By E. Kirsten Peters, College of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences PULLMAN, Wash. – When I was a younger and more sprightly woman, I spent part of my life investigating unusual hot springs in rural California. They were salty and quite stinky springs out in the middle of nowhere, and several of them occurred […]
By E. Kirsten Peters, College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences PULLMAN, Wash. – When I was a child, I read a lot of murder mysteries. At a young age I favored the books featuring Miss Marple by Agatha Christie. When I was a bit older I fell in love with Lord Peter Wimsey in […]
By E. Kirsten Peters, College of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences PULLMAN, Wash. – In 1957, several years before I was born, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik – the first man-made object to leave the Earth’s atmosphere. That simple little satellite captured people’s imagination around the world.
PULLMAN, Wash. – It’s just a fact: most of us outlive our dogs. Indeed, for people who are dog owners throughout their lives, a lot of grieving is guaranteed. Fido #1 dies, is replaced by Fido #2 who also dies, and so on down the long line of dogs in our households.
As an aging citizen of Scandinavian descent, I dread this time of year. Each evening the sun sets significantly earlier. Deep in the bones of us northern people is the notion that summertime is the season of life and hope while winter is, well, cold and horribly dark. This week all of the globe enjoys […]
PULLMAN, Wash. – Scientists have been hard at work in recent years combatting a significant disease of wheat. Stem rust is caused by a group of nasty fungal organisms that can infect wheat plants and devastate yields. In some cases up to 100% of the crop can be lost. That’s a disaster for farmers, obviously, […]
PULLMAN, Wash. – What are the odds? That was my thought when I read recent accounts of a very special fossil from the Hell Creek Formation of South Dakota. Here’s some background: if you saw the movie Jurassic Park, you may think that Tyrannosaurus rex was the biggest predator of all time. That’s certainly the […]
PULLMAN, Wash. – I recently pulled some weeds in my yard. Sometimes I’m glad to have a little simple work where I can see progress, even if the effects of my labor are only temporary. I can only do a little bit at a time, having to take it slow due to arthritic knees. But […]
PULLMAN, Wash. – Ireland enjoys a mild and stable climate. But even in Ireland there are years that stand out as unusual. Recently a team of researchers led by Harvard University’s Francis Ludlow announced results of a study of Ireland’s climate based on the Irish Annals, a body of writings containing more than 40,000 […]
PULLMAN, Wash. – Caves fascinate people. I visited Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico as a kid when my family was on a summer vacation. Maybe that early exposure to the wonders of what geologic processes can do helped influence my decision to study natural science in college. With any luck, you’ve been in a big […]