Today in the Whippet City: a day of thunderstorms, with high temperatures in the low nineties.

Over at Wired Science, there’s an optimistic – with good reason, I think — story about American spaceflight entitled, “Goodbye, Space Shuttle: Now the Space Race Can Really Begin.” David Axe observes that

In truth, the shuttle’s retirement could actually make the U.S. space program stronger, by finally allowing the shuttle’s two users – NASA and the Pentagon – to go their separate ways in space, each adopting space vehicles best suited to their respective missions.

Axe writes about some of the options that America will now use for space launches:

For routine sorties placing satellites and other space vehicles into orbit, NASA will use unmanned rockets, from the 1.6-million-pound Delta IV to the 1,300-pound Minotaur. That’s the Pentagon’s preferred approach, as well. NASA is trying a more commercial approach for resupplying the space station. For example, they’ve agreed to 12 resupply missions with SpaceX worth at least $1.6 billion.

Not a bad set of choices, among others that the story mentions. We’ll be fine.

Good morning.

It’s a sunny day in the forecast for Whitewater, with a high of about ninety-four.

Perhaps, after all, a full moon does bring dangers, including (for those who happen to be in Africa) lion attacks. At ScienceNews, Nadia Drake writes that

Beware the full moon, for as it fades, hungry lions emerge to reclaim the night — and prowl for human flesh. Scientists studying lion attack trends in Tanzania found that predation peaks in the evenings after a full moon. The finding is the first to link lunar cycles with predation on humans, long a source of superstition and lore.

The study, led by Craig Packer of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus, looked at the relationship between lunar cycles, lion attacks and lion feeding behavior. Researchers used records of more than 1,000 lion attacks on Tanzanian villagers that occurred between 1988 and 2009. Of these, nearly two-thirds were fatal, and most occurred after dark. Researchers were able to pinpoint a precise time of day for 474 attacks, and found that attacks clustered between 6 p.m. and 9:45 p.m.

They also found that attack rates were two to four times higher in the 10 days after a full moon….

Forewarned is forearmed.

See, The lion eats tonight … Attacks on humans peak after a full moon.

Good morning.

Today should be Whitewater’s hottest day of the week, with a predicted high temperature of ninety-nine, and sunny skies.

The Wisconsin Historical Society notes that “on this day in 1976, Hank Aaron hit his 755th and last home run at Milwaukee County Stadium against the California Angels. [Source: Milwaukee Brewers].”

Here’s Vin Scully’s call of Aaron’s earlier, record-making 715th home run —

Good morning.

Today’s forecast for Whitewater is for isolated thunderstorms, with a high temperature of ninety-one degrees.

Common Council meets tonight, at 6:30 p.m. The agenda is available online.

The Wisconsin Historical Society recalls that on this day in 1832,

Dodge and Henry pursue the British Band

On this date General James Henry and Colonel Henry Dodge found the trail of the British Band and began pursuit of Black Hawk and the Sauk Indians. Before leaving camp, the troops were told to leave behind any items that would slow down the chase. The troops camped that evening at Rock River, 20 miles east of present day Madison. Some sources place this event on July 18, 1832. [Source: Along the Black Hawk Trail by William F. Stark, p. 119]

I saw that one of YouTube’s featured videos for today is from Star Trek‘s original series, of an episode called Arena, where Kirk battles an intelligent lizard called a Gorn. There’s something endearing about the over-acting in the series, and the series (this episode particularly, among several others) is much a part of our popular culture.

Enjoy.