Out and about. Scientific stuff and odd seismic activity.

It’s quiet at our house again now after a few days’ flurry of activity. The southern branch of the family set off for home at midmorning. Our daughter and her two smallest offspring came along to see them off. Amazingly there were no tears but the small people refused to hug each other goodbye, as a kind of protest agains the visit having been, in their opinion, much too short. 

To compensate for some of the disappointment, my daughter proposed a hike up the hill to Heights Church, one of our favourite beauty spots around here. The day was moderately sunny. 

 

It would have been better if we had had the southern branch of the family along as well but we had a good picnic.

The views were fine. 

 

We saw interesting flora and fauna. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the small people went adventuring in the churchyard.

I read that scientists have managed to make female fruit flies reproduce without the help of male fruit flies. And my first reaction is: WHY? Okay! I know we need to expand the boundaries of knowledge but I fail to see the point of fruit flies. They are surely just a nuisance!

And here’s an odd fact: Taylor Swift’s Eras tour performances at Lumen Field in Seattle on 22 July and 23 July generated seismic activity equivalent of a 2.3 magnitude earthquake, according to seismologist Jackie Caplan-Auerbach.

A local seismometer detected activity generated by dancing fans comparable to the famous 2011 “Beast Quake”, when Seattle esSeahawks fans erupted in response to running back Marshawn “Beast Mode” Lynch scoring a touchdown in an NFC wild card game.

Concerts have been known on occasion to register seismic activity, such as a 2011 Foo Fighters concert in New Zealand attended by 50,000 fans and a 2022 Garth Brooks concert at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. But seismic magnitudes on the Richter scale were not provided from those concerts.

There you go.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone.