Delighted to report that we are back to Gary’s photographs!
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These are just fabulous. I say that every time but I mean it: They are fabulous!
Thank you, Gary.
Picture Parade Four Hundred and Thirty-One
Year: 2022
Bela, RIP.
John Zande loses a dear doggy friend.
In a comment to a recent post on this blog, John said: “Just sent you an email.“
I went to that email and read:
Hi Paul — just a personal note to let you know Bela died yesterday at 3.30pm. Her old beaten up body couldn’t do it any longer. A week after the last of her two operations she started going downhill. Her walks were more laboured. Last Tuesday I stopped walking her because (although she wanted to keep going) she was failing. She deteriorated over the weekend… Monday was spent racing her between vets, diagnostic clinics, and finally to the emergency care hospital. She made it through the night. She made it to us going there to see her. She was in a terrible state, her kidneys dissolving, her heart giving up. She was thankfully without pain, and although barely conscious (she was on heavy, heavy opioids), she managed to lift her head one last time. The vet there later said it was like she was waiting for you to say goodbye. She died thirty minutes later. Her heart gave out, and they could not revive her.
John subsequently emailed me the details of when he found Bela.
I caught sight of something out of the corner of my eye driving home one day. I *thought* it looked like a dog. I turned around, and that’s how we found her… skin and bones, leg broken, paw smashed. And as we’d later discover, megaesophagus. We scooped her up and raced her to the vet. First time in my life after a rescue I actually asked the vet that day if we should just end her misery right then and there. Four years is what she gave us, and our lives are richer for it. Four short years.
Since then Bela has had four or five major operations, the last two to remove cancers were in January and March of this year. As John puts it: “In my mind we were setting her up for many more years of health.“
Finally, here is a video of Bela. It is rather poor quality because the original is far too large. But it doesn’t matter at all because it just shows Bela alive and well!
Be in peace, dear Bela.
Are we alone?
As in: Is there life on other planets?
Last Saturday, we went to the local Freethinkers meeting in Grants Pass. It was a fascinating presentation by fellow member, Chas Rogers. Chas teaches Earth Science courses for the Rogue Community College and elsewhere.
Here is a taste of what we saw:
The Rare Earth Hypothesis argues that the development of complex life on Earth, not to mention intelligence, was an incredibly improbable thing in terms of the geological and astronomical variables involved, suggesting that the galaxy is not filled with other intelligent life forms waiting to be found.
One important factor is the Drake Equation. Here it is explained on the SETI website:
How many alien societies exist, and are detectable? This famous formula gives us an idea. The Drake Equation, which was the agenda for a meeting of experts held in West Virginia in 1961, estimates N, the number of transmitting societies in the Milky Way galaxy.
Here is that Drake Equation.
N : The number of civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy whose electromagnetic emissions are detectable.
R* : The rate of formation of stars suitable for the development of intelligent life (number per year).
fp : The fraction of those stars with planetary systems.
ne : The number of planets, per solar system, with an environment suitable for life.
fl : The fraction of suitable planets on which life actually appears.
fi : The fraction of life bearing planets on which intelligent life emerges.
fc : The fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that produces detectable signs of their existence.
L : The average length of time such civilizations produce such signs (years).
There is a great deal of information online for those that want to look into the question in much more detail. But I rather like this YouTube video by Carl Sagan.
(Sorry about the funny ending to that video.)
Carl was speaking of the Milky Way. There are plenty of astronomers who believe that the universe holds many galaxies. Plus, the universe is expanding drawn ever outwards by something that is completely unknown!
What a way to think outside the box for a while!
Learning from Dogs 