Many cities at the core of large U.S. metropolitan areas were no longer among the largest population losers in 2022, reversing a pattern seen during the first full year of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.

The latest release of Vintage 2022 population estimates for cities and towns shows that the magnitude of population loss for some large cities decreased between 2021 and 2022.

While almost half of the fastest-declining cities had populations of 100,000 or more in 2021, only three had populations of 100,000 or more a year later.

About half of the nation’s fastest-growing cities just over a year into the pandemic (July 1, 2021) remained among the top-15 gainers one year later (July 1, 2022), growing at an even faster rate.



Mix of cities experiencing decline changed

The 15 fastest-declining cities from 2021 to 2022 and 2020 to 2021 were different, with major cities like Boston, Washington, D.C. and, most notably, San Francisco falling off the list.

While almost half of the fastest-declining cities had populations of 100,000 or more in 2021, only three had populations of 100,000 or more a year later. Two cities (Jackson, Mississippi, and New Orleans, Louisiana) were negatively impacted by Hurricane Ida (Tables 1 and 2).

Plus, the rate of population losses from 2021 to 2022 (Table 1) were more in line with pre-pandemic patterns (Table 3).

For instance, Jackson, Mississippi, with the largest percentage (2.5%) drop during that period, would have made the list of fastest-declining cities in 2019 but not in 2021 (Tables 1, 2 and 3).



Which cities gained population?

Fort Worth, Texas, the third largest-gaining city since 2018, ranked first in 2022 with a numeric increase of 19,170 from 2021.

In addition, San Antonio and Georgetown, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona; and Port St. Lucie and Cape Coral, Florida, showed notably larger increases in 2022 than in 2021 – possible signs of population rebound.

From 2021 to 2022, the total population increase for the nation’s 15 largest-gaining cities was just over 197,800, compared to a collective gain of about 129,000 people from the 2020 to 2021 period which included the first full year of the pandemic (Tables 4 and 5).

The total number of people added to the top-gaining 15 cities from 2021 to 2022 also outpaced their total pre-pandemic population increase (187,100) from 2018 to 2019 (Table 6).



Population losses

New York City continued to exhibit the largest numeric decline, losing 123,104 people from 2021 to 2022. But this was nearly 60% less than its 2020-2021 population loss of 305,465.

Declines also slowed in other large cities that had experienced significant population losses, including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland and San Jose, (Tables 7 and 8).

How We Calculate Estimates

The annual population and housing unit estimates for states, counties, cities and towns are developed using various administrative data sources such as birth and death certificates and tax return statistics on people who changed residences.

The decennial census serves as a starting point for each decade of subcounty population estimates.

Cities and towns are more likely than larger geographies to annex land or disincorporate. We apply these types of legal boundary changes to the decennial census to create an updated base for population and housing units.

Such geographic updates are made annually, so each new time series of estimates we produce begins from a newly updated geographic base. This “estimates base” created from the census is essential for accurately distributing the population.

More details on city and town populations are available in the subcounty methodology statement.

Amel Toukabri is chief of the Local Government Estimates and Migration Processing Branch in the Census Bureau’s Population Division. Crystal Delbé is a survey statistician in the Population Division.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Three years after work on the project began, Lake County Tribal Health Consortium’s newest clinic is open and ready to serve the community.

The new state-of-the-art Southshore Clinic is located at 14440 Olympic Drive.

On Friday morning, Tribal Health Board members and clinic leadership, joined by local elected and community leaders, celebrated the grand opening and ribbon cutting of the 25,000-square-foot outpatient health clinic.

While the clinic had a soft opening in July, as of Friday, May 19 — a year after the facility was blessed — it’s fully open, said Chief Executive Officer Ernesto Padilla.

“From the beginning, this project was done right,” said Clearlake City Manager Alan Flora.

Tribal Health broke ground on the project in September 2020.

Its final price tag was $25 million, which Flora said was three times the original budget.

It has close to 60 staffers who offer medical services from children through seniors, including a soon-to-open pharmacy for tribal members and pain management.

The clinic also is the only facility to offer full dental services in Lake County. Dr. Eunsub Jang, one of Tribal Health’s dentists, said that the clinic has a monthly capacity of 1,700 dental patients. In April, they had 1,000 patients, and so far in May have had 700 patients.

Padilla said they’ve used every square inch of the vast new building’s space.

Even so, Flora said it’s already almost too small for the needs of the community, which has a health deficit and some of the worst health outcomes in the state.

“This is the type of development that we haven’t really seen here” but that they now expect, said Flora.

“I’m proud of what you all have done here,” Flora added.

Padilla and Flora both referred to a strong working relationship that Tribal Health and the city have enjoyed through the process.

