Entremet Originally shared by Kam-Yung Soh "“Like most people in the US, I grew up knowing the words to this carol and even (shudder) singing them occasionally (singing is not a strong point of mine), but never really thought about what they meant, how the carol originated, or what birds were involved”, says Dr Rasmussen in email. So she decided to figure it out. Dr Rasmussen, who’s tied for third for the most bird discoveries in the world, is probably also the world’s foremost avian sleuth, due to her meticulous detective work a few years ago that uncovered the many ornithological thefts and records frauds in museums that were committed by eminent British ornithologist, Richard Meinertzhagen. But who would ever have thought that an old Christmas carol might also hold an avian mystery? “After all, it’s just a Christmas carol!” Dr Rasmussen points out." https://medium.com/@GrrlScientist/meet-the-real-birds-of-the-twelve-days-of-christmas-fame-grrlscientist-5a8bc09350c9
The unintended consequences of centralization - and that had to have been an Ensign who wrote the press release . . . .
ReplyDeleteYes. I kind of wanted to ask how they could blow up ALL the station rigs at once, but figured that I couldn't be told because of OpSec.
ReplyDeleteDrew McCarthy It would be my guess that the high towers VHF-FM system failed. It used to be the CG Group monitored all the remote VHF tower communications in the operational area, and each station had access to the tower(s) locally, as well as the individual station's radio. Of course, each boat is equipped, also. The reports all indicate "offshore" comms affected; as VHF is line of sight, this scenario would fit. An obvious possibility for a cause could be someone failed to call 811 before digging, and cut the cable to whichever location now monitors those towers. I liked the telephone option; everyone has a Sat-phone, right?
ReplyDeleteYeah, right. Our masthead VHF fell victim to a halyard malfunction, so our current VHF is bolted to the rear rail, which reduces the range considerably. If we start doing offshore races again, we'll fix it. In the meantime, the new SOP for medical emergencies is to use cellphones to call for air support, falling back to VHF. Cell coverage inshore nowadays is remarkably good. Having flat terrain helps, no doubt.
ReplyDeleteI hate systems that don't have at least a readily available secondary, if not tertiary, especially when boats are involved.