New granite countertops...

were installed in the kitchen yesterday at my cottage in the pine forest (click to enlarge), and they provide an excellent opportunity to teach basic mineralogy and igneous petrology to guests during dinner parties. How geeky is that?

Oh, yeah. They also look fabulous.

It was dumb in the 70s...

and it's still dumb today despite the technological upgrade: USB Pet Rock. Yeah, that's right, it doesn't do a darn thing. Nada. Zip.

I wonder if it comes with a phone number for technical support?

Spinning its wheels...

and going nowhere fast, the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, that is. The view above (click to enlarge) is captured by the navigation camera, and looks back at its tracks made in April of this year, the last time the robotic explorer made any forward progress. Here's the latest from NASA/JPL on attempts to free the stuck rover.

Perhaps most significantly, the rocks scattered about appear to be laminated/bedded, and perhaps sedimentary in origin.

World record set...

by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) as it ramps up to higher energies:

"The LHC pushed protons to 1.18 TeV (trillion electron volts), surpassing the previous record of 0.98 TeV held by Fermilab’s Tevatron."

So far so good, I guess. We're still here.

Microscopic organism portraiture...

in an image gallery at the Micropolitan Museum. Daphnia and Caprella are particularly cute.

Get your ticket to ride...

to the edge of space: Virgin Galactic’s Space-Grazing Aircraft Is Ready for Liftoff. The cost? A mere $200,000 will get you a seat on a sub-orbital flight where you will float weightless at the edge of space for several minutes.

Yeah, if you have to ask you can't afford it.

Climate research scientists...

behaving badly: Climate Change Data Dumped. This story just keeps getting worse.

In addition, in response to an ABC news piece on the scandal, there is the following post from respected geologist and Pleistocene climate expert Dr. Don Easterbrook:

"I've spent 4 decades studying global climate change and as a scientist I am appalled at Krugman's cavalier shrugging off the Hadley email scandal as 'just the way scientists talk among themselves.' That's like saying it's alright for politicians to be corrupt because that's the way they are. Legitimate scientists do not doctor data, delete data they don't like, hide data they don't want seen, hijack the peer review process, personally attack other scientists whose views differ from theirs, send fraudulent data to the IPCC that is used to perpetuate the greatest hoax in the history science, provide false data to further legislation on climate change that will result in huge profits for corrupt lobbyists and politicians, and tell outright lies about scientific data.

Posted by: Don Easterbrook | Nov 29, 2009 1:57:05 PM"

I couldn't have said it better myself.

A waterproof camera and perfect sense...

of timing is manifest in this amazing photography: Inside the Tube - Incredible Wave Photography.

Early winter arrives...

in the majestic Purcell Mountains, seen here across Kootenay Lake near Kaslo, British Columbia (click to enlarge). Fortunately, nearby hot springs provided an opportunity to warm chilled bones during my holiday visit to the wintry high country. And, for my geo-readers, this area is also host to a historically significant Ag-Zn-Pb deposit.

Fresh look at ALH 84001...

seems to dismiss the non-biologic argument for the origin of previously discovered worm-like structures in the famous Martian meteorite. Here's the technical abstract.

Previous related post on this controversial space rock.

Micro-poop...

is the basis for some cave mineral deposits: Lava Cave Minerals Actually Microbe Poop.

Bat migration...

has been mathematically modeled: The Evolution Of Bat Migration. Here's the related technical abstract and article: Evidence for Repeated Independent Evolution of Migration in the Largest Family of Bats.

Remember: bats need friends.

Heading north of the border...

to the Kaslo, British Columbia area to spend the extended holiday weekend in a foreign country. I'll try to access Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park as well as Cody Caves Provincial Park (weather permitting) in addition to soaking in hot springs.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Tickle me, and don't ever stop...

