'Feasibility study and optimal #Coal drawing process for fully mechanized #Caving in close-distance extra-thick coal seams' - a #Research article in the Journal of #MineAutomation on #ScienceOpen: https://www.scienceopen.com/document?vid=b73043b1-94ed-4ec2-ba28-2cc3f1af9e8c

#ArtEveryDay is on tour for Cretan fieldwork. I'm enjoying painting little scenes from the week, although some are more rushed than others (and some more raki-affected than others).

For everyone in the world outside the US starting up the isolation process...remember how well that worked in the 1930's. It left tens of millions to die, turning back refugees sent them to their deaths, and fascism still came for their countries anyway. Isolation & abandonment is not a great policy. The world is even more globalized now than it was 100 years ago. The faster we realize we can rise or fall together, the better off everyone will be.

Politics can be complicated, but empathy is not. Empathy demands that we look at what is going on in all oppressed nations and peoples, and bear witness. And no one with empathy can then refuse to help. This is why empathy is being made to be the enemy. This is why individualism is being touted.

So. Let's all climb out of this pit now, and together, as the people of the Earth.

There is a cave which (was) accessed through a pipe culvert. Due to housing development, it is no longer there. It was a historic record site for cave crayfish and I think cave fish as well. The directions to where the culvert intercepts the cave are accurate, but the bottom of the pipe turns to stone, and it appears the cave was filled in.

This is obviously a horrible idea for many reasons - the selfish reason being "your house may literally cave in" as chucking limestone rock into a solution cave that is carving out limestone is obviously not going to work. In the nearby city there is a law against filling a cave because they learned quickly this is horrible structurally. But this is the county where no such regulations exist.

A classic example of how it may sound good in theory to have fewer regulations and oversight so you can "get shit done easier", but the reality is, regulations are there so you don't fuck shit up. Of course, if one also just ignores rules & regs and does whatever they want to whomever they want, we have a different kind of problem.

I think I am going to get some stickers made. IYKYK. Don't spoil it in comments. Any interest? I'm trying to determine if I need to do a really low volume or if I should just go for 50 or something. I'd ask for $2-$3 which should cover cost + mailing. Vinyl, quality, 3" circle. Pls comment if interested so I have a decent way to get an idea of interest. Thanks!

U.S. National Park Service Search and Rescue staff walking through a river inside of a cave. (1979)
#cave #caving #nps #photography #uploads

Keep fighting for the Earth, it is our only home.

Caves are a space highly at risk, and many species in them can be "canaries in the coal mine". The water in them tells the tale of the surface above: pollution, fertilizer, pesticides, microplastics, and more. Too bad wealth doesn't trickle down like pollution into ecosystems. We should really swap those two...

https://canadiangeographic.ca/articles/pursuing-the-void-the-discovery-of-canadas-new-longest-cave-system/

So cool! I hear you ask if I'll be exploring these caves. Most certainly not! But I hope that those who do will take lots of photos and tell us all about it.

Underground views...

Today went out to an Alabama cave preserve my husband manages and put up some new signs at the parking area then hiked around to look at the cave entrances. One entrance with a waterfall was really nice. There's a 400+ foot pit not too far inside. We ran into some guys who had just rappelled to the bottom and climbed back up. #Caving #Hiking

GIS Corps Is Looking To Help Phreatic With Remote Spatial Volunteers
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https://www.phreatic.org/ <-- shared home page
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https://www.giscorps.org/become-a-volunteer/ <-- shared link to volunteer with GIS Corps
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[want to be a part of some super interesting (remote) GIS volunteer work?!]
#GIS #spatial #mapping #volunteer #phreatic #explore #protect #seacaves #Sardinia #cave #caving #Phreatic #GISCorps #Italy #Supramonte #GulfofOrosei #model #3dmapping #environmental #speleology #hypogene #groundwater #waterresources #marine #marinecaves #coast #coastal
@GISCorps @Phreatic

A year ago this week I was with a team conducting research in the Scărişoara Ice Cave, #romania. This spectacular place contains #ice dating back more than 10,000 years! This unique archive holds valuable information about past #climate variability in this region. Some of the interesting work that has been done in this cave is reported here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-01397-w Photo by M. Blatnik. #caves #caving #geology #earthscience #environment

Happy Valentine's Day from a gypsum heart in a cave.

