Free Republic

A recent study has uncovered the existence of ancient lakes, rivers, and a massive water-formed valley beneath Arabia’s vast desert. ***************************************************************************** A recent study has uncovered a long-forgotten landscape hidden beneath the vast expanse of Arabia’s Empty Quarter—one of the driest and most desolate regions in the world today. The groundbreaking research, published in Communications Earth & Environment, reveals that the desert was once home to ancient lakes, rivers, and valleys, formed during periods of high rainfall between 11,000 and 5,500 years ago. This discovery sheds new light on the dramatic environmental shifts that occurred in the region during the...

The wooly devil (Ovicula biradiata) was discovered by a volunteer at Big Bend National Park. (Image credit: James Bailey © California Academy of Sciences) While walking in Big Bend National Park in Texas' Chihuahuan Desert, a park volunteer came across a fuzzy flower that turned out to be a never-before-seen species. The "woolly devil," as researchers have named it, is in the sunflower family and also represents a new genus. This is the first time in nearly 50 years that a new plant genus has been described in a U.S. national park, since the discovery of the July gold shrub...

It is in one of the most remote places on the planetFor many centuries, extensive, vast and lush deserts in terms of sand have been a challenge for archaeology, as beneath their dunes there may be remains of ancient civilisations. Well, thanks to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR), something surprising has been discovered in the Dubai desert. What is synthetic aperture radar (SAR)? Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is a technology that provides high-quality images of the subsoil and can penetrate sand. This information is combined with powerful algorithms to analyze large areas of land for patterns that...

Photo of a (currently) dry, dusty cave south of the Atlas mountains. In the past, water was flowing down this large stalagmite formation. We date tiny pieces of stalagmite (~0.25g) to establish when the cave was wet in the past. Credit: Ben Lovett Analysis of Moroccan stalagmites reveals that the Sahara received increased rainfall between 8,700 and 4,300 years ago, supporting early herding societies. This rainfall, likely driven by tropical plumes and monsoon expansion, narrowed the desert, improved habitability, and facilitated human movement. Analysis of stalagmite samples from caves in southern Morocco has revealed new details about past rainfall patterns...

CHINGUETTI, Mauritania (AP) — For centuries, poets, scholars and theologians have flocked to Chinguetti, a trans-Saharan trading post home to more than a dozen libraries containing thousands of manuscripts. But it now stands on the brink of oblivion. Shifting sands have long covered the ancient city’s 8th-century core and are encroaching on neighborhoods at its current edge. Residents say the desert is their destiny. As the world’s climate gets hotter and drier, sandstorms are more frequently depositing inches and feet of dunes onto Chinguetti’s streets and in people’s homes, submerging some entirely. Tree-planting projects are trying to keep the invading...

China has finished a 46-year campaign to encircle its largest desert with trees, part of national efforts to end desertification and curb the sandstorms that plague parts of the country during the spring, state media reported on Friday (Nov 29). A "green belt" of about 3,000 km around the Taklamakan was completed on Thursday in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, after workers planted the final 100 metres of trees on the desert's southern edge, the Communist Party-run People's Daily said. Efforts to enclose the desert with trees began in 1978 with the launch of China's "Three-North Shelterbelt" project, colloquially known...

Residents of Chicago’s West Pullman neighborhood are venting their frustrations after an Aldi store abruptly closed its doors, leaving many wondering where to access fresh food. According to the company, the store closed last month, with officials saying that all employees were offered transfers to nearby stores. While the company says no jobs were lost, the neighborhood’s loss of easy access to fresh food is a painful reality for residents to navigate. “All the stores in our community are closing,” one shopper told NBC Chicago. “It’s just sad that a lot of people don’t have transportation.” The neighborhood also is...

A rare deluge of rainfall left blue lagoons of water amid the palm trees and sand dunes of the Sahara desert, nourishing some of its driest regions with more water than they had seen in decades. Southeastern Morocco’s desert is among the most arid places on earth and rarely experiences rain in late summer. The Moroccan government said two days of rainfall in September exceeded yearly averages in several areas that see less than 250 millimetres annually, including Tata, one of the areas hit hardest. More than 100 millimetres of rain were recorded in Tagounite, a village about 280 miles...

A Maryland man accused of kidnapping and killing a Bethel Park woman after leaving her tied to a signpost in the Nevada desert has been charged federally with kidnapping resulting in death. John Matthew Chapman, 39, was named in an FBI complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court and will appear before a judge next month. Chapman is accused of kidnapping and murdering Jaime Feden, 33, with whom he had a tumultuous relationship. After the killing, the FBI said, he lived at her house and posed as her on Facebook Messenger to thwart attempts by her friends and relatives to...

