HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2016-07-13, Page 66 Lucknow Sentinel • Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Star Column: Dark skies are good for all of us
John Hlynialuk
Bluewater Astronomical Society
What type of pollution can
be completely eliminated by
the simple flick of a switch?
Answer: Light Pollution.
Never heard of it? Allow me
to explain.
In the 1880's, the incandes-
cent light bulb was invented,
but more than that, Thomas
Edison and other inventors
like Nicholas Tesla also cre-
ated an electrical generation
system that made the light
bulb and other devices like
motors inexpensive to oper-
ate. The rest, as they say, is
history. Nowadays, cities are
never in true darkness at
night, -so much so that, on
average, 70% of the Earth's
population has never seen
the Milky Way in the sky after
nightfall. Only the Moon, a
few planets and a handful of
bright stars shine through the
glow of lights from street
lamps, shopping areas and
brightly lit office towers and
factories.
But there is a big penalty
that we pay for lighting up
our surroundings. Humans
did not evolve in an envi-
ronment where it stays
bright all night long. Our
bodies must allow chemi-
cals like the hormone
Iucknowsentinel.com
SUDOKU
THIS WEEK'S PUZZLE SPONSORED BY
�n k
Mitchell Twolan,
Broker of Record "Y
Lake Range Realty Ltd. Brokerage
3430 Concession 2, Point Clark Office: 519-395-3959
R.R.1 Kincardine, Ontario N2Z 2X3 DirDr e-519-955-0664
ecctt Line: 519-955-0664
www.lakerangerealty.ca
ANSWER
9
8
6
4
l
8
£
1
17
£
9
L
2
1
l
6
Z
Z1
6
L
6
b£
8
9
9
8
L
l
9£
Z
9
6
6
9
b
Z
7
6
L
9
l£
5
9
9£
5
t'
3
9
L
Z
8
£
6
b
9
L
9
Z9
1
2
L
9
1
l
8
6£
8
4
7
Z
8£
5
b
_
L
_6
ANSWER
9
8
6
ZS
l
t7
£
L
17
£
9
L
8
9
l
6
Z
Z1
L
6
b£
8
9
9
8
L
l
9£
Z
9
17
6
9
b
Z
8
6
L
9
l£
6
9£
t'
l
9
L
Z
8
£
6
b
9
L
8
Z9
1
L
9
9
l
Z
6£
8
b
I-
Z
8£
9
b
6
L
9
Level: Intermediate
To solve
a Sudoku puzzle, every number
from 1 to 9 must appear in:
• Each of the nine vertical columns
• Each of the nine horizontal rows
• Each of the nine 3 x 3 boxes
• Remember, no number can occur
more than once in any row, column
or box
melatonin to do its job and
it is triggered into produc-
tion only after several
hours of darkness. Even a
night light or the display
on a clock radio is too
bright. Melatonin acts in
several ways: it is a power-
ful anti -oxidant working
against cancer-causing
agents in the body, it acts
against degenerative dis-
eases like Alzheimer's and
helps prevent strokes. It
works to help us in other
ways as well, but the three
mentioned are among the
most serious human
health issues. Even the
American Medical
Association recognizes
excess night illumination
as a cancer risk.
In spite of the evidence
of the harmful effects of
night lighting, the amount
of illumination world-wide
is increasing. Satellite
images like the one here
document clearly that
industrialized countries
are the worst "offenders"
as lighting in our cities and
urban areas continues to
grow. Recent efforts to be
environmentally sensitive
have seen some munici-
palities switch to LED
lights with full cut-off fix-
tures that do not shed light
wastefully upwards. That is
a good start, but because
LED's are less expensive to
operate and maintain,
more lights or lights with
higher illumination are
being installed. In addi-
tion, if LEDs emitting light
in the blue end of the spec-
trum are used, they are
twice as effective at inhib-
iting the production of
melatonin. Not good news
overall.
Amateur astronomers, of
course are aware of these
issues. When we decry the
loss of visibility of the
night sky that is our inter-
est and passion, it is on top
of these other concerns.