Tribal Health contributed to the city’s new band shell at Austin Park, and on Friday they once again offered support to the city with a $150,000 donation to the Burns Valley Sports Complex the city of Clearlake is building.

Flora said Tribal Health’s new clinic is encouraging other development, too. A town house project is coming just down the street and the roads in the area will be redone next year.

He thinks the clinic will help the community’s outcomes, as access is important.

A tour of the building

David Santos, formerly president and CEO of Adventist Health Clear Lake, now is chief operating officer for Tribal Health.

He said 15% of Tribal Health’s patient population is Indigenous. That percentage used to be larger until they opened services to the general population.

Santos and other Tribal Health leaders led visitors through the building, beginning on the first floor in the thoughtfully designed waiting rooms for children, adults and those waiting for labs, and then through the medical and dental suites on the first and second floors.

Throughout the buildings there are glass cases, some of them filled with Pomo baskets and artifacts, some with community sports plaques.

Moving up the large spiral staircase, there is a mural of Lake County wildlife and geography, along with a map of Clear Lake and the six tribes in the consortium: Big Valley Rancheria, Elem Colony, Habematolel Pomo, Middletown Rancheria, Robinson Rancheria and the Scotts Valley Pomo. A seventh Lake County tribe, the Koi Nation, is not a consortium member.

Kevin Thompson, the Southshore Clinic manager, said an artist who has created murals for Cabela’s was hired to paint the mural, which he initially sketched out in just a day.

Thompson said COVID-19 resulted in changes to the clinic design. Some areas that originally had been designed with open floor plans ended up being enclosed, and every room now has its own self-contained decontamination equipment.

He said that, thanks to Bret Woods, Tribal Health’s chief financial officer — who also was on hand to lead members of the public through the building — the Lakeport clinic now has new equipment to match that found at the Southshore Clinic so the staff can rotate through the two clinics more easily.

Among the community residents who visited the facility during the grand opening was a woman who identified herself as Mindy. She said she has been living in the community since 1980 and she’s happy to see the good things happening in Clearlake.

Padilla said there’s “more to come” for Tribal Health, which is now in the design phase with NorthStar Designing Solutions — the same firm that did the Southshore Clinic — for a new administration building at its Lakeport facility on Bevins Court.

Construction on that project is expected to start in early 2024 and to be completed by the fall of 2025, Padilla said.

Tribal Health also has plans for its site on Parallel Drive in Lakeport, he said.

That site, used earlier this month for Tribal Health’s National Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Day event, will remain a gathering site. Its parklike setting will be used for meetings and events, Padilla said.

Tribal Health is accepting new patients, not just tribal members but the underserved members of the community, including those who are on Medicare and Medi-Cal, as well as those who are uninsured.

For more information visit the Tribal Health website.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Animal Care and Control has a host of new puppies and dogs this week ready to be adopted.

Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of American bulldog, Anatolian shepherd, Catahoula leopard dog, German shepherd, husky, Jack Russell terrier, pit bull, plott hound, pointer, and terrier.

Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.

The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption.

Call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278 or visit the shelter online for information on visiting or adopting.

Male pit bull terrier

This 3-month-old male pit bull terrier has a short brindle coat.

He is in kennel No. 7a, ID No. LCAC-A-5265.

Male pit bull terrier

This 3-month-old male pit bull terrier has a short brindle coat.

He is in kennel No. 7b, ID No. LCAC-A-5266.

‘Sky’

“Sky” is a 1 and a half year old female German shepherd with an all-white coat.

She is in kennel No. 8, ID No. LCAC-A-4297.

Male wirehaired terrier

This 1-year-old male wirehaired terrier has a brown coat.

He is in kennel No. 9, ID No. LCAC-A-5261.

Female pit bull terrier-hound mix

This 2-year-old female pit bull terrier-hound mix has a short black and tan coat.

She is in kennel No. 10, ID No. LCAC-A-5259.

Male pit bull

This 1-year-old male pit bull terrier has a short black coat.

He is in kennel No. 11, ID No. LCAC-A-5258.

Female Catahoula leopard dog puppy

This 2-month-old female Catahoula leopard dog puppy has a short black coat with white markings.

She is in kennel No. 12a, ID No. LCAC-A-5243.

Male Catahoula leopard dog puppy

This 2-month-old male Catahoula leopard dog puppy has a short brindle coat with white markings.

He is in kennel No. 12b, ID No. LCAC-A-5245.

Female Catahoula leopard dog puppy

This 2-month-old female Catahoula leopard dog puppy has a short brindle coat with white markings.

She is in kennel No. 12c, ID No. LCAC-A-5246.

