Thursday, May 31, 2012

Chemical Fingerprinting Tracks the Travels of Little Brown Bats

They’re tiny creatures with glossy, chocolate-brown hair, out-sized ears and wings. They gobble mosquitoes and other insect pests during the summer and hibernate in caves and mines when the weather turns cold. They are little brown bats, and a deadly disease called white-nose syndrome is threatening their very existence.

A novel technique using stable hydrogen isotopes—a kind of chemical fingerprint found in tissues such as hair—has enabled researchers at Michigan Technological University to determine where hibernating bats originated. Knowing that could help predict and ultimately manage the spread of white-nose syndrome.

In the July issue of the journal Ecological Applications, Joseph Bump, an assistant professor at Michigan Tech’s School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, and a former undergraduate student in his lab, Alexis Sullivan, report on their use of stable hydrogen isotopes to identify the likely origins of the little brown bats that hibernate in three mines of Michigan’s western Upper Peninsula.

Sullivan, who is first author on the paper, is now working on dual Master of Science degrees in Forest Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology at Michigan Tech and the Swedish University of Agricultural Science. She will receive degrees from both universities as part of the ATLANTIS Program, a transatlantic educational project jointly funded by the US Department of Education and the European Union.

Sullivan, Bump and colleagues Rolf Peterson and Laura Kruger studied the little brown bats that winter in the Quincy Mine in Hancock, Mich., the Caledonia Mine near Ontonagon, Mich., and the Norway Mine in Norway, Mich. They collected bat hair and tested it to identify the hydrogen fingerprint of the water where the bat grew the hair. Ecologists have developed maps of the distinctive hydrogen fingerprints of water from different locations, so the chemical fingerprints from the bat hair can be matched to the flying mammals’ probable origins.

Students Learn Fun and Excitement of Caving

Gooding Middle School sixth-grader Megan Bigler, left, leads
classmates out of Maze Cave on May 24 north of Shoshone.
As Gooding sixth-graders emerged from a cave north of Shoshone, they squinted as their eyes adjusted to the sunlight.

The hourlong experience navigating unstable lava rocks inside the cave didn’t seem to tire the middle school students. They were chatting and laughing as they waited to get back on the school bus.

“They were really, really fun to go into,” 12-year-old Callie Graves said about going into two caves. It was easy to see inside, she said, because she was wearing a headlamp over her bike helmet.

Riken Schulthies, 12, held up the bike helmet he was wearing, which had many small scrapes on it from the cave ceiling.

He said caving was fun and he wants to go again. The highlight of the trip: “We got to learn about fungus,” he said.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Damaged Lava Caves in Iceland to Be Closed

Víðgemlir. There are also ice formations inside the cave.
The Icelandic Speleological Society would like 15-20 caves in Iceland to be fenced off in the next few years to prevent them from being damaged any further. At the same time, access to the caves should be improved so that they can be observed safely.

Guðni Gunnarsson, chair of the Icelandic Speleological Society, told Morgunblaðið that he can name many examples of damaged caves, including Víðgelmir in west Iceland, which has practically been stripped of its stalagmites and lava straws.

Similarly, the appearance of Leiðarendi in south Iceland has undergone drastic changes since its discovery 20 years ago.

“It is very sad what happened with Leiðarendi. It was very beautiful when it was found but in the past 15 years everything has been removed from inside it. One of its most magnificent lava formations, a large stalagmite, was taken in 2007, even though it was clearly fenced off,” Guðni said.

Some caves have been closed already, both to cave expeditioners and others, such as Jörundur in south Iceland.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Gorham's Cave One Step Closer to UNESCO Site

The UK Government has put forward Gorham’s Cave complex for a World Heritage nomination.

The announcement was made by the UK Minister responsible for World Heritage John Penrose who said that “The UK’s heritage is unique, diverse and world-class. Nomination to UNESCO for world heritage status is incredibly rewarding, but the process is pretty tough and success is by no means guaranteed. Gorham’s Cave is a strong contender, so I wish them all the best.”

Minister for Heritage, Steven Linares, speaking on behalf of the Gibraltar Government said, “This is the start of another long road and a great deal of hard work will be required to get our nomination in order for January 2015, but we are ready for it.”

Professor Clive Finlayson, whose team has undertaken the technical aspects of the work so far, said, “I am most grateful to my first class professional team at the museum, without them this would not have been possible. I am also most grateful to the support that the Government of Gibraltar has given me and for their huge efforts in putting our case across”. The UK also put forward the Forth Bridge in Scotland for a nomination.

Source: Chronicle

Investors from Slovenia interested in Lipska cave

Investors from Slovenia are interested in valorisation of the Lipska cave in Cetinje, though adequate investments and marketing activities, which would significantly contribute to diversification of tourism in the municipality.

According to the model of valorisation of the Lipska cave for tourism purposes that was proposed to the Government, the valorisation of that location would contribute to the development of a new product, which is in great demand in the tourism market.

Source: Balkans


Monday, May 28, 2012

Three Hikers Stuck in Cave

A man and two women will spend the night in an East County cave after becoming trapped during a hiking trip.

Sheriff's deputies received a call from the hikers at about 8:30 p.m. Monday night that they were trapped in a drop-in cave, the Sheriff's Department said.

The cave is in the 3000 block of McCain Valley Rd. in Boulevard, east of Pine Valley.

The three were not able to climb out, and the male hiker has an injured shoulder, authorities said.

Due to the power lines in the area, emergency personnel could not dispatch a helicopter to pull them out.

A search and rescue team will drop a cache of food and supplies into the cave, and the three hikers will spend the night until crews can respond in the morning.

Deputies plan to request a rescue team from San Bernardino Sheriff's Department to respond Tuesday morning.

Source: NBC San Diego

Lewis & Clark Caverns celebrating National Trails Day

Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park is planning a day of activities for National Trails Day, June 2. The public is invited to contribute to trail work, enjoy music and food or take a tour of the Park’s trail system.

Events begin at 9 a.m. in the Main Visitor Center with a program on trail use and weed control. Mid-day events include lunch and music by the Tumbleweed Connection. The final event of the day will be a 2 p.m. tour of the trails.

No registration is needed.

Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park is located along Montana Highway 2, 15 miles east of Whitehall. For more information, call 406-287-3541 or email fwprpatten@gmail.com.

New Technology Could Help Save Glenwood Caverns

Since opening over a decade ago, the Glenwood Caverns above Glenwood Springs have given visitors the opportunity to go deep underground inside the Rocky Mountains. But the lights that allowed people to see where they’re going started causing some damage to the caves.

New technology is now saving a work of art millions of years in the making.

Inside the dark, deep, damp world of the Glenwood Caverns the old incandescent lights started becoming a big problem.

“Over the years in certain areas … we started to see some drying out,” Glenwood Caverns owner Steve Beckley said. “A lot of it was in the light bulbs and stuff because we have 300 light fixtures under the cave.”


The problem in the cave with keeping the incandescent light is that the rock formations grow very slowly over time and without a change they would have become extinct.


“The formations are still active and still growing,” Beckley said. “But if the cave dries out the formations are done growing and basically the cave becomes dead.”

So a few years ago Beckley started looking for an alternative.

“As soon as we found out that the caves had 75 to 100 watt incandescent bulbs, and 300 plus of them, we knew this was going to be an easier opportunity than maybe some of the others,” Erica Sporhawk with Garfield Clean Energy Challenge said.

With the help of the Garfield Clean Energy Challenge, they found the answer was LED lights. They cost up to $50 each, but use 80 percent less energy, last a few years longer than incandescent lights, and emit significantly less heat, helping the cave stay moist and the owner a little richer.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Cave rescue team cleans up walk

Clapham Cave Rescue Organisation spent the recent Bank Holiday weekend carrying out an extreme litter pick at the waterfalls walk in Ingleton.

This involved 12 members of the team abseiling down the gulleys and cliffs to collect the unsightly bottles and wrappers left by the less thoughtful visitors to this Dales attraction.

Eight big bags of rubbish were collected, along with some more unusual items including a new football, a chair, cones and a bicycle.

As this was going on, other members were manning a trailer that shows what the Cave Rescue Organisation gets involved with. The team collected £125 on the day.

The waterfalls company kindly agreed to assist with finances for the litter pick.