"Climategate" scandal...

is slowly drawing increased scrutiny from the press and government agencies that funded the now suspect climate change research. Some updates on the developing story can be found here and here, and so far no one has denied the documents are genuine. One gem found in the published emails that goes beyond scientific dishonesty:

“We need to show some left to cover the costs of the trip Roger didn’t make and also the fees/equipment/computer money we haven’t spent otherwise NOAA will be suspicious.”

So not only is there collusion to influence the peer review process, apparent fudging or manipulation of data, use of erroneous and flawed software code, intentional and coordinated deletion of documents in order to frustrate FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests, now there may be accounting fraud to add to all that. Don't believe it? Read the documents for yourself, or consult this summary.

The contempt for scientific objectivity that is revealed here is staggering. Unfortunately, this growing scandal is going to make science (in general) and scientists (specifically) lose credibility with the public.

However, on the lighter side, get your "Hide the Decline" t-shirts and merchandise. And enjoy the hilarious "Hide the Decline" video by Minnesotans For Global Warming.

Solar tsunami has been imaged...

by NASA's STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) spacecraft, and consists of a wave of hot plasma and magnetism that races across the Sun's surface, generated by a coronal mass ejection. The scale is humongous:

"The technical name is "fast-mode magnetohydrodynamical wave"—or "MHD wave" for short. The one STEREO saw reared up about 100,000 km high, and raced outward at 250 km/s (560,000 mph)."

Fortunately the phenomenon is no hazard for Earth.

Cascadia subduction zone quakes...

could hit inland, striking large urban areas as far as 60 km from the coast with high magnitude events.

Animation of recent Casinni flyby...

of Enceladus shows the spacecraft approaching the backlit geyser-like fountains that spew from fractures in the icy crust near the south polar region of this tiny moon of Saturn. Check out the previous related post that describes this flyby that occurred on 21 November 2009 and provides links to other stunning images.

Very cooool.

Image credit: four-frame animation by Gordan Ugarkovic via The Planetary Society.

Good advice...

on how to choose a strong password. Remember: practice safe computing.

An example EWU should follow...

Game Over: Northeastern U. Spikes Its Football Program

World's largest volcanic lake...

is Lake Toba in Sumatra, spanning an area of 100 km by 30 km (click to enlarge). Recent research suggests that the lake occupies an edifice created by a super eruption: Supervolcano Eruption In Sumatra Deforested India 73,000 Years Ago.

Baby steps toward armageddon...

occurred early today as the Large Hadron Collider initiated collisions between protons at 900 billion electron volts of energy (900 GeV; 0.9 TeV), a level that is merely 1/15 of its full potential.

"CERN hopes to boost the energy to 1.2 TeV per beam – exceeding the world's current top collision energies of 1 TeV per beam at the Tevatron accelerator in Batavia, Illinois.

In early 2010, physicists will attempt to ramp up the energy to 3.5 TeV per beam, collect data for a few months at that energy, then push towards 5 TeV per beam in the second half of the year."

Note that:

"The LHC is designed to allow collisions at much higher energies – all the way up to 14,000 GeV (14 TeV), or 7 TeV per beam."

Clearly we're in for some astounding science, that is, if the world survives.

Abyssal depths are teeming...

with bizarre marine life: Thousands of Strange Sea Creatures Discovered. More on this story here.

See even more images of these interesting creatures at the Census of Marine Life image gallery.

Icy hydrocarbon lakes...

on Titan "are loaded with acetylene, a chemical some scientists say could serve as food for cold-resistant organisms" according to a new study.

Raw images of Enceladus...

from the recent flyby by the Cassini spacecraft on 21 November show a fresh, non-cratered, icy surface with countless pressure ridges (click to enlarge).

Here's the link to more raw images: Enceladus Rev 121 Flyby Raw Preview.

World's largest earthquake-safe building...

is now open at Instanbul's airport:

"Stretching across more than 2 million square feet, the terminal doesn’t sit directly on the soil, but rather on more than 300 isolators, bearings that can move side-to-side during an earthquake. The whole building moves as a single unit, which prevents damage from uneven forces acting on the structure."