Female Jack Russell terrier

This 9-month-old female Jack Russell terrier has a short brown and white coat.

She is in kennel No. 13, ID No. LCAC-A-5236.

Female pit bull-pointer mix

This 8-month-old female pit bull-pointer mix has a brown brindle and white coat.

She is in kennel No. 14, ID No. LCAC-A-5230.

‘Kyle Barkson’

“Kyle Barkson” is a 5 and a half year old male pit bull with a black and white coat.

He is in kennel No. 15, ID No. LCAC-A-5039.

Male Catahoula leopard dog puppy

This 2-month-old male Catahoula leopard dog puppy has a short brown brindle coat with white markings.

He is in kennel No. 16a, ID No. LCAC-A-5244.

Male Catahoula leopard dog puppy

This 2-month-old male Catahoula leopard dog puppy has a short white coat with black markings.

He is in kennel No. 16a, ID No. LCAC-A-5247.

Male German shepherd

This 9-month-old male German shepherd has a short black and tan coat.

He is in kennel No. 17, ID No. LCAC-A-5054.

Male plott hound

This 2-year-old male plott hound has a short brown coat.

He is in kennel No. 18, ID No. LCAC-A-5143.

Male American bulldog

This 4-year-old male American bulldog has a gray and white coat.

He is in kennel No. 19, ID No. LCAC-A-5204.

‘Pluto’

“Pluto” is a 2-year-old male pit bull terrier-hound mix with a short brown coat.

He is in kennel No. 20, ID No. LCAC-A-5052.

Male pit bull terrier

This 3-year-old male pit bull terrier has a short black and white coat.

He is in kennel No. 21, ID No. LCAC-A-5076.

Male shepherd

This 2-year-old male shepherd has a tan and white coat.

He is in kennel No. 22, ID No. LCAC-A-5223.

Male terrier

This 1-year-old male terrier mix has a short brown coat.

He is in kennel No. 23, ID No. LCAC-A-5110.

Male terrier

This 1-year-old male terrier has a short tan coat.

He is in kennel No. 24, ID No. LCAC-A-5111.

Male Anatolian shepherd

This one and a half year old male Anatolian shepherd has a tan and black coat.

He is in kennel No. 25, ID No. LCAC-A-5036.

Male pit bull terrier

This 1-year-old male pit bull terrier has a black coat with white markings.

He is in kennel No. 27, ID No. LCAC-A-5203.

Female Labrador retriever-pit bull mix

This 3-year-old female Labrador retriever-pit bull mix has a short yellow coat.

She is in kennel No. 29, ID No. LCAC-A-5229.

Pit bull terrier-pointer mix

This 1 and a half year old female pit bull-pointer mix has a white coat.

She is in kennel No. 31, ID No. LCAC-A-5231.

Female pit bull-shepherd puppy

This 5-month-old female pit bull-shepherd puppy has a short tricolor coat.

She is in kennel No. 32, ID No. LCAC-A-5072.

‘Max’

“Max” is a 7-month-old male terrier mix with a short black coat.

He is in kennel No. 34, ID No. LCAC-A-4248.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

 

My wife and I were in the grocery store recently when we noticed an older woman reaching above her head for some produce. As she stretched out her hand, she lost her balance and began falling forward. Fortunately, she leaned into her grocery cart, which prevented her from falling to the ground.

Each year, about 1 in every 4 older adults experience a fall. In fact, falls are the leading cause of injuries in adults ages 65 and older. Falls are the most common cause of hip fractures and traumatic brain injuries.

Injuries like those are also risk factors for placement in a nursing home, where the fall risk is nearly three times higher than for people living in the community.

A number of physical changes with aging often go unseen preceding falls, including muscle weakness, decreased balance and changes in vision.

I am a physical therapist and clinical scientist focused on fall prevention in older adults, commonly ages 65 and older. I’ve spent most of my career investigating why older adults fall and working with patients and their families to prevent falls.

Why aging leads to increased risk of falls

Aging is a process that affects the systems and tissues of every person. The rate and magnitude of aging may be different for each person, but overall physical decline is an inevitable part of life. Most people think aging starts in their 60s, but in fact we spend most of our life span undergoing the process of decline, typically beginning in our 30s.

Older adults are more prone to falling for various reasons, including age-related changes in their bodies and vision changes that leave them vulnerable to environmental factors such as curbs, stairs and carpet folds.

Based on my experience, here are some common reasons older adults may experience falls:

First, aging leads to a natural loss of muscle strength and flexibility, making it more challenging to maintain balance and stability. The loss of strength and poor balance are two of the most common causes of falls.

Second, older adults often have chronic conditions such as arthritis, Parkinson’s disease or diabetes that can affect their mobility, coordination and overall stability.