The organisation’s trailer was also in evidence at the Wray fair this year, where another £125 was raised for the funds.

The Beehive café in Settle handed over a cheque for £120 at the fair.

If you would like to donate, please go to www.cro.org.uk where the Just Giving details are listed under the fundraising banner.

World's Oldest Instrument Discovered in Cave

An ancient flute that experts say is the oldest
known musical instrument.
Researchers have identified two flutes made from mammoth ivory and bird bone as the world's oldest musical instruments.

Discovered in a cave in southern Germany, the flutes were likely fashioned 42,000 to 43,000 years ago, when early humans used them for religious ritual or recreation, experts say. Music may have also helped them maintain social networks as they survived dire cold in Europe and Neanderthals began to die off.

The find also confirms a theory that early humans moved up the Danube into central Europe before a very cold period about 39,000 or 40,000 years ago. Humans "were in central Europe at least 2,000 to 3,000 years before this climatic deterioration, when huge icebergs calved from ice sheets in the northern Atlantic and temperatures plummeted," says one professor. "The question is what effect this downturn might have had on the people in Europe at the time."


The finds, described in the Journal of Human Evolution, are from Geissenkloesterle Cave in the Swabian Jura region of southern Germany.

They show that the Aurignacian culture, a way of living linked with early modern humans, existed at the site between 42,000 and 43,000 years ago.

It suggests that some of the first "modern" humans to arrive in central Europe had a musical bent.

Professor Nick Conard, from Tubingen University in Germany, who took part in the excavation, said: "These results are consistent with a hypothesis we made several years ago that the Danube River was a key corridor for the movement of humans and technological innovations into central Europe between 40,000 to 45,000 years ago.

"Geissenkloesterle is one of several caves in the region that has produced important examples of personal ornaments, figurative art, mythical imagery and musical instruments. The new dates prove the great antiquity of the Aurignacian in Swabia."

The results indicate that modern humans entered the Upper Danube region before an extremely cold climatic phase around 39,000-40,000 years ago.

Previously, experts had argued that modern humans only migrated up the Danube immediately after this event.

Professor Tom Higham, from Oxford University, who led the team that dated the bones, said: "Modern humans during the Aurignacian period were in central Europe at least 2000-3000 years before this climatic deterioration, when huge icebergs calved from ice sheets in the northern Atlantic and temperatures plummeted.

"The question is what effect this downturn might have had on the people in Europe at the time."

Congratulations to the NFSA Line Committee



The North Florida Springs Alliance line committee members were recognized by being awarded the NSS-CDS safety award at this years' NSS-CDS workshop.



Friday, May 25, 2012

White nose bat disease closes mines and caves near Asheville and across South

The widening reach of the ruthless bat-killing disease known as white-nose syndrome has prompted the U.S. Forest Service to reissue an order to close all mines and caves across the South, including those in Pisgah and Nantahala national forests.

The closure put into effect this week is meant to slow the spread of the disease, named for a white fungus that appears on the faces, ears, wings and feet of hibernating bats.

The disease causes bats to come out of hibernation severely underweight, often starving before the insects, on which they feed, emerge in the spring. It has killed millions of bats in the past six years.

The public is prohibited from entering any cave or abandoned mine on national forests in 13 Southern states from Oklahoma to Virginia and Florida for the next year.

“The effort has been to slow the spread of this bat-killing fungus. It’s very serious,” Forest Service spokesman Stevin Westcott said. “One bat can eat several thousand mosquitoes in one night, so there’s a lot of concern of a massive die-off.”

Forest Service wildlife biologist Sheryl Bryan said there are at least nine mines and 12 caves in the Pisgah and Nantahala forests known to be popular with forest visitors, but there are “hundreds of small unnamed caves and crevices around. Keys for bats are temperature and humidity as opposed to size.”

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Double Fine Reveals New Adventure Game "The Cave"

Double Fine, the game studio that brought you games such as Psychonauts and Brutal Legend, have announced a new adventure game called The Cave that the company plans to release early next year for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. The Cave is the brainchild of Ron Gilbert, the man behind seminal adventure games like Maniac Mansionand The Secret of Monkey Island. We visited Double Fine HQ yesterday to get an early look at the game, and after watching Gilbert guide us through some basic gameplay it's clear that The Cave draws inspiration from Gilbert's earlier work on PC adventure games.

Like Maniac Mansion, Double Fine's The Cave will allow you to pick several characters from a roster of archetypes looking to explore a mysterious cave for their own personal quests. These characters include traditional protagonists like a knight and a scientist, but the roster is rounded out by stranger characters like a time traveler, a hillbilly, and a fairly creepy pair of twins.

Each character has their own special abilities and their own storyline that will unfold while they explore the self-described (yes, the eponymous Cave talks to you) "mysterious and sultry" caverns.


Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Christmas Island bat goes extinct after Australian officials hesitate

Nights on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean will never again be the same. The last echolocation call of a tiny bat native to the island, the Christmas Island pipistrelle (Pipistrellus murrayi), was recorded on August 26th 2009, and since then there has been only silence. Perhaps even more alarming is that nothing was done to save the species. According to a new paper inConservation Letters the bat was lost to extinction while Australian government officials equivocated and delayed action even though they were warned repeatedly that the situation was dire. The Christmas Island pipistrelle is the first mammal to be confirmed extinct in Australia in 50 years.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Descend Into The Cave

Musicians Sam Amidon, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and The Staves are being forced underground.

The artists will perform at the Mitchelstown Caves from Thursday, July 26th to Saturday, July 28th, following on from the success of last year’s event, which saw Duke Special and James Vincent McMorrow entertain half a mile underneath the surface.

The special concert is one of a series of events on the Opera House’s summer programme, which was released last week. Other highlights include The Dubliners on Sunday, June 3rd, and a plethora of other musical treats such as Alarm Will Sound on Wednesday, June 6th; Size2Shoes on Sunday, July 15th; Katie Kim on Saturday, July 21st; Hidden Highways and Peter Delaney on Saturday, August 11th; Efterklang on Saturday, September 15th and Opera D’Arte on Sunday, September 23rd.

Leading the comedy is Michael McIntyre from Monday, June 25th to Wednesday, June 27th, followed later in the year by Mario Rosenstock with Gift Grub Live 2, Kevin Bloody Wilson, Des Bishop and Frankie Boyle.

Following the success of last year’s The Winter’s Tale, Corcadorca are collaborating once again with the Opera House, with Romeo and Juliet to be staged from Wednesday, October 10th through to Saturday, October 20th. Other theatre highlights include The Country Girls, Frankenstein, The Titanic, The Sound of Music and panto Alice in Wonderland.

CEO Mary Hickson explains that the Opera House is a “crucial part” of Cork’s cultural infrastructure. “We continue to strive to raise its profile in and outside of Cork with every season,” she says.

For more information see www.corkoperahouse.ie.

International Cave-Survey Camp Topo Sorbas 2012

Dear caving friends,
The Euro Forum Speleo "Marbella 2011", organized by our federation, was very theoretical and very "sporting".

Now we want to invite you to participate in a speleological exploration and surveying camp in the province of Almeria: "International Cave-Survey Camp Topo Sorbas 2012"

This is one of the most singular places of Andalusia with a unique caves and one of the world famous gypsum karst by its singularity.

We want that everything works out the best and it is why we ask you to confirm us your intention to participate and, if possible, the number of people interested. At the moment is just an approximation to know what resources we have to mobilize. I remind you that this is an exploration and topography camp in gypsum caves.

Best regards
José A. Berrocal Pérez, Federación Andaluza de Espeleología

Man Trapped In Cave Shares His Story

He's home after nearly an entire day trapped in one of the Maquoketa Caves over the weekend. Emma Thompson and Logan Eliasen were rescued from hundreds of feet underground.

The two 20-year-olds from Port Byron have been in the caves before. With the attractions back open this year, their group of friends joined the many flocking there to do some exploring. But Eliasen, a biblical studies and theology student, never expected the return to end up this way.

"I was slipping further and further down as I was trying to dislodge myself from the rock. And I ended up all the way on my side stuck in a crevice," said Eliasen.

After watching his friend stuck in the same tunnel for nearly four hours, Eliasen, while trying to following Thompson and rescuers out of the cave found himself in the same, scary situation. "I was really frightened and breathing really quickly."

