RED SPRITES OVER NEW ZEALAND

Before getting into my science topic of the day, here is an item I received this morning from the New York Times.  There are fewer international students coming to the U.S.

Why?

The decline is occurring as the Trump administration has delayed visa processing, instituted travel bans or restrictions for 19 countries, threatened to deport international students for pro-Palestinian speech, and heightened the vetting of student visa applicants.

The New York Times also reported:

The civil war in Sudan has displaced 12 million people and may have killed about 400,000. It is, as Declan Walsh, our chief Africa correspondent, called it, “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.” Experts call it a genocide. Read more about the escapees from El Fasher.

And finally a third story:

Baby Shark: In news from the world of apex predation, a pod of killer whales in the Gulf of California hunts juvenile great white sharks, flipping them onto their backs to stun them and then eating their nutrient-rich livers — and only their livers. “It’s sort of like they’re going for the cheeseburger surrounded by a bunch of celery,” a marine biologist told The Times.

• Orcas, or killer whales, are famous bullies.
• However, for the first time as observed, they were seen targeting young great white sharks.

• 
  But they only ate each shark's liver.  Budding Hannibal Lecters.
• First seen in 2020, two years later, the same Moctezuma pod, repeated these attack.
• When a great white shark is born, the baby is abandoned by the mother.  They find each other and form their own nursery with no guards.
• Watch this video.

About this off-year election today, I provided some details yesterday, where I said indications were that Democrats should be victorious in all four key states, Virginia, New York, California and New Jersey, with this fourth one maybe being close.  For the most recent developments:

• Read Steve Kornacki's assessment about the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races.  And the reason why you don't see him anymore on MSNBC is that he segued into NBC News.  More more, too, you will see him in NBC sports shows.

• 
  Even though President Donald Trump has barged into this New York City mayor's battle, Mamdani is favored to win.
• California's Proposition 50 is a Democratic move to neutralize Republican gerrymandering.

So on to my topic of the day, Red Sprites over New Zealand.

That photo was taken on 11October2025 about 150 miles from Christchurch.  Occurred during thunderstorm.

What is a sprite, and why are they red?

• Sprites are large-scale electric discharges that occur in the mesosphere, high above thunderstorm clouds, at altitudes between 31 and 56 miles, and can be as large as 50 miles long or wide.
• 
  They are triggered by the discharges of positive lightning between an underlying thundercloud and the ground.
• They are usually red, but can be reddish orange or purple.  The tendril can be bluish, as in a jellyfish sprite.  This one was photographed by NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers in July of this year.
• First reported by Toynbee and Mackenzie in 1886.
• 
  The first photo was accidentally taken by scientists from the University of Minnesota on 4July1959.  
• Acronym for Stratospheric Perturbations Resulting from Intense Thunderstorm Electrification.

• NASA has a citizen science Project Spritacular, challenging anyone to take sprite photos.  They are very difficult to see from ground level.
• Here is an excellent tutorial.

Some of those Great White baby sharks are having a bad time, but from South Korea is Baby Shark Dance.  Surely, you're familiar with this 2016 music video which went viral and in November of 2020 by Pinkfong became the most-viewed You Tube video, gaining more than 7 billion views.  

First video to reach 10 billion, in 2022, then 16 billion in late 2024.  Except if you go to the official site, it say 16.389 billion 9 years ago.  And if you were wondering, Baby Shark Dance has been viewed around three times more than Psy's Gangnam Style.  Here are the 10 most viewed music videos of all time on YouTube, with Pinkfong's BSD at #1.  Uptown Funk with Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars is #10.

-