In addition, certain medications commonly taken by older adults, such as sedatives or blood pressure drugs, can cause dizziness, drowsiness or a drop in blood pressure, leading to an increased risk of falls.

Age-related vision changes, such as reduced depth perception and peripheral vision and difficulty in differentiating colors or contrasts, can make it harder to navigate and identify potential hazards. Hazards in the environment, such as uneven surfaces, slippery floors, inadequate lighting, loose rugs or carpets or cluttered pathways, can significantly contribute to falls among older adults.

Older adults who lead a sedentary lifestyle or have limited physical activity may also experience reduced strength, flexibility and balance.

And finally, such conditions as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease can affect judgment, attention and spatial awareness, leading to increased fall risk.

Theories of aging

There are numerous theories about why we age but there is no one unifying notion that explains all the changes in our bodies. A large portion of aging-related decline is caused by our genes, which determine the structure and function of bones, muscle growth and repair and visual depth perception, among other things. But there are also numerous lifestyle-related factors that influence our rate of aging including diet, exercise, stress and exposure to environmental toxins.

A recent advance in scientific understanding of aging is that there is a difference between your chronological age and your biological age. Chronological age is simply the number of years you’ve been on the Earth. Biological age, however, refers to how old your cells and tissues are. It is based on physiological evidence from a blood test and is related to your physical and functional ability. Thus, if you’re healthy and fit, your biological age may be lower than your chronological age. However, the reverse can also be true.

I encourage patients to focus on their biological age because it empowers them to take control over the aging process. We obviously have no control over when we are born. By focusing on the age of our cells, we can avoid long-held beliefs that our bodies are destined to develop cancer, diabetes or other conditions that have historically been tied to how long we live.

And by taking control of diet, exercise, sleep and other lifestyle factors you can actually decrease your biological age and improve your quality of life. As one example, our team’s research has shown that moderate amounts of aerobic exercise can slow down motor decline even when a person begins exercise in the latter half of the life span.

Fall prevention

Adopting lifestyle changes such as regular, long-term exercise can reduce the consequences of aging, including falls and injuries. Following a healthy diet, managing chronic conditions, reviewing medications with health care professionals, maintaining a safe home environment and getting regular vision checkups can also help reduce the risk of falls in older adults.

There are several exercises that physical therapists use to improve balance for patients. It is important to note however, that before starting any exercise program, everyone should consult with a health care professional or a qualified physical therapist to determine the most appropriate exercises for their specific needs. Here are five forms of exercise I commonly recommend to my patients to improve balance:

1. Balance training can help improve coordination and proprioception, which is the body’s ability to sense where it is in space. By practicing movements that challenge the body’s balance, such as standing on one leg or walking heel-to-toe, the nervous system becomes better at coordinating movement and maintaining balance. A large research study analyzing nearly 8,000 older adults found that balance and functional exercises reduce the rate of falls by 24%.

2. Strength training exercises involve lifting weights or using resistance bands to increase muscle strength and power. By strengthening the muscles in the legs, hips and core, older adults can improve their ability to maintain balance and stability. Our research has shown that strength training can also lead to improvements in walking speed and a reduction in fall risk.

3. Tai chi is a gentle martial art that focuses on slow, controlled movements and shifting body weight. Research shows that it can improve balance, strength and flexibility in older adults. Several combined studies in tai chi have demonstrated a 20% reduction in the number of people who experience falls.

4. Certain yoga poses can enhance balance and stability. Tree pose, warrior pose and mountain pose are examples of poses that can help improve balance. It’s best to practice yoga under the guidance of a qualified instructor who can adapt the poses to individual abilities.

5. Flexibility training involves stretching the muscles and joints, which can improve range of motion and reduce stiffness. By improving range of motion, older adults can improve their ability to move safely and avoid falls caused by limitations in mobility.

6. Use of assistive devices can be helpful when strength or balance impairments are present. Research studies involving the evaluation of canes and walkers used by older adults confirm that these devices can improve balance and mobility. Training from a physical or occupational therapist in the proper use of assistive devices is an important part of improving safety.

When I think back about the woman who nearly fell in the grocery store, I wish I could share everything we have learned about healthy aging with her. There’s no way to know if she was already putting these tips into practice, but I’m comforted by the thought that she may have avoided the fall by being in the right place at the right time. After all, she was standing in the produce aisle.

Evan Papa, Associate Professor of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, Tufts University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

This just in: NASA’s new Daily Minor Planet project seeks your help discovering and tracking asteroids — in a dazzling new data set.

