Geobulletin alpha

Dinosaurs on Mars 

nationalgeographic.com I’ve never been to Mars, but I’ve been close. From my Salt Lake City home, the journey takes a relatively scant four and a half hours – through the smoggy sprawl of the valley and over lonely highways pocked here and there by small Utah farming towns before reaching the tourist-dependent outpost of Hanksville.

How to prepare for fire season 

ksl.com Two Thursday night fires in Utah County served as a reminder that fire season is upon the state. Wildfires may not be entirely preventable, but steps can be taken to help prevent fires and to prepare your home and family in case of evacuation. READ MORE MORE

The 16th Conference of the International Bryozoology Association 

CATANIA, SICILY, ITALY–The IBA meeting has now ended and, as this is posted, I should be winging my way home across the Atlantic. It was a fantastic experience. This is a unique organization, of which I’m now proud to be a member of council. It is a combination of paleontologists and biologists who share a

Scientific Outreach in Iceland 

ICELAND – Team Iceland is nearly ready to return to the states, but not before we share what we’ve learned with the Icelandic community. Our home-away-from-home, the Hraunbyrgi guesthouse, is also home for the Hafnarfjörður scouts. To celebrate the end of their season, the scouts are having a large, nationwide camp-out at a site just south

The road to self-sufficiency: How cities are transitioning to renewable energy — and how Houston can, too 

What would it take to go all renewable? What would it take to use exclusively renewable energy resources? What would you have to add to or take away from your home? How would your life change? For most of my … Continue reading

Springy stuff in my yard this morning 

It’s been a busy week. Hardly any free time. Here are a few pictures from my yard, taken this morning. Please accept them in lieu of a real blog post: Eastern cottontail: Mountain laurel: The cicadas are trilling in a mad, constant, siren-like noise. It’s intense, and otherworldly. Talk to you

Who Takes a Hit When Natural Gas Prices Rise? 

When natural gas prices rise heating a home with gas becomes more expensive. Many other activities become more expensive. One concern about exporting natural gas is that lots of people (and industries) will see their expenses go up. An article on the Christian Science Monitor website explores who will see higher

Weather from Hell 

So we were up in beautiful Warsaw, Ontario, home of the Warsaw Caves.  When I was a kid we went there, and I went deep in, trailing a string to get back.  Fun times. Daughter and her friend signed up to do this gruelling adventure:  mud biking, canoeing and running, called Storm the Trent.  The bad weather was supposed to hold off for the day, but it came with a vengeance.  While the

The Prize 

Regular readers may dimly recall that we held some sort of daft art contest here a few months ago, based on the concept of some well-known palaeoar...palaeontography book or other. Hopefully, you were all paying attention when we announced the winners - with first place going to one Andrew Dutt of New York. Naturally, it wasn't enough to simply send a copy of Dinosaur Art - it had to be enhanced with some glorious Himmapaanification first. (Oh, and slightly ruined by me.)Now, I should [...]

HELPING TO FORECAST EARTHQUAKES IN SALT LAKE VALLEY 

www.sciencecodex.com Salt Lake Valley, home to the Salt Lake City segment of the Wasatch fault zone and the West Valley fault zone, has been the site of repeated surface-faulting earthquakes (of about magnitude 6.5 to 7). New research trenches in the area are helping geologists and seismologists untangle how this complex fault system ruptures and

Sequestering The Seasonals 

I love my job as a summer seasonal ranger in Yellowstone, our nation’s first national park, the undisputed Mother Ship of the US park system. I’m ready to go back to work with my summer friends, ready to drive through some of the most spectacular scenery on Earth from my winter desert home in southwestern Utah to my summer high–country home in northwestern Wyoming. Absaroka Range from Avalanche Peak, Yellowstone National ParkI leave home in mid–May, and right now I’m putting together [...]

Take a Trip Back in Time! 

Take a moment. Step into your time machine. Go back to the the late 1800s. This is a time before computes and texting. Before electricity in your home. Before cars. read

The Sutter Buttes 

If you're planning to vacation in California, I hope you'll consider some geological destinations between the beaches, wineries, amusement parks, campgrounds, redwoods, desert landscapes and Hollywood. The northern Great Valley is often thought of as a touristic desert, but it's home to the Sutter Buttes, a peculiar volcanic remnant rising in the middle of California's flattest ground. With the benefit of several visits including a tour inside the Buttes, I've created a photo-tour that I hope [...]

The Other California: That slope won't be a problem will it? The Wrightwood Mudflow 

You learn something new everyday. At least I hope you do. I learned something astounding revealed by satellite imagery of the Mojave Desert. We were headed home a week or two ago, and were taking a "short cut" along the San Andreas fault in Lone Pine Canyon and through the town of Wrightwood. That's right, "through" the town. The village is built on top of the San Andreas! But that's not what

Spring Mineral Shows 

The-Vug.com has a comprehensive list of worldwide gem and mineral shows. There is probably one just a short drive from your

Time-share rocky horror show 

Son went to the outdoors show, and somehow got on a timeshare list.  As usual it sounded like winning a prize, so when the called home, I went through some effort to get the son.  These things follow the formula from the 80's - win one of 5 prizes -- 4 of which are great, and one is a bag of dog poop. You have to go listen for 30 minutes, and get what prize you win if you don't buy a

Snow day II 

There’s something so awesome about a heavy snowfall, so transformative – it really inspires me. I went out skiing this morning, and I’ve never seen our house looking more beautiful. The snow is about 11 inches deep so far: It’s a wet, heavy snow. Temperatures are hovering right around 32°F (0°C), so it’s sticking to everything. Our lower driveway: Our road: While I was skiing across the floodplain down by

Snow day! 

It’s lovely here in the Fort Valley this morning! Lily went skiing: Lola sat in the window:

My Fourth Lecture: How Asia Became A Supercontinent 

On this trip I am giving five lectures and all but one are given while flying in the jet. My one ground lecture was given while at the Rambaugh Place Hotel in Jaipur, India. This hotel is part of the Taj Group of Hotels and they are known for their incredible properties. Here is a quick look.One of the many courtyards locagted betwen the various roomsA quiet place for breakfastMarble floored hallwayThe front entrance replete with welcoming peacocks. I would later be fully aware of some of the [...]

Samoa and Flying to Cairns, Australia 

Samoa is the only one night stay on  this trip and is essentially a technical stop, meaning that rules governing how long pilots can fly for necessitate that we touch down before heading to Australia. Nonetheless, we did see a few sights here on this very friendly island. By the way, the locals pronuounce the name of their nation as SAM-o-ah, and not sam-O-a.The Scotish-born author Robert Louise Stevenson spent the last four years of his life here on the island of Upolu. His home is now a [...]