Rescue crews already on scene worked to get him free. Minutes turned to hours in the cold, cramped space. "For a couple hours I was starting to get a little bit delusional. I was so thirsty and tired and cold," said Eliasen. Responders brought food, water, warm clothing and, most importantly, air down 300 feet into the cave.

The Sinkhole Conference

We are excited and happy to announce that the website is up and the call for abstracts has begun for the 13th Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of Karst! More commonly called “The Sinkhole Conference,”

Since 1984 this excellent series of meetings has been pivotal in bringing together engineers, geologists, geophysicists, and regulators to exchange ideas and enhance everyone’s understanding of the challenges of living in karst areas.

The National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI) is honored to have been given management of this conference series, and it still operated by the Organizing Committee made up of people who have hosted this conference for years, including representatives of sponsoring organizations like P.E. LaMoreaux and Associates, U.S. Geological Survey, Illinois State Geological Survey, Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District, and many others. If your organization is interested in being a sponsor or exhibitor, please contact us.

The conference will be held in Carlsbad, New Mexico, at NCKRI Headquarters, on 6-10 May 2013. This is the most westerly venue for the conference to date, and an excellent opportunity for the field trip and sessions to focus on evaporite karst and karst management in arid environments, as well as the wide range of other topics.

You can access the website through the NCKRI website’s“Events” tab or directly at the conference website. To submit an abstract, click on “Call for Abstracts” in the upper right side of the home page. The abstract deadline is August 15th!

Over the next month or so we’ll add much more information to the website and begin registration. We’ll send another message at that time. Please share these messages with any you think may be interested.

If you have any questions or suggestions, let us know.

See you in Carlsbad in one year!

George Veni and Jim LaMoreaux
Co-chairman, 13th Sinkhole Conference

Monday, May 21, 2012

Valuable Pre-Historic Findings in Caves of Magnesia

11,000 archaeological findings have been brought to light after years of searches under the auspices of the Ephorate of Palaeoanthropology and Speleology in the wider region of Magnesia.

The surface searches that have taken place in more that 200 caves in Magnesia reveal valuable pre-historic findings indicating that the caves of the area were inhabited in antiquity times. Caves with historical findings are located in Pilion, Almyros, Giouria, Alonnisos and elsewhere.

The most important finding was obtained in the “Cyclops” cave, where a systematic research has taken place. Part of a human sculpt of a female person aged 65-70 years-old intrigued the archaeologists who were surprised by her age, given that the average life expectancy was much lower.

During the research that took place in the years 2006-2008 in collaboration with the Denmark Institute, changes in human activities regarding caves were examined resulting in valuable information and conclusions.

The caves that have been thoroughly searched, supplied the archaeologists with information in their usage. It appears they had been used as residence, storage areas or even burial areas.

Source: greek reporter

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Mammoth Cave guides become tour experts

It's 1:30 p.m. and Dominic Papia makes an announcement from the visitor center at Mammoth Cave National Park urging those who are planning to take the 1:45 p.m. nature walk to meet behind the visitor center.

Papia and his fellow tour guides are expected to know a wealth of information about the national park from biology to geology, and even history, which can be rather daunting their first few weeks on the job.

"It's very overwhelming at first," he said.

Tour guides are given a general outline in which to follow while leading tours, but after gaining some experience they are allowed to interject points of information from research they may have done.

"So, you kind of do it step-by-step, even though it seems like something you would have to learn all at once," Papia said.

"You can focus on the things that you are interested in the most and then start picking up on other things," said Ana Casilla, who is also a tour guide.

Papia and Casilla have been tour guides at Mammoth Cave for about a year and both admit to having carried cheat sheets with them while leading tours.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Mystery of ancient skulls

A French anthropologist and behavioural archaeologist will present an address in Nelson this week that shimmers with mystery and intrigue.

In "Investigating the intangible: the skull chamber in the Chauvet cave", Dr Yann-Pierre Montelle will discuss data gathered in his last archaeological campaign in Chauvet in March of this year.

The cave in the Ardeche department of southern France contains the earliest known cave paintings, as well as other evidence of Upper Paleolithic life.

Dr Montell's talk will centre on a case study and data collected from the cave's "skull chamber".

A deeper theme of his address will be the way in which the expectation of contemporary cultural traits can hinder the investigation of the "intangible dimension of material culture in the context of prehistory".

Dr Montell is best known in this country for his ongoing work in mapping, describing and photographing Maori "rock art" sites in the South Island.

His visit has been arranged by the Nelson Science Society.

Tuesday, May 22, 7.30pm, at NMIT building A211. All welcome, non-members $2 admission.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Video: The Prehistoric Cave Art Of Cantabria, Spain


Dachstein Mars Simulation: A review in 25 pictures


Photos & text by OEWF (Katja Zanella-Kux &  Andreas Köhler ) 

Between 27Apr-01May, the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF), in partnership with researchers from 11 countries on three continents conducted a Mars Analog field campaign in the Giant Ice Caverns of the Dachstein region in Austria. This test was the first of its kind in a subsurface environment. Take a visual tour in 25 pictures through this extraordinary 5 day project.

   

26Apr2012: The first OeWF team arrives on and starts with the transportation to the cable car station “Schönbergalm”. Sebastian Sams gently directs the Hard-Upper Torso element of the Aouda.X spacesuit simulator out of the gondola.
   
After setting up the control stations, a first cave tour was arranged to choose the best locations for the upcoming tests. One question however remains: How are we supposed to bring the fully-suited astronaut through the narrow parts of the cave?
   
27Apr2012: With the first early-morning gondola to the „Schönbergalm“ –where we have established the local command center (“OPS” for operation) in a separate room of the restaurant. Today we expect the international teams to arrive, plus, we are planning a last training donning (putting on of the suit). There is so much to do before that, such as installing the communications infrastructure in- and outside the cave. 


After the safety briefing for all experimenters, the team gets a 2 hours tour of the caves to familiarize the researchers with the environmental conditions.

Meanwhile, the first donning on-site is being prepared as the OeWF team transports the hardware to the cave entrance at 1300 m altitude. Although the track vehicle is a great replacement for mules, suit tester Daniel Föger has to carry the Hard-Upper Torso of the suit himself to avoid the vibrations of our chariot: Such, a 15min ascent can be pretty exhausting already.

6The donning oft he suit takes 2 hours, suit tester Daniel Foeger is supported by 2-3 suit technicians connected to the OPS. In total, the suit weighs 45kg. Right before the closure of the helmet the On-Board Data Handling system and the life support is activated and the communication is checked. We are “GO” for EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity)!

28Apr2012: The quiet before the storm: Today is media day. In addition to a large crowd of journalists, camera team and photographers, the OeWF is organizing a MarsTweetup. The team is gathering like each morning to man the first gondola. Today already at 07:30 – intermingled with a few very surprised mountaineers.

A busy OPS: Flight planner Alejandra Sans discussed with Assistant Flight Director Reinhard Tlustos todays EVA on the cave map.

In the meantime, Flight Director Norbert Frischauf coordinates the last details of the rover parade with Tom Schachner of the Part-Time Scientists team.

Around 09:00 the MarsTweetup participants arrive: 16 users oft he microblogging plattform Twitter from all over Europe followed the OeWF’s call and seize the chane for a unique behind-the-scenes look of a real Mars Analog-simulation. Alexander Soucek fascinates the “Tweeps” (twitter-users) with an enthusiastic keynote presentation.

The focus of the media attention is the Aouda.X spacesuit simulator. Suit tester Daniel Schildhammer patiently answers the questions of the journalists, takes the helmet off sevarl times and guides the journalists deep into the cave. In the morning, the OeWF, represented by project manager Gernot Groemer, the major of Obertraun, Egon Hoell and the CEO of the Dachstein AG Alfred Brueckschloegl host a press conference. In the course of this media event, the TECHCOS safety certificate was awarded in public.

In addition to the Aouda.X spacesuit simulator, the media team expressed their interest in the international experiments: E.g. the MAGMA-White rover of the Polish Mars Society, carrying the WISDOM ground penetration radar attracted the journalists.

The WISDOM team arrived with 2 georadar systems (destined to fly on the 2018 EXOMARS-mission to the Red Planet) and obtained the first pilot data in a side cave on a giant ice lens.

