Friday, February 13, 2026
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The Science of Today

By
Dylan Yoder
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Every now and then I see something in the news that really piques my interest. Something flashy or new that I had never really imagined before. Such is the state of our world of science today. With the recent developments of AI technology and so many other things to date, it’s tough to keep up with the developments of our world. World. Not to worry though, these developments come with greater standards of living, better access to humanitarian needs, and if used in the right way, happier people overall. Now it’s true that some of these developments are fairly questionable, but it’s important to also realize the wonders of good at have come to us because of scientific development. Which is exactly what we will be focusing on today in this article.

Speaking of artificial intelligence technology, the science world has made leaps and bounds in the past couple of years on this front. Needless to say, this technology has outperformed nearly all standards that have been put to it by scientists and users of the internet alike. As a matter of fact, AI can now be used for a number of various creative purposes. One of these is a development in education implementation. Teachers, as of late have been using an artificial intelligence technology known as Magic School AI which has changed the game of lesson planning and unit planning for them. We all know that teachers are overworked and underpaid, but perhaps AI could be the very tool that helps them succeed as both teachers in the classroom and functioning adults outside of the classroom. Artificial Intelligence is truly a wonderful tool, and it will be interesting to see how future developments will help members of our society and others.

Now turning our attention heavenward as we look to the stars for answers in our universe. NASA has made quite a few developments as of late in their space explorations. With the increased amount of private space companies, the new space race is underway. And the topic of conversation recently has been on Jupiter’s moon, Europa. The increased levels of oxygen and possibilities of the building blocks of life have made scientists quite interested in this small moon. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am waiting for the day when we finally step foot on another planetary body outside of our very own moon. Perhaps Europa would be that new frontier. Although Mars certainly looks to be the target of choice for the new frontier.

You’ve heard about developments in space and in education, but how about in health care? Researchers have recently found a way to 3D print functional human brain tissue. This breakthrough comes from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and it is perhaps one of the most incredible medical achievements I have ever heard of. The achievement is important for implications working on treatments for a range of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s. Just imagine what other medical developments we have in store in our society.

With all of these developments, I should note that it’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many more stories of scientific development happening on the daily. If you’re interested, I would encourage you to look through the interwebs for new and different stories about our world developments. Every day brings new adventure, and every day brings new blessings to our world. I hope you found interest in these couple of stories that I shared with you, and until next time, stay curious!

Wildlife Math; Count the Tracks and Divide by Four

By
Steve Gilliland
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I remember an old gag from my high school days; when you were with a carload of people and came to a railroad crossing, you would abruptly tell the group that a train had just passed through that crossing. Naturally someone would ask “How can you tell?” Your reply would be “Cause’ I can see its tracks.”

There is no better way to tell where and how wildlife move through and around an area that to see their tracks. Deer hunters rely on tracks to tell them where to place blinds and stands. Yes, today trail cameras show hunters animal movements, but hunters rely on tracks to know where to place the cameras. Trappers try to place predator traps where the most predator traffic occurs, and they rely on tracks to tell them that. There are some things to consider when looking at animal tracks.

For starters, we need to consider that all mammals we hunt and trap have 4 legs, and 4 feet can leave a multitude of tracks in one night’s time. Secondly, animal’s lives revolve around survival, and a major part of that survival is foraging for food. Lots of steps are taken each night in pursuit of food, two- legged birds included. All of you who have watched deer browse or raccoons waddle along a stream know that they don’t stand in one place very long. Figure them doing that for eight hours or more and that’s a lot of tracks! If we were to freshly paint the floors and isles of our workplaces then observe the number of shoe prints there at the end of an eight-hour shift, we’d be amazed how many tracks just a few of us would make.

In the end, this all amounts to a few animals leaving a multitude of life-signs of various kinds. When scouting there is no better proof than tracks and other signs left by our four- legged quarry. And while it is true that the more tracks and other signs you see, the more animals there are using that particular area, we just need to consider all the above when estimating wildlife numbers. So, to be on the conservative side, count the tracks and divide by four.