Remember asteroids, those lumps of rock tumbling through space left over from the formation of our solar system? There are so many reasons to find these objects. Some asteroids pose an impact hazard to Earth, while others are essential for humanity's endeavor to explore, live, and work in space. Now there's a new way you can help.

The Daily Minor Planet project, uses data from the NASA-funded, University of Arizona-based Catalina Sky Survey, which collects more than 1000 images per night. "We take so many images of the sky each night that we cannot possibly look through all of our potential real asteroids," said Carson Fuls, a science engineering specialist for the Catalina Sky Survey who heads the project.

At the Daily Minor Planet, you'll decide if the specks of light in the images look like genuine celestial bodies or, instead, are false detections resulting from inconveniently timed "twinkles" of the star-studded background, dust on the telescope mirror, or other causes. After answering by clicking a "yes" or "no" button, you can either write a comment or move on to the next set of images.

The new Daily Minor Planet project replaces the Catalina Outer Solar System Survey project, which is now complete. If you contributed to the Catalina Outer Solar System Survey project, thank you! The science team learned from their experience working with you on that project and cleared up some bottlenecks in their data pipeline. The new Daily Minor Planet will feature new images uploaded daily—come give it a try!

"I thought it would be great if people could do what we do every night," said Fuls. "We see this website throwing open the doors: Do you want to look for asteroids, too? If so, come on in."

Can't get enough asteroids? You'll also enjoy searching for comet-like objects hiding in the asteroid belt with the Active Asteroids project or getting a group together to join the International Astronomical Search Collaboration.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — In partnership with the city of Clearlake and Blue Zones Project Lake County, Konocti Unified School District invites community members to participate in their walking school bus event.

It will be held on Wednesday, May 31, starting at Austin Park at 7:30 a.m. and ending at Pomo Elementary School.

The goal of the event is to highlight the need for walkable neighborhoods and encourage federal funding to support the effort.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — California State Parks' Division of Boating and Waterways kicks off the official boating season in California in coordination with National Safe Boating Week held May 20 to 26.

The Division of Boating and Waterways, or DBW, encourages all boaters and outdoor enthusiasts to brush up on boating safety skills and prepare for the boating season.

This observance week is a global awareness effort that encourages boaters to make the most of their boating adventure by being responsible. One of the important safety measures to take while boating is wearing life jackets.

“With the weather warming up, the snow melting from this year’s historic snowpack and boaters heading out to the water, it is crucial that life jackets are worn at all times while boating,” said DBW’s Deputy Director Ramona Fernandez. “Just like you wear your seatbelt in the car, wearing a life jacket while boating is one layer of prevention to avoid unnecessary tragedy.”

U.S. Coast Guard statistics show that drowning was the reported cause of death in four out of every five recreational boating fatalities in 2021 and that 83% of those who drowned were not wearing life jackets.

Newer styles of life jackets are much more comfortable, lightweight and stylish compared to the bulky, orange life jackets that boaters used to know. There are innovative options, such as inflatable life jackets, that are much cooler in the warmer weather and allow mobility and flexibility for activities like boating, fishing, paddling or hunting.

Here are some helpful tips for selecting and maintaining life jackets:

U.S. Coast Guard–Approved: Wear only U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets while boating. All life jackets approved by the U.S. Coast Guard will have an approval number located on the inside label.

Proper Fit: Life jackets are sized by weight and chest measurements. An adult-sized life jacket is not suitable for a child, as the life jacket may be too large and may ride up around their face or even slip off. Always check the fit of the child’s life jacket before entering the water. A life jacket too small for the wearer may not keep them afloat.

Intended Boating Activity: Make sure that the life jacket is approved for the specific boating activity in which you plan to participate.

Good condition: Check the life jacket before use to ensure it is in good condition. Replace a life jacket that has faded labels, rips, tears, mildew, loose or missing straps, frayed webbing or broken zippers or buckles. If an inflatable life jacket is used, check recommendations from the manufacturer on the CO2 canister and arming mechanism, and replace as necessary.

Children and life jackets: Under California law, every child under 13 years of age on a moving recreational vessel of any length must wear a U.S. Coast Guard–approved life jacket in serviceable condition and of a type and size appropriate for the conditions and the activity. Many cities and counties also have regulations about children and youth life jacket requirements along rivers and lakes. Always check with local managers about life jacket rules.

Life jacket loaner program: DBW partners with local agencies to ensure boaters have access to life jackets. A life jacket can be borrowed from more than 100 life jacket loaner stations throughout the state. View life jacket loaner stations.

 

As trees and flowers blossom in spring, bees emerge from their winter nests and burrows. For many species it’s time to mate, and some will start new solitary nests or colonies.

Bees and other pollinators are essential to human society. They provide about one-third of the food we eat, a service with a global value estimated at up to $US577 billion annually.