In the King-Arthur Dome, suit tester Daniel Schildhammer demonstrated the usage of instruments and rock sampling techniques despite the limitations of a spacesuit.

After an exhaustive day as suit tester, Daniel Schildhammer is relieved to take of the weight of the suit and enjoys a lighter mood in the warm sun.

29Apr2012: Today starts the science: As the first experiment, suit tester Daniel Foeger gently directs the Cliff Reconnaissance Vehicle of the French Mars Society over an ice cliff in Tristan Dome.

In the meantime in the Parsival Dome, the MAGMA rover team test their rover on pure ice. This turns out o be quite a challange due to the slippiness of the ground. The MAGMA White rover is also a part of the Open Mars Yard project.
The Part-Time scientists have installed themselves with their “King of the Caves” in the King Arthur Dome to perform their first trafficability tests with the lunar rover Asimov R3. Due to the high humidity, this is quite a challenge, especially for he little rover.

Bernard Foing from the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG) discusses the procedures for a sterile sampling process with Ulrich Luger, OeWF. In the meantime, suit tester Daniel Foeger prepares the materials in the box.

At the end of the third day of the campaign, the rovers and two flying robots show their local pride during the “rover parade”. From small to (relatively) large they will also one day assist human explorers on the surface of Mars.

30Apr2012: Premiere on the fourth test day: For the first time, a science experiment is handed over during an ongoing activity to research teams from overseas. Via audio and video telemetry and a continuous stream of suit sensor network data, the reseachers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in PAssadena/California direct the suit tester to the desired sample location. In this case, biologist Lara Vimercati assists the suit testers in taken the very samples which will than be analyized in the JPL laboratories.

Aouda.X – our “princess” gracefully walks the Dachstein giant ice caves – deserving the title “Queen of the Caves”. Most of our respect goes to the two suit testers Daniel Schildhammer and Daniel Foeger, who led the princess to all the test sites within the cave system.
Only in the field, the team is confronted with challenges hard to anticipate in the laboratory: The otherwise perfect AKG headset slipped over the snoopy-cap when walking with a forward bent Hard-Upper Torso in the narrow passages of the cave. As a consequence, the helmet had to be opened to corrcect that problem (although Aouda.X has a back-up loudspeaker in the helmet – but we’d love to have a working primary system). On Mars that would not be possible and might lead to a loss of communication. In this case the quick-fix was a set of powertape-stripes over the snoopy-cap.

No other field test was as physically demanding as the Dachstein caves. Often the suit testers had to bend forward to protect the antenna from the shallow cave ceilings, accepting the 45kg of Aouda.X on their backs in an uncomfortable position.

01May2012: Despite technical challanges during the donning, also the fifth day of the campaign was concluded with two experiments. For JPL, the field crew collected new ice samples, where during the procedure, the Kiwimars-Crew at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah took over. The simulated loss of communication between the suit tester and the OeWF OPS was compensated by the “other” Martian landing party on literally on the other side of the planet. 

This project was supported by our industrial partners Catalysts, Techcos, ABM Space Education as well as the Austrian Research Promotion Agency on behalf of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Transportation, Innovation and Technology’s Austrian Space Applications Programme.

Cave women in a different light

Abri Castanet
It could be cave man pornography. Researchers have discovered illustrations of female anatomy in a rock shelter in France that date back 37,000 years. It is ''the oldest evidence of any kind of graphic imagery'', said Randall White, an anthropologist at New York University and one of the researchers working on the project.

He and his colleagues report their findings in the current issue of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The drawings include what appear to be images of the female vulva, illustrated by circles with small slits on one side. ''You see this again and again and again,'' Professor White said. There are also very simple images, in profile, of animals, including horses and lion-like big cats, he said.
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The work was discovered on a collapsed roof of a rock shelter at the Abri Castanet site in the Vezere River valley in south-west France. Humans at the time lived in such shelters, Professor White said, and it was a period of cultural emergence. ''They were working with ivory beads and other personal ornamentation,'' he said. ''They were decorating their bodies in complex ways.''

Professor White and his team are continuing their excavation work at the site and hope that by deciphering more of the art, they can understand the culture of the people better. ''What we hope to be able to do is map the distribution of images on the ceiling and all of the activities of the time,'' he said. ''There may be a relationship between the art on the ceiling and their lives.''

The work is less sophisticated than the elaborate paintings of animals found in France's Grotte Chauvet, which was more remote and difficult to access, believed to be between 30,000 and 36,000 years old. The engravings and paintings at Castanet are rougher and more primitive in style, and were likely done by everyday people.

''This art appears to be slightly older than the famous paintings from the Grotte Chauvet in south-eastern France,'' Professor White said. ''But unlike the Chauvet paintings and engravings, which are deep underground and away from living areas, the engravings and paintings at Castanet are directly associated with everyday life, given their proximity to tools, fireplaces, bone and antler tool production, and ornament workshops.''

Source: SMH

Scientific Paper
Randall White et al, Context and dating of Aurignacian vulvar representations from Abri Castanet, France, PNAS 2012 ; published ahead of print May 14, 2012,doi:10.1073/pnas.1119663109 (PPV)





Protect our ground water


Libar

The Sinkhole Conference--Call for Papers

Dear Friends,

We are excited and happy to announce that the website is up and the call for abstracts has begun for the 13th Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of Karst! More commonly called “The Sinkhole Conference,” since 1984 this excellent series of meetings has been pivotal in bringing together engineers, geologists, geophysicists, and regulators to exchange ideas and enhance everyone’s understanding of the challenges of living in karst areas.

The National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI) is honored to have been given management of this conference series, and it still operated by the Organizing Committee made up of people who have hosted this conference for years, including representatives of sponsoring organizations like P.E. LaMoreaux and Associates, U.S. Geological Survey, Illinois State Geological Survey, Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District, and many others. If your organization is interested in being a sponsor or exhibitor, please contact us.

The conference will be held in Carlsbad, New Mexico, at NCKRI Headquarters, on 6-10 May 2013. This is the most westerly venue for the conference to date, and an excellent opportunity for the field trip and sessions to focus on evaporite karst and karst management in arid environments, as well as the wide range of other topics.

You can access the website through the NCKRI website’s “Events” tab at http://www.nckri.org or directly at http://sites.google.com/site/sinkholeconference2013/. To submit an abstract, click on “Call for Abstracts” in the upper right side of the home page. The abstract deadline is August 15th!

Over the next month or so we’ll add much more information to the website and begin registration. We’ll send another message at that time. Please share these messages with any you think may be interested.

If you have any questions or suggestions, let us know.

See you in Carlsbad in one year!
George Veni and Jim LaMoreaux
Co-chairman, 13th Sinkhole Conference
***************************
George Veni, Ph.D.
Executive Director
National Cave and Karst Research Institute
400-1 Cascades Avenue
Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220-6215 USA
Office: 575-887-5517
Mobile: 210-863-5919
Fax: 575-887-5523
gveni@nckri.org
http://www.nckri.org

Monday, May 14, 2012

Last call for papers: Speleodiversity 2012

You still have 2 weeks (your last chance) to propose your presentation/article for the 2nd EuroSpeleo Protection Symposium that will be held during next EuroSpeleo Forum "Speleodiversity 2012" in Muotathal-Switzerland on the 29-30 September 2012.
To submit it, all the information is included in the 2nd multilingual circular of the symposium, that you can also download on :
English : www.eurospeleo.eu/ESPS2_2circ_EN.pdf
Français : www.eurospeleo.eu/ESPS2_2circ_FR.pdf
Deutsch : www.eurospeleo.eu/ESPS2_2circ_DE.pdf
Italiano : www.eurospeleo.eu/ESPS2_2circ_IT.pdf
Español : www.eurospeleo.eu/ESPS2_2circ_ES.pdf

The final date for the submission of your abstract is the 1st of June 2012.
For that you just need to fill the following form :
http://www.eurospeleo.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=42&Itemid=54
and to send it to : protection@eurospeleo.org

According to FSE rules, the articles can be submitted in English, French (FSE languages) and German (national language).
Everything is explained on this 2nd circular.
Should you have any furhter question, please let us know at :
protection@eurospeleo.org

See you soon at www.Speleodiversity.ch

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Chemical Fingerprinting Tracks the Travels of Little Brown Bats

They’re tiny creatures with glossy, chocolate-brown hair, out-sized ears and wings. They gobble mosquitoes and other insect pests during the summer and hibernate in caves and mines when the weather turns cold. They are little brown bats, and a deadly disease called white-nose syndrome is threatening their very existence.

