Thorny Devils When it comes to Australia, the first devil that comes to mind is probably the Tasmanian. But there’s a far more populous down-under denizen, one who roams large swaths of the Outback. And, though the Tasmanian devil garnered its name largely thanks to its ethereal vocalizations, many humans find the critter closer to adorable […]
Kitch-Iti-Kipi Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is a spellbinding strip. Cradled by three Great Lakes, the UP oozes confluence: water and land; tree and sky; solid rock and frolicking wildlife. Coming from the mitten, a traveler crosses the Straits of Mackinac, where Lakes Huron and Michigan meet, going over the Western Hemisphere’s longest suspension bridge between anchorages. US
Daylight Deltas We have seasons on Earth because of our planet’s axial tilt. In relation to the ecliptic – the orbital path Earth takes around the Sun – we’re slanted just over 23 degrees from an “upright” position, based on the planet’s spinning axis. As we go around our star, this tilt causes one hemisphere
States of Elevation On the topographical map of endurance athletes, one human stands alone on the top isopleth. It’s difficult to enter the realm of hyperbole when discussing the achievements of Kilian Jornet. Literally born to the peaks, Jornet grew up in a mountain hut his parents oversaw in the Spanish Pyrenees, near the triple point
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Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death & the Mother of Forensic Science To Mrs. Frances G. Lee, Captain, New Hampshire State Police, And One of the Few Women Who Ever Kept Perry Mason Guessing –Erle Stanley Gardner, The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom In Chicago, on 25 March 1878, John Jacob and Sarah Frances Glessner welcomed a
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Mushroom Kayaks “It was just like a psychedelic experience.” –Sam Shoemaker A gorgeous, archipelagic octet dots the Pacific Ocean off the shore of the Southern California Bight, a 430-mile bend stretching from Point Conception to Baja California. Five of the Channel Islands constitute the eponymous National Park, while the US Navy utilizes another two as training
Why Don’t Spiders Get Stuck in Their Webs? Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive. –Sir Walter Scott, Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field Despite filling a large number of us with arachnophobia, spiders are marvels of engineering and pest extermination. The form of eight creepy-crawly legs surrounding a bulbous center with
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Black Moon While the Sun is invariably the most important body in space, an argument could easily be made that humans care more about the Moon. The queen of the night sky, we’ve looked at our satellite with awe for millennia. The ability to look at the Moon might be why we give it more love than
Pet Ratios guest-written by Deborah Stout Sometimes I wonder if our pets are insane. I don’t mean their silly antics, like getting “the zoomies.” Or when cats get that specific look on their faces. I’m referring to the fact that they not only live with us, but actually like and trust us. This notion might
The Longest Lightning Flash Of the naturally occurring phenomena, one of the most visceral is lightning. Few things can fill us with wonder and a sense of immense, dangerous power like a bolt from the sky. So, it’s no surprise that we’ve studied lightning during this project over the years. We’ve seen it show up
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