Robin Hardy's Abbey Lands
The Stories of the Abbey of St. Benedict on the Sea
Random Mutterings
Archive VIII
Feb. 14, 2026 - April 15, 2026
Quantum Entanglement and God
Image by Siarhei on Adobe
April 15, 2026: I have a bad habit of reading things I don't understand. Case in point: atomic scientists discovered some-thing called "quantum entanglement," in which "particles of the same origin, which were once connected, always stay connected. Even if they separate and move far apart in time and space, they continue to share something beyond a mere bond — they shed their original quantum states and take on a new, united quantum state which they maintain forever. This means if something happens to one particle, it affects all the others with which it’s entangled." Albert Einstein acknowledged this phenomenon, calling it "spooky." (via NASA)
Scientist Michael Guillén believes that this inexplicable action can explain something about God. Dr. Guillén says, "the
existence of quantum entanglement offers us a fresh perspective on God’s omniscience. It suggests that God’s awareness of the universe is not obtained through observation; it’s acquired via an intimate, instantaneous, 'spooky' con-nection.
"Just as an object instantaneously knows and feels whatever happens to its entangled partner clear across the universe, God instantaneously knows and feels everything that happens to every single atom anywhere in the universe—and beyond. There’s no distance too great, no darkness too deep, to sever that deep, fundamental connection between Creator and creation."
This is so far out of my depth that I don't even have an opinion, except: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
Birds with Jobs
April 12, 2026: These aren't regular bird jobs, either, like building nests or eating bugs. These are next-level people-type jobs. In other words, birds are really smart. Click the image to watch:
Your handy-dandy household helper here.
I Like Magicians
April 9, 2026: —especially if they're funny. I've already covered several other magicians: Bryan Saint,
MJ,
Normally, I'm not a fan of card tricks, as decks are easily manipulated to look like magic. But Eden Choi is in a class by himself. Watch:
Quitting School
April 6, 2026: Raise your hand if you've been there, either as a parent or a child:
Weaponized Drummers
April 3, 2026: Never mind that the language is Portuguese; you don't need to read anything. Just watch two drummers get insanely competitive. And stay back from the screen.
Gateway to Hell?
March 31, 2026: Behold Pamukkale, a site in southwestern Turkey, revered by the ancient Romans as the gateway to hell:
Photo by murat4art via Accuweather
Pamukkale, meaning "cotton castle" in Turkish, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in southwestern Turkey, famous for its terraced landscape of white travertine pools and petrified waterfalls. These are formed by calcium-heavy hot springs that pour down over a high cliff overlooking the Çürüksu plain.
This incredible natural formation, along with the ancient Greco-Roman ruins of Hierapolis, embodies a unique blend of geological and cultural heritage. The site's thermal waters, long valued for their health benefits, account for the historical development of baths, temples, a theater, and a large burial ground, while its religious significance grew as an early Christian center around 330 A.D.
Today, the site attracts visitors for its clear pools—where swimming is permitted in certain areas—as well as its artifacts, resulting in its status as a crossroads of nature, health, and antiquity. (via Grokipedia)
Here's a great video that's almost as good as a trip to Pamukkale, except that it only takes a few minutes. Check it out!
The Gardiner Bros
March 28, 2026: If this is tap dancing, I missed my calling. Watch: it's hypnotic.
Trees As Art
March 25, 2026: Axel Erlandson was a Swede whose family migrated to America when he was just a toddler in 1886. Being a precocious young man, he began to notice the inosculation of trees on his family's farm (this is a natural phenomenon in which trunks, branches or roots of two trees grow together in a manner biologically similar to the artificial process of grafting.
So Axel began creating his own art from living trees. Following are a few examples.
Left: Two-Legged Tree
Above: Trees in Knots
Cube Tree
Needle and Thread Tree
Basket Tree
I don't know how many trees are still alive,
or even where they are,
but his brilliance lives on.
These New Dance Moves Are Crazy
March 22, 2026: Click on the pic to check out this couple competing on "America's Got Talent." If you don't believe your eyes, see the complete performance here.
The Immortal Jellyfish
March 19, 2026: This is Turritopsis dohrnii, "one of the few known cases of animals capable of completely reverting to a sexually immature, colonial stage after having reached sexual maturity as a solitary individual....
"If the T. dohrnii jellyfish is exposed to environmental stress, physical assault, or is sick or old, it can revert to the polyp stage, forming a new polyp colony. It does this through the cell development process of transdifferentiation, which alters the differentiated state of the cells and transforms them into new types of cells."
Strangely enough, this isn't the only animal who can do this. Here are other "immortals":
"According to the Animal Aging and Longevity Database, the list of animals with negligible aging (along with estimated longevity in the wild) includes:
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Blanding's turtle (Emydoidea blandingii) – 77 years
-
Olm (Proteus anguinus) – 102 years
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Eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina) – 138 years
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Red sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus) – 200 years
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Rougheye rockfish (Sebastes aleutianus) – 205 years
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Ocean quahog clam (Arctica islandica) – 507 years
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Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) - 250 to 500 years"
Personally, I prefer the Divine Way.
