Curio Cabinet

If you thought that only certain Xmen could change the weather, think again! Dubai, the biggest city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has been experiencing record-breaking temperatures lately. Even during normal summers, the city can reach a scorching 115 degrees Fahrenheit, which isn’t great for tourism or general quality of life. So, last year, the UAE’s government decided on a novel way to cool things down. Using specialized drones, they stimulated the city’s near-constant cloud cover to produce rain. After successful tests, they began using the technology in other areas, such as the city of Ras Al Khaimah, from which meteorological officials recently released a video of a human-induced downpour.
 
How can people control the weather using only drones? The technique is called cloud seeding. When droplets of water vapor, which form clouds, are too small and far apart from one another, they are unaffected by earth’s gravity and can’t fall to the ground. It’s only when the droplets grow larger that they fall, so cloud seeding seeks to force small droplets together to form larger ones. Previous cloud-seeding technologies involved adding silver iodide or other chemicals to clouds in order to form ice crystals, causing water droplets to condense around them, become heavy, and fall as rain. The UAE, however, has employed a newer technique. Instead of chemicals, drones now deliver an electric charge to air molecules near clouds. Just as static electricity sometimes causes things to stick together (like hair to a brush) the electric charge encourages water droplets to bunch up. Although the technique is expensive and requires that drones be fitted not only with electricity-making equipment but also sensitive moisture sensors, it doesn’t require any chemicals to be dispersed through the air, which has been a major cloud-seeding environmental concern for years. As climate change continues to raise temperatures around the world, it’s possible that other nations may adopt similar weather-control to keep things cool. We’re all for it, assuming we don’t end up in a scene from Geostorm!

 
[Image description: The city of Dubai.] Credit & copyright: Nino Verde/Wikimedia Commons, no changes made.

This Pegasus is a lot less heroic than the one from Greek myth. In fact, it’s a form of malware, or malicious software, that was recently found on the phones of over 1,000 people in 50 countries. Created by Israel-based hacker-for-hire outfit NSO Group, Pegasus can infiltrate and collect data from just about any smart device. Although NSO Group insists that Pegasus is only supposed to be used by government and law enforcement agencies in the fight against terrorism, a recent investigation by a global media consortium uncovered its widespread misuse. Governments were found to be spying on journalists, activists, and lawyers, among others. So, how does Pegasus work and what can be done to stop it?
 
Most spyware (malware created specifically to steal data) relies on unwitting user participation to work. For example, some spyware generates fake-but-official-looking forms which ask users to fill in personal info themselves. Pegasus is different. It uses difficult-to-detect vulnerabilities in operating systems, called zero-day exploits, to break into phones. This means that it can be loaded onto a target’s phone without them having to do anything. Pegasus can then steal data, such as contact lists, text messages, and photos, sending them directly to whoever is spying. GPS data can be accessed to track an infected phone. Reportedly, Pegasus can even hijack a phone’s camera and microphone to secretly record victims.
 
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Pegasus is notoriously difficult to find and remove. Two apps, iVerify and MVT from Amnesty International claim to be able to detect Pegasus, but removing it can require the help of an expert. Luckily, unless you’re a high-powered businessperson or politician, you’re unlikely to be targeted by Pegasus...but illegal government spying is something that everyone should be aware of, regardless.

[Image description: People in Hungary hold signs and flags during a protest against government spying.] Credit & copyright: AP photo/Anna Szilagyi
 

Written by: Maria C.

There’s something fishy going on in Minnesota’s lakes. In fact, several of them have become overrun with giant, non-native goldfish! The problem stems from misguided pet owners releasing the fish into wild waters. While these common pets tend to stay around 2 inches long when kept in aquariums, they can grow to a whopping 15 inches in the wild, and weigh up to four pounds. At that size, they can have a devastating effect on local wildlife.
 
After receiving complaints from local fishermen at Keller lake, the city of Burnsville, Minnesota announced on Twitter, “Please don't release your pet goldfish into ponds and lakes! They grow bigger than you think and contribute to poor water quality by mucking up the bottom sediments and uprooting plants.” Goldfish do indeed produce more waste than than the average wild fish, and their excrement contains high levels of ammonia. Ammonia can easily upend a wild ecosystem from top to bottom, killing plants and insects that native fish rely on for food and changing the chemical composition of the water itself, making it difficult for some wild fish species to breathe. As if that wasn’t bad enough, ammonia can cause certain fast-growing species of algae to bloom, making a slimy, green mess out of clear lake waters. Goldfish also eat a lot, often outcompeting wild fish who rely on the same insect populations to survive. As one might expect, all of these problems become more serious as goldfish increase in individual size and overall population.
 