A novel technique using stable hydrogen isotopes—a kind of chemical fingerprint found in tissues such as hair—has enabled researchers at Michigan Technological University to determine where hibernating bats originated. Knowing that could help predict and ultimately manage the spread of white-nose syndrome.

In the July issue of the journal Ecological Applications, Joseph Bump, an assistant professor at Michigan Tech’s School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, and a former undergraduate student in his lab, Alexis Sullivan, report on their use of stable hydrogen isotopes to identify the likely origins of the little brown bats that hibernate in three mines of Michigan’s western Upper Peninsula.

Sullivan, who is first author on the paper, is now working on dual Master of Science degrees in Forest Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology at Michigan Tech and the Swedish University of Agricultural Science. She will receive degrees from both universities as part of the ATLANTIS Program, a transatlantic educational project jointly funded by the US Department of Education and the European Union.

Sullivan, Bump and colleagues Rolf Peterson and Laura Kruger studied the little brown bats that winter in the Quincy Mine in Hancock, Mich., the Caledonia Mine near Ontonagon, Mich., and the Norway Mine in Norway, Mich. They collected bat hair and tested it to identify the hydrogen fingerprint of the water where the bat grew the hair. Ecologists have developed maps of the distinctive hydrogen fingerprints of water from different locations, so the chemical fingerprints from the bat hair can be matched to the flying mammals’ probable origins.

Students Learn Fun and Excitement of Caving

Gooding Middle School sixth-grader Megan Bigler, left, leads
classmates out of Maze Cave on May 24 north of Shoshone.
As Gooding sixth-graders emerged from a cave north of Shoshone, they squinted as their eyes adjusted to the sunlight.

The hourlong experience navigating unstable lava rocks inside the cave didn’t seem to tire the middle school students. They were chatting and laughing as they waited to get back on the school bus.

“They were really, really fun to go into,” 12-year-old Callie Graves said about going into two caves. It was easy to see inside, she said, because she was wearing a headlamp over her bike helmet.

Riken Schulthies, 12, held up the bike helmet he was wearing, which had many small scrapes on it from the cave ceiling.

He said caving was fun and he wants to go again. The highlight of the trip: “We got to learn about fungus,” he said.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Damaged Lava Caves in Iceland to Be Closed

Víðgemlir. There are also ice formations inside the cave.
The Icelandic Speleological Society would like 15-20 caves in Iceland to be fenced off in the next few years to prevent them from being damaged any further. At the same time, access to the caves should be improved so that they can be observed safely.

Guðni Gunnarsson, chair of the Icelandic Speleological Society, told Morgunblaðið that he can name many examples of damaged caves, including Víðgelmir in west Iceland, which has practically been stripped of its stalagmites and lava straws.

Similarly, the appearance of Leiðarendi in south Iceland has undergone drastic changes since its discovery 20 years ago.

“It is very sad what happened with Leiðarendi. It was very beautiful when it was found but in the past 15 years everything has been removed from inside it. One of its most magnificent lava formations, a large stalagmite, was taken in 2007, even though it was clearly fenced off,” Guðni said.

Some caves have been closed already, both to cave expeditioners and others, such as Jörundur in south Iceland.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Gorham's Cave One Step Closer to UNESCO Site

The UK Government has put forward Gorham’s Cave complex for a World Heritage nomination.

The announcement was made by the UK Minister responsible for World Heritage John Penrose who said that “The UK’s heritage is unique, diverse and world-class. Nomination to UNESCO for world heritage status is incredibly rewarding, but the process is pretty tough and success is by no means guaranteed. Gorham’s Cave is a strong contender, so I wish them all the best.”

Minister for Heritage, Steven Linares, speaking on behalf of the Gibraltar Government said, “This is the start of another long road and a great deal of hard work will be required to get our nomination in order for January 2015, but we are ready for it.”

Professor Clive Finlayson, whose team has undertaken the technical aspects of the work so far, said, “I am most grateful to my first class professional team at the museum, without them this would not have been possible. I am also most grateful to the support that the Government of Gibraltar has given me and for their huge efforts in putting our case across”. The UK also put forward the Forth Bridge in Scotland for a nomination.

Source: Chronicle

Investors from Slovenia interested in Lipska cave

Investors from Slovenia are interested in valorisation of the Lipska cave in Cetinje, though adequate investments and marketing activities, which would significantly contribute to diversification of tourism in the municipality.

According to the model of valorisation of the Lipska cave for tourism purposes that was proposed to the Government, the valorisation of that location would contribute to the development of a new product, which is in great demand in the tourism market.

Source: Balkans


Monday, May 28, 2012

Three Hikers Stuck in Cave

A man and two women will spend the night in an East County cave after becoming trapped during a hiking trip.

Sheriff's deputies received a call from the hikers at about 8:30 p.m. Monday night that they were trapped in a drop-in cave, the Sheriff's Department said.

The cave is in the 3000 block of McCain Valley Rd. in Boulevard, east of Pine Valley.

The three were not able to climb out, and the male hiker has an injured shoulder, authorities said.

Due to the power lines in the area, emergency personnel could not dispatch a helicopter to pull them out.

A search and rescue team will drop a cache of food and supplies into the cave, and the three hikers will spend the night until crews can respond in the morning.

Deputies plan to request a rescue team from San Bernardino Sheriff's Department to respond Tuesday morning.

Source: NBC San Diego

Lewis & Clark Caverns celebrating National Trails Day

Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park is planning a day of activities for National Trails Day, June 2. The public is invited to contribute to trail work, enjoy music and food or take a tour of the Park’s trail system.

Events begin at 9 a.m. in the Main Visitor Center with a program on trail use and weed control. Mid-day events include lunch and music by the Tumbleweed Connection. The final event of the day will be a 2 p.m. tour of the trails.

No registration is needed.

Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park is located along Montana Highway 2, 15 miles east of Whitehall. For more information, call 406-287-3541 or email fwprpatten@gmail.com.

New Technology Could Help Save Glenwood Caverns

Since opening over a decade ago, the Glenwood Caverns above Glenwood Springs have given visitors the opportunity to go deep underground inside the Rocky Mountains. But the lights that allowed people to see where they’re going started causing some damage to the caves.

New technology is now saving a work of art millions of years in the making.

Inside the dark, deep, damp world of the Glenwood Caverns the old incandescent lights started becoming a big problem.

“Over the years in certain areas … we started to see some drying out,” Glenwood Caverns owner Steve Beckley said. “A lot of it was in the light bulbs and stuff because we have 300 light fixtures under the cave.”


The problem in the cave with keeping the incandescent light is that the rock formations grow very slowly over time and without a change they would have become extinct.


“The formations are still active and still growing,” Beckley said. “But if the cave dries out the formations are done growing and basically the cave becomes dead.”

So a few years ago Beckley started looking for an alternative.

“As soon as we found out that the caves had 75 to 100 watt incandescent bulbs, and 300 plus of them, we knew this was going to be an easier opportunity than maybe some of the others,” Erica Sporhawk with Garfield Clean Energy Challenge said.

With the help of the Garfield Clean Energy Challenge, they found the answer was LED lights. They cost up to $50 each, but use 80 percent less energy, last a few years longer than incandescent lights, and emit significantly less heat, helping the cave stay moist and the owner a little richer.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Cave rescue team cleans up walk

Clapham Cave Rescue Organisation spent the recent Bank Holiday weekend carrying out an extreme litter pick at the waterfalls walk in Ingleton.

This involved 12 members of the team abseiling down the gulleys and cliffs to collect the unsightly bottles and wrappers left by the less thoughtful visitors to this Dales attraction.

Eight big bags of rubbish were collected, along with some more unusual items including a new football, a chair, cones and a bicycle.

As this was going on, other members were manning a trailer that shows what the Cave Rescue Organisation gets involved with. The team collected £125 on the day.

The waterfalls company kindly agreed to assist with finances for the litter pick.

