Unbelievable sinkhole...

opens in Guatemala, and tragic loss of life, due to heavy rains: Tropical storm leaves more than 115 dead in Central America.

UPDATE: This collapse sinkhole isn't a karst feature, but caused by saturated soils and a break in the sewage system.

It's just a phase...

Solar Scientists Agree That the Sun's Recent Behavior Is Odd, but the Explanation Remains Elusive

Fire fall on Parriott Mesa...

this evening was set in motion prior to dusk, where one can clearly observe a glowing bonfire at the edge of the ~450 ft high escarpment that defines the northern edge of the mesa (click to enlarge):

The climax occurred when students of the graduating class of the local Day Star Academy swept the fiery embers over the precipice, beginning around 9:45 pm:

Glowing avalanches surged and ebbed - repeatedly - for about 30 minutes time, leaving bright contrails etched in this time-lapse image. Spectacular.

Read more about the annual tradition from our local scribe.

Image details: Canon EOS 30D w/ EF zoom telephoto lens, 400 ISO, ~200 mm, f/5.6, ~6 sec exposure.

UPDATE on 3 June: The fire fall image was published on the front page (in color) of the local Moab Times-Independent newspaper this week!

Next-gen GPS satellite...

successfully launched last night, after a delay of about one week. Read more here.

The benefit of the new technology: more accurate geocaching during solar storms! (Among other things.)

Ronald the Travel Bug...

will have some company while he awaits his next jump to another geocache. I retrieved him in the Black Hills of South Dakota in the company of BSquad last week, and have just returned from placing him in a site just a mile from the house. The doll was already in the cache, and I hope they get along while he temporarily visits.

If you have a geocaching account you can track his adventures with his Travel Bug code: LSEFV3.

Bear Grylls is no friend of wildlife...

as this e-mail from Bat Conservation International indicates (reproduced in full with no edits):

"A recent episode of Discovery Channel's Man vs. Wild featured Bear Grylls gleefully killing bats with a homemade club. The clip, which shows Grylls throwing a flame in a cave to "smoke out" the bats, swatting them to the ground and then stomping on them, has aired internationally and been posted on YouTube, allowing for continued access.

Though we understand the show is about survival, we feel that this clip perpetuates negative attitudes toward bats and could generate senseless copycat activity and/or the type of vandalism that is driving many bat species to the brink of extinction. Only four months ago, a Kentucky man was sentenced to eight months in jail after pleading guilty to beating to death 105 endangered Indiana bats.

Please express your disappointment at this anti-conservation message by filling out the feedback form on Discovery Communications website. Let the Discovery executives know:

• This episode undermines decades of bat conservation efforts
• Bats are an important part of a healthy ecosystem. They eat agricultural pests, disperse seeds to replenish the rainforest and pollinate a variety of plants. Many bats are endangered and the loss of a single species can have ramifications throughout the ecosystem.
• Viewers should be informed that killing bats-or even disturbing them-may be illegal depending on the species and country.
• We would like Discovery Channel to ensure this edition of Born Survivor and related footage is not aired again and that this footage is removed from Youtube, the Discovery Channel website and all other communications
• We hope Discovery Channel uses all its nature programming to forward conservation efforts.

Best regards,

Nina Fascione
Executive Director
Bat Conservation International

P.S. Help spread the word. Forward this to a friend."

Remember, bats need friends.

Beautiful reproductive stalks...

standing tall and bearing numerous blossoms, the narrowleaf yucca (Yucca angustifolia) is hands down one of my favorites (click to enlarge). It also caught Ed Abbey's attention: "Despite its fierce defenses, or perhaps because of them, the yucca is as beautiful as it is strange."

And that's Parriott Mesa looming in the background (click to enlarge). Yeah, another lousy day in Utah.

Signs along the road...

in southern Utah, particularly along the back roads, often serve as billboards promoting whatever one's cause/purpose/interests may be (click to enlarge). This one is unique, however, in that it wasn't additionally used as target practice and peppered with bullet holes.

Landmark achievement in bioscience...

and a new frontier in research, but still kinda creepy: How We Created the First Synthetic Cell.

With just a few weeks to go...

until the arrival of the first day of summer, here's the latest from the "global warming is hell" department, ripped from recent headlines:

• Snow record dies, but your tomatoes should live
• Record low of 32 set at Spokane airport today
• Just the thing for Memorial Day - skiing

Yes, I am very aware that weather isn't climate. However, that won't stop the media from linking record high temperatures this summer with human-caused global warming. Just wait. And watch. And read.

Hollywood has invaded Professor Valley...

for the filming of Disney's John Carter of Mars, scheduled to be released in 2012. An enormous production camp has been established along the Colorado River (signed "Barsoom" along the highway in homage to Edgar Rice Burroughs) and access to the Fisher Towers is closed to the public during shooting.

One has to admit that the stark landscape and dramatic red rocks in the Moab area make it a natural stand-in for Mars on Earth (as well as countless other classic Western films). I wonder what permit fee is paid to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for such use of public land? Stay tuned. I will investigate.

