The Rocky Mountain Dispatch

14/07/2024

Photo by Rostislav Uzunov Looking around, the public is largely ignorant of one of the most vital forces driving modern technological development: thermodynamics, the branch of physics that sets out the rules governing the relationships between heat, or thermal energy, and other forms of energy. Everyday life will once again be affected by what happens in its laboratories. The first law of thermodynamics – also known as the law of energy conservation, or, more practically, as the law of no free lunches – plays an underlying role in many technological developments....

Photo by Rostislav Uzunov Looking around, the public is largely ignorant of one of the most vital forces driving modern technological development: thermodynamics, the branch of physics that sets ou…

14/07/2024

14/07/2024

13/07/2024

Photo by Darrell Gough I was shocked after reading an article by Kevin Voigt, a scientific volcanologist at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO), which included groundbreaking data about how and when Yellowstone’s supervolcano erupts. Voigt’s paper might change our understanding of volcanic hazards across much of the western US and beyond. For everyone focused on volcanic activity worldwide, the current age isn’t a millennium, but Camelian....

Photo by Darrell Gough I was shocked after reading an article by Kevin Voigt, a scientific volcanologist at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO), which included groundbreaking data about how a…

10/07/2024

Eating lunch, might throw it up later

Turkey vultures tend to vomit when they are stressed by humans or predators and can use their vomit as a self-defense. Turkey vultures migrate to Colorado in spring and leave in early fall.

📸: CPW/Wayne D. Lewis

10/07/2024

10/07/2024

10/07/2024

Researchers have found that Earth’s inner core – a solid metal ball more than a quarter the size of Mars that drives the motion of the entire planet – has dramatically slowed its rotation and might even be reversing polarity. The study, appearing in the journal Nature Geoscience this week, is the first to show the results of mysterious processes occurring deep in the planet that could force our weather patterns to shift in unforeseen ways....

Researchers have found that Earth’s inner core – a solid metal ball more than a quarter the size of Mars that drives the motion of the entire planet – has dramatically slowed its rotation and might…

07/07/2024

An outbreak of tularemia – more commonly known as ‘rabbit fever’ – has recently washed over the state of Wyoming, as the state’s public health chief reported that there had been eight ‘confirmed and suspected’ cases of this, the highest since monitoring began a decade ago. The average number of cases in the state is typically two per year. At a press conference on Thursday, June 27th, the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) issued an alarm about the spike in cases in Sheridan, Campbell and Fremont counties....

An outbreak of tularemia – more commonly known as ‘rabbit fever’ – has recently washed over the state of Wyoming, as the state’s public health chief reported that there had been eight ‘confirmed an…

06/07/2024

“A Møøse once bit my sister…” - Monty Python and the Holy Grail

No realli!

We apologize for the fault in the captions. Those responsible are currently being chased by a moose.

Mynd you, møøse are pretti fast and can run at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour whether or not you’re carrying a sharpened tøøthbrush. Think you can escape in water or deep snow? Think again! Møøse have long legs that allow them to easily wade into lakes and rivers or through deep snow. Let’s just keep a safe distance and never try to scare a møøse, or do the Fandango. It will only lead to thunderbolts and lightning, very, very frightening. Once again, we apologize for the fault in the captions. Those responsible are still being chased by a møøse.

When will they learn?

Image: Bull møøse stands tall in shallow water at Lake Clark National Park & Preserve, Alaska. NPS/J. Mills

05/07/2024

Astronomers have found an enormous water v***r cloud surrounding a supermassive black hole at the heart of a galaxy 12 billion light-years away, in our cosmic infancy, an oasis of water that’s 140 trillion times the amount in Earth’s oceans and the largest and most distant reservoir of water ever observed. Working in two teams, the scientists, members of both the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) and the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA), both on the Mauna Kea mountain above sea-level observatories in Hawaii, used two enormous antennae – namely Z-Spec at the CSO and CARMA in California....