The organisation’s trailer was also in evidence at the Wray fair this year, where another £125 was raised for the funds.

The Beehive café in Settle handed over a cheque for £120 at the fair.

If you would like to donate, please go to www.cro.org.uk where the Just Giving details are listed under the fundraising banner.

World's Oldest Instrument Discovered in Cave

An ancient flute that experts say is the oldest
known musical instrument.
Researchers have identified two flutes made from mammoth ivory and bird bone as the world's oldest musical instruments.

Discovered in a cave in southern Germany, the flutes were likely fashioned 42,000 to 43,000 years ago, when early humans used them for religious ritual or recreation, experts say. Music may have also helped them maintain social networks as they survived dire cold in Europe and Neanderthals began to die off.

The find also confirms a theory that early humans moved up the Danube into central Europe before a very cold period about 39,000 or 40,000 years ago. Humans "were in central Europe at least 2,000 to 3,000 years before this climatic deterioration, when huge icebergs calved from ice sheets in the northern Atlantic and temperatures plummeted," says one professor. "The question is what effect this downturn might have had on the people in Europe at the time."


The finds, described in the Journal of Human Evolution, are from Geissenkloesterle Cave in the Swabian Jura region of southern Germany.

They show that the Aurignacian culture, a way of living linked with early modern humans, existed at the site between 42,000 and 43,000 years ago.

It suggests that some of the first "modern" humans to arrive in central Europe had a musical bent.

Professor Nick Conard, from Tubingen University in Germany, who took part in the excavation, said: "These results are consistent with a hypothesis we made several years ago that the Danube River was a key corridor for the movement of humans and technological innovations into central Europe between 40,000 to 45,000 years ago.

"Geissenkloesterle is one of several caves in the region that has produced important examples of personal ornaments, figurative art, mythical imagery and musical instruments. The new dates prove the great antiquity of the Aurignacian in Swabia."

The results indicate that modern humans entered the Upper Danube region before an extremely cold climatic phase around 39,000-40,000 years ago.

Previously, experts had argued that modern humans only migrated up the Danube immediately after this event.

Professor Tom Higham, from Oxford University, who led the team that dated the bones, said: "Modern humans during the Aurignacian period were in central Europe at least 2000-3000 years before this climatic deterioration, when huge icebergs calved from ice sheets in the northern Atlantic and temperatures plummeted.

"The question is what effect this downturn might have had on the people in Europe at the time."

Congratulations to the NFSA Line Committee



The North Florida Springs Alliance line committee members were recognized by being awarded the NSS-CDS safety award at this years' NSS-CDS workshop.



Friday, May 25, 2012

White nose bat disease closes mines and caves near Asheville and across South

The widening reach of the ruthless bat-killing disease known as white-nose syndrome has prompted the U.S. Forest Service to reissue an order to close all mines and caves across the South, including those in Pisgah and Nantahala national forests.

The closure put into effect this week is meant to slow the spread of the disease, named for a white fungus that appears on the faces, ears, wings and feet of hibernating bats.

The disease causes bats to come out of hibernation severely underweight, often starving before the insects, on which they feed, emerge in the spring. It has killed millions of bats in the past six years.

The public is prohibited from entering any cave or abandoned mine on national forests in 13 Southern states from Oklahoma to Virginia and Florida for the next year.

“The effort has been to slow the spread of this bat-killing fungus. It’s very serious,” Forest Service spokesman Stevin Westcott said. “One bat can eat several thousand mosquitoes in one night, so there’s a lot of concern of a massive die-off.”

Forest Service wildlife biologist Sheryl Bryan said there are at least nine mines and 12 caves in the Pisgah and Nantahala forests known to be popular with forest visitors, but there are “hundreds of small unnamed caves and crevices around. Keys for bats are temperature and humidity as opposed to size.”

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Double Fine Reveals New Adventure Game "The Cave"

Double Fine, the game studio that brought you games such as Psychonauts and Brutal Legend, have announced a new adventure game called The Cave that the company plans to release early next year for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. The Cave is the brainchild of Ron Gilbert, the man behind seminal adventure games like Maniac Mansionand The Secret of Monkey Island. We visited Double Fine HQ yesterday to get an early look at the game, and after watching Gilbert guide us through some basic gameplay it's clear that The Cave draws inspiration from Gilbert's earlier work on PC adventure games.

Like Maniac Mansion, Double Fine's The Cave will allow you to pick several characters from a roster of archetypes looking to explore a mysterious cave for their own personal quests. These characters include traditional protagonists like a knight and a scientist, but the roster is rounded out by stranger characters like a time traveler, a hillbilly, and a fairly creepy pair of twins.

Each character has their own special abilities and their own storyline that will unfold while they explore the self-described (yes, the eponymous Cave talks to you) "mysterious and sultry" caverns.


Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Christmas Island bat goes extinct after Australian officials hesitate

Nights on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean will never again be the same. The last echolocation call of a tiny bat native to the island, the Christmas Island pipistrelle (Pipistrellus murrayi), was recorded on August 26th 2009, and since then there has been only silence. Perhaps even more alarming is that nothing was done to save the species. According to a new paper inConservation Letters the bat was lost to extinction while Australian government officials equivocated and delayed action even though they were warned repeatedly that the situation was dire. The Christmas Island pipistrelle is the first mammal to be confirmed extinct in Australia in 50 years.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Descend Into The Cave

Musicians Sam Amidon, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and The Staves are being forced underground.

The artists will perform at the Mitchelstown Caves from Thursday, July 26th to Saturday, July 28th, following on from the success of last year’s event, which saw Duke Special and James Vincent McMorrow entertain half a mile underneath the surface.

The special concert is one of a series of events on the Opera House’s summer programme, which was released last week. Other highlights include The Dubliners on Sunday, June 3rd, and a plethora of other musical treats such as Alarm Will Sound on Wednesday, June 6th; Size2Shoes on Sunday, July 15th; Katie Kim on Saturday, July 21st; Hidden Highways and Peter Delaney on Saturday, August 11th; Efterklang on Saturday, September 15th and Opera D’Arte on Sunday, September 23rd.

Leading the comedy is Michael McIntyre from Monday, June 25th to Wednesday, June 27th, followed later in the year by Mario Rosenstock with Gift Grub Live 2, Kevin Bloody Wilson, Des Bishop and Frankie Boyle.

Following the success of last year’s The Winter’s Tale, Corcadorca are collaborating once again with the Opera House, with Romeo and Juliet to be staged from Wednesday, October 10th through to Saturday, October 20th. Other theatre highlights include The Country Girls, Frankenstein, The Titanic, The Sound of Music and panto Alice in Wonderland.

CEO Mary Hickson explains that the Opera House is a “crucial part” of Cork’s cultural infrastructure. “We continue to strive to raise its profile in and outside of Cork with every season,” she says.

For more information see www.corkoperahouse.ie.

International Cave-Survey Camp Topo Sorbas 2012

Dear caving friends,
The Euro Forum Speleo "Marbella 2011", organized by our federation, was very theoretical and very "sporting".

Now we want to invite you to participate in a speleological exploration and surveying camp in the province of Almeria: "International Cave-Survey Camp Topo Sorbas 2012"

This is one of the most singular places of Andalusia with a unique caves and one of the world famous gypsum karst by its singularity.

We want that everything works out the best and it is why we ask you to confirm us your intention to participate and, if possible, the number of people interested. At the moment is just an approximation to know what resources we have to mobilize. I remind you that this is an exploration and topography camp in gypsum caves.

Best regards
José A. Berrocal Pérez, Federación Andaluza de Espeleología

Man Trapped In Cave Shares His Story

He's home after nearly an entire day trapped in one of the Maquoketa Caves over the weekend. Emma Thompson and Logan Eliasen were rescued from hundreds of feet underground.

The two 20-year-olds from Port Byron have been in the caves before. With the attractions back open this year, their group of friends joined the many flocking there to do some exploring. But Eliasen, a biblical studies and theology student, never expected the return to end up this way.

"I was slipping further and further down as I was trying to dislodge myself from the rock. And I ended up all the way on my side stuck in a crevice," said Eliasen.

After watching his friend stuck in the same tunnel for nearly four hours, Eliasen, while trying to following Thompson and rescuers out of the cave found himself in the same, scary situation. "I was really frightened and breathing really quickly."

