Latest Mojave desert Stories
High Desert car caravan converges in L.A. at 11 a.m. Friday LOS ANGELES, April 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Hundreds of miners and family members "locked-out" at Rio Tinto's borax mine in the Mojave Desert join hundreds of supporters from across Southern California sporting American flags as they protest Friday against the giant UK mining corporation at the British consulate, 11766 Wilshire Blvd. "We're converging at the British consulate because Rio Tinto is an British-based global mining...
NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden has named David D. McBride director of the agency's Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base, Calif."David has done a terrific job as the acting Dryden director, and I am pleased he will be continuing as director," Bolden said. "David's expertise, leadership and flight research acumen will benefit NASA and the entire aerospace community."McBride will direct all aspects of facility management, strategy and operations at...
WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden has named David D. McBride director of the agency's Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) "David has done a terrific job as the acting Dryden director, and I am pleased he will be continuing as director," Bolden said. "David's expertise, leadership and flight research acumen will benefit NASA and the entire aerospace...
Mojave Desert research shows that nitrogen is second only to water in importanceIn the Mojave Desert winds howl across this hottest place in North America, blowing sands across Death Valley and through empty ghost towns, swirling across treeless land for hundreds of miles. But even in the otherworldly Mojave, life thrives. The Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia), an indicator species for this desert, defines the Mojave's boundaries. In spring when the rains come, brightly colored flowers bloom in...
NASA says it has awarded a contract to the Computer Sciences Corp. of Fort Worth, Texas, to maintain aircraft used for astronaut training and flight research. The $163 million contract continues services provided by the company under a previous contract that expires Monday, the space agency said. The work includes flight line, intermediate and depot level maintenance, repairs, modifications and engineering support. The aircraft are used at NASA's Johnson Space Center facilities in Houston...
U.S. biologists say they have narrowed their hunt for the genes that allow rodents to eat toxic creosote bushes in the southwestern United States. As that region grew warmer 18,700 to 10,000 years ago, juniper trees vanished from what is now the Mojave Desert, robbing packrats of their favorite food, the scientists said. Instead, the rodents are consuming toxic creosote. University of Utah Professor Denise Dearing and colleagues captured eight packrats -- also known as woodrats -- from each...
As the U.S. Southwest grew warmer from 18,700 to 10,000 years ago, juniper trees vanished from what is now the Mojave Desert, robbing packrats of their favorite food. Now, University of Utah biologists have narrowed the hunt for detoxification genes that let the rodents eat toxic creosote bushes that replaced juniper."It was either eat it or move out," says biology Professor Denise Dearing, senior author of the study, published online Tuesday, April 7 in the journal Molecular...
Kevin L. Petersen, director of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, announced he plans to retire from NASA effective April 3. A veteran aerospace engineer and manager with 38 years experience at Dryden, Petersen has served as the center's director for more than 10 years and is the longest-serving field center director currently at NASA. Dryden's deputy center director, David D. McBride, has been named acting director."Kevin's service to NASA exemplifies what's great about the people who...
ARVADA, Colo., Oct. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- SkyFuel, Inc. today secured its position as the leader in the rapidly growing concentrating solar power (CSP) industry by unveiling the SkyTrough(TM): the highest performance, lowest cost utility-scale solar power system of any kind for generating electricity. With glass-free mirrors, a highly engineered space frame that allows compact transportation and rapid field assembly, and new more efficient drive & control systems, the SkyTrough(TM) cuts...
By Margo Bartlett Pesek The return of cooler months to the desert invites exploration of the sprawling Mojave National Preserve just over the Nevada border in Southern California. Although the preserve contains few established foot trails, hundreds of miles of old roads and historic trails lead hikers, mountain bikers, cyclists, four-wheelers and equestrians to probe washes, canyons and mountains. Always carry at least a gallon of water per person and extra for your vehicle. Let a...
Latest Mojave desert Reference Libraries
Joshua Tree National Park is located in the southeastern portion of the state of California in the United States. The park contains 790,636 acres, of which 429,690 acres comprises a designated wilderness, and was named for the Joshua trees that are native to the area. The park features rock formations that are thought to have been formed nearly one million years ago by cooling lava. These include rectangular and spherical rocks. Joshua Tree National Park occurs along the borders of San...
Death Valley National Park is located in Nevada and California in the United States. Many tribes of nomadic Native Americans originally inhabited the area, like the Timbisha tribe that was present around 1,000 AD. It was discovered by American and European settlers who were searching for a shortcut to the gold mines in California. The valley was given its name by this group, despite the fact that only one of their party died there. In the late 19th and early 20th century, many boomtowns were...
The Mojave ground squirrel (Xerospermophilus mohavensis) is native only to the Mojave Desert in California. Frank Stephens discovered this squirrel in 1886. Its range includes areas of Inyo, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Kern counties. It can be found in Joshua tree woodlands, saltbush scrub, Mojave mixed woody scrub, and saltbush scrub. The preferred habitat of the Mojave ground squirrel contains abundant forage like spiny hopsage and winterfat, which allows the squirrels to live...
Zebra-tailed lizards are lizards of the genus Callisaurus in the reptile order Sauamata. These lizards live in open desert with fairly hard-packed soil, scattered vegetation and/or scattered rocks, typically desert flats, washes and plains. They range from 2.5 to 4 in (60 to 100 mm) in length. These lizards are gray to sandy brown, usually with series of paired dark gray spots down the back that become black bands on the tail. The underside of tail is white with black bands. Males have a...
