Gary McFarlane

Avalanches in Europe and the US: Have there been more this winter? Recent deadly incidents in California and Europe are putting avalanches - and how to avoid them - in the spotlight.

Avalanche season is killing far more people than usual—over 90 deaths so far in Europe and a deadly slide in California that claimed eight skiers.

Warmer, wetter snow from climate change and risky off‑piste behaviour are making the mountains far less safe.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

What pet cats can tell us about human cancer A new study isolated DNA from the tumours of 500 cats across 13 different tumour types and mapped the sequence of 1,000 genes often found mutated in human cancers.

Research reveals striking similarities between feline & human cancers & the results reveal benefits for cats as well as humans. theconversation.com/what-pet-cat... via @ca.theconversation.com #genomics #science #CdnSci #medicine #SciChat

Of course!

Blue-filtered photo of the Alberta Legislature building. Text reads, "Friends of Medicare Responds to Government's Attack on our Credibility. Read FOM's response: friendsofmedicare.org/news"

When politicians can't defend their own policies, they seem to increasingly resort to attacking their policy critics instead—Including FOM.

In light of their recent comments attacking our credibility, here are some of the noteworthy policy predictions FOM has made under this provincial government:

Climate change is speeding up — the pace nearly doubled in ten years Earth is now warming at a rate of around 0.35 ºC per decade, fresh analysis finds.

The rate of global warming has surged since 2015 and is now nearly double what it was in the 1970s, according to a new study. nature.com/articles/d41... via
@nature.com #ClimateScience #environment #ecology #SciChat

We were supposed to land humans on Mars two years ago. For 15 years fully autonomous cars were supposed to come out in two years. Our economy is in a death spiral that will trigger a debt death spiral. No one will buy our bonds. There is no money for this crack pipe dream that wouldn’t happen anyway

Stand Up for Science protests spread to more than 50 cities Speakers at the Stand Up for Science rally in Washington, D.C., criticized the politicization of science and cuts to research that serves the public

Stand Up for Science protests spread to more than 50 cities

Marsupials in the news again? Yes! And this time it’s good news | First Dog on the Moon Lazarus taxa

Marsupials in the news again? Yes! And this time it’s good news. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... #environment #ecology #SciComm #science #SciChat

ANALYSIS | SpaceX wants to launch a million satellites. Here's how that could impact us here on Earth | CBC News Scientists are deeply concerned about SpaceX's recent proposal to launch one million satellites into orbit around Earth. Their concerns range from a loss of the natural night sky and our access to spa...

SpaceX wants to launch a million satellites. Here's how that could impact the atmosphere and the night sky - 'These launches affect everyone,' says one astronomer. www.cbc.ca/news/science... #astronomy #astrophysics #science #SciChat

Bird droppings helped build one of ancient Peru’s most powerful kingdoms New research suggests seabird guano helped transform the Chincha Kingdom into one of the most prosperous societies in ancient Peru. Chemical clues in centuries-old maize show farmers fertilized their…

Bird droppings helped build one of ancient Peru’s most powerful kingdoms www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202... 🦑🧪🌎

Scientists Shocked to Find Two Hidden Species for Every One We Know Scientists may have been dramatically undercounting the number of vertebrate species on Earth. A large analysis of more than 300 studies suggests that for every recognized species of fish, bird, mamma...

A new study suggests that the number of vertebrate species on Earth may be far higher than scientists currently recognize. scitechdaily.com/scientists-s... #biodiversity #biology #ecology #science #SciChat

We are going to trash space like we have trashed Earth.

Scientists warn fake research is spreading faster than real science A sweeping new study from Northwestern University reveals that scientific fraud is no longer just the work of a few rogue researchers—it has evolved into a global, organized enterprise. By analyzing m...

A major investigation found organized networks producing fake scientific papers, selling authorships, and manipulating journals to mass-publish fraudulent research. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202... #science #SciComm #SciEd #STEM #SciChat

The secretive, foreign-owned LNG export project in Quebec, explained | The Narwhal The Baie-Comeau LNG project proposed for the shores of the St. Lawrence River could be Canada’s third largest liquefied natural gas export facility

A massive LNG project proposed in Quebec is quietly advancing. A Norwegian company wants to build one of Canada’s largest LNG export terminals in Baie-Comeau. Documents show Ottawa has assembled a federal “deal team” to help, @sarahkcox.bsky.social reports: thenarwhal.ca/lng-export-p...

By the book: Alberta schools pull at least 160 titles from shelves to meet provincial order | CBC News Alberta school divisions complying with a provincial order have removed dozens of graphic novels from their shelves, from illustrated versions of literary classics to coming-of-age memoirs and dramati...

Alberta schools pull at least 160 titles.
“Turk, of CFE, said school book removals give Alberta the dubious distinction of accounting for nearly three-quarters of the known book challenges documented in 2025 at all Canadian libraries”
#BookBans #Canada #cdnpoli
#Alberta
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

SpaceX's Starlink satellites typically operate at altitudes around 550 kilometers (about 342 miles) but are being lowered to 480 kilometers (about 298 miles).
Reentry from orbit can involve temperatures reaching around 5,000°F (about 2,760°C)
travels at high speeds, typically around 25,000MPH.

One can argue the powerful fossil fuel lobby would have controlled the narrative and suppressed political action regardless of climate predictions.

But IMHO, history will show that climate scientists deliberately and systematically reported overly conservative climate change estimates.

Why?

Definitely not good!! Satellites are bad for the environment.

This is ridiculous. I had my telescope out a while back. Over a 30 minute period of observation, I spotted some 15 satellites. At one point, I spotted 3 satellites trailing one another without even looking through the telescope.

Uh, NO, OH HELL NO!

Forty-Year-Old Loophole Exempts Satellite Pollution from Regulations A forty-year-old legal loophole means that air pollution produced when old satellites burn up in Earth’s atmosphere is exempt from environmental oversight. Is the exemption justified in the age of meg...

Yes, BUT........Satellites are EXEMPT from any environmental review from the Reagan days with few launches per year. www.supercluster.com/editorial/fo...

The cheapest satellites to launch are about 50 million a piece. A million of these would cost over a trillion dollars. Is Musk going to take that out of petty cash?

This is the last photo of Mikaeil Mirdoraghi, just a 3rd grade student waving goodbye to his mother.
He was executed in the US strike on the primary school in Minab, Iran.
========

Blue!💙

ANALYSIS | SpaceX wants to launch a million satellites. Here's how that could impact us here on Earth | CBC News Scientists are deeply concerned about SpaceX's recent proposal to launch one million satellites into orbit around Earth. Their concerns range from a loss of the natural night sky and our access to spa...

SpaceX wants to launch a million satellites. Here's how that could impact the atmosphere and the night sky - 'These launches affect everyone,' says one astronomer. www.cbc.ca/news/science... #astronomy #astrophysics #science #SciChat

Science Advances’ special issue on women’s health highlights a growing wave of research focusing on women’s unique biological and psychological experiences. Articles cover a range of studies from the interplay between menopause and Alzheimer’s risk to the menstrual cycle’s influence on the brain-heart connection. It also describes the opportunities pregnancy provides to research aspects of both physical and mental health. By prioritizing women’s unique physiological and psychological experiences, research can expand the frontiers of knowledge in ways that benefit everyone.

In #ScienceAdvances last year, a special issue on #WomensHealth highlighted a growing wave of research focusing on women’s unique biological and psychological experiences.

Learn more on #InternationalWomensDay: https://scim.ag/4b5vlLq

a pink background with the words women 's day ALT: a pink background with the words women 's day

✨#InternationalWomensDay Conservation Biology Highlight:✨

🌸🌼🌺Three lessons for gender equity in biodiversity conservation🪸🐦‍🪶 (Lau, 2020). doi.org/10.1111/cobi...

#Womensday #WomeninScience #conservation #science #STEM #womeninstem #GenderEquity

International Women’s Day: Twelve women from chemistry history – pt. 8 Click to enlarge Today is International Women's Day, so here is another edition of the Women in Chemistry history series. This edition features women whose achievements in chemistry include the cre...

Today is International Women’s Day. This features women whose achievements in chemistry included the creation of synthetic emeralds, the impact of diet & nutrition on intelligence & health & more. compoundchem.com/2026/03/08/i... via
@compoundchem.com
#InternationalWomensDay #STEM #SciEd #SciChat

The Yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris), also known as the "rock chuck," is a large, social ground squirrel native to the mountainous and semi-arid regions of southwestern Canada and the western United States

Vernon, B.C. Feb 2026 Weather Summary 🧵
Alarming how often the script is the same now every month: Feb was exceptionally warm and dry (top ten ranking). Snow cover was absent most days.
📷 28 Feb: Yellow-bellied marmot, already emerging from hibernation (earliest I've ever observed). #BCWx #VernonBC

Daylight Saving Time: A Medical Nightmare? A Neurologist Weighs In Springing forward into daylight saving time is a step back for health – a neurologist explains the medical evidence, and why this shift is worse than the fall time change. As people in the U.S. prepar...

Daylight Saving Time: A Medical Nightmare? A Neurologist Weighs In scitechdaily.com/daylight-sav... #DaylightSavingTime #health #Science #SciChat