Rescue crews already on scene worked to get him free. Minutes turned to hours in the cold, cramped space. "For a couple hours I was starting to get a little bit delusional. I was so thirsty and tired and cold," said Eliasen. Responders brought food, water, warm clothing and, most importantly, air down 300 feet into the cave.

The Sinkhole Conference

We are excited and happy to announce that the website is up and the call for abstracts has begun for the 13th Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of Karst! More commonly called “The Sinkhole Conference,”

Since 1984 this excellent series of meetings has been pivotal in bringing together engineers, geologists, geophysicists, and regulators to exchange ideas and enhance everyone’s understanding of the challenges of living in karst areas.

The National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI) is honored to have been given management of this conference series, and it still operated by the Organizing Committee made up of people who have hosted this conference for years, including representatives of sponsoring organizations like P.E. LaMoreaux and Associates, U.S. Geological Survey, Illinois State Geological Survey, Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District, and many others. If your organization is interested in being a sponsor or exhibitor, please contact us.

The conference will be held in Carlsbad, New Mexico, at NCKRI Headquarters, on 6-10 May 2013. This is the most westerly venue for the conference to date, and an excellent opportunity for the field trip and sessions to focus on evaporite karst and karst management in arid environments, as well as the wide range of other topics.

You can access the website through the NCKRI website’s“Events” tab or directly at the conference website. To submit an abstract, click on “Call for Abstracts” in the upper right side of the home page. The abstract deadline is August 15th!

Over the next month or so we’ll add much more information to the website and begin registration. We’ll send another message at that time. Please share these messages with any you think may be interested.

If you have any questions or suggestions, let us know.

See you in Carlsbad in one year!

George Veni and Jim LaMoreaux
Co-chairman, 13th Sinkhole Conference

Monday, May 21, 2012

Valuable Pre-Historic Findings in Caves of Magnesia

11,000 archaeological findings have been brought to light after years of searches under the auspices of the Ephorate of Palaeoanthropology and Speleology in the wider region of Magnesia.

The surface searches that have taken place in more that 200 caves in Magnesia reveal valuable pre-historic findings indicating that the caves of the area were inhabited in antiquity times. Caves with historical findings are located in Pilion, Almyros, Giouria, Alonnisos and elsewhere.

The most important finding was obtained in the “Cyclops” cave, where a systematic research has taken place. Part of a human sculpt of a female person aged 65-70 years-old intrigued the archaeologists who were surprised by her age, given that the average life expectancy was much lower.

During the research that took place in the years 2006-2008 in collaboration with the Denmark Institute, changes in human activities regarding caves were examined resulting in valuable information and conclusions.

The caves that have been thoroughly searched, supplied the archaeologists with information in their usage. It appears they had been used as residence, storage areas or even burial areas.

Source: greek reporter

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Mammoth Cave guides become tour experts

It's 1:30 p.m. and Dominic Papia makes an announcement from the visitor center at Mammoth Cave National Park urging those who are planning to take the 1:45 p.m. nature walk to meet behind the visitor center.

Papia and his fellow tour guides are expected to know a wealth of information about the national park from biology to geology, and even history, which can be rather daunting their first few weeks on the job.

"It's very overwhelming at first," he said.

Tour guides are given a general outline in which to follow while leading tours, but after gaining some experience they are allowed to interject points of information from research they may have done.

"So, you kind of do it step-by-step, even though it seems like something you would have to learn all at once," Papia said.

"You can focus on the things that you are interested in the most and then start picking up on other things," said Ana Casilla, who is also a tour guide.

Papia and Casilla have been tour guides at Mammoth Cave for about a year and both admit to having carried cheat sheets with them while leading tours.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Mystery of ancient skulls

A French anthropologist and behavioural archaeologist will present an address in Nelson this week that shimmers with mystery and intrigue.

In "Investigating the intangible: the skull chamber in the Chauvet cave", Dr Yann-Pierre Montelle will discuss data gathered in his last archaeological campaign in Chauvet in March of this year.

The cave in the Ardeche department of southern France contains the earliest known cave paintings, as well as other evidence of Upper Paleolithic life.

Dr Montell's talk will centre on a case study and data collected from the cave's "skull chamber".

A deeper theme of his address will be the way in which the expectation of contemporary cultural traits can hinder the investigation of the "intangible dimension of material culture in the context of prehistory".

Dr Montell is best known in this country for his ongoing work in mapping, describing and photographing Maori "rock art" sites in the South Island.

His visit has been arranged by the Nelson Science Society.

Tuesday, May 22, 7.30pm, at NMIT building A211. All welcome, non-members $2 admission.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Video: The Prehistoric Cave Art Of Cantabria, Spain


Dachstein Mars Simulation: A review in 25 pictures


Photos & text by OEWF (Katja Zanella-Kux &  Andreas Köhler ) 

Between 27Apr-01May, the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF), in partnership with researchers from 11 countries on three continents conducted a Mars Analog field campaign in the Giant Ice Caverns of the Dachstein region in Austria. This test was the first of its kind in a subsurface environment. Take a visual tour in 25 pictures through this extraordinary 5 day project.

   

26Apr2012: The first OeWF team arrives on and starts with the transportation to the cable car station “Schönbergalm”. Sebastian Sams gently directs the Hard-Upper Torso element of the Aouda.X spacesuit simulator out of the gondola.
   
After setting up the control stations, a first cave tour was arranged to choose the best locations for the upcoming tests. One question however remains: How are we supposed to bring the fully-suited astronaut through the narrow parts of the cave?
   
27Apr2012: With the first early-morning gondola to the „Schönbergalm“ –where we have established the local command center (“OPS” for operation) in a separate room of the restaurant. Today we expect the international teams to arrive, plus, we are planning a last training donning (putting on of the suit). There is so much to do before that, such as installing the communications infrastructure in- and outside the cave. 


After the safety briefing for all experimenters, the team gets a 2 hours tour of the caves to familiarize the researchers with the environmental conditions.

Meanwhile, the first donning on-site is being prepared as the OeWF team transports the hardware to the cave entrance at 1300 m altitude. Although the track vehicle is a great replacement for mules, suit tester Daniel Föger has to carry the Hard-Upper Torso of the suit himself to avoid the vibrations of our chariot: Such, a 15min ascent can be pretty exhausting already.

6The donning oft he suit takes 2 hours, suit tester Daniel Foeger is supported by 2-3 suit technicians connected to the OPS. In total, the suit weighs 45kg. Right before the closure of the helmet the On-Board Data Handling system and the life support is activated and the communication is checked. We are “GO” for EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity)!

28Apr2012: The quiet before the storm: Today is media day. In addition to a large crowd of journalists, camera team and photographers, the OeWF is organizing a MarsTweetup. The team is gathering like each morning to man the first gondola. Today already at 07:30 – intermingled with a few very surprised mountaineers.

A busy OPS: Flight planner Alejandra Sans discussed with Assistant Flight Director Reinhard Tlustos todays EVA on the cave map.

In the meantime, Flight Director Norbert Frischauf coordinates the last details of the rover parade with Tom Schachner of the Part-Time Scientists team.

Around 09:00 the MarsTweetup participants arrive: 16 users oft he microblogging plattform Twitter from all over Europe followed the OeWF’s call and seize the chane for a unique behind-the-scenes look of a real Mars Analog-simulation. Alexander Soucek fascinates the “Tweeps” (twitter-users) with an enthusiastic keynote presentation.

The focus of the media attention is the Aouda.X spacesuit simulator. Suit tester Daniel Schildhammer patiently answers the questions of the journalists, takes the helmet off sevarl times and guides the journalists deep into the cave. In the morning, the OeWF, represented by project manager Gernot Groemer, the major of Obertraun, Egon Hoell and the CEO of the Dachstein AG Alfred Brueckschloegl host a press conference. In the course of this media event, the TECHCOS safety certificate was awarded in public.

In addition to the Aouda.X spacesuit simulator, the media team expressed their interest in the international experiments: E.g. the MAGMA-White rover of the Polish Mars Society, carrying the WISDOM ground penetration radar attracted the journalists.

The WISDOM team arrived with 2 georadar systems (destined to fly on the 2018 EXOMARS-mission to the Red Planet) and obtained the first pilot data in a side cave on a giant ice lens.