But bees are interesting in many other ways that are less widely known. In my new book, “What a Bee Knows: Exploring the Thoughts, Memories, and Personalities of Bees,” I draw on my experience studying bees for almost 50 years to explore how these creatures perceive the world and their amazing abilities to navigate, learn, communicate and remember. Here’s some of what I’ve learned.

It’s not all about hives and honey

Because people are widely familiar with honeybees, many assume that all bees are social and live in hives or colonies with a queen. In fact, only about 10% of bees are social, and most types don’t make honey.

Most bees lead solitary lives, digging nests in the ground or finding abandoned beetle burrows in dead wood to call home. Some bees are cleptoparasites, sneaking into unoccupied nests to lay eggs, in the same way that cowbirds lay their eggs in other birds’ nests and let the unknowing foster parents rear their chicks.

A few species of tropical bees, known as vulture bees, survive by eating carrion. Their guts contain acid-loving bacteria that enable the bees to digest rotting meat.

 

Busy brains

The world looks very different to a bee than it does to a human, but bees’ perceptions are hardly simple. Bees are intelligent animals that likely feel pain, remember patterns and odors and even recognize human faces. They can solve mazes and other problems and use simple tools.

Research shows that bees are self-aware and may even have a primitive form of consciousness. During the six to 10 hours bees spend sleeping daily, memories are consolidated within their amazing brains – organs the size of a poppy seed that contain 1 million nerve cells. There are some indications that bees might even dream. I’d like to think so.

An alien sensory world

Bees’ sensory experience of the world is markedly different from ours. For example, humans see the world through the primary colors of red, green and blue. Primary colors for bees are green, blue and ultraviolet.

Bees’ vision is 60 times less sharp than that of humans: A flying bee can’t see the details of a flower until it is about 10 inches away. However, bees can see hidden ultraviolet floral patterns that are invisible to us, and those patterns lead the bees to flowers’ nectar.

Bees also can spot flowers by detecting color changes at a distance. When humans watch film projected at 24 frames per second, the individual images appear to blur into motion. This phenomenon, which is called the flicker-fusion frequency, indicates how capable our visual systems are at resolving moving images. Bees have a much higher flicker-fusion frequency – you would have to play the film 10 times faster for it to look like a blur to them – so they can fly over a flowering meadow and see bright spots of floral color that wouldn’t stand out to humans.

From a distance, bees detect flowers by scent. A honeybee’s sense of smell is 100 times more sensitive than ours. Scientists have used bees to sniff out chemicals associated with cancer and with diabetes on patients’ breath and to detect the presence of high explosives.

Bees’ sense of touch is also highly developed: They can feel tiny fingerprint-like ridges on the petals of some flowers. Bees are nearly deaf to most airborne sounds, unless they are very close to the source, but are sensitive if they are standing on a vibrating surface.

 

Problem solvers

Bees can navigate mazes as well as mice can, and studies show that they are self-aware of their body dimensions. For example, when fat bumblebees were trained to fly and then walk through a slit in a board to get to food on the other side, the bees turned their bodies sideways and tucked in their legs.

Experiments by Canadian researcher Peter Kevan and Lars Chittka in England demonstrated remarkable feats of bee learning. Bumblebees were trained to pull a string – in other words, to use a tool – connected to a plastic disk with hidden depressions filled with sugar water. They could see the sugar wells but couldn’t get the reward except by tugging at the string until the disk was uncovered.

Other worker bees were placed nearby in a screen cage where they could see what their trained hive mates did. Once released, this second group also pulled the string for the sweet treats. This study demonstrated what scientists term social learning – acting in ways that reflect the behavior of others.

Pollinating with vibrations

Even pollination, one of bees’ best-known behaviors, can be much more complicated than it seems.

The basic process is similar for all types of bees: Females carry pollen grains, the sex cells of plants, on their bodies from flower to flower as they collect pollen and nectar to feed themselves and their developing grubs. When pollen rubs off onto a flower’s stigma, the result is pollination.

My favorite area of bee research examines a method called buzz pollination. Bees use it on about 10% of the world’s 350,000 kinds of flowering plants that have special anthers – structures that produce pollen.

For example, a tomato blossom’s five anthers are pinched together, like the closed fingers of one hand. Pollen is released through one or two small pores at the end of each anther.

When a female bumblebee lands on a tomato flower, she bites one anther at the middle and contracts her flight muscles from 100 to 400 times per second. These powerful vibrations eject pollen from the anther pores in the form of a cloud that strikes the bee. It all happens in just a few tenths of a second.