UPDATE: Here are the details regarding film permitting from the BLM Moab field office. The fees seem set, at least to me, surprisingly low.

Rough mule's ear...

(Wyethia scabra) illuminated by the glow of the setting sun (click to enlarge). I grabbed this shot on the way into the valley last night.

Earthquake risk calculated...

for the Pacific Northwest: Odds are 1-in-3 that a huge quake will hit Northwest in next 50 years.

Actually, it could happen tomorrow. Be prepared.

Geocaching is especially fun...

with the B-Squad - that's what the Bu bro and his kids call themselves. Here are the junior members of the team a few days ago at the Tunes2 geocache, smiling and holding a Travel Bug that I have carried back with me and will deposit at a local site in the next day or so. Read more about geocaching and get off your butt and go do it!

UPDATE on 27 May 2010: I just placed the Travel Bug in a geocache in southern Utah.

It's cool to be an uncle...

when you get to scramble across rocks with your nieces and nephew, and are rewarded with awesome views like this (click to enlarge). That's Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the center, and Harney Peak (7,244 ft) - the highest point in the Black Hills - is just off the image to the left.

It was a great time away...

visiting the family but it's good to be back in Utah. This was my view (click to enlarge) after a 720 mi driving marathon (~13 hours) across some of the most beautiful topography in the central Rockies, and only just a handfull of miles from home. Perfect timing.

30 years ago this morning...

Mount Saint Helens erupted violently, killing 57 people and spewing ash across Washington and other northwestern states. Here's your one-stop shopping for any and all information about the volcano, both then and now, provided by the USGS.

And here's a video about the impact to eastern Washington days after the cataclysmic event. Fortunately I was still a graduate student at Colorado State University in 1980, and not yet a resident of eastern Washington.

Image courtesy of NASA's Earth Observatory.

On the road again...

to the Pahá Sápa of South Dakota for a family visit. Blogging will be light in the week ahead, and I need to figure out how to make posts from my smartphone.

Another bloomin' sunflower...

is approaching its peak, where this time it's the Hopi blanketflower (Gaillardia pinnatifida). Here's an image from my late morning hike:

Courtship is in the air...

this morning as a mating pair of black-chinned hummingbirds (Archilochus alexandri) engage in their ritual swooping. Here's the male taking a break from his vigorous aerobatics in a cottonwood tree (click to enlarge):

And here's the coquettish and (thus far) unimpressed female watching the aerial maneuvers of her suitor from some rabbitbrush:

It's a regular wild kingdom around here. Good luck, buddy!

UPDATE: More about hummingbird courtship dives.

Tamarisk in bloom...

is certainly a lovely sight, however, this non-native and highly invasive plant is the bane of the riparian southwest. Several years ago tamarisk leaf-eating beetles were introduced along the Colorado River around Moab, Utah, and as their name suggests, they've been chomping on the shrub quite aggressively. Most plants look pretty stressed right now, but some can still manage the energy to push out some blossoms (click to enlarge).

So, time for assessment of the project has arrived, as announced recently in the local paper: County study to analyze local impact of tamarisk beetles. And here's the link to the USGS publication referenced in the article above: Saltcedar and Russian Olive Control Demonstration Act Science Assessment.

Today marks the 50th birthday...

of light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation technology. Say what?

The first working laser was built 50 years ago on this day. Learn more about this invaluable and indispensable technology here.

Following through on a promise...

made a couple of days ago to shoot a western tanager (Piranga ludoviciana), I found this male adult - and several others - hopping around in a cottonwood tree this morning (click to enlarge).

It's good to know...

a dude with a backhoe, especially when there are big holes to be dug. That's my good neighbor DH, a maestro at manipulating heavy equipment, excavating a trench between the well head and the pressure tank at my residence (click to enlarge).

I have been busy the last several days making repairs to a broken water line, the legacy of an extraordinarily hard/cold winter in southern Utah (global warming is hell). The new water line is in the ground, has been pressure tested, and life returns to normal.

And you have to admit that the views are beautiful from this work site.

Tickets on sale...

for the ride of your life, and for only a mere $100k: Perhaps You'll Visit Space In Your Lifetime, After All.

Previous related post.

This is interesting...

Jupiter loses one of its stripes and scientists are stumped as to why.

I believe it's a harbinger of December 2012.

Feathered friends...

populate a cottonwood tree this early evening, where dozens of finches impatiently wait for their turn at the thistle feeder (click to enlarge):

And here's a mediocre shot of two colorful male lazuli bunting (Passerina amoena), one of my favorite springtime visitors:

Several elusive western tanagers are also hanging out, and a skunk is also in residence, but I haven't had an opportunity to capture any of them with a camera. I promise to be more vigilant.

UPDATE: Here's a shot of another feeder this morning, with a bounty of bunting seeking breakfast:

Darn busy beavers...

World’s Largest Dam Can Be Seen From Space

And then there were three...

Atlantis Launch Now a Week Away

Move over silicon...

