Vacation Time

I will be leaving on Tuesday to go to Utah to visit my dear in-laws. We (the hubs and I) are also going camping in Montana. We are going on an elk hunt! Not to kill them, to capture them on film and video. Woo Hoo! This isn't very science-y I know, but I am so excited. I'm actually doing something for my birthday instead of working. To celebrate, I leave you with pictures of my favorite places in Utah.

The first snow covered tree I EVER saw!



Me and the Hubs at Dinosaur.



Flaming Gorge. Okay this is actually Wyoming, but I seemed to have lost all my good Canyonlands picts. *sniff*

That's all for now. I really need to find those disks!

Pictures from Out West by Marizela Moya is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at scienceforfood.blogspot.com.

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Cold Fusion is Back

This week the American Chemical Society is holding its 237th National Meeting and one of the talks is, believe it or not, about the very controversial, previously debunked topic of cold fusion. Of course, we don't call it cold fusion anymore. It is now known as low-energy nuclear reaction (LENR). Scientists working with the US Navy claim they have proof that LENR devices do produce neutrons. Previous cold fusion studies were hard to replicate and traces of neutrons were never found. These must be present to show a nuclear reaction has/is occurring. The irony of all this cold fusion talk is that Salt Lake City (where the national meeting is being held) and the state of Utah has a long and sometimes dark history with cold fusion. E. Paul Palmer of BYU coined the term in the 80's. A professor named Stanley Pons at the University of Utah was one of the leaders of the push to fund cold fusion research. When their grant proposal was turned over for peer review it was Steven E. Jones, also from BYU, who reviewed. After research, publication, and later interviews, no one could replicate their findings and they slipped into obscurity. Now it has come full circle again and people are presenting data at the national meeting being held in Salt lake City. Funny how things work out.

You can find out more here.

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WOO HOO!!!! I'm back!

I had such an amazingly awesome time out west! Between the farmers' markets and the lakes and the incredible wildlife, my head is spinning. I saw four large states and tons of diverse landscapes... alas, no elk! I did however see wild buffalo and wild horses, antelope, bald eagles, cottontail and jack rabbits, fawns were everywhere because they had a late spring, and even a fox. I don't even know where to start and until I finish developing all the film, here is a sample of what I took digitally. I got tons of great footage too, so I am SUPER excited!

Some bald eagles watched over my first campsite.

There were antelope everywhere in Wyoming.

This little chipmunk followed me around the view from Dead Indian Pass.

Yes this is snow... in August.

Utah vistas.

The red rock is always beautiful.

Wind power on the UT/WY border

Wide open spaces.

My husband tells me they call this a whistle pig. It does whistle, but I'm not sure what it is... yet!

Like I said, this is a sample so keep checking back for days when I am being lazy and am just gonna post random picts! I start classes on Monday so I may be going back to a lot of science talk too, just cause it helps me study! In sad news though, The Wall Arch at Arches National Park fell. *sniff* It's a shame because it's so beautiful. I am glad no one got hurt.



Western Travels by M. Moya is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at scienceforfood.blogspot.com.

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Turkey for Two (or three)

The holidays (YIKES!!!) are quickly approaching with American Thanksgiving less than a week away. I won't be spending it with much family. Nick does have a brother on the island so he might be # 3. SO far though, I was thinking turkey pot pie and video games. I'm not really sure what to do. Last year we didn't even spend any holidays together so I am sort of at a loss. The year before we had both of Nick's brothers over and the year before that we were in Utah so we had LOTS of family over. I guess this post is just asking for advice. What would you do for such a small group. I sort of liked the pot pies and video games because that is something we all enjoy. Or maybe we could grill turkey on the beach??? Any ideas? I know some of you are crafty/creative/smart when it comes to this homemaker stuff. I am still learning.

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Blue Monday

I feel like today needs to be another picture day... My mind is racy and I need to focus on simple, so here goes... pictures with blue.

This turtle lives under the deep blue sea...

I look smashing in my blue clothes in the swamp...

This fir tree is icy blue...

The iron deposits in the soil in southern Utah give the earth a nice orange color which contrasts well with the blue sky...

blue goggles are cool...

I'm hiding in blue and trying not to feel so blue.

Wow... certain words look funny when you type them too much.

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Western Adventure: Part 1

Click to Play

We head out to Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho to check out wildlife and explore some canyons. This episode, we are crossing Dead Indian Pass and the Beartooth Highway from Wyoming to Montana and see some snow on the way. There will be a quiz on this later so take notes! ;o)

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Monday Blues....

This week I am a bit late. But I am ready!

My picture today is a Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis). The males are commonly known as rams. The horns can weigh as much as 30 pounds which is more than all its other bones combined!

It is on the endangered species list and I was lucky enough to see one in Flaming Gorge on the Utah/Wyoming Border . As you can see, he is wearing a lovely blue tracking collar.


These guys are pretty hard to see in the wild so needless to say, I was very excited when I saw this guy. Bighorns do have a home range. They usually hang out in very protected/hidden/middle-of-nowhere areas near rocky cliffs. Part of their decline is disease cause by domesticated sheep. They are in steady decline and you can adopt one here. If you want to find out more, there are tons of great sites. I may do a post later in the week with a bit more detail. I would be blue if I never got to see one again.

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Transgendered Dog

I know this is a strange title for a post, but it is not without reason. Today's topic is my dear doggy, Floyd. I realized that 1) I will never think my footage on my dog is good enough for a video (she deserves better!); and 2) you haven't been formally introduced to my "child." So all my readers (all 3 of you), meet Floyd (Canis familiaris). Floyd was an "acquired" dog. Her previous owners did not like her. How could you not like this cute thing?!?!





They didn't even know she was a "she" and named her Floyd. When I (took) got her, I went straight to the vet and everything she could possibly have wrong, she did. Heartworms (Dirofilaria immitis) so bad, she had to get TWO treatments, UTI, severely underweight, and she was afraid of barking or jumping (things I consider normal dog behavior) to boot. The last thing I needed to do was change her name too! She is my Floyd and it suits her.



She's an adventurous sort, like her parents/owners, and goes to all the weird hikes and locations with me. I can't wait to bring her on vacation with me to Utah. I think she would love it.



She is a special breed of dog, known in North America as "mutt" and here on island as "coconut retriever."

She is a bit confused in that she seems to really be a bit of a lesbian and will "mount" other female dogs at the beach. It's quite funny. She doesn't like most men either... though with her previous owner, I don't blame her.



She didn't make a sound the first two weeks we had her and the first time I heard her bark, I thought a bigger dog was trying to eat her. She has a FEROCIOUS bark for a mid size dog. It's cute. It only comes out rarely and when it does, she means business.

Also like me, she is insatiably curios and loves to nap on rainy days. Oh, and she steals fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. I know chocolate is bad for dogs, but try telling her that. The puppy dog face she makes when I scold her for it... sheesh!

Well I hope you have all enjoyed meeting "Pobresita" Floyd (what my husband calls her).

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