Nyiragongo Crater: Journey to the Center of the World
Walking in Nyiragongo Crater in Africa. The pictures are stupendous.
Year: 2011
Caving in Druid Cave, Cheat Canyon, West Virginia
An evening pause: Caving in Druid Cave, Cheat Canyon, West Virginia. The caver is David Riggs. The videographer is caver Aaron Bird. The caver who arrives at the end with the ATV is caver Brian Masney. All are world class cavers, with whom I’ve had the honor of caving.
The video is nicely done, and gives an excellent and accurate feel for modern cave exploration and techniques. Watch especially how the rigging allows David to climb past the waterfall while on rope and hardly get wet.
Hot time on the ol’ Sun tonight!
After literally years of inactivity, well below all initial predictions, the Sun truly came to life this past month. Below is the March monthly update of the Sun’s sunspot cycle, published by NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. The red curve is the prediction, while the dotted black line shows the actual activity.
As you can see, the Sun’s sunspot activity shot up precipitously. Though I don’t have the data from past years, the March jump appears to me to probably be one of the fastest monthly rises ever recorded.
Does this mean the newest prediction from the solar scientists at the Marshall Space Flight Center calling for a weak solar maximum in 2013 is wrong? Probably not, though of course in this young field who knows? I would say, however, that the overall trend of the data still suggests the next maximum will be very weak.
Stay tuned! The next few months should finally give us a sense of where the next maximum is heading.
GOP Budget Proposal: ‘Not a Penny’ for Obamacare
More progress, if true: The Republican 2012 budget proposal includes nothing for Obamacare.
Bill Staines – River
An evening pause: Performed live 2015.
Evidence that liquid water once existed on a comet
Scientists have found strong evidence that liquid water once existed in the interior of a comet.
Martian Mud Volcanoes
A Koran, and Free Speech, In Flames
Obama Rejects Latest Republican budget
Looks like he has decided to shut the government down: Obama rejects latest Republican budget.
Astronauts take cover as debris drifts toward International Space Station
Astronauts in ISS take cover as Chinese space junk flies past.
NASA human space-flight programme lost in transition
From the British science journal Nature: NASA human space-flight programme lost in transition.
Ann Barnhardt vs Lindsey Graham
This woman bluntly, clearly, and without apology explains freedom, the first amendment, and the difference between peaceful protest and violence to Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina).
Make sure you watch part 2 of her oration, where she goes through the worst quotes from the Koran (bookmarked with bacon strips!) and burns those pages.