Speaking of hearts, let's have some Real Talk! About hearts! Today I re-certified in CPR & First Aid. Did you know that socialized as female folk are far more likely to die from a heart attack / cardiac event than men? It's true! A large cause of this is due to the fact that symptoms are often not as-seen-on-TV; instead being brushed off as nausea, acid reflux, or indigestion. And what do we do when we feel ick? We go to the bathroom. So when we collapse, no one is around to see, much less administer CPR. So: check on your friends who disappear to the bathroom for a long time!

Sadly, there is also a huge disparity between races in survival as well. Not only does lack of medical access and environment & social factors mean there is higher risk (systematic racism), but overt racism also prevents bystanders from stepping in to help. Black & Latinx people suffer the most. (https://newsroom.heart.org/news/cardiovascular-health-risks-continue-to-grow-within-black-communities-action-needed)

CPR is not that difficult! It is more the mental challenge of being prepared to step in and help. If you can't get to a class (hands on with the training manikins is certainly recommended if you can!) still learn about it. All 50 states have Good Samaritan laws.

I personally know two people who are alive thanks to a normal everyday person knowing CPR, and intervening. This is community building, y'all! Take care of each other out there.

Some additional tips:
1. If someone has a medical emergency and you end up leading the way, always point and directly tell people what to do (ex: you in the blue shirt *pointing at them* call 911). If you just shout things, people will not jump into action. Be specific & direct.

2. Always check for a pulse on the same side you are kneeling on, you don't want to reach across their neck.

3. If there are enough people, direct folk not involved in helping to form a circle looking *out*. This gives some privacy, very important in these days of cell phone cameras and the fact that say, once the AED shows up, their chest will be made bare. Help protect the patient's privacy!

4. Good Samaritan laws generally have caveats such as never accept anything as a thank you (not even flowers, *nothing*) and stay with the person until someone of equal or greater training arrives. So if you say, start CPR then just get tired and stop with no one equal or higher taking over, then you are liable.

Seems I missed #WomenInSTEM day. Let's support each other, okay? Diversity is our strength.

No big deal, just out here finding new locales and new species all the time...but sure, fuck over our funding. If we don't know they exist we don't have to worry about protecting them, duuuuuh.

(This pseudoscorpion today was quite the surprise! Identification TBD.)

Tonight it's showtime for the Ashley Caves Project in Vernal, #Utah. Here's another great photo by T. Holmes from a cave with walls coated in moonmilk, a curious soft carbonate precipitate. #cave #caves #caving #geology #earthscience

On my way to #utah to make a presentation about research in this and other #caves in the Uinta Mountains. #geology #cave #caving #paleoclimate #earthscience

Ten below here this morning, but still feels warmer than this frigid -- but beautiful! -- ice #cave I explored in #Utah last year. Photo by T. Holmes. #caving #caves #icetodon #geology

Black Adventure Crew goes caving! Good start for #BlackHistoryMonth - making new memories :)

I approached this group about caving what now feels like a lifetime ago...an outdoor group focused on getting Black and Brown people outside into nature. They were interested in trying it, and now they do trips every year.

While it sucks that DEI is getting canned federally and in some states (why trying to equally include everyone is a bad thing I'll never understand), that doesn't mean we as individuals can't pick up the slack. There are so many stories from folk who say their white friends just never ask them to join for xyz activity...so check yourself. Ask your friends to join you. If you don't have diverse friendships, ask yourself why that is. Then go forth and foster community!