A discussion that comes up a little more often all the time, is whether or not there are mountain lions here in our part of Kansas. When sightings began to crop-up years ago, it was hard to know what to believe, as a few sightings seemed credible, but most, not so much. But with the emergence over the past few years of some credible trail camera photos, it’s hard to deny their existence here, and along with more credible pictures come more questions about identifying mountain lion tracks. I’m hardly an expert, as there are numerous outdoorsmen around who are more qualified than I, but let me tell you what I know about identifying mountain lion tracks. Given their size, the only other tracks that can be confused with them are the tracks of very large dogs. First of all, the shapes of canine tracks (dogs and coyotes) will be slightly more rectangular, whereas cat tracks (bobcat and mountain lion) will be more rounded. Those of you who have dogs and cats, look at the difference in the shapes of their paws. Secondly, and the most identifying feature for me if you can find soft enough ground here in Kansas, is the presence or absence of claw marks in the tracks. All cats (except Cheetahs, which I hope to never see in Kansas) have retractable claws that WILL NOT normally show up when they walk, whereas canine’s claws will show up at the tip of each toe.

So, there you have it, a few facts about wildlife tracks, and a primer on mountain lion track identification. And don’t worry, we will never see cheetahs in the wild here in Kansas; but isn’t that what we once thought about mountain lions too? Just sayin’.

Steve can be contacted by email at [email protected].

Fake spring?

By
Milo Yield
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Thayne Cozart
Milo Yield

 

I think I’m being taken in for a sucker by Mother Nature. She’s been dishing up so many warm sunny days in early March that I’m beginning to believe that spring has sprung. I suspect it’s a just nasty trick.

However, in spite of seeing my first migrating robins of the year, and in spite of hearing the mating calls of the resident cardinals for the past couple of weeks, and in spite of seeing some opening buds on flowing bushes, I keep recalling multiple snow storms, miserably cold dreary days, and killing freezes that have happened in recent years in March … and April … even early May.

But, what’s an old sucker like me to do in spring-like weather in March? Well, I go ahead and prepare for spring. Recently, my main goal has been to “manufacture” some gardening soil from moldy hay bales and the two dump truck loads of top soil we bought. I’ve been mixing the two with the tractor, front-end loader, and rototiller and wetting the piles down in hopes of speeding up decomposition of the organic matter.

Second, for the purpose of helping out my 81-year-old aching back, I bought four metal raised garden beds. The beds measure two feet deep, four feet wide, and eight feet long. Of course, they come shipped in multiple parts and with hundreds of bolts, nuts and washers. It took Nevah and I a couple of hours to put the first raised bed together. We can probably beat that time with the three other beds.

But, that’s not all. I also tilled up a medium-sized regular garden that I hope to raise tomatoes, potatoes, and some other veggies in. Only time and personal energy will determine if my gardening aspirations will exceed my capacity to achieve them.

Our son-in-law, Harley Ryder, used some of the new top-soil to level out our front lawn. If it ever rains again and the soil temperature gets to 60-degrees, I’ll re-plant the fescue that failed last November when I got it planted too late.

Harley also gave us a metal garden arch for landscaping use. I’ve got it sanded and ready to paint when I catch a rare day with no wind.

So, I guess I’m getting a bit of a head-start on gardening regardless of when spring really arrives.

***

I’ve been reading about an uptick in rural crime, particularly home break-ins and theft of home contents. Well, that news triggered a memory about a humorous story about a home break-in. Here’s the story:

A middle-aged rancher wuz sitting in the Dew Drop Inn one evening talking to his buddy and enjoying a cool brewski after an strenuous day of branding. The rancher said, “I forgot to tell you earlier that last night a burglar broke into our home. I got home late from the sale barn. The sale had a big run and I didn’t get home until after midnight.”

“Did the thief get anything?” his friend asks.

“Yep,” replied the rancher. “He got a broken jaw, two-black eyes, six teeth knocked out, a pair of broken ribs, and a sore crotch. My wife thought it was me coming home drunk.”

***

If there’s any science that qualifies as “inexact or pseudo science,” it is science into human nutrition. Seems the latest and greatest pseudo scientific nutritional recommendations are soon discarded and replaced by new pseudo findings. For instance, red meat, butter and eggs were a no-no not long ago. Now they’re highly touted. Recently, I saw a study that questioned the value of olive oils and the Mediterranean Diet. I could go on and on with similar researched flip-flops on nutrition.

