As I’ve said before, you learn some pretty interesting things around NOAA. Sometimes entirely unrelated to anything you are actually studying. Guess this is what happens when you get a bunch of intelligent scientists together. The cup of random knowledge runneth over so to speak. So, what lovely little dollop of knowledge did I gain this week? Well apparently, a lot of animals like to get drunk off fermented fruit. Say whaaaat? Weird, right? For instance, bees get drunk off fermented tree sap, get in “flight accidents”, and, if they ever make it back to the hive, will be blocked from getting in the bee hive by so called “bouncer bees” who see the drunk bee as a security risk and therefore chew off its legs and leave it to die. Talk about a bad night out!
Anyway, besides learning about drunk bees, I had a pretty awesome moment this week when I went back to the space weather prediction center with Pru, my mentor (Sam), and his niece. Someone who worked there offered to give us a mini tour. To my surprise and delight, I actually knew almost everything that he went over regarding space weather and solar events and the magnetic field and the GOES. Whereas the first tour we took on the first week of our internship, it might has well have been rocket science (eh hmmmm).
Hot mess moment of the week: locking my keys in my car. Classic. (I’ll blame it on the heat.)
P.S. In case you’re curious about drunk animals…
https://www.buzzfeed.com/natashaumer/9-animals-that-could-teach-us-something-about-drugs-and-alco?utm_term=.hsXEqQwQqR#.dujdZbMbZP
