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Tangled Bank #74 at Neurotopia v 2.0

The Evil Monkey at Neurotopia Version 2 has posted this fortnight’s Tangled Bank compendium of science & medical writing:

Ever wondered why PZ Myers is such a nice person when you meet him, but an insufferable horse’s ass online? Science provides you with the answer. Biotunes discusses the biology behind and implications of recent research showing that people are more likely to be obnoxious to another over the internet than they are face-to-face. Ironically, this scientific explanation will make Dr. Myers happy (sorry PZ, gotta pick on ya).

Tags: science, evolution, Tangled Bank, science writing, medical writing, natural history, organisms, Neurotopia

Environment Canada’s weather review for Ontario

February 2007 — by Jack Saunders, Communications Advisor

C-c-c-cold enough for you?

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(CCNMatthews – March 1, 2007) – The above-normal temperatures that have been reported since November of last year have now been replaced with exceptionally cold temperatures. Across the province, the mean temperatures for the month have now dropped in a range of two to five degrees below normal.

Snowfall was also noteworthy this month. The Great Lakes, with most of the surface as open water in the early part of the month, was responsible for high snow reports in some areas. The typical snowbelt areas, and atypically Hamilton, had high accumulations – in the case of Wiarton, it was record breaking. Locations outside these snowbelt areas had near-normal or below-normal amounts.

Overall, the trend of precipitation was drier than normal across the province. The colder temperatures reduced the amount of available moisture in these cases.

Severe Weather

Lake-effect snows were the big story to start off the month. On February 1 and 2, a very cold flow of air from the southwest caused snow bands to set up off of Georgian Bay. These bands ended up dumping approximately 40 centimetres of snow in the North Bay area during these two days. On February 2, a series of snow bands from the southwest moved onshore near the Cobourg area and caused near-whiteout conditions that may have been an important factor in a fatal crash on Highway 401.

From February 4-7, the winds shifted and blew the cold air in from the northwest. This shifted snowsquall activity to the more traditional snowbelt areas to the lee of Lake Superior, Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. During this four-day period, Sault Ste Marie received a little more than 70 centimetres of snow and the Barrie area almost 60 centimetres. As well, in less than 12 hours during this timeframe, the Owen Sound area picked up approximately 50 centimetres of fresh snow.

St. Valentine’s Day turned out to be more for shovelers than for lovers, especially around the western end of Lake Ontario. A well-developed storm system that moved south of the lower Great Lakes combined with strong lake-effect snow bands generated with a wind from the northeast to give the Hamilton area an official 46 centimetres. This all occurred just between the evening of February 13 and the morning of February 14. However, unofficial estimates of the snow in areas around Hamilton and Burlington were upwards of 60 centimetres, with drifts well over a metre in height. Other parts of Southern Ontario which were not impacted by the off-lake snow received amounts between 10 and 15 centimetres.
(… more at link.)

Lunar eclipse on Saturday night

Saturday night is the night of the full moon this month. And it brings the first total lunar eclipse in 2½ years. We in Ontario won’t see much of it if the weather is cloudy: the eclipse will be underway before the moon rises. You can see it best along the east coast of Canada and the United States, as well as South Africa, Europe and much of Asia.

The CBC’s science column says:

Lunar eclipses occur when a full moon, on its usual orbit around the Earth, slips into Earth’s shadow. The eclipsed moon may appear washed in a copper or brown colour as sunlight leaks through the Earth’s atmosphere.

I have seen that sullen brick-red quite a few times since I was a child. I didn’t realize that lunar eclipses were so rare.