Well, this week, I ran across new research that suggests ultra-processed foods can cause negative changes in the way we learn, remember and feel. These foods supposedly act like addictive substances, researchers say. And, some of the pseudo-scientists are even proposing a new mental-health condition called “ultra-processed food-use disorder.”

I think that’s hogwash. To me the bottom line on human nutritional research is that money buys results. Fork over enuf cash for the study and the results will be what you want.

As for my personal diet. My “balanced diet” has gotten me to 81 years. I eat lots to meat, fish, shrimp, cheese, green veggies, whole grains, nuts and fresh fruits. Then, I balance them with substantial intake of potato chips, ice cream, cookies, cake, pie and candy.

I know that someday my balanced diet will fail. But, so far, so good. It’s got decades of success behind it — and I’ve got the pot-belly to prove it!

***

I see where the U.S. Military Academy — in my opinion — went to sleep getting “woke.” Apparently, West Point will no longer will use the motto “Duty, Honor, Country” in its mission statement. That phrase, which was highlighted in a famous speech by Gen. Douglas MacArthur in 1962, will be replaced by “To build, educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets to be commissioned leaders of character committed to the Army Values and ready for a lifetime of service to the Army and Nation.”

The wordsmith in me says that West Point’s motto change replaces “clear and concise” with “gobbledegook.” It was not needed.

***

Words of wisdom for the week: “Speaking of old age and energy, at my age it seems as if I’ve put in a half-day’s work by the time I put on my underwear and socks in the mornings and haven’t fallen down. If I cut my toe nails, too, I’ve put in a full day’s work.”

And, remember, “When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. When life is bitter, say thank you and grow.”

Have a good ‘un.

Wheat Scoop: From Lab to Loaf

By
Guest Columnist
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Kansas Wheat

[email protected]
​

Contact: Marsha Boswell, [email protected]

The 2024 Kansas Wheat Leadership Program provides hands-on exposure and technical insights from across the wheat industry
For audio version, visit kswheat.com.

Not every wheat farmer can see and handle the flour made from their harvest, let alone taste a loaf of bread made from that wheat. But that was exactly the experience of one participant in the 2024 Kansas Wheat Leadership Program recently conducted by Kansas Wheat.

 

Neil Bekemeyer, a wheat farmer from Washington, was one of eight participants in the second annual program. He sent in a sample from his bins ahead of the two-day event, which featured a kernel-to-loaf look at the Kansas wheat industry. Throughout the program, that sample was used as an example of how grain moves from the field to the mill to the end consumer. That direct connection was unique, but the hands-on, small-class experience is exactly the design intended for the program.

 

“In the Kansas Wheat Leadership Program, we try to cover all aspects of the wheat industry from breeding to milling,” said Shayna DeGroot, Kansas Wheat director of membership and government affairs. “We covered the industry from start to finish for producers to learn more about how their wheat plant is bred, how new varieties are developed and what happens when their wheat leaves their farm.”

 

The leadership program took place in Manhattan at the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center on March 6 and 7. The Farm Credit Associations of Kansas sponsored the event, making it free for all attendees.

 

The first morning kicked off with a Wheat 101 presentation by Aaron Harries, Kansas Wheat vice president of research and operations, followed by a tour of the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center. Marsha Boswell, Kansas Wheat vice president of communications, rounded out the morning by imparting the importance of sharing the farmers’ story and discussing the consumer-focused site EatWheat.org.

 

After lunch, leadership program participants received more technical information about wheat physiology and modern wheat breeding techniques from K-State wheat breeder Allan Fritz. Romulo Lollato, K-State associate professor of wheat and forage production, provided information on how yield and protein are set in a wheat crop.

 

Aaron Lueger, young, beginning, small relationship officer at Frontier Farm Credit, discussed farm financing programs. Dan Maltby, principal of Maltby Risk Management, LLC, shared insights on global wheat supply and demand while DeGroot discussed farm policy issues related to the wheat industry.

 

Finally, Asif Mohammad, chief scientist with Heartland Plant Innovations, conducted a hands-on demonstration of wheat emasculation — the process by which scientists remove the upper part of a wheat floret to better facilitate pollination. This process is an important part of developing double haploids — HPI’s technical specialty that substantially reduces the time and cost of developing new wheat varieties.

