The latest issue of New Yorker has a longish piece on the Antikythera Mechanism that I posted on last fall.
Author: Reid Farmer
Sand Creek and Glorieta Pass
The LA Times carries the story of the dedication of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in southeastern Colorado. It tells of the sad story of how Col. John Chivington and his regiment, the First Colorado Volunteers, attacked a peaceful and unprepared village of Cheyenne and Arapahoe under Chief Black Kettle on November 29, …
Spring Snow
We had a couple days of rain early in the week that of course fell as snow in the mountains. That gave a fresh coating of white to Mt. Evans (14,264 ft.) west of us… and Pikes Peak (14,110 ft.) to our south. We have also been having some wind, which if you look closely …
Giant Bats Snatch Birds from Night Sky
I heard this interesting story on NPR while driving into work this morning. Bat researchers in Spain have discovered that the giant noctule bat or Nyctalus lasiopterus preys on migrating songbirds who fly at night, something not previously known. It was previously thought that some songbirds migrated at night to avoid predation by diurnal raptors. …
Gorbatov Prints
The fabulous Russian artist Vadim Gorbatov visited the US last fall under the auspices of the Raptor Education Foundation. He paid a visit to Steve and Libby in Magdalena and Steve posted on the visit and Vadim’s art here and here and here. People intrigued by the samples Steve provided may want to know that …
Spring Willows
Having been away from this area for years, I had completely forgotten what an interesting yellow color the willows have on their new spring shoots.
Bird Cam
This picture of two bald eagle chicks was taken this afternoon in a nest near the Fort St. Vrain Power Plant in Platteville, Colorado. Xcel Energy, for impact mitigation and public outreach purposes, has positioned cameras on raptor nests located near several of their power plants. Their Bird Cam can be accessed here. Raptor enthusiasts …
Out and About
Just a few pictures and thoughts from the beginning of the week when the dogs and I were stretching our legs at the Hidden Mesa Open Space just to the west of us. We had two days of cold and snow over the weekend that gave us a White Easter, but Monday was clear and …
Blade Manufacture
A hat-tip to John Derbyshire who linked to this very cool YouTube video of a flint-knapper manufacturing blades from a pyramidal core using a punch technique. This is how artifacts that Steve saw on his trip to Turkey were made that I posted on last year.
Falling in Love with French Antiquities
The NY Times has a very nice piece on archaeologist Randall White of NYU and his research in Paleolithic archaeology in the Perigord area of France. That is the home ground of Cro-Magnon research just down the road from the famous cave art at Lascaux. Though not professionally grounded in the archaeology of the area, …