Take It With a Pinch of Salt
March 16, 2026: Here's magician Mario Lopez performing a magic act on "Penn & Teller's Fool Us" with... salt. It gets a little crazy, and frankly hilarious. Watch:
He's worth his weight in salt—which is about how much was left on the stage by the time he was done. :D
Hidden Talent, Part 2
March 13, 2026: Our second "hidden" talent hasn't been hidden from anyone but me. I just now discovered the incredible Jacob Collier, who spontaneously created a live musical composition with the aid of the Audience Symphony Orchestra in San Francisco. Watching this was almost like an out-of-body experience for me. O.o
If you don't have time right now to watch the full 20-minute video, here's the short. Then you can come back to the long version later. It's worth it.
Hidden Talent, Part 1
March 10, 2026: I can't sing to save my life, but I love watching talent programs because the depth of skill and power in some of the most unlikely contestants is just stunning.
Below is Innocent Masuku from South Africa who appeared on "Britain's Got Talent" in April of 2024. Strap on your seatbelt and click the pic below to watch his audition.
See Hidden Talent, Part 2.
In Otter News
March 7, 2026: When it comes to intelligence, some wild animals leave the rest behind in their wake. Behold the otter:
They have favorite toys...
cleaning skills...
trading acumen...
and smooth moves. No wonder they're the rock stars of the animal kingdom (heh).
Click the pics to see the original content.
Breaking Frames
March 4, 2026: Here's another unconventional artist who creates his pieces by... abusing his frames:
—like breaking them or making them a part of the art itself.
Andrew Scott has developed a worldwide following with his whimsical, imaginative, boundary-defying artwork. See how he works here.
"What Is Shadowology?" You Ask
March 1st, 2026: It's a new art form by Vincent Bal in which he uses common objects to create illustrations from the shadows they cast. You have to see this in action to appreciate his brilliance.
Where do these crazy ideas come from?
Ever See a Bird Moonwalk?
Feb. 26, 2026: Well, now's your chance:
This is a male Red-Capped Manakin, who lives in the the understory of humid forests from southeastern Mexico, through Central America, to northwestern Ecuador. When he's in the mood for love, he does a unique and most admirable dance to attract the ladies. Click the pic above to watch.
He's won this Robin over.
Cats Are Diabolical
Feb. 23, 2026: If you doubt it, check out this poor soul's experience:
What more proof do you need?
Heroes and Beavers, Part 2
Feb. 20, 2026: In researching Heroes and Beavers, Part 1, I ran across another instance of beavers saving an ecosystem. These were known as the Martinez beavers:
Photo by Cheryl Reynolds, Courtesy of Worth a Dam CC BY-SA 3.0
"In late 2006, a male and female beaver arrived in Alhambra Creek [in downtown Martinez, CA] proceeding to produce 4 kits over the course of the summer. After a decision by the city of Martinez to exterminate the beavers, local conservationists formed an organization called Worth a Dam and as a result of their activism, the decision was overturned. Subsequently, wildlife populations have increased in diversity along the Alhambra Creek watershed, most likely due to the dams maintained by the beavers." ...
"A keystone species, the beavers have transformed Alhambra Creek from a trickle into multiple dams and beaver ponds, which in turn, has led to the return of steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and river otter (Lontra canadensis) in 2008, and mink (Neovison vison) in 2009." More species that came include the green heron, tule perch, and hooded mergansers.
This is a shining example of local government cooperating with citizens to preserve wildlife while protecting the interests of the city. And in researching this, I found another instance of an ecosystem being saved by nuisance animals—this time a herd of starving water buffalo in Israel, which transformed this:
into this:
How did they do it? As the video explains, "these powerful animals unintentionally executed some of the most efficient soil Improvement methods ever recorded—digging micro-channels, breaking hardpan crusts, creating wetlands through hoof-carved basins, and triggering a domino effect of ecosystem recovery that no bulldozer could replicate."
It seems to me that all this illustrates the divine origin of life on earth—that God created everything to seamlessly interact for the good of all, and that our best contribution is to cooperate with Him in sustaining what He created.
Heroes and Beavers, Part 1
Feb. 17, 2026: Here's the human hero in this story: Dr. Sarah Martinez. This epic begins in the 1950s, when large agricultural companies looked at the boggy acreage in the Florida panhandle near the Apalachicola River. They received permission from the state to drain the water from 15,000 acres in order to plant crops.
The plan worked for about 20 years, when it stopped working. Despite comprehensive irrigation, the crops died, and by the 1980s, the acreage looked like this:
Landscape engineers suggested building concrete waterways costing $87 million, which was untenable. So the land remained a desolate wasteland until 2018, when Dr. Martinez suggested importing a renovation crew of... beavers:
It was a crazy idea, but with few other options, the state okayed the plan in April of 2018, and 328 beavers were trucked in to the desolate area. By October of that year, it looked like a total failure. The beavers were dying or relocating, and animal activists were furious. But then, the beavers changed tactics, and this happened:
The wasteland began miraculously reviving. In order to see how the heroic beavers did it, you have to click over to the video. But since there's so much more to this story, it will continue in the next post
Why Greyhounds Race
Feb. 14, 2026: How fast can greyhounds go? Watch for the speedometer.
You could call it Chataine's Guardian 2.0