Science – movingforwardslowly

A Good News Story

This is not a new story for the press, however, it is a new story for me since I only discovered the successful propagation of “Stumpy” today. “Stumpy” was the famous Yoshino Cherry tree that lived for many years along the tidal basin in Washington (District of Columbia). This tree became famous during the Covid-19 pandemic, and it was finally cut down in 2024. The good news came as a result of a collaboration between the U.S. Park Service and the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. I will post the story of “Stumpy” from Wikipedia and from the U.S. National Arboretum website. First, I want to share the meaning of “Yoshino” since I was curious and looked it up. “Yoshino is a Japanese name of geographic and topographic origin that translates to “lucky field” or “auspicious plain”.” After you read the story that I will post, you will indeed agree that “Stumpy” was a very lucky tree!

I downloaded it as a PDF and then did a screenshot. There are 3 pages of information and credits. I only took a screenshot of page 1. It contains some history about the famous Yoshino Cherry tree named Stumpy.

There are so many news stories these days which are depressing. I was cheered when I read about the successful continuance of the Stumpy genetic line. Blessing to all involved in making this possible.

Street Sign Correction

Sally Ride Dr.

Dr. Sally Ride Drive street sign at a city intersection — The road I drive on daily with the Sally Ride Dr. sign is a simple double lane road that runs through an office park area. The area does not look like the image above, however, the street sign in this image generated picture is exactly how I think the sign I pass daily should be written.

This re-blogged post is from September 15, 2024. Today I decided to repost it with an image generated image of how I think the street sign should be written. Below you will see a picture of the real-life sign.)

Holy Moly!

White flowering plant with exposed roots in an enchanted forest — White blossoms rise from twisted roots in a glowing, mushroom-filled forest.

Batman and Robin driving a Batmobile through a city at night — White blossoms rise from twisted roots in a glowing, mushroom-filled forest.

The word moly does not stand alone as a single word except in myth. There is a magical herb in mythology called moly. In The Odyssey moly is a magical herb given to Odysseus by the god Hermes to protect him from Circe’s magic.

Several years ago I read the book Circe written by Madeline Miller, and moly is a magical plant that is also mentioned in this book. This mention carries forward the mystery of moly. Many botanists have tried to determine if there ever existed such an herb like it is described in these books. Nothing can be established conclusively, and it remains a mystery, though several theories do exist.

I remember watching Batman cartoons when I was a kid, and Robin would frequently use the phrase, “Holy Moly, Batman”, to express his surprise or shock about what was happening around them.

Molybdenum Mo, atomic number 42, electron configuration [Kr] 4d⁵ 5s¹ — A futuristic infographic explores molybdenum’s atomic structure, electron configuration, and metallic crystal form.

No. 74 Moly Alloy Racing prototype car cornering on a racetrack — A futuristic infographic explores molybdenum’s atomic structure, electron configuration, and metallic crystal form.

In real life there is the chemical element Molybdenum. It is a silvery white transition metal. It has many industrial uses. One use is to create an alloy called “moly steel”, and this is a high strength alloy that is often used to build race cars.

All the images and their captions were created by the WordPress image generator. I did provide prompts, though nothing as specific as what it creates. I find this fascinating, and I often want to exclaim, Holy Moly!