All About Snowflakes

https://www.npr.org/2024/01/08/1198909104/short-wave-draft-01-08-2024 https://www.npr.org/2023/12/25/1217356234/just-how-big-can-a-snowflake-get-it-depends-on-what-you-mean-by-snowflake

This 10.0 mm (0.4 inches) monster snowflake holds the Guinness record for the largest snow crystal. A microscope was used to photograph it in four quadrants, which were later digitally recombined. Kenneth Libbrecht https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2011/01/18/133020570/snowflakes https://www.npr.org/2023/02/27/1159197797/winter-storms-nasa-flights-weather-research

https://www.npr.org/2010/10/26/130818284/snowflake-shapes-shine-under-the-microscope

The lichen that reindeer love to eat. Nate Dominy https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2010/10/26/06_ontario6_custom-a1d3d9a0e9e47e64a3bfac8d91b3fcd1f4d2e75e-s1000-c85.webp https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2010/10/26/07_ontario4_custom-c3194d1c6db54989e99c107fcbc89c2a32c43ff9-s1000-c85.webp https://www.npr.org/2023/12/22/1220917579/reindeer-science-research https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/12/21/20230318_195546_custom-d57e4d57ba5a44ab70f4cb9f783b72ee52279571-s1200-c85.webp https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/12/21/reindeer-lichen-in-uv-light_by-nathaniel-dominy.jpg_custom-17c82bc01fd2ebc29926fdae776e9ace8cb621ea-s1200-c85.webp How reindeer see their food against white snow. The darker spots are lichens. Nate Dominy

Scientists have known for a while that reindeer's vision is special and that they can detect ultraviolet light, which can be harmful to human eyes….But some lichens are white and can get covered in snow during the winter. So in the study, the team focused on the particular lichens that reindeer eat. They wanted to see how the organisms' interaction with light affected how the reindeer would see them…. like the wolves, lichen absorbs ultraviolet light, while snow reflects it. So for reindeer looking around for food, the lichens pop out against the white snow. Sources: Npr.org; http://snowcrystals.com/