Other Sites and Blogs

We can’t hope to bring you every story, but there are plenty of caving and mining blogs out there you can browse at your leisure – so have a read through some of the best! If you know of a blog you’d like us to add to this page please let us know.

Clicking on a story will open a new tab and take you to the original story.

 

Reduced rainfall in the northern tropics linked to industrial emissions, research suggests

Scientists have produced a rainfall record strongly suggesting that man-made industrial emissions have contributed to less rainfall in the northern tropics. The research team reconstructed rainfall patterns stretching back more than 450 years by analys ...
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Research could improve nuclear power plant safety, and stop your kettle furring up

Taking inspiration from nature, researchers have created a versatile model to predict how stalagmite-like structures form in nuclear processing plants – as well as how lime scale builds up in kettles ...
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A kingdom of cave beetles found in Southern China

A team of scientists specializing in cave biodiversity from the South China Agricultural University unearthed a treasure trove of rare blind cave beetles. The description of seven new species of underground Trechinae beetles attests for the Du'an karst ...
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Brazilian zoologists discovered the first obligate cave-dwelling flatworm in South America

Typical cave-dwelling organisms, unpigmented and eyeless, were discovered in a karst area located in northeastern Brazil. The organisms were assigned to a new genus and species of freshwater flatworm and may constitute an oceanic relict. They represent ...
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The Gouffre Berger and Other Summer Adventures

I spent a week on the joint Red Rose and CSCA (army caving club) expedition  back in August. Only being there for the first week of the expedition, I was always unlikely to have a chance of getting to the bottom, although frustratingly as it turne ...
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Microbes can create dripstones in caves

Scientists have found that microscopic organisms can create dripstones in caves. The research illustrates how biological life can influence the formation of Earth's geology -- and the same may be happening right now on other planets. ...
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New species of beetle discovered in the world’s deepest cave

Cave beetles are one of the most iconic species found in subterranean habitats. They were historically the first living organisms described by science that are adapted to the conditions of hypogean or subterranean life. The unusual habitat of the Krube ...
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Magnetometer Pot

28 June 2014On my only previous visit to Magnetometer Pot we'd managed to miss all the good bits by sliding down a tiny slot quite close to the entrance and spending a couple of fruitless hours exploring some small and scrotty passages, so I was glad o ...
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Identifying opposite patterns of climate change: Hydrologic seesaw over the past 550,000 years

New research overturns common ideas about the different types of climate changes between the middle latitude areas of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. ...
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Muon detector could help UK reduce carbon emissions

A specialist detector which is set to play a fundamental part in helping the UK reduce its carbon emissions is being developed. Muon detectors which exploit cosmic-ray muons, a natural radiation to see through kilometers of rock -- in a similar way to ...
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Hoosier cavefish: New species from caves of southern Indiana has an anus right behind its head

A new eyeless cavefish is described from Indiana and named after the Indiana Hoosiers. It is the first new cavefish species described from the US in 40 years. Notably, it has an anus right behind its head, and the females brood their young in their gil ...
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Ancient giant sperm from tiny shrimps discovered at Riversleigh World Heritage Fossil Site

Preserved giant sperm from tiny shrimps that lived about 17 million years ago have been discovered in Queensland, Australia. They are the oldest fossilized sperm ever found in the geological record. The shrimps lived in a pool in an ancient cave inhabi ...
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Corn dwarfed by temperature dip suitable for growing in mines, caves

Lowering temperatures for two hours each day reduces the height of corn without affecting its seed yield, a study shows, a technique that could be used to grow crops in controlled-environment facilities in caves and former mines. Raising the crops in i ...
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Can you cut rope with a household jet washer?

After the last blog post where I tried to compare washing a caving rope in a washing machine to jet washing I thought I’d try to see how much damage I could do to a rope with a jet washer. … Continue reading → ...
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Thoughts on jet washing caving ropes

I thought I’d ponder a little bit about the ‘myth’ of jet washers and caving ropes. I say myth because it appears that there is no real test data out there in the caving community. Recent caving forum discussions about … Continue reading → ...
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“Did I Mention I’ve got lurgy?”

15/03/2014 - The Psychotronic Strangeways, Daren Cilau, with Tom and EmmaI'm lying on the sofa feeling quite broken typing this on Sunday evening. I guess that's what happens if you go caving in Daren Cilau when you aren't very well (actually I think t ...
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Lurking in the darkness of Chinese caves, five new species of armored spiders come to light

Armored spiders are medium to small species that derive their name from the complex pattern of the plates covering their abdomen strongly resembling body armor. Lurking in the darkness of caves In Southeast China, scientists discover and describe five ...
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Little Foot is oldest complete Australopithecus, new stratigraphic research shows

After 13 years of meticulous excavation of the nearly complete skeleton of the Australopithecus fossil named Little Foot, South African and French scientists have now convincingly shown that it is probably around 3 million years old. ...
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