Astronomers have found an enormous water v***r cloud surrounding a supermassive black hole at the heart of a galaxy 12 billion light-years away, in our cosmic infancy, an oasis of water that’s 140 …

29/06/2024

New results from NASA’s Juno probe show that a lava lake can be much cooler but still keep an active surface And those measurements give a more complete picture of how pervasive these lakes are on Jupiter’s moon Io, and, now, new light on volcanic processes at the moon’s surfaces. Juno’s Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument, provided by the Italian Space Agency, effectively ‘sees’ in infrared light, and the researchers published Juno’s most recent volcanic discoveries on June 20 2022 in the journal Nature....

. New results from NASA’s Juno probe show that a lava lake can be much cooler but still keep an active surface And those measurements give a more complete picture of how pervasive these lakes are o…

29/06/2024

Is this a 90's hair trend coming back? We dunno, maybe? We can't keep track. These chunky highlights and lowlights belong to the bridled titmouse.

You might be able to spot these woodland residents in the mountains of Southeastern Arizona, but nowhere else in the United States.

Photo: courtesy of Steve Wolfe

29/06/2024

Some things in life you expect, like the Dentist telling you that you need to floss🙄, but some things you really can’t anticipate.

Like finding an abandoned six-week old Fisher.

Staff at Fresno Chaffee Zoo and Yosemite National Park took in a young Southern Sierra Nevada fisher kit after it was discovered abandoned in its den in the Sierra National Forest.

A Fisher is a medium-sized mammal in the weasel family that are adept at climbing trees, are fierce predators, and are darn cute.


The kit was taken to Fresno Chaffee Zoo on May 15, 2024, to receive neonatal care by a National Park Service Fisher Technician under the guidance of the Zoo’s veterinary team, as well as veterinarians from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. In just a few weeks, the fisher kit has been stabilized with bottle feedings and is rapidly gaining weight. A single National Park Service technician feeds and cares for the kit to minimize human interaction. The technician does not talk to the kit, and stuffed animals are used for play and cuddling.


Following his care at Fresno Chaffee Zoo, the fisher kit will return to Yosemite National Park where it will eventually be released into the wild.

Read more about how the fisher kit is being taken care of here: https://fws.gov/story/2024-06/orphaned-fisher-kit-receives-critical-care

📷: USFWS

29/06/2024

The Countdown is ON!Register for FREE or Purchase VIP Troutfest Colorado 2024Presented by Colorado Wildlife Council Troutfest Colorado is a one of a kind summer festival and celebration of conservation, education, and community. It’s for anglers, would be anglers, outdoor enthusiasts, or simply fa...

28/06/2024

The results of the Montana Fish, Wildlife Parks (FWP) survey of deer and elk this past spring provide a mixed bag of news and outlooks throughout the state. Some hunting districts report above average, growing deer and elk populations with healthy fawn and calf recruitment. Other areas are experiencing declines associated with severe winters, disease, and poor winter habitat conditions....

The results of the Montana Fish, Wildlife Parks (FWP) survey of deer and elk this past spring provide a mixed bag of news and outlooks throughout the state. Some hunting districts report above aver…

28/06/2024

See osprey — unique birds of prey that primarily eat fish — as they swoop and dive through the air over beautiful Flaming Gorge Reservoir! 🤩 Join us for a free viewing event on July 6 (from 9 a.m. to noon) in the Flaming Gorge Dam Visitor Center parking lot. Check out additional event details and register today: bit.ly/4b5EotL

27/06/2024

27/06/2024

ISS 80mm nadir mosaic created with imagery from Expedition 66. NASA awarded SpaceX the contract for the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle – a first step into space’s future of spacecraft removal when the International Space Station (ISS) is decommissioned in 2030. It is an important milestone in NASA’s shift toward commercial space operations – and responsible end-of-life disposal of the ISS at the end of a 24-year mission travelling hundreds of times around Earth....

ISS 80mm nadir mosaic created with imagery from Expedition 66. NASA awarded SpaceX the contract for the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle – a first step into space’s future of spacecraft removal when the Intern…