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time that Minnesota has become a breeding ground for these invasive fish. In November, 2020, more than 500,000 goldfish were removed from Big Woods Lake, near Minneapolis. Wildlife officials from the Carver County Water Management Organization have begun stocking some lakes with pike, which feed on goldfish. Hopefully, fish end up being part of Minnesota’s solution, not just their problem!

 
[Image description: two large, orange goldfish are held above a container of water.] Credit & copyright: City of Burnsville, Minnesota

 
Written by: Maria C.

It's Flashback Friday! To celebrate the discovery of the Hale-Bopp Comet on this day in 1995, enjoy this space-themed curio!
 
Who needs a dark side of the Moon when it can disappear altogether? Scientists have recently uncovered an explanation to the Moon's disappearance for a night in medieval England. On the night of May 5, 1110 C.E. a total lunar eclipse was documented in the middle of the night, lasting into the day time. According to researchers from the University of Geneva in Switzerland, the secret to the eclipse was in the trees and snow: ice core samples taken from glaciers date sulphuric aerosol particles from volcanic activity to 1110 C.E. In addition, tree rings dating from the same period reveal unusually ring thinning and cold weather for the year. Several accounts from the time note crop failures, famine, and other incidents of unfavorable weather. While previous research pointed to an eruption at Iceland's Hekla volcano as the cause of the lunar eclipse, the University of Geneva researchers point to a months-long eruption at Japan's Mount Asama in 1108 as the likely culprit of the blackout. Whatever the reasons, we bet the visible moon couldn't come back fast enough on May 6th.
 

Image credit & copyright: CoffmanCMU / Getty Images / iStockphoto
 

Written by: Esther P.

It's Flashback Friday! To celebrate the discovery of the Hale-Bopp Comet on this day in 1995, enjoy this space-themed curio!
 

In 2019, the International Space Station received a curious delivery: a dozen bottles of red Bordeaux wine from France. But before you go thinking astronauts threw a party without us, rest assured that the vin de table was purely for research—aging, to be exact. According to the director of the experiment, Michael Lebert of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, the winemaking process's combination of yeast and bacteria makes it an ideal candidate for space study. Lebert and his fellow researchers closely observed the wine for over a year aboard the ISS, to see how microgravity and cosmic radiation influence the aging process. Conditions that affect the quality of wine on Earth are myriad. Temperature, humidity, light, as well as vibrations, can deteriorate the product during cellaring. To overcome that last variable, the wine bottles were packaged in special metal canisters before their shuttle lifted off, to prevent shattering and minimize jostling. In fact, this wasn't the ISS's first time receiving libations. Budweiser has previously offered up barley seeds to the station, working towards its goal of becoming "the first beer on Mars." A Japanese company also sent whiskey and other productions up in 2015. The first time wine was brought aboard the ISS was actually way back in 1985, when a French astronaut stowed a bottle aboard the shuttle Discovery. After the 2019 study, the dozen bottles of wine headed back to Earth to be compared with identical, but terrestrially-aged Bordeaux, while those aboard the ISS enjoyed their own stock. Bottoms up doesn't quite work in microgravity. Hmm, I wonder how the tannins come through when sipping space wine from a straw!
 

Image credit & copyright: Arctic-Images/Nick Purser/Getty Images
 

Play all you want, just don’t step on them! LEGO bricks have been inspiring young minds (and hurting bare feet) since 1932, but modern environmental concerns have made the all-plastic bricks less appealing to some. Luckily, in late June, the LEGO Group unveiled their first-ever prototype bricks made from entirely recycled plastic. Specifically, the bricks are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a lightweight plastic commonly used to make water bottles. A one-liter plastic bottle can now be turned into roughly ten standard-sized LEGO bricks.
 
According to the LEGO Group, the company has been working to create “greener” bricks for years, but the latest prototype was the first to pass the company’s rigorous durability tests. In fact, LEGO tested over 250 different plastic formulations before successfully creating their latest prototype. Tim Books, LEGO’s Vice President of Environmental Responsibility, explained in a statement that, “The biggest challenge on our sustainability journey is rethinking and innovating new materials that are as durable, strong and high quality as our existing bricks — and fit with LEGO elements made over the past 60 years. With this prototype, we're able to showcase the progress we're making.” The LEGO Group hasn’t announced when their new bricks will hit store shelves, but their prototype is already exciting environmentally-conscious fans on social media. If only there was a prototype LEGO brick that was less painful to step on!
 

[Image description: Lego bricks made from recycled plastic are arranged into the shape of a water bottle. Beside them, polyethylene terephthalate granules, arranged into the same shape, sit next to an actual water bottle, against a blue background.] Credit & copyright: LEGO
 

Written by: Maria C.