gra

Trekking Tech: Ultraviolet Wands

Any time we walk outdoors during the day, we are immersed in solar radiation from our nearest star, the Sun. One particular range of wavelength from this radiat...

Enter Anthropocene: Searching for Signals in New Orleans

Geologic time is vast and incomplete. Scientists can look at the stratigraphy of rock record and ascertain a great wealth of information about the history of ou...

Anthropocene River Journey: The Source

This journey starts at a pristine lake. The lake may seem somewhat arbitrary; a random expanse in the upper reaches of a vast watershed that goes in many direct...

Island Camping Exit

As the height of the noontime sun gradually decreases with each passing day, the duration of solar exposure follows suit. The seemingly endless twilight of a no...

Summer Cessation

Although the Midwestern United States may have a reputation for being composed of featureless, landlocked, corn-dominated farmland, the more northern reaches ar...

From a Lake to a River

With the progression of time, I have found that my interests and focuses are steadily changing in intensity and direction. This change is often gradual, punctua...

Trekking Tech: Boil Toil

In the quest for pure water, even the most ideal techniques of primitive hydration collection can result in water that is contaminated with microbial pathogens....

Trekking Tech - Basic Hydration

Water is an essential resource that must be consumed on a regular basis for normal bodily function. This is especially true while backpacking, as a great deal o...

Trekking Tech - A Hoopla for Hiking

Few things are more peaceful than strolling through the striking glow of yellow as a young maple grove prepares for the long Northern winter. With significant a...

A Deeper Look At Shallow Geothermal - Part 2: Horizontal Optimization

If I were a gambling man, I would bet on the notion that our global energy future must be multifaceted. Through a gradual transition toward renewable energies, ...

Forecasting Active Disasters

The volcano Kilauea in Hawaii has been actively erupting for nearly a week out of several new fissures that have opened in a residential subdivision known as Le...

Helping Communities 'Go Green'

It is inconsequentially easy to take for granted the many luxuries and conveniences that improve our quality of life. Electricity and other ingenious inventions...

Making Spatial Data Yield Agates

If you have ever experienced randomly finding a beautiful stone laying on the ground, you may be able to understand the allure that entices rockhounds to pursue...

The Disappearance of US Navy Plane 17254 - Chile, 1969 [ Part Two - The Search ]

In this article, I will detail the original search efforts and eyewitness accounts from the official US Navy report on the incident. Although many details of th...

Testing Perception

Perception has the tantalizing attribute of malleability. Without direct information from external sources, the endless barrage of outcomes makes just about any...

The Disappearance of US Navy Plane 17254 - Chile, 1969

On August 4th, 1969, a US Navy transport plane en route from Santiago, Chile, to Buenos Aires, Argentina, disappeared into a winter storm in the Andes mountains...

A Superior Variety of Agate

In the areas surrounding the western-most Great Lake in North America, there is a prized gemstone that is sought after by both novice and veteran rock hounds. I...

Gradual Enlightenment

It may appear that I am gone; my writing all but stopped! My absence from this lovely site approaching far too long. Inside my mind, the echoes from a random sl...

Give Poles a Chance

For roamers, wanderers, and athletes alike, the truth regarding efficiency of movement over terrain for long distances is no secret: If you want to go farther, ...

The Saintliest of All Sands

A majestic white rock that defies intuition is exposed in various locations throughout the Midwestern United States. It forms towering cliffs and bluffs that ca...