Blog
My undergraduate life on 100 Acre Pond
Life on Hundred Acre Pond During his junior and senior years at the University of Rhode Island, Glenn Thompson traded the typical college dorm for something far more atmospheric: a small cottage perched on the edge of Hundred Acre Pond. He shared it with three...
The Secret Architects of Helictites: How Microbial Life Shapes Cave Formations
The match stick gives a size ref for this cluster of helectites.Helictites are among the most mysterious and visually striking formations found in caves. Unlike stalactites and stalagmites, which grow predictably downward or upward due to gravity, helictites seem to...
The Early Days of Underwater Cave Photography
In the early 1970s, underwater cave photography wasn’t a discipline—it was an experiment unfolding in real time. Every dive was a test, every image a gamble. Before digital sensors, autofocus, or dependable underwater electronics, photographers had only mechanical...
Into the Absolute Darkness: The first ever scuba dive into Blanchard Spring
For decades, the residents of Fifty-Six, Arkansas, were captivated by a geological puzzle. They knew that the water flowing from Blanchard Spring originated a mile away within the Blanchard Springs Caverns, but a simple test in the 1950s—tossing corn husks into the...
The Secret History in the Stalagmites: Dating the Ozarks
Stalagmites are more than just pretty cave formations; they are ancient time-travelers. Scientists have figured out how to use the "radioactive clocks" hidden inside them to determine exactly how old they are and how the environment has changed over hundreds of...




