems and debates" wrote Dorinda Outram, a history professor at the University of Rochester, in her book "The Enlightenment: Third Edition" (Cambridge University Press, 2013).

"The English term Enlightenment is itself a translation, coined in the late 19th century, of two distinct terms, both in use in the 18th century: the French term lumires and the German Aufklrung. The two have in common the idea of 'light,'" wrote John Robertson, a professor of the history of political thought at the University of Cambridge in his book "The Enlightenment: A Very Short Introduction" (Oxford University Press, 2015).

In this so-called time of light, several major ideas became popular. There was growing skepticism toward monarchs, particularly the idea of an absolute monarch one who could make laws on a whim. There was also growing support for individual liberties and freedoms. "The palaces of kings are built on the ruins of the bowers of paradise," wrote Thomas Paine (1737-1809) in his pamphlet "Common Sense" (published in 1776).

These ideas helped spur the French Revolution (1789-1793), during which French King Louis XVI was beheaded and a republic was founded in France. Louis XVI and his ancestors had ruled France as absolute kings from the opulent Palace of Versailles, which served as an emblem of the French monarch's power. Skepticism of the monarchy also grew in the United States, which resulted in it becoming a republic after driving out the British during the U.S. Revolutionary War (1775-1783).

Early in this period people were also growing weary of religious authorities having strong political power, and the idea of religious freedom was becoming more and more popular. The Peace of Westphalia, the series of peace treaties that ended the Thirty Years' War in 1648, saw a reduction in the pope's power across Europe. This reduction in religious power continued into the 18th century, particularly during the French Revolution. Additionally, when the U.S. became independent, it refused to adopt a national religion, instead stating in the constitution that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

This time period also saw a burgeoning interest in understanding and using science rather than religion to explain natural phenomena. Isaac Newton, Daniel Fahrenheit, Benjamin Franklin and Alessandro Volta are but a few of the scientists and inventors who flourished during the Enlightenment. Their discoveries such as advances in understanding electricity helped pave the way for the industrial revolution and the technologies used in the world we live in today.

The development of new institutions dedicated to the advancement of science fueled the spread of knowledge throughout Europe. And with novel, more efficient techniques for printing, disseminating information was easier and cheaper than ever before. For instance, volumes of the Encyclopdie published in France between 1751 and 1772 contained a vast amount of information and attracted thousands of subscribers in France and beyond. Coffee houses became trendy in Europe and, for the price of a cup of coffee, a person visiting a coffee house could read what material was available, such as newspapers and fictional novels making written material more accessible to all members of society.

There was also a greater interest in economics. Most notably, the Scottish philosopher Adam Smith published his work "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" in 1776. In this pivotal book, Smith examined how markets work and was critical of mercantilism an economic system in use in much of Europe that tended to create high tariffs, therefore stifling trade between countries. Some experts consider Smith to be the founder of modern economics.

More people were also becoming critical of warfare and torture. The French writer Voltaire (1694-1778) spoke out against these evils in his famous novel "Candide," which was published in 1759. The novel's protagonist, Candide, experienced love and romance early in his life, then is forced to take part in a war in which he learns firsthand about the cruelty and torture it engenders.

While the Enlightenment was a period in which coffee houses, scientific advancements and skepticism toward monarchs and religion burgeoned, it was also a time when the slave trade flourished. Millions of people were enslaved and forcibly transported from Africa to the Western Hemisphere. Many of them didn't survive the journey in the cramped conditions of slave ships, and many more died in the harsh working conditions they encountered in the Western Hemisphere. Voyages of slave ships continued well into the 19th century.

Even Thomas Jefferson, the former U.S. president and main author of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, owned slaves, despite the fact that he was influenced by the Enlightenment and wrote that "all men are created equal" in the Declaration of Independence.

Outram wrote that part of the reason why slavery flourished was because of the vast amount of money that could be made from it. Plantation owners in the southern United States, the Caribbean and South America used slave labor to rake in the profits. Those in the shipbuilding industry responsible for constructing and maintaining slave ships also benefited financially, as did the financial companies that loaned money to finance the transport of slaves.

The First French Republic also had policies that contradicted the ideas of the Enlightenment. Between 1793 and 1794, a period called the "terror" occurred in France.

During this time, France's fledgling government was afraid that it was going to be toppled and therefore arrested and executed as many of its perceived enemies as it could find, which resulted in the execution of thousands of people. The episode put a blight on the government and helped pave the way for the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, who would eventually become emperor of France.