The bee hangs by one leg and scrapes the pollen into “baskets” – structures on her hind legs. Then she repeats the buzzing on the remaining anthers before moving to different flowers.

Bees also use buzz pollination on the flowers of blueberries, cranberries, eggplant and kiwi fruits. My colleagues and I are conducting experiments to determine the biomechanics of how bee vibrations eject pollen from anthers.

Planting for bees

Many species of bees are declining worldwide, thanks to stresses including parasites, pesticides and habitat loss.

Whether you have an apartment window box or several acres of land, you can do a few simple things to help bees.

First, plant native wildflowers so that blooms are available in every season. Second, try to avoid using insecticides or herbicides. Third, provide open ground where burrowing bees can nest. With luck, soon you’ll have some buzzing new neighbors.

Stephen Buchmann, Adjunct Professor of Entomology and of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Astronomers have discovered an Earth-size exoplanet, or world beyond our solar system, that may be carpeted with volcanoes. Called LP 791-18 d, the planet could undergo volcanic outbursts as often as Jupiter’s moon Io, the most volcanically active body in our solar system.

They found and studied the planet using data from NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) and retired Spitzer Space Telescope, as well as a suite of ground-based observatories.

A paper about the planet – led by Merrin Peterson, a graduate of the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets (iREx) based at the University of Montreal — appears in the May 17 edition of the scientific journal Nature.

“LP 791-18 d is tidally locked, which means the same side constantly faces its star,” said Björn Benneke, a co-author and astronomy professor at iREx who planned and supervised the study. “The day side would probably be too hot for liquid water to exist on the surface. But the amount of volcanic activity we suspect occurs all over the planet could sustain an atmosphere, which may allow water to condense on the night side.”

LP 791-18 d orbits a small red dwarf star about 90 light-years away in the southern constellation Crater. The team estimates it’s only slightly larger and more massive than Earth.

Astronomers already knew about two other worlds in the system before this discovery, called LP 791-18 b and c. The inner planet b is about 20% bigger than Earth. The outer planet c is about 2.5 times Earth’s size and more than seven times its mass.

During each orbit, planets d and c pass very close to each other. Each close pass by the more massive planet c produces a gravitational tug on planet d, making its orbit somewhat elliptical. On this elliptical path, planet d is slightly deformed every time it goes around the star. These deformations can create enough internal friction to substantially heat the planet’s interior and produce volcanic activity at its surface. Jupiter and some of its moons affect Io in a similar way.

Planet d sits on the inner edge of the habitable zone, the traditional range of distances from a star where scientists hypothesize liquid water could exist on a planet’s surface. If the planet is as geologically active as the research team suspects, it could maintain an atmosphere. Temperatures could drop enough on the planet’s night side for water to condense on the surface.

Planet c has already been approved for observing time on the James Webb Space Telescope, and the team thinks planet d is also an exceptional candidate for atmospheric studies by the mission.

“A big question in astrobiology, the field that broadly studies the origins of life on Earth and beyond, is if tectonic or volcanic activity is necessary for life,” said co-author Jessie Christiansen, a research scientist at NASA’s Exoplanet Science Institute at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. “In addition to potentially providing an atmosphere, these processes could churn up materials that would otherwise sink down and get trapped in the crust, including those we think are important for life, like carbon.”

Spitzer’s observations of the system were among the last the satellite collected before it was decommissioned in January 2020.

“It is incredible to read about the continuation of discoveries and publications years beyond Spitzer’s end of mission,” said Joseph Hunt, Spitzer project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “That really shows the success of our first-class engineers and scientists. Together they built not only a spacecraft but also a data set that continues to be an asset for the astrophysics community.”

TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Additional partners include Northrop Grumman, based in Falls Church, Virginia; NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley; the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian in Cambridge, Massachusetts; MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory; and the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. More than a dozen universities, research institutes, and observatories worldwide are participants in the mission.

The entire body of scientific data collected by Spitzer during its lifetime is available to the public via the Spitzer data archive, housed at the Infrared Science Archive at IPAC at Caltech in Pasadena, California. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech, managed Spitzer mission operations for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Science operations were conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at IPAC at Caltech. Spacecraft operations were based at Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado.

Jeanette Kazmierczak works for the NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

LAKEPORT, Calif. — This week the Lakeport Police Department’s K9 officer and his sergeant partner were honored for their graduation from an educational program that expands their crime-fighting capabilities.

The Lakeport City Council hosted the presentation for Sgt. Andrew Welter and K9 Olin at its Tuesday meeting.

Olin is a German shepherd who joined the Lakeport Police Department in the summer of 2021.

Last week, Olin and Welter graduated from a seven-week program with master trainer Frank Romano at Golden Gate K9, said Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen.

