Artifact from Apollo 11...

discovered in 14,000 ft of water in the Atlantic Ocean by the guy that founded Amazon.com: Bezos Expeditions F-1 Engine Recovery.  Pretty cool, especially if they can raise them intact.

Here's a previous post showing the last Saturn V rocket on display at the Kennedy Space Center that I toured last April.

Avoid hypoxia...

and vicariously tag along with Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on their successful conquest of Mount Everest in 1953 in this historic documentary film.  And remember, this was achieved well before today's lightweight alpine gear and Gore-Tex.

First human footprints...

on another world seen in a high resolution image of the Apollo 11 landing site, captured by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.  Cool.

RELATED:  I remember watching this mission's moon walk when I was a kid.

Entire wreck site of Titantic mapped...

in high resolution for first time, showing the 3 x 5 mi (5 x 8 km) debris field in stunning detail, to be released next month on the 100 year anniversary of its sinking on 15 April 1912.  Here's a related article that includes some excellent images.

50 years ago today...

the first orbital flight by an American astronaut was achieved: John Glenn, First American in Orbit.  Sadly, at present, we have no capability as a nation whatsoever for human spaceflight.

Charles Darwin...

the geologist.

And don't forget to celebrate his 203rd birthday this Friday with the EWU Department of Biology.

I am saddened to learn...

that Jewel Cave pioneer Herb Conn has died.

I met Herb and Jan (his wife) in the early 1990s when I was working at Jewel Cave National Monument doing a mineral inventory during three summer field seasons.  They even autographed a copy of their book for me that describes the early years of exploration where they mapped the first 50 miles of the now more than 150 mile-long cavern system.

Hat tip:  The Bu parents.

Celebrate Charlie Darwin's 203rd birthday...

by baking a cake in his honor!

The EWU Department of Biology is hosting their annual cake competition and any group or individual may participate (hint to geology students).  Deliver your creative cakes that reflect some aspect of Darwin's work to SCI 258 by 11 am on 17 February for judging, with results announced at 3 pm in SCI 243 & 247.  Then we dig in and eat 'em.

RELATED:  Your humble blog correspondent is one of the judges for the event, and he can be easily influenced.  Think chocolate.  And bacon.

UPDATE:  Here's a look back to 2009, 2010 and 2011 if you need some inspiration.

An image of Earth from space...

celebrating 100 years of volcano monitoring at Kiluea, showing a vigorous plume rising from Halemaʻumaʻu Crater (click to enlarge):

Learn more about this image, and download a high-res version, at NASA's Earth Observatory.

A profound moment in history...

for all of humanity: What Apollo 11 Astronauts Did Right Before Neil Armstrong Set Foot on the Moon.

I remember watching this historic moment at the age of 12, and I credit it as one of the reasons that I pursued science in my education and career.  Sadly, nothing quite this motivational involving human exploration of the unknown exists these days.  Yeah, robot geologists crawling around on Mars is pretty cool, but it isn't the same as a rock-hammer-wielding astronaut/geologist being there.

What I'm reading...

right now:  Race to The End - Amundsen, Scott, and the Attainment of the South Pole by Ross D.E. MacPhee.  This is as much a coffee table book due to its lavish illustrations including archival photographs and detailed maps, as a rich account of two competing Antarctic expeditions and personalities.  The frigid evening temperatures here in the high desert make for a perfect setting to read this heroic, and tragic, tale.

Geographic South Pole...

reached for the first time 100 years ago on this date in 1911 by Roald Amundsen.  I've just ordered this book for some holiday reading, as I prepare for my personal mini-expedition to southern Utah.  When I'm not hiking or skiing or exploring I'll be reading.

UPDATE: Why the British Were Doomed to Lose the Race to the South Pole.

Interesting interview...

with David Gelernter:  Rethinking the Digital Future.  And another with him here:  Seer of the Mirror World.

Happy birthday, Earth...

according to Archbishop James Ussher who determined the "time and date of the creation as the night preceding Sunday, 23 October 4004 BC."

Party on.

Judgement Day, take two...

Mark Your Calendars: End of World Coming Oct. 21.

Remember that we were all doomed in May, so I have no real expectations this will come to pass either.  But the occasion does provide another excuse to have a party.

It's a riddle, wrapped in a mystery...

Inside The Russian Short Wave Radio Enigma

Interesting. And strange.

Cold case warming up...

The 40-year mystery of America’s greatest skyjacking.

The story is, of course, about D.B. Cooper. If you're a young person, live in the Pacific Northwest, and haven't heard of him, be sure to read this.

UPDATE and BOUNCED:  Forensic tests underway.

Lowry Pueblo...

in the Canyon of the Ancients National Monument in Colorado was the goal of an early morning walkabout, and the ruins are approximately 1,000 years old (click images to enlarge):

The Great Kiva, at 47 ft in diameter it ranks as one of the largest in the region, has been  reconstructed sans wooden roof:

The geometric theme of Puebloan stonework has always seemed artful to me:

I had been visiting good friends in Dolores, Colorado, and Geogal recommended this short detour on my return to Castle Valley, and I'm glad she did.

Here's more information if you wish to visit this rich archeological region.

Walking in James Hutton's footsteps...

at Siccar Point this morning gave me goosebumps. An innocuous sign along a farm road points one to a grassy cliff top trail that ends at the outcrop that challenged centuries of Church doctrine that the Earth was only 6,000 years old (click to enlarge):

Although Hutton and his companions (John Playfair and Sir John Hall) arrived by wooden sailboat in 1788, the view from the cliff top is especially impressive, with the vertically-dipping Silurian greywackes jutting forth from the sea:

After negotiating a very steep down climb to the outcrop, the classic view of the angular unconformity is clearly presented, with the near horizontal beds of the Devonian red sandstones overlying the older tilted beds:

The index finger of my left hand points to the unconformable contact where 55 million years of Earth history is missing (unknown in 1788), but still suggesting to Hutton that a long expanse of time must have passed, and that the Earth was indeed very, very old:

Playfair later wrote about the visit to this now famous outcrop that "the mind seemed to grow giddy by looking so far into the abyss of time."  I can't say that I was giddy today, but I was certainly profoundly humbled, to have had the opportunity to visit this magnificently historic place.  Priceless.

Pics from the past...

showing the evolution of the Eastern Washington University campus through time, with images retrieved from archives in Spokane while I was doing research there last week (click to enlarge):

And here's a more contemporary view, from Google Earth, showing 2009 imagery of the campus for comparison: