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AL-JAZIRAH DESERT — The Incident Response Team of Marine Wing Support Squadron 374, Marine Wing Support Group 37, patrols the northern Iraqi desert as a security measure for all Marines operating in the area. Named ‘Team Black Rhino,’ these 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) Marines have become the first wing support squadron to fill the role of a mounted combat team in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Marine Wing Support Squadrons frequently travel around the Anbar province, providing aviation ground support for the flying squadrons operating in country. The team operates on a different level, providing a ground combat component like that...

Speculators have filed applications to develop more than 1 million acres of desert in Southern California with solar, wind and geothermal power plants, setting up a classic clash over land use with environmentalists and off-road enthusiasts. They have submitted at least 130 proposals with the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees all of the territory, in recent years and especially since 2007. The interest is so hot that even if many of the projects fall through, the remaining ones would change the look of the arid landscape. California, particularly the southern half, is the epicenter of the nation's push for...

Will Judean Desert find shed light on Shroud of Turin? By ETGAR LEFKOVITS Updated May 29, 2008 7:28 Can a 6,000-year-old shroud uncovered in the Judean Desert in 1993 help illuminate the centuries-old debate over the Shroud of Turin? The Shroud of Turin Slideshow: Pictures of the week That is the question posed by Olga Negnevitsky, a conservator at the Israel Museum who was involved in the conservation of the lesser-known shroud for the Antiquities Authority after it was discovered inside a small cave near Jericho. The idea to use the older shroud to learn more about the famous one...

Digging in the desert Owen Murray, Canwest News Service Published: Saturday, May 24, 2008 MERV, Turkmenistan -- Tish Prouse would be the first to admit that his interest in archaeology stems from a boyhood love of Indiana Jones. But the Edmonton native had no idea his interest would one day lead him to Turkmenistan, a Central Asian country of brutally hot summers, bitterly cold winters and a pockmarked landscape that invites comparisons with the moon. So why is he here? The answer is Merv, an ancient city along the Silk Road that was once a thriving metropolis, one of the...

This is an extremely rare creature, has very large ears and has been captured on camera in its native habitat for the first time.

OK, to explain the title, I discovered that Goblin Valley State Park -- now another site on my list of "places I just found about and now I've got to visit" -- was a site for filming in GalaxyQuest, starring Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub, etc. Amazing desert scenery. Here's a couple. From www.hickerphoto.com: From photoseek.com: and from www.lookoutnow.com, below. This formation must be one of the most photographed in the park; there are a lot of images of it.

Plans to build Lyon in Dubai, bistros and all By Henry Samuel in Paris Last Updated: 7:09pm GMT 04/01/2008 A businessman in the desert Arab emirate of Dubai has launched plans to faithfully reconstruct the French city of Lyon, right down to its cafes, cinemas and schools, officials from the southwestern city have announced. A French cafe and a view of Dubai The project, due to be completed in 2012, is being driven by businessman Saeed Al Gandhi who fell in love with France’s third biggest city after a visit to draw up plans for a French-language university in Dubai...

Dig uncovers ancient desert dwellers Friday, 02 November 2007 University of New England New archaeological evidence, published in October in the journal Australian Aboriginal Studies, reveals that Aboriginal people visited the Watarrka Plateau, south-west of Alice Springs, 13,000 years ago. Archaeologists Dr June Ross from the University of New England and Dr Mike Smith from the National Museum of Australia were dropped by helicopter on the Watarrka Plateau as part of a survey of rock art in the Watarrka (Kings Canyon) National Park. "The new finds were unexpected," said Dr Ross (who is pictured here at the Watarrka site). "We...

The news coming from the Southern Nevada Water Authority Thursday about the valley's future water supply is worrisome. Unless we act quickly, there will be no water for hundreds of thousands of Las Vegas Valley residents in just three years. Seize the chance to post your comments, concerns, and ideas on the water shortage facing the Las Vegas Valley. Eyewitness News looked deeper into the problem and why time may not be on our side. Not only is this a race against time, but it's going to cost valley residents dearly. SNWA data shows drought conditions getting worse, not better...

FORT HUACHUCA — A longtime critic of Fort Huachuca’s impact on the San Pedro River claims the 2002 biological opinion between the post and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is badly flawed which has led to the errors being incorporated into the 2007 biological opinion. Phoenix physician Dr. Robin Silver said a 21-page study from the Center for Sustainable Economy, a Santa Fe, N.M., based organization, challenges the Army’s figures based on per capita instead of the more scientific economic model. Silver is chairman of the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity. Garrison Commander Col. Melissa Sturgeon said “the fort...

You can see why it's called "The Wave".

Found: The clearest ocean waters on Earth 12:38 29 June 2007 NewScientist.com news service Catherine Brahic As clear as the clearest lakes on the planet, salty as ocean waters, and roughly the size of the Mediterranean – this, say researchers, is the clearest and most lifeless patch of ocean in the world. And it is in the middle of the Pacific. "Satellite images that track the amount of chlorophyll in ocean waters suggested that this was one of the most life-poor systems on Earth," explains Patrick Raimbault of the University of the Mediterranean, in Marseille, France. In October 2004, Raimbault...

Allies desert 'lame duck president' By Tim Shipman in Washington, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 11:56pm BST 07/04/2007 George W Bush's presidency is effectively over on the home front two years before he is due to quit the White House, according to former aides and allies. The root cause of George W Bush's weakness is the Democrats' seizure of both houses of Congress in November's mid-term elections David Frum, a former White House speech writer, and Jim Nuzzo, a West Wing aide to Mr Bush's father, have both told The Sunday Telegraph that the president cannot achieve anything more in domestic...

WASHINGTON - Divine Strake was promised to blow a hole in the earth and create a mushroom cloud over the Nevada desert. Instead, it blew open old wounds for Utahns who had been promised Cold War atomic tests would be safe, and the hurt, betrayal and rage that poured out left the Pentagon with little choice but to announce Thursday it was scrapping the test. Michelle Thomas spent the day in tears. "I've cried all day long. I just can't yet grasp it," said Thomas, a St. George Downwinder who opposed Divine Strake. She has had cancer and suffers an...

Desert Hawk Takes Command of Aviation Ops By Sgt. 1st Class Krishna M. Gamble Task Force Pegasus Public Affairs Office FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan, Feb. 21, 2007 -- Soldiers from the active, Reserve and National Guard components of the Army formed one of the largest attack aviation task forces to operate in Afghanistan, Feb. 17. Task Force Talon passed its mission of providing air-assault, attack, convoy, troop and supply and movement along with a myriad of other aviation operations to Task Force Desert Hawk, headed by the 1st Battalion, 285th Aviation Regiment of the Arizona National Guard, in...

Sudan: The Land of Pyramids Posted By: Isaac Amke Jan 31, 2007, 00:13 Email this article Printer friendly page There are probably more pyramids in Sudan than can be found in all of Egypt. Yet the wonders of ancient Egypt are known worldwide, while those of its southern neighbor stand forgotten on the banks of the Nile. The checkered political history of Sudan, combined with the country's rugged terrain and lack of modern conveniences, has kept tourists away from some of the most romantic archeological sites in the world, among them several whole fields of pyramids. The oldest Sudanese pyramids,...

I saw a picture of this highly abnormal (aboriginal?) place, and decided it was quite worthy of the Christmas break Geology Picture of the Week. For added artistic content, both a black-and-white and color photo are provided. The link has neither; it's a Web site about the national park in Australia, if you're interested in going. For a better photographic treatment, look for 7 pictures of Nambung National Park on the page below, which has some other nice Australia images. (I can't link these pictures onto FR.) Perth and Western Australia

My kids have been asking me to let them watch this commercial over and over again all morning. Thought I would share with other Freepers.

Thousands of illegal aliens are walking through one of the military's most important live-fire training grounds. Will building a fence stop them? Viewed from a Black Hawk helicopter 1,000 feet up, there's no sign of the Mexican border in this southwest corner of Arizona's Sonoran Desert. No line in the sand. No fence. Not even a road. Yet it's clear we are flying over a major international thoroughfare. Hundreds of shiny footpaths and tire tracks weave through the desert below, where the temperature on the ground routinely reaches 115° F in the summer. You need to drink a gallon...

Secret RAF sorties keep Iraq border troops on go By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent (Filed: 09/10/2006) RAF Hercules transport aircraft are flying secret missions into the heart of insurgent territory in Iraq to re-supply long range desert patrols. Up to three sorties a week are being flown into Maysan province. The large but agile aeroplanes land on hastily constructed airstrips to deliver food, fuel and ammunition to cavalry soldiers operating far from friendly bases. The missions have enabled troops from the Queen's Royal Hussars battlegroup to double the time spent watching the porous border with Iran for smugglers carrying bombs,...