The Beaufort Scale The son of a cartographer, Sir Francis Beaufort was born in Ireland, despite the French last name, in 1774. His father instilled attention to the accuracy of charts and information, but his grasp on the value of these accuracies sunk in with literal meaning when he was shipwrecked due to erroneous graphs […]
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ʻOumuamua Our solar system is a big place. We sent the Voyager probes on a one-way trip out of the sun’s domain in 1977. It took the two crafts more than 35 years to reach the edge of the heliosphere, the point where they entered interstellar space. And they only had to travel approximately the
Bear Huggers In addition to the intellectual and spiritual awe that wildlife elicits in the lover of nature, it is undeniable that many of the furry, feathered, and fluffy fauna that share our planet are downright cute. Many humans have a soft spot for critters, especially the baby variety. Puppies and kittens get all the
Carrauntoohil – Ireland’s High Point Ireland’s western coast is strewn with fantastic mountains. The southwestern tip of the island contains the famous Ring of Kerry, a loop that tours the Iveragh Peninsula of County Kerry. This region is a quintessentially Irish mix of rock and green. The mountains and the sea intersect in a sensory delight. Nestled
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Tree Speak and the Wood Wide Web Traditionally, we have viewed trees as individuals, stoic as they compete for sunlight, survive storms, and slowly grow from tiny seeds to monstrous sentinels. This viewpoint is human, a sort of anthropomorphized version of a natural-resource economy or a misunderstanding of Darwinism. Only the strong trees endure, as they
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Forrest Fenn’s Treasure A human named Forrest Fenn flew 328 combat missions in 365 days during the Vietnam War. Twice he was shot down. His experiences earned him a Silver Star. When Fenn left the military, he ended up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he eventually established an art gallery that turned into a multi-million-dollar
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Old Whitey Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve occupies 4,300 square miles of Lake Huron on the northern half of Michigan’s southern peninsula. This zone was the 13th area to be protected in American waters but the first in the Great Lakes. As you might gather from a name such as Thunder Bay,
Wanda Risen “I don’t seek death, but I don’t mind if it happens in the mountains. It would be an easy death for me. Many of my friends are waiting for me in the mountains.” –Wanda Rutkiewicz Many alpine historians consider a slight Polish climber to be the greatest woman mountaineer ever born. Standing just 5 feet,
Sakura If one should ask you concerning the spirit of a true Japanese, point to the wild cherry blossom shining in the morning sun. –Motoori Norinaga, Shikishima no Uta Since at least the 8th century, people in Japan have practiced hanami, which translates literally to “flower viewing.” The flower in question is the sakura, also known as
Firefall It is 3,000 feet to the bottomAnd no undertaker to meet youTAKE NO CHANCESThere is a differenceBetween bravery and just plainORDINARY FOOLISHNESS In the late 1860s and early 1870s, Yosemite Valley was vastly different than it is today. Its status as a protected National Park stood decades in the future. People actually lived amongst