texascavers Digest 4 Aug 2011 13:06:39 -0000 Issue 1359
Topics (messages 18268 through 18277):
UT Grotto Meeting - Wed Aug 3
18268 by: Gary Franklin
Texas Cavers Reunion!
18269 by: Allan B. Cobb
Chile's Marble Cathedral
18270 by: Lee H. Skinner
Re: NSS Convention Pix, Reports, Thoughts, and Detritus
18271 by: Mark.Alman.L-3com.com
two interesting items from this week's Nature magazine
18272 by: Diana Tomchick
Re: NSS BOOKSTORE 50% Off Inventory Reduction Sale- All Guidebooks Half Off!
18273 by: germanyj.aol.com
OT- Austinites, here come the brown outs
18274 by: wesley s
18275 by: Fritz Holt
UK Caver looking to explore Texas cave.
18276 by: Robert Tait
18277 by: Andy Gluesenkamp
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--- Begin Message ---
Howdy Caver,
You are cordially invited to attend the Underground Texas Grotto meeting.
Underground Texas Grotto meeting on Wednesday August 3, 2011 from 7:45 P.M.
- 9:00 P.M.
University of Texas Campus in 2.48 Painter Hall (156 West 24th Street,
Austin TX 78712) http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/pai.html
Saj Zappitello will be presenting-
Cave Women Extravaganza: Caving In the High Guads Region
Six Texas cave women participated in the Ladies Caving Weekend May 2011 in
the High Guads region near Carlsbad, NM. There's good caving up in those
mountains. Saj will share her experiments with amateur cave photography in
these fun and beautiful caves. Come spend some time with Austin Texas
Cavers and visit with friends of the extended caver community.
For information on Underground Texas Grotto activities, please see
www.utgrotto.org
Officer contact, trip reports, event calendar, and new caver training links
to beginner trips or vertical rope training are available.
Before the meeting, take advantage of Sao Paulo www.saopaulos.net for
happy hour specials. This area is the best place to park and meet folks
walking over to the meeting. Then after the official meeting, we continue
with the decades long tradition to reconvene for burgers, beer, and tall
tales of caving at Posse East. www.posse-east.com
The UT Grotto needs you, the caver with photos and a story to share about
your adventures, scientific research, or something else really cool. Contact
me.
Sincerely,
Gary Franklin
UT Grotto Vice Chair & Program Organizer
512-585-6057
[email protected]
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--- Begin Message ---
Howdy y’all!
Now that the NSS Convention in Colorado is over, it is time to think about the
next big event—the Texas Cavers Reunion!
This year, we will be back at Flat Creek Ranch near Johnson City. You can find
more information and directions at www.oztotl.com/tcr. Mark the weekend of
October 14-16 on your calendars and come on out for all the fun we have to
offer. We will have competitions, vendors, and all the usual fun. We have
even lined up the Terminal Syphons for music on Saturday night.
We are hoping for rain between now and TCR so that we have water to swim in.
Also, it is usually much cooler in October.
I hope to see y’all there,
Allan
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--- Begin Message ---
Beautiful marble caves in Chile:
http://tinyurl.com/4ybxmpm
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--- Begin Message ---
All,
Photo-wise, I have had a great response to my request and a "much
gracias" to Bill Bentley, Jon Cradit, Pete Lindsley, Mark Minton, and
David Ochel for all of the superb photos they have sent my way from the
NSS Convention.
I was wondering if anyone had a Convention report or summary in a
nutshell, or just your random comments, likes, dislikes, etc. that I
could use to accompany these wonderful pictures.
Get 'em to me soon, as I'm beginning to pull together the next issue of
that always monumental masterpiece ode to Lone Star spelunking (ooh,
there's that word!), The TEXAS CAVER!
Thanks!
Mark
At 03:57 PM 7/25/2011, you wrote:
>All,
>
>Jon Cradit was gracious enough to send me a slew of pix from the NSS
>Convention.
>
>To all of the other cavers that attended, I would welcome anything you
>could send me that is fit to print and/or report in the next issue of
>The TEXAS CAVER.
>
>Don't be shy. Send it in! The higher the resolution, the better.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Mark
Please reply to [email protected]
Permanent email address is [email protected]
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
The cover of this week's Nature magazine is a dramatic photo of a vampire bat
in flight.
1) Heat-thirsty bats
A common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) in flight, photographed in Mexico.
These blood-feeding bats have evolved the ability to detect infrared (IR)
radiation as a means of locating hot spots on warm-blooded prey. Only three
other vertebrate lineages have this 'sixth' sense: three distantly related
groups of snakes (pit vipers, pythons and boas). In all cases, the IR sensor is
a highly specialized facial structure called the pit organ. In the snakes, a
non-heat-sensitive ion channel (vertebrate TRPA1) has become an infrared
detector. As reported in this issue, vampire bats use a slightly different
molecular mechanism whereby RNA splicing generates a variant of the ubiquitous
TRPV1 heat-sensitive channel that is tuned to lower temperatures. Comparison of
this channel's gene sequence with the equivalent in other mammals lends support
to the hypothesis based on molecular data that these bats are evolutionarily
grouped with horses, dogs, cows, moles and dolphins (in the Laurasiatheria
superorder), rather than with humans, monkeys and rodents (in the
Euarchontoglires) as originally proposed on anatomical criteria.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v476/n7358/full/nature10245.html
2) Gene pool offers way to save Mexican oasis
Commercializing genetic wealth will test biodiversity treaty
This is a news article about the groundwater depletion in the Cuatro Cienegas
basin, and the efforts of researchers to partner with local Mexican farmers to
protect the area via potential commercialization of biological materials
discovered by the scientists.