Western hemisphere weather...

visualization showing clouds using the Goddard Earth Observing System Model, Verison 5 (GEOS-5) at 7 km resolution for the period from 17 August through 21 August 2009 (click on image for 3 MB MPEG-4 video). This visualization was designed to closely match a GOES satellite image for comparison purposes.

Mesmerizing.

Climate change debate heats up...

with hacked e-mails from the Climate Research Unit (at the University of East Anglia) posted on-line by skeptics. The 61 MB document dump purportedly reveals the dark underbelly of how science is done by global warming proponents, including alleged falsification and manipulation of data, along with priorities being driven by political motivations and desire for career advancement.

Human beings behaving like, well, human beings. Just like a soap opera except that these shenanigans have serious implications and can influence international policy.

UPDATE: Here's a convenient summary of some of the content of the e-mails exchanged between global warming proponents. If these documents are real it's pretty dishonorable behavior, and argues in favor of greater transparency (and accountability) in science.

This has all the makings of a serious scandal.

UPDATED UPDATE: It may be a whistleblower, and not a hacker, that resulted in the release of ~172 MB of information.

Enjoy the upcoming holiday...

as the countdown to the end of all things has commenced: Large Hadron Collider back online. At present, the gargantuan physics experiment is circulating protons along its 17 mi-long track, with low-energy collisions scheduled for later in the week.

So, enjoy Thanksgiving! It may be your last.

UPDATE: Here's a look at those who will destroy us.

Revisions to the solar system...

explained in an image gallery. Yep, this isn't the same neighborhood that I grew up with in grade school.

Distribution of water...

on Earth summarized in an infographic at Wired.com.

Diminishing dung fungus...

and increasing amounts of pollen from broad-leaved floras reveal the timing of the die off of North American megafaunas according to a new paleoecological study.

Grazing patterns of mastodons, camels and giant sloths that modified the habitat, coupled with human hunting, may have caused the extinction of these large animals, and not climate change nor a comet impact.

Or, maybe a combination of all these factors is the cause as one of the study's authors states:

“In North America, there’s a lot of confusion because everything was happening all at once.”

Breaking news...

"One killer gear deal,...

one item at a time until it's gone" is the tag line of Steep and Cheap, an on-line retailer of name brand outdoor products. Indeed, you have to click into the web site often in order to take advantage of tremendously discounted but high-quality recreational gear that is randomly presented until it's sold out.

Give it a go. Highly recommended.

Hat tip: RO'Q.

Bolide explodes over western US...

last night and the event was captured by security cameras: videos at KSL.com and at KREM.com. A bit more information about this event is here.

City of Cheney municipal well #8...

has been on-line for several months and is capable of yielding ~850 gallons/minute of groundwater from confined aquifers in the Columbia River Basalt Group, specifically the Grande Ronde Basalt.

I was retained as a consultant to the City for this project. Here's a link to the test well log (.pdf format) and to the production well log (.pdf format).

Wise words...

“I believe in evidence. I believe in observation, measurement, and reasoning, confirmed by independent observers. I’ll believe anything, no matter how wild and ridiculous, if there is evidence for it. The wilder and more ridiculous something is, however, the firmer and more solid the evidence will have to be.”

— Isaac Asimov

Al Gore on geothermal energy...

demonstrates how absolutely little he knows about science and technology. I guess I've been teaching my students incorrect information about the geothermal gradient.

Is there any doubt whatsoever that this guy is a blowhard and a charlatan? Sheesh.

UPDATE: Link to a history of geothermal energy development at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Queen Charlotte Island earthquakes...

early this morning determined to be an initial M 6.6 at 15:30:46 UTC followed about seven minutes later by a M 5.7 at 15:37:43 UTC.

UPDATE: The events have rattled our departmental seismometer - image posted above (click to enlarge).

Second sed/strat exam...

is scheduled for this Thursday, 19 November. Note to my budding stratigraphers: study hard, don't hardly study.