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What Was the Enlightenment? | Live Science

What was the Enlightenment? According to a recent PragerU video featuring Israeli author Yoram Hazony, it was an era that ushered in two centuries of disaster from the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars to the horrors of twentieth-century Marxism and Nazi eugenics by inordinate reliance on reason. As for the wonders often attributed to Enlightenment reason modern science, medicine, political freedom and market economies they are, Hazony claims, actually a legacy from religious conservatives who venerated history, tradition, and experience.

But is Hazony right? Does he accurately paint a picture of what the Enlightenment was, how it came about, or what it rests on? In a word, no. According to analysis by Yaron Brook, Onkar Ghate and Greg Salmieri in a recent episode of the The Yaron Brook Show, Hazonys presentation fails to capture the essence of the Enlightenment and its development. Instead, Hazony distorts the achievements of Enlightenment thinkers by offering a parade of straw men, false alternatives and package deals.

READ ALSO: The Vice of Nationalism

The commentators urge viewers not to take their word on this topic or any other for that matter but rather to acquire a first-handed view of the subject by reading from the several recommended sources mentioned in the episode. For anyone interested in how to analyze complex historical movements, this discussion is a must-watch. You can access the full discussion on your favorite podcast platform or listen on YouTube:

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PragerU's Dishonest Explanation of the Enlightenment - New Ideal

We are living in an age where it seems almost as if someone moves the goalposts with every new day. Its like the reverse of Groundhog Day. You wake up and everything feels exactly the same but out there, in the digiverse, things have somehow changed. Theres smart this, smart that, smart something we havent even thought of yet. And somehow our brains are supposed to instantly process this exponential mayhem. Its mind-boggling. Literally. And everything is wireless and brain-rewiring can happen and lead to many things, including career enlightenment.

And yet, theres one thing that isnt wireless. And its still the smartest thing on the planet. Our brains. Our brains contain some100 billion neurons according to Medical News Today. That is some serious wiring. Those neurons are connected to every single aspect of our bodies. They make us work.

Like any system, overuse, new information, can get those wires crossed. So, how do we get ourselves refocused? Well, some very smart, untangled brains, have come up with a plan based on Neuroplasticity. In its simplest terms, its about utilizing the brains natural ability to evolve by getting back to the source. And when we decide to explore this, we can achieve career enlightenment.

Dr. Tara Swart, a world-renowned neuroscientist, medical doctor, and executive coach has published two books that enlighten us as to the possibilities of re-wiring our brains.Neuroscience for Leadership was her first book and details scientific analyses. Her more recent bookThe Source suggests that the things we all want in life; health, happiness, wealth, love are governed by our ability to think, feel and act. And if we can train our brains, and master our minds, we can be successful at whatever we want.

Some of the re-wiring steps at first seem incredibly simple. But if they work for you, you could find your life and career immeasurably enhanced with relatively little effort.

The Source, in essence, is your brain working as a whole. Your emotions, your creativity, your intuition all working together towards one objective, (or several). Its knowing how to make the most of things. Dr. Swart has suggested that unlocking the brains potential makes use of the law of attraction whereby positive thinking inspires positive results.

In Dr. Swarts thinking, a belief in abundance is a mindset that can shape our lives. We can choose to believe those good outcomes are probable or choose instead to fear the negative possibilities. Tailoring our mindset to the optimistic outcomes has the potential to attract greater success and happiness. A belief in abundance, can be infectious and regenerating.

This step is basically about wiring the brain to almost believe or accept that the dream or goal that you have in your life has, at least in your own head, already happened. In simple terms, by constantly, affirming to yourself that you have already succeeded, you are more likely to succeed.

We all understand the potential power of positive thinking but Dr. Swart takes this a step further with the idea that positive nurturing of our ambitions builds up our self-confidence and therefore makes the fruition of those goals more likely.

We live in a world of instant gratification. If we dont see instant results in terms of our success goals, we fume and get disheartened. Instead, we should keep re-visualizing our dreams and have faith in their eventual success. In a sense its simply accepting setbacks in life and not allowing them to turn us from our path.

We can re-wire our brains to the extent that we are able to align our rational desires with our emotional wants. Rationally, we want a job promotion, recognition, more money. We want career enlightenment. But what are the emotional goals here that work together; stability, protection of the family, safeguarding the future? When we feel the rational desire for more money, how much greater is our focus when we link that more money to daughters education fees, for example.

We all have the ability to better understand that we are not singular beings but are affected by the thoughts and feelings and behaviors of others, whether they are friends of family or work colleagues.

The above six re-wiring principles are based loosely on Dr. Swarts bookThe Sourcewhich goes into much more in-depth analyses of how we can start making those 100 billion neurons start working for us in a different way. Its worth remembering though, that, training our brains isnt limited to career enlightenmentbut can enhance our health, relationships, and moods in a very beneficial way.

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Six brain-rewiring principles that lead to career enlightenment - Ladders

Ken Baker, Ph.D., Columnist Published 11:14 a.m. ET Feb. 11, 2020

Ken Baker and Cocoa(Photo: Submitted)

I would warn you that I do not attribute to nature either beauty or deformity, order or confusion. Only in relation to our imagination can things be called beautiful or ugly, well-ordered or confused. Baruch Spinoza

As mid-seventeenth century Dutch Enlightenment philosophers go, Spinoza would have to be considered something of a rebel. Expelled from Jewish society by age 23 for heretical views on the Hebraic Bible, his writings would soon enough also make the Catholic Churchs Index of Forbidden Books.

But an interesting guy. His writings on God, nature and human ethics would influence philosophical discussion for generations to come. A rabble-rouser to be sure he once refused a prestigious professorship saying, I do not know how to teach philosophy without becoming a disturber of the peace he nevertheless lived a quiet personal life, making do on a modest income as a lens grinder for microscopes and telescopes.

And yet, I suspect Spinozas no inherent beauty or deformity in nature axiom would, for many, be sorely tested by a first encounter with the star-nosed mole (Condylura cristata). Sporting a face that only a mother could love, the 22 tentacle-like rays adorning the tip of its nose constitute one of natures most curious, if not exactly beautiful to our eyes, solutions to the perennial problem of, Whats for dinner?

The Star-nosed Mole is a one of nature's oddities.(Photo: Submitted)

The rays of the star are covered with some 25,000 tactile Eimers organs, each of which is innervated by fourto eightnerve fibers. No more than two-fifths of an inch in diameter, the star is nonetheless much more sensitive to pressure and vibration than the human hand, which is only served by a total of about 17,000 touch fibers.

Neuroscientist Ken Catania of Vanderbilt University has played a pivotal role in uncovering many of the astonishing features of this small (about 7.5 inch) animals unique sensory system, which appears to be dialed in to finding and consuming minute prey like insect larvae better than any other North American mammal.

In addition to addressing how the moles brain processes the massive amount of information coming in from all those thousands of nerve fibers as the rays flail about brushing over every stone, root and potential prey item, Catanias lab has also shown the star-nosed to be the likely mammalian world champion at speed-eating.

From the time a ray first sweeps across a beetle grub, the brain distinguishes it from surrounding soil particles as edible and triggers the tweezer-like incisors to pick the grub out of the dirt for ingestion, as little as 120 milliseconds (one-twelfth of a second) has elapsed. This ability to devote so little time and energy to identifying and handling tiny prey items means the star-nosed can focus on minuscule but potentially abundant food items other moles would ignore as simply not worth the effort.

Moles may look superficially mouse-like, but they are not closely related to the rodents. (It probably doesnt help that the word mole sounds a lot like vole, which is another name for the field mouse.) There are only 42 species of moles in the world, three of which live in our areathe Eastern (Scalopus aquaticus), hairy-tailed (Parascalops breweri) and star-nosed moles.

Although all three species dig foraging tunnels just below the soil surface, it will be the Eastern mole that raises those maddening networks of ridged tunnels in your lawn. The star-nosed prefers wet areas along the borders of swamps, lakes and streams, while the hairy-tailed mole commonly frequents the soils of moderately moist forested areas

In "Mammals of the Great Lakes Region," Allen Kurta reports the Eastern mole can create its shallow tunnels at a rate of about 15 feetper hour. It first loosens the soil with sideways sweeps of its broad, heavily clawed front feet and then turns on its side to push the soil upward. Once made, it patrols the tunnels for earthworms and insects that may have burrowed through their walls.

In the colder months, all three moles typically revert to deeper tunnels, 10 to 30 inches down. But as of this writing, our winter has been so warm that the brown dog and I have been seeing a lot of new surface tunnels on our daily walks.

Back to the star-nosed mole for one last intriguing tidbit. Unlike the Eastern and hairy-tailed, the star-nosed mole commonly forages for invertebrates on the bottoms of streams and ponds. Amazingly, Catanias lab has shown the nearly blind mole hunts underwater by smell, first exhaling an air bubble over a substrate to be sniffed for possible prey and then re-inhaling the same bubble.

If youve got 3 minutes, I highly recommend the quirky but wonderfully filmed video True Facts about the Star Nosed Mole (with Ze Frank) on YouTube. You should check it out.

Really.

Ken Baker is a retired professor of biology and environmental studies. If you have a natural history topic you would like Dr. Baker to consider for an upcoming column, please email your idea to fre-newsdesk@gannett.com.