A community of society-shunning Americans launched a survivalist haven in the Utah desert after finding themselves alienated from the modern world. Hundreds of people have set themselves up to live off the land under 'Operation Self-Reliance,' feeling that getting off-the-grid is the solution to a crumbling culture. The commune was established by Philip Gleason, 74, a former general contractor who felt a calling to allow people to grow their own food, pump their own water and rely on nothing but themselves. He admitted to Deseret News that while some choose to live there for environmental or health reasons, its intended...

The winds blew Lake Manly from its original lakebed. But it also left the water shallower and muddier than before, forcing the National Park Service to close all boating activities in the lake. Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park in California, on March 4, 2024.John D Hallett / National Park Service ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Powerful 40 mph winds from Feb. 29 to March 2 in Death Valley blew Lake Manly two miles north, according to the National Park Service. The lake spread out to cover more ground, but at a shallower depth. The water slowly moved back to its original lakebed,...

Video at link: https://www.rideapart.com/news/689483/gold-wing-offroad-sand-dunes/

A California man died from extreme heat at Death Valley National Park amid the highest temperature recorded on Earth this year, park officials said. The 65-year-old man from San Diego was found dead in his vehicle on Monday morning, Abby Wines, a spokesperson for the park, told SFGATE. This came the day after Death Valley reached 126 degrees, the hottest temperature anywhere on the planet in 2023. A maintenance worker noticed the man’s vehicle just after 10 a.m. Monday about 30 yards away from North Highway, park officials said in a news release. The worker found the man unresponsive, prompting...

A Nebraska 18-year-old who celebrated his high school graduation with a trip to Arizona has been found dead in a desert bonfire pile — in what authorities described as a “malicious” death. Parker League’s body was discovered June 12 in the remote Bulldog Canyon, part of the Tonto National Forest, on the day he was supposed to fly back home after his trip to Tempe, KNXV reported. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office called League’s death “malicious.” The medical examiner is working to determine the cause of death. “He was found in the pile burning,” said police spokesman Sgt. Joaquin Enriquez.

All current Republican senators apparently support Utah Sen. Mike Lee’s bid for reelection, except one. Sen. Mitt Romney’s name is noticeably absent from the list of 48 senators Lee posted on his campaign Twitter account Friday. “I am grateful for the support of my Senate colleagues. Together, we will continue the fight for the American people. The failures of the Biden Administration and Democrats have damaged our nation for long enough,” Lee tweeted.

From time to time I will Look through my old quiet time journals. It helps me see how my walk has been. Sometimes I was down and discouraged, sometimes I was bold and grateful. My journal is a picture to the footprints in the sands of my past. This is an entry from December 12, 2008. I called it,"The Voice Of The Lord" If we were to truly hear the Lord's voice, it would be very powerful yet very calming at the same time. Those who walk in opposition to Him will tremble in fear at the powerful sound...

This episode is about China's Loess Plateau, which was anciently a lush area. But as more people made it their home, the demand for resources grew. Over the course of thousands of years, aggressive farming and overgrazing stripped away the vegetation almost entirely. This lead to severe soil erosion and eventually turned the Loess plateau into basically a denuded desert. In the mid 1990s, Chinese and foreign scientists and civil engineers surveyed this area to see if anything could be done to restore the land. The project that followed has implications that go far beyond China.

A hint of crazy things to come may be playing out in the Arizona desert — and it involves a giant species of cactus. Saguaros, which can live for centuries and grow to nearly 80 feet, have erupted in spring blooms that are spreading far beyond the norm. It’s almost as if the plants are breaking out in a rash of blooms. This is happening in the Sonoran Desert and experts suspect it may be an example of how the warming environment is impacting even the oldest of plants.A rare phenomenon is unfolding in Arizona: Saguaros cacti, which live centuries,...

It may have been Frank Sinatra’s kind of town, but it doesn’t appear to be anyone else’s. The late “Let’s Get Away From It All” singer’s Palm Desert, California hideaway — first listed in 2007 — is back on the market for $4.25 million. The remote Coachella Valley property was then re-listed again — in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020 — but each time has failed to attract a buyer.

Ever since their 2020 event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Burning Man Project has spent months debating whether they could safely hold a gathering at Black Rock Desert in 2021. Today, they announced the the answer is no. Burning Man revealed that despite the restrictions lifting across the United States as vaccination becomes more widespread, they will not hold their yearly event until 2022. A statement released through their website explained the decision: Advertisement "Humanity is experiencing collective trauma that is unprecedented in recent times, and while for some returning to Black Rock City may feel like...