Rasmussen said five weeks of the training were focused on patrol work, including suspect tracking and apprehension.

“Olin can enter buildings or vehicles to search for and apprehend suspects. He can also do these things out on open land. He is trained to also call off and return without biting or apprehending,” Rasmussen told Lake County News. “Of course we would only use him for apprehensions when circumstances justified the use of force, such as serious violent felons that are a danger to the community or officers.”

Rasmussen said the other two weeks of the training were spent on drug odor detection.

Olin is now certified to alert on the odor of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and fentanyl, Rasmussen said.

“From here on out they have to continue to train one day every two weeks with Golden Gate,” said Rasmussen.

Olin, who turned 3 years old in February, also went through a previous training program. “So for his age he has quite the extensive training,” Rasmussen said.

Lakeport Police’s K9 program, which was reestablished after more than a decade without a dog, has been funded with donations from the Sean M. Walsh K-9 Memorial Foundation, the United States Department of Agriculture, the Lakeport Police Department and the community, Rasmussen said.

At the Tuesday council meeting, Rasmussen presented Olin with a badge.

Welter attached the badge to his K9 partner’s collar.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. — Clearlake Animal Control is featuring new dogs and others that continue to wait to be adopted this week.

The shelter’s website lists 48 dogs waiting for adoption.

The dogs that are available for adoption include “Doc,” a male Rottweiler-pit bull mix.

Another adoptable dog is “Sosa,” a 4-year-old female American Staffordshire terrier mix.

Also up for adoption is “Roman,” a 5-year-old border collie-German shepherd mix with a long black coat and white markings.

He was the featured dog at Thursday’s Clearlake City Council meeting, where it was reported he is a favorite of shelter staff.

Roman is well-mannered and gentle, enjoys long walks and has very good leash skills.

Shelter staff said he is good with other dogs but that they are not sure if he gets along with cats.

He is neutered and up to date on all vaccinations.

The shelter is located at 6820 Old Highway 53. It’s open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

For more information, call the shelter at 707-762-6227, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or on the city’s website.

This week’s adoptable dogs are featured below.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced major progress in the state’s efforts to conserve 30% of state lands and coastal waters by 2030.

Since April 2022, California has added approximately 631,000 acres of conserved land — nearly 1,000 square miles — bringing the statewide total to 24.4% of lands and 16.2% of coastal waters. Watch the Governor's video announcing this milestone here.

Known as the 30x30 initiative, Gov. Newsom’s October 2020 Executive Order launched what his office called “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to lead the world protecting and restoring nature as a climate solution.”

It calls for additional protection of 6 million acres of land and 500,000 acres of coastal waters in the next seven years to achieve 30x30.

In 2021, President Biden launched the same initiative at the federal level, putting the U.S. on track to conserve 30% of lands and waters nationally. And last year, world leaders came together to agree to protect 30 percent of land and waters in 190 countries across the world.



“California is setting the bar for conservation for other states and nations around the world,” said Newsom. “Preserving species in peril, breaking down barriers to the outdoors for underserved communities, working alongside native peoples who have stewarded these lands and waters since time immemorial — our 30x30 initiative is restoring and protecting California’s unparalleled natural beauty for generations to come.”

The progress is detailed in an inaugural annual report, “Pathways to 30x30 California,” which highlights significant progress over the last year toward achieving three key objectives: 1) Protecting and restoring biodiversity; 2) Expanding access to nature; and 3) Mitigating and building resistance to climate change.

The report provides specific examples of projects that expanded conserved lands throughout the state, including:

Banning Ranch: This $97 million acquisition consists of 387 acres of lowlands and coastal bluffs in Newport Beach and now connects nearly 1,000 acres of conserved coastal lands and waters. Over the next several years, former oil fields on the property will be converted to a public coastal park.

YMCA Camp Jones Gulch: This voluntary conservation easement conserves 920 forested acres that will continue to host youth development opportunities, environmental education, recreation and community service.

Wildlife Crossings: These crossings enable wildlife to safely traverse busy roadways, as well as find food sources and increase genetic diversity. Two notable crossings include one under construction at over Highway 17 in Santa Cruz County, which will also serve to connect more than 50 miles of previously fragmented regional trails, and the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, which is expected to help preserve the mountain lion population in the Santa Monica Mountains (which could become extinct within 50 years without an influx of genetic diversity).

The state’s commitment to equity, tribal partnerships and economic prosperity — pillars of the 30x30 initiative — is backed by more than $100 million in grants for local communities and tribes to implement conservation planning projects.

The funding is part of $1.4 billion the state has directed to nature-based solutions to combat climate change and protect the state’s world-renowned biodiversity.