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110803/full/476019a.html
--------------
The second item should be accessible to anyone, the first article will require
a subscription to access. Contact me directly if you would like to read it.
Diana
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Diana R. Tomchick
Associate Professor
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Department of Biochemistry
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Rm. ND10.214B
Dallas, TX 75390-8816, U.S.A.
Email: [email protected]
214-645-6383 (phone)
214-645-6353 (fax)
________________________________
UT Southwestern Medical Center
The future of medicine, today.
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--- Begin Message ---
-----Original Message-----
From: National Speleological Society Bookstore
<[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Wed, Aug 3, 2011 1:26 pm
Subject: 50% Off Inventory Reduction Sale- All Guidebooks Half Off!
50% Off ALL Convention Merchandise*
Now @ the NSS Bookstore
Out with the old and in with the NEW!
We are running out of space in our Bookstore! Help make some
room...buy NSS Convention Merchandise!
From now until September 30th, Convention Merchandise will be 50%
off.
This offer includes all Convention guidebooks,clothing,
proceedings, pins, patches, etc.
*Offer excludes 2011 Convention Merchandise.
Did you know that you can now shop the NSS Bookstore 24/7 on the
Web?
http://www.NSSBookstore.org
Click to view this email in a browser
If you no longer wish to receive these emails, please reply to
this message with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line or simply click on the
following link: Unsubscribe
National Speleological Society Bookstore
2813 cave ave
Huntsville, AL 35810
Ph: 256-852-1300 or 256-851-9241 Fax
Read the VerticalResponse marketing policy.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
http://www.emergencyemail.org/newsemergency/anmviewer.asp?a=1302&z=29
"If the capacity shortage is not relieved by the contract demand response,
ERCOT escalates to a Power Emergency (Energy Emergency Alert Level 3) and will
instruct utilities to reduce demand on the grid by conducting temporary outages
at the local distribution level. These controlled temporary interruptions of
electrical service ??" or rotating outages ??" typically last 15-45 minutes
before being rotated to a different neighborhood."
Granated they are only predicting to go to level one today possibly level two,
but we have all of Aug to go and a bunch of soft newcomers living in Texas for
thier first summer. Fun Fact-- [Did you know that averaged over an annual
sample period over 1000 people move to Texas each day.]
stay cool y'all,
Wes~
References:
http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2010/jan/13/rick-perry/perry-says-1000-people-move-texas-daily/
http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2011/07/08/forbes-calls-austin-americas-no-1.html
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
I have been a few other places but would never want to live anywhere but in
Texas --- but not in Houston.
Fritz
________________________________
From: wesley s [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, August 03, 2011 4:22 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Texascavers] OT- Austinites, here come the brown outs
http://www.emergencyemail.org/newsemergency/anmviewer.asp?a=1302&z=29
"If the capacity shortage is not relieved by the contract demand response,
ERCOT escalates to a Power Emergency (Energy Emergency Alert Level 3) and will
instruct utilities to reduce demand on the grid by conducting temporary outages
at the local distribution level. These controlled temporary interruptions of
electrical service ??" or rotating outages ??" typically last 15-45 minutes
before being rotated to a different neighborhood."
Granated they are only predicting to go to level one today possibly level two,
but we have all of Aug to go and a bunch of soft newcomers living in Texas for
thier first summer. Fun Fact-- [Did you know that averaged over an annual
sample period over 1000 people move to Texas each day.]
stay cool y'all,
Wes~
References:
http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2010/jan/13/rick-perry/perry-says-1000-people-move-texas-daily/
http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2011/07/08/forbes-calls-austin-americas-no-1.html
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--- Begin Message ---
A buddy of mine from the UK will be in Austin for a couple of weeks.
Grahm Is experienced in wet, and vertical caves, but left his kit on the other
side of the pond, and will have to borrow gear.
Willing to help survey.
Please, don't make me send him to explore Airman's alone.
His email is on the cc line.
Thanks!
Rob (now) from Upstate NY
>
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
There's an overnight/survey trip/birthday celebration at CM Cave on the 20th of
August. Contact Terry Holsinger.
Andy
Andrew G. Gluesenkamp, Ph.D.
700 Billie Brooks Drive
Driftwood, Texas 78619
(512) 799-1095
[email protected]
--- On Wed, 8/3/11, Robert Tait <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Robert Tait <[email protected]>
Subject: [Texascavers] UK Caver looking to explore Texas cave.
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Cc: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>,
"[email protected]" <[email protected]>, "[email protected]"
<[email protected]>
Date: Wednesday, August 3, 2011, 8:11 PM
A buddy of mine from the UK will be in Austin for a couple of weeks.
Grahm Is experienced in wet, and vertical caves, but left his kit on the other
side of the pond, and will have to borrow gear.
Willing to help survey.
Please, don't make me send him to explore Airman's alone.
His email is on the cc line.
Thanks!
Rob (now) from Upstate NY
>
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