We do all we can to try to
educate the public about
the necessity to be smart
about night illumination. If
the growth in light pollu-
tion is not reversed, we
also lose the ability to see
the glorious expanse of
stars above our heads. It
will be a double loss to us
and our children.
Join us at the Fox Observa-
tory for viewing nights in
skies that hopefully will con-
tinue to be dark and speck-
led with the bright stars of
the Milky Way. Details are on
our website www.bluewat-
erastronomy.com
Scone crokinole planning event
for next competition July 20
It was a warm evening
with some hot crokinole
competition on Wednes-
day, July 6 at the Scone
Schoolhouse.
Twenty-four players were
shooting for top spot.
First time player Jim Bol-
ton from Walkerton was
welcomed. At the end of 10
games Clare Kuepfer was
high for the men with 58
points, Al Carter was sec-
ond with 55 and Neil Cook
took third place with 53.
For the twenties Peter
Carter was top with 38 fol-
lowed closely by Al with 37
and Clare shot 29 for third
place.
On the Ladies side
Diane Hyslop took top
spot with 50 points, Cathy
Kuepfer and Amelia Hart-
man
tied for second with 49
and Jo -Ann Carter took
third with 42. Cathy
topped the twenties with
24, Jo -Ann had 20 for sec-
ond and Donna Caughey
was third with 18. Door
prizes were won by Jack
MacLeod, Sharmane
Carter, Betty Fisher and
Ginette Brady.
Our next competition is
scheduled for Wednesday,
July 20 at 7 p.m. While
enjoying lunch the players
were busy getting their
entries ready for the Mike
McGlynn Memorial Tour-
nament in Wingham on
Saturday, August 6 where
the Kuepfers and the Cart-
ers will be the hosts. There
are six Scone players
heading to Lewiston N.Y.
to attend the Turtle Island
Tournament on Saturday,
July 30. There will be an
opportunity for the gen-
eral public from 10 a.m. to
noon on Sunday, July 17
and 24, at Laney's Restau-
rant in Teeswater for any-
one wishing to learn the
game of crokinole or prac-
tice their skills before the
upcoming tournaments.
The Scone players will
only be too happy to
assist.
BlackHorse golf scores for July 5
July 5 was BlackHorse's
10th Men's Night of the year
and the annual Taylormade
demo day.
There were lots of new
clubs to try out and the guys
took advantage of it.
Handicaps should start
dropping soon.
Jeff Wilken and Rick
Hodgson both managed to
stay under par for their
round, tying for first place
in "A" flight with 24 points.
Huron -Kinloss
Water Stewardship Event
SATURDAY, JULY 23, 2016
10:00 AM - 1:30 PM
POINT CLARK COMMUNITY CENTRE
344 LAKE RANGE DRIVE, POINT CLARK
10 AM -1 PM EXHIBITORS
Representatives from local water stewardship -related groups & initiatives
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM GUEST SPEAKER
"Ongoing Activities Happening Around Lake Huron" - Ted Briggs, Great Lakes Advisor,
Ministry of Environment and Climate Change
12:45 PM DEMONSTRATION
Open Well Event hosted by Veolia Water and Source Water Protection Representatives at
603 Tuscarora Rd. Point Clark
For more information on this free event go to:
watersteward sh i peve nt.b lodsoot.com
Jeff, Dave Cooper, Bryan
Johnson and Blake
Mackey won skins in "A".
Craig Zettler was on top in
"B" with 27 points and
Doug Gauthier was sec-
ond with 22. Bob Ogilvie
joined Craig and Doug
with skins in "B". George
Armstrong had 23 points
in "C" while Randy Alton
and Mo McKenzie had 22.
There were no skins won
in "C".
Closest to the pin win-
ners were Dave Mennie,
Charlie Cleland, Mo
McKenzie, Kent Schaefer,
Craig Zettler and Bob
Ogilvie.
SA EIGEEATMOBILITY
mad RECIOMP M TRANSIT
SPECIALIZED PUBLIC TRANSIT
MENTALLY & PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED RESIDENTS
NON -EMERGENCY MEDICAL, SOCIAL & EMPLOYMENT
LOCAL AND LONG DISTANCE
519-881-2504
1-866-981-2504
Please visit us at saugeenmobility.ca