Everything is not what it seems

"For many months, the GEO600 team-members had been scratching their heads over the inexplicable noise that is plaguing their giant detector. Then, out of the blue, a researcher approached them with an explanation. In fact, he had even predicted the noise before he knew they were detecting it."

The GEO600 has stumbled upon something incredible . . . more here.

Out West

I was born in New England and have always had a fondness for the scenery there. But the stark beauty of the terrain out here in the West can be breathtaking.


Photo: Looking southwest from Victorville, a belt of fog silhouettes Joshua trees in the desert below the snow covered Mt. Waterman and the Angeles National Forest. Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Snow Caps

View of the San Gabriel Mountains from our roof

Waves 2

Waves

Los Angeles Fires

Views of the San Gabriel Mountains fire from my roof on 8/31/09 . . .

Where am I? #9

Here

Final Joshua Tree

Teddy Bear Cactus

And more Joshua Tree

Note bouldering boo-boo on knee

More Joshua Tree

Stone sculpture

Botanical prints

James Sowerby was an English naturalist and illustrator working in the late 1700s and early 1800s. His collaboration with botanist William Curtis led to a number of printed works about plants and geology.

I have 9 hand-colored engravings that appear to have been removed from a Sowerby/Curtis publication at some point in the last 200 years.

A detail of one engraving is shown here and is available on cards and other printed items in my store, Botanica Prints. I'll add a new image each month. To see all the Sowerby engravings, look at the vertical wall calendar (note that three images appear twice).

Joshua Tree

Some photos from our recent trip to Joshua Tree.

It's gold, I tell you!

Gold was first discovered in California not at Sutter's Mill in 1849, but, rather, at a place in the San Gabriel Mountains called Placerita Canyon.

Jacaranda Days in the Valley

About the time the last few oranges drop from their trees in early June, Jacarandas bloom in an explosion of purple along our street in the San Fernando Valley.

Presenting the baobab

The baobab is occasionally known colloquially as "upside-down tree" (from the Arabic legend which claims that the devil pulled out the tree and planted it upside down). More.

Claustrophobia is not allowed

Back in the mid-80s, I used to do a lot of caving in north central Florida. Yes, there are caves in Florida. Lots of limestone there. In fact, some very, very deep wet water caves. But that's nothing compared to this cave in the Georgian region of Abkhazia. It's 7,000 feet deep. More at National Geographic.