 

“The participants got to emasculate the wheat and the HPI staff showed them how they would pollinate the plant and the other steps involved in the double haploid process,” DeGroot said.

 

Day two of the program focused on wheat milling, with an introduction to the topic given by Paul Blodgett, program/project manager of K-State’s Hal Ross Flour Mill, followed by a tour of the mill itself. Kathy Brower, lab manager of Grain Craft​’s Innovation & Quality Lab, located in the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center, discussed the process that takes grain to flour.

 

“This program teaches participants what happens in the wheat industry from start to finish, allowing them to have hands-on learning from some of the most renowned professionals in the industry,” DeGroot said. “They really got to see why quality is so important, what millers are looking for when they are purchasing and other factors from start to finish so they can further understand why there is a push for certain characteristics or why some varieties are more popular.”

 

If you are interested in participating in the 2025 Kansas Wheat Leadership Program, please e-mail Shayna DeGroot at [email protected]. But even before next year’s program, visit https://kswheat.com/kawg to join KAWG and keep on top of the latest developments and opportunities in the Kansas wheat industry.

 

###

 

Written by Julia Debes for Kansas Wheat

Then and now

By
John Marshall
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1
john marshal

 

We look to the past for lessons only to discover we haven’t learned much or that we have forgotten a lot. After a recent rummage, up from old files came items that recall stark similarities in past and present. Among them:

‒ Voter shackles:

In late 1943, President Roosevelt returned from a demanding series of meetings with allied leaders in the Middle East and called Washington a “squirrel cage”. While he was away dealing with a world war, southern Democrats at home were trying to form a new party. The trouble was a fight over what was called the “soldier vote.”

Men and women in the armed forces were able ‒ in theory ‒ to cast absentee ballots in the 1942 elections, but less than one percent participated. With an eye on ’44, Roosevelt wanted legislation to empower an authentic soldier vote. A half-dozen states, however, held no absentee balloting; moreover, absentee voting was considered a threat to the poll tax in the eight states that enforced it.

Southern Democrats also worried that absentee voting would encourage Black suffrage. They were in league with Republicans determined to keep new citizens out of polling places. The debates raged on, anger building, until a senator from Pennsylvania introduced a resolution to abolish the Electoral College, the South’s fount of power.

‒ Forgotten plan:

On August 9, 1974, an America on edge saw Richard Nixon resign the presidency, a cap to the Watergate scandal. Televisions and radios in America and over the world were tuned in. Even those most remote from politics watched or listened.

But in Washington something else was happening and no one noticed. At the Department of Commerce, weather scientists had prepared for an afternoon meeting with other executive agencies. They were trying to devise a plan to bring the long-range problems of climatic change to the attention of a new president.

“…the next President, or the next few Presidents, might have a 50-year plan in which to make ready this civilization for the changes that climate might force on mankind,” wrote Theodore H. White in “Breach of Faith,” his book about Nixon’s fall. It was published in 1975.

The scientists stepped away from their work to watch with the rest of the nation as the president resigned, and as the helicopter carrying him and Mrs. Nixon lifted away from the White House lawn.

No one is sure about what happened to the scientists’ report or to that afternoon meeting nearly 50 years ago. What we are sure of, is that not enough has happened since.

‒ A character referendum:

On the eve of our 2020 presidential election “The Guardian,” a British newspaper, asked the writer Martin Amis how the covid pandemic had affected the American psyche, Donald Trump, and the political currents of the American election season. (Amis, who died last year, was an acclaimed British novelist, essayist and story writer whose homes included ones in New York and Florida.)

“When the pandemic really presented itself, I thought: ‘Surely Trump can’t lie ten times a day now? Because this is life and death,’” he said.

Nothing has changed, Amis said. Covid had exposed the shrewdness with

which President Trump understood his followers.

“He realizes that there’s no meaningful hypocrisy, any more,” he said. “People are proud of being dishonest, sharks and vultures; they care as little about marital fidelity as they do about the deficit.

” This election is going to be a referendum on the American character, not on Trump’s performance.”

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