Penny Higgins - Storyteller • Artist • Scientist
Combining Science and Joyful Creativity
Today was another day spent top side. Our major task was screenwashing. Along the way we spent some time picking for fossils.
There was also a film crew from PBS. I was interviewed.
The crew in the cave rescued a bull snake.
And, as always, a beautiful sunset.
Today, I spent my time on the surface. I did a little cleaning while everyone else was in the cave.
Then I got things ready for screenwashing, a process by which we rinse dirt away from tiny rocks and fossils in sediments.
We had some journalists present, who are working on a documentary for PBS.
The day ended like all days at Natural Trap Cave… With a beautiful sunset.
I think I’ll be topside again tomorrow so watch out for pictures of tiny fossils!
Today was a normal day off work in the cave. Normal by cave standards, anyway.
First, was the usual rappel into the cave.
I made it, no problem, as always.
I spent my day collecting a sample of a thin, charcoal-rich bed for carbon dating. It was tedious.
But I did enjoy some relics from expeditions past.
Tomorrow, I’m working on the surface. Lots of work to do there, too!
We made it in for the first day. Today was clean up and making a plan for the short field season. This will be my office for the next week and a half.
(Pic forthcoming. It won’t upload.)
First we got some training.
Then it was time.
Descent was quick and painless…
For people, at least.
But not all that’s in the cave is dead.
Now everything is all cleaned up and the real work can begin. Stay tuned!
Two days of driving got us from Des Moines, Iowa to the Natural Trap Cave site. Along the way, we stopped briefly at the famous Bone Cabin near Como Bluff.
It’s a little difficult to keep up with individual blog posts for every paper I read for #365papers, for for the next three months you can expect one summary post per month, just like this one…
#365papers for June 2017Continue reading “Reading, Reading, Science Reading – #365 papers – June 2017”
#365papers for May 31, 2017
What’s it about?
When discussing species diversity, especially in terms of conservation efforts, it’s important to have a good definition of ‘species.’ Here, the authors show that depending on how you define a species, there may be twice as many kinds of birds as we usually think.Continue reading “Does Anyone Really Know How Many Kinds of Birds There Are? – #365papers – 2017 – 151”
#365papers for May 30, 2017
What’s it about?
Zircon is a mineral that forms in igneous rocks. As the rocks erode away, the zircons often survive and can be mixed into younger rocks, including new igneous rocks. Here, the authors use the concentration of aluminum in the zircons to determine the type of igneous rock the zircon originally formed in.Continue reading “How Aluminum in Zircon Can Tell Us What Happened Billions of Years Ago – #365papers – 2017 – 150”
#365papers for May 28, 2017
What’s it about?
With the instrumentation on the Juno spacecraft, scientists can now measure the strength and shape of the magnetic field around Jupiter and explore the planet’s aurorae (like our Aurora Borealis).Continue reading “The Magnetic Field and Aurorae of Jupiter – #365papers – 2017 – 149”
#365papers for May 28, 2017
What’s it about?
We finally have a spacecraft close enough to Jupiter that we can take photos of the planet’s poles and better understand what is happening below the cloud tops.
Continue reading “Peeking Under Jupiter’s Clouds – #365papers – 2017 – 148”
Penny Higgins - Storyteller • Artist • Scientist