In the King-Arthur Dome, suit tester Daniel Schildhammer demonstrated the usage of instruments and rock sampling techniques despite the limitations of a spacesuit.

After an exhaustive day as suit tester, Daniel Schildhammer is relieved to take of the weight of the suit and enjoys a lighter mood in the warm sun.

29Apr2012: Today starts the science: As the first experiment, suit tester Daniel Foeger gently directs the Cliff Reconnaissance Vehicle of the French Mars Society over an ice cliff in Tristan Dome.

In the meantime in the Parsival Dome, the MAGMA rover team test their rover on pure ice. This turns out o be quite a challange due to the slippiness of the ground. The MAGMA White rover is also a part of the Open Mars Yard project.
The Part-Time scientists have installed themselves with their “King of the Caves” in the King Arthur Dome to perform their first trafficability tests with the lunar rover Asimov R3. Due to the high humidity, this is quite a challenge, especially for he little rover.

Bernard Foing from the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG) discusses the procedures for a sterile sampling process with Ulrich Luger, OeWF. In the meantime, suit tester Daniel Foeger prepares the materials in the box.

At the end of the third day of the campaign, the rovers and two flying robots show their local pride during the “rover parade”. From small to (relatively) large they will also one day assist human explorers on the surface of Mars.

30Apr2012: Premiere on the fourth test day: For the first time, a science experiment is handed over during an ongoing activity to research teams from overseas. Via audio and video telemetry and a continuous stream of suit sensor network data, the reseachers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in PAssadena/California direct the suit tester to the desired sample location. In this case, biologist Lara Vimercati assists the suit testers in taken the very samples which will than be analyized in the JPL laboratories.

Aouda.X – our “princess” gracefully walks the Dachstein giant ice caves – deserving the title “Queen of the Caves”. Most of our respect goes to the two suit testers Daniel Schildhammer and Daniel Foeger, who led the princess to all the test sites within the cave system.
Only in the field, the team is confronted with challenges hard to anticipate in the laboratory: The otherwise perfect AKG headset slipped over the snoopy-cap when walking with a forward bent Hard-Upper Torso in the narrow passages of the cave. As a consequence, the helmet had to be opened to corrcect that problem (although Aouda.X has a back-up loudspeaker in the helmet – but we’d love to have a working primary system). On Mars that would not be possible and might lead to a loss of communication. In this case the quick-fix was a set of powertape-stripes over the snoopy-cap.

No other field test was as physically demanding as the Dachstein caves. Often the suit testers had to bend forward to protect the antenna from the shallow cave ceilings, accepting the 45kg of Aouda.X on their backs in an uncomfortable position.

01May2012: Despite technical challanges during the donning, also the fifth day of the campaign was concluded with two experiments. For JPL, the field crew collected new ice samples, where during the procedure, the Kiwimars-Crew at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah took over. The simulated loss of communication between the suit tester and the OeWF OPS was compensated by the “other” Martian landing party on literally on the other side of the planet. 

This project was supported by our industrial partners Catalysts, Techcos, ABM Space Education as well as the Austrian Research Promotion Agency on behalf of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Transportation, Innovation and Technology’s Austrian Space Applications Programme.

Cave women in a different light

Abri Castanet
It could be cave man pornography. Researchers have discovered illustrations of female anatomy in a rock shelter in France that date back 37,000 years. It is ''the oldest evidence of any kind of graphic imagery'', said Randall White, an anthropologist at New York University and one of the researchers working on the project.

He and his colleagues report their findings in the current issue of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The drawings include what appear to be images of the female vulva, illustrated by circles with small slits on one side. ''You see this again and again and again,'' Professor White said. There are also very simple images, in profile, of animals, including horses and lion-like big cats, he said.
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The work was discovered on a collapsed roof of a rock shelter at the Abri Castanet site in the Vezere River valley in south-west France. Humans at the time lived in such shelters, Professor White said, and it was a period of cultural emergence. ''They were working with ivory beads and other personal ornamentation,'' he said. ''They were decorating their bodies in complex ways.''

Professor White and his team are continuing their excavation work at the site and hope that by deciphering more of the art, they can understand the culture of the people better. ''What we hope to be able to do is map the distribution of images on the ceiling and all of the activities of the time,'' he said. ''There may be a relationship between the art on the ceiling and their lives.''

The work is less sophisticated than the elaborate paintings of animals found in France's Grotte Chauvet, which was more remote and difficult to access, believed to be between 30,000 and 36,000 years old. The engravings and paintings at Castanet are rougher and more primitive in style, and were likely done by everyday people.

''This art appears to be slightly older than the famous paintings from the Grotte Chauvet in south-eastern France,'' Professor White said. ''But unlike the Chauvet paintings and engravings, which are deep underground and away from living areas, the engravings and paintings at Castanet are directly associated with everyday life, given their proximity to tools, fireplaces, bone and antler tool production, and ornament workshops.''

Source: SMH

Scientific Paper
Randall White et al, Context and dating of Aurignacian vulvar representations from Abri Castanet, France, PNAS 2012 ; published ahead of print May 14, 2012,doi:10.1073/pnas.1119663109 (PPV)





Protect our ground water


Libar

The Sinkhole Conference--Call for Papers

Dear Friends,

We are excited and happy to announce that the website is up and the call for abstracts has begun for the 13th Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of Karst! More commonly called “The Sinkhole Conference,” since 1984 this excellent series of meetings has been pivotal in bringing together engineers, geologists, geophysicists, and regulators to exchange ideas and enhance everyone’s understanding of the challenges of living in karst areas.

The National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI) is honored to have been given management of this conference series, and it still operated by the Organizing Committee made up of people who have hosted this conference for years, including representatives of sponsoring organizations like P.E. LaMoreaux and Associates, U.S. Geological Survey, Illinois State Geological Survey, Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District, and many others. If your organization is interested in being a sponsor or exhibitor, please contact us.

The conference will be held in Carlsbad, New Mexico, at NCKRI Headquarters, on 6-10 May 2013. This is the most westerly venue for the conference to date, and an excellent opportunity for the field trip and sessions to focus on evaporite karst and karst management in arid environments, as well as the wide range of other topics.

You can access the website through the NCKRI website’s “Events” tab at http://www.nckri.org or directly at http://sites.google.com/site/sinkholeconference2013/. To submit an abstract, click on “Call for Abstracts” in the upper right side of the home page. The abstract deadline is August 15th!

Over the next month or so we’ll add much more information to the website and begin registration. We’ll send another message at that time. Please share these messages with any you think may be interested.

If you have any questions or suggestions, let us know.

See you in Carlsbad in one year!
George Veni and Jim LaMoreaux
Co-chairman, 13th Sinkhole Conference
***************************
George Veni, Ph.D.
Executive Director
National Cave and Karst Research Institute
400-1 Cascades Avenue
Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220-6215 USA
Office: 575-887-5517
Mobile: 210-863-5919
Fax: 575-887-5523
gveni@nckri.org
http://www.nckri.org

Monday, May 14, 2012

Last call for papers: Speleodiversity 2012

You still have 2 weeks (your last chance) to propose your presentation/article for the 2nd EuroSpeleo Protection Symposium that will be held during next EuroSpeleo Forum "Speleodiversity 2012" in Muotathal-Switzerland on the 29-30 September 2012.
To submit it, all the information is included in the 2nd multilingual circular of the symposium, that you can also download on :
English : www.eurospeleo.eu/ESPS2_2circ_EN.pdf
Français : www.eurospeleo.eu/ESPS2_2circ_FR.pdf
Deutsch : www.eurospeleo.eu/ESPS2_2circ_DE.pdf
Italiano : www.eurospeleo.eu/ESPS2_2circ_IT.pdf
Español : www.eurospeleo.eu/ESPS2_2circ_ES.pdf

The final date for the submission of your abstract is the 1st of June 2012.
For that you just need to fill the following form :
http://www.eurospeleo.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=42&Itemid=54
and to send it to : protection@eurospeleo.org

According to FSE rules, the articles can be submitted in English, French (FSE languages) and German (national language).
Everything is explained on this 2nd circular.
Should you have any furhter question, please let us know at :
protection@eurospeleo.org

See you soon at www.Speleodiversity.ch