Graphene is Next

Anderson's larkspur...

(Delphinium andersonii) pushing out blossoms in the rock garden on this Mother's Day.

Several presumptuous Evangelicals...

came calling this morning, wanting to share an "encouraging message" with me, but I politely sent them on their way. Sheesh.

I'm always a bit amazed by their boldness, presenting themselves at your door uninvited and unexpected. It is analogous to me driving around and randomly knocking on some unknown person's door, then flapping my gums about fluvial depositional environments in the Chinle Formation, as if the person would give a darn about the subject.

So, what motivates such behavior on their part? Maybe I'm on a list? Maybe they know that I'm going to hell.

More about ALH84001...

NASA Team Cites New Evidence That Meteorites from Mars Contain Ancient Fossils

Previous related post.

Meet the neighbors...

that may potentially exist in the solar system: Earth's Asphalt Lakes Hint at Possibility of Life on Titan.

This should remove any doubt...

that the region around Moab, Utah, consists of some of the most spectacular terrain anywhere on this planet, geological or otherwise (click to enlarge).

That's 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes...

Zettabytes overtake petabytes as largest unit of digital measurement

Got it? That's 21 zeroes. Makes these things seem kinda quaint.

Another visitor came calling...

this afternoon, or should I say came crawling (click to enlarge)? That's a gopher snake (Pituophis catenifer deserticola), common in these parts, and beneficial. Read all about 'em here and here.

By the way, I very much enjoy their presence, and welcome my slithering friend to make himself at home.

Marking its territory with song...

this morning, a Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) kept me company while perched high in a cottonwood tree, as I tended to the irrigation system (click to enlarge). Here's its rich song.

Image details: Canon EOS 30D with 70-300 mm EF zoom lens.

Monitor and Merrimac Buttes...

locked in battle against weathering, erosion, and the inexorable passage of geologic time (click to enlarge). For those readers who are historically-challenged, please refer to the American Civil War battle of Hampton Roads.

There was more than geology...

to be seen on my circumnavigation of Upheaval Dome yesterday. Gasp! Yes, it's true. So here's a showcase of desert wildflowers in bloom (click images to enlarge).

The first is the carpet-like desert phlox (Phlox austromontana):

This shaded nook held a delicate dwarf evening-primrose (Oenothera caespitosa) before its petals closed in the heat of the day:

This Whipple's fishhook cactus (Sclerocactus whipplei) put on some nice blooms:

Claretcup cactus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus) is arguably my favorite cacti in all of canyon country:

This diminutive flower has a fearsome name, scorpionweed (Phacelia crenulata):

And this blue beauty is dwarf lupine (Lupinus pusillus):

Last, but not least, here's an image of spectacle-pod (Dithyrea wislizenii):

A lap around Upheaval Dome...

on the Syncline Loop Trail in the Island-in-the-Sky District of Canyonlands National Park was the objective of today's explorations (click images to enlarge). This is an arduous trail as a sign clearly warns after only a short distance from the trailhead:

There is about 1,500 feet of elevation lost/gained along the loop, and I strongly recommend following it in a clockwise direction. Here's a view into Upheaval Canyon from the steep downgrade on the west side of the structure:

Near the low point on the northwest side of the structure, a 1.5 mile spur follows a drainage and takes you into the core of the dome/crater, where strongly contorted beds of the Cutler Group are starkly revealed:

While I guzzled water and nibbled on some nuts, this foot-long female collared lizard (Crotaphytus collaris) investigated my presence in this odd place:

This trail is a geological joy and I give it my highest recommendation, but you must be fit and well acclimated, and be aware that route finding can be problematic (don't let this experience happen to you!) At no place along this trail do you get an overview of the dome/crater, so be sure to take a few minutes and visit the viewpoint. Lastly, here's a good reference (2.78 MB .pdf file) on the geology and proposed origin of this enigmatic structure.

UPDATE: I've added this vertical panoramic image of a towering water gap in the Wingate Sandstone through which the trail passes on the north side of the structure:

Moon over a monocline...

in the Moenkopi Formation on this first magnificent Monday morning in May (click to enlarge).

How many 3-D maps of the world...

can fit on a grain of salt? Answer: 1,000, and including this: "...a 25-nanometer-high topographical representation of the Swiss mountain, the Matterhorn, with a scale of 1:5 billion."

Amazing, but kinda hard to use in any practical way, though.

Fossilized crayfish burrows on steroids...

from the Triassic Chinle Formation. This outcrop, easily located in a small canyon at milepost 13 on Utah 128, shows a dense profusion of burrow casts (click to enlarge). Note the DNAG photo scale card in the center of the image, at the mid-point of an individual burrow that's at least several meters long/deep. This morphology suggests a stable, but slowly aggrading substrate, at the time of its construction.

Here's a related post that describes my research interest in these trace fossils.

Size XXL carbon footprint...

Al Gore, Tipper Gore snap up Montecito-area villa

The morning after...

the storms:

The scent of damp sage permeates the chilly air.