April 22, 2020. Madison, Mississippi. Nova.

Nova is a splendid show on PBS. I am not a scientist but I enjoy exploring topics dealing with science. Ken was not in love with the program perhaps he objected to a layman point of view. But I like it and watch every Wednesday evening. Last week they were discussing Genetics. The program is an hour. During that time they discussed the discoveries and the treatments of genetic disorders. New discoveries are happening all the time. It is impressive and exciting. Ken always said that the medical world is at the cusp of great discoveries. He was hoping the discoveries could fix his Parkinson's Disease. He died too soon. Tonight the topic was on torrential floods. I knew nothing about the topic. Scablands are east of Seattle. It is a large area full of high cliffs and deep pot holes. Scientists have been puzzled. How did this topography occur? No large rivers are close by and the glaciers ended just north of the Scablands. In Iceland, far away, there is an area similar to the Scablands, with a large horseshoe cliff and deep pot holes. The idea is that a volcano erupted, melting the ice and causing massive flooding. They think the same thing happened in the Scablands. Interesting. The scientists asked the question if a river could change the land so drastically. They were skeptical until the Guadalupe River flooded and formed a new channel just below the dam. The flooded river caused a deep trench about 100 feet deep, just below Canyon Lake, with deep pot holes in the bottom. We were there for the flood. You can see the deep channel now as you drive along the road. Now the scientists know that a torrential flooded river could indeed change the land. And I know too, thanks to Nova.