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Classical, OAE/Fischer, The Anvil, Basingstoke

Much about Mozarts final trilogy of symphonies remains shrouded in mystery, but we do know that they were composed in a concentrated, six-week burst of creativity in summer 1788. Although he could not have known these that these sublime masterpieces would be his farewell to symphonic form, the coda to the last of them, the Jupiter, does have a feeling of last words, its counterpoint functioning a little like the fugue in Verdis operatic swansong, Falstaff.

Conducting the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Ivn Fischer had a point, then, when he invited the audience to think of these symphonies not as three works of four movements each, but as one canvas divided into 12 movements. Putting the evenings interval in the middle of the Symphony No. 40 in G minor might almost have worked, but only if Fischer hadnt diluted musical tension by encouraging the audience also to applaud each of the twelve movements separately. How many times in one evening should a conductor turn around to grin at the listeners?

The concert started well with the Symphony No 39 in E flat major, the least often heard of the three. Sharing a warmth with other Mozart works in the same key, and its richness enhanced by prominent clarinets, it swept along spaciously. The OAEs natural horns and trumpets had bite, and in the excellent acoustics of The Anvil in Basingstoke just three double basses underpinned everything with a firmly present bass line.

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An idiosyncractic approach to Mozart from Ivn Fischer and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment - Telegraph.co.uk

Does a practical joke differ from a hoax? It could be a matter of scale. Anyone can deploy a whoopee cushion, but it takes rather more as Virginia Woolf and others did, long before Ali G to kit oneself out as Abyssinian royalty for a 1910 state visit by train to the deck of a dreadnought in Weymouth harbour. There was nothing in it for them, but that hoax brought questions in the Commons. Monetary gain, as with the Hitler Diaries, certainly sours claims for hoaxes as a pure art form.

Where does this leave the humble,twentysomething mother-of-three Mary Toft, and those around her? The question is raised by Karen Harveys brief but amply detailed study of a woman who, in 1726, brought the Surrey market town of Godalming publicity it had not known before. Her story occasioned numerous contemporary publications, several unflinching engravings by Hogarth, a ballad by Alexander Pope and even aroused the curiosity of George I. Yet nowadays most are unfamiliar with the case. The details invariably bring a horrified yelp.

Put simply, Mary, a field labourer, gave birth to rabbits 17 times. Naturally, none survived. Word spread locally. A doctor, John Howard, witnessed and even induced some of these extraordinary productions, and attested to their monstrous veracity. The Royal Households surgeon visited, as did the Prince of Waless secretary. The King requested Mary be brought to London, where she was installed at a bagnio in Leicester Fields (as was). There, recumbent, she was studied sedulously by eminent doctors. Pamphlets and articles proliferated; of rabbits there were no more.

With Marys humiliating installation at the bagnio, the scandal really blew up. The publicity helped the owner with his cash-flow problem, while the city was torn by faction, and the press thousands of newspapers across England seethed with speculation and vituperation.

That December she confessed to concealing parts of various animals (including a hogshead) about her person before heaving them into the world. For this she was sent to the Bridewell and, pending trial, suffered hard toil and grim health before release without charge, return to Godal-ming and obscurity. This books title is the parish registers entry when she died in 1763. She had not committed a criminal act. But that anybody should have believed her story at all is extraordinary. Still, as Popes ballad put it: Eer since Days of Eve,/ The weakest Woman sometimes may/ The wisest Man deceive.

Harvey fills out the case fascinatingly, to create a view of the country and city in a shifting era. The local scene entails such matters as the decline in clothing work, the siting of the town clock to ensure that workers were not late, and the sandy soils being ideal for rabbits, a creature no longer considered wild but part of a landowners property, which here included commercial warrens. The consequence of this change in rules on rabbit ownership was bad feeling and court cases.

Everything took place against fears for the social order, and the Whigs and Tories would wrestle each other for control of the constituency for decades. Was Mary subverting the natural order? Was she perpetuating witchcraft in the face of the Enlightenment? Tall orders for somebody described by one doctor as of a very stupid and sullen temper. Pope claimed of one rabbit that a surgeon slyly thrust it up. Harvey convincingly portrays Marys mother-in-law as a main player in the hoax.

Mary had suffered a miscarriage shortly before the rabbit brouhaha, so her lactating breasts gave the hoax plausibility. And this was when the 18th-century body whether male or female, young or old did not give up its truths easily. The internal workings of the live human body were impossible to observe. Many still believed a pregnant womans wild imaginings could become imprinted upon her foetus.

Harveys prose is dry, but so is a good martini; and her extraordinary narrative will surely be savoured by a wide audience.

Originally posted here:
How could enlightened 18th-century Britain have believed that a woman could give birth to rabbits? - Spectator.co.uk