Don Garlick

How do the high crowns of redwoods obtain the water required for their photosynthesis? The pressure of the atmosphere (15 psi) is only sufficient to push water as high as 10 meters (33 ft.) into a vacuum, yet redwoods can reach 115 meters (379 ft.) into the sky! How is that possible? Osmosis is significant […]

These diagrams are your key to unlocking the secrets of our local seismic activity. They show fault boundaries between rigid rock plates moving over warmer, weaker rocks below. For example, the San Andreas Fault is the boundary between the Pacific and American plates. The Pacific Plate extends from here to Japan, and the American Plate […]

This is a story of accidental scientific rediscovery. The photo above shows a common coastal perennial plant named Cow Parsnip. Last spring I picked its large leaves to mulch redwood seedlings. During the next few days I watched a mild redness on my arms develop into a handsome tan. Discovery by accident is termed “serendipity,” […]

Wave-polished translucent agates, as in the bottom photo, are found on Agate Beach and northward by eager collectors who brave the hazards of being swept out to sea by rogue waves. Agates consist of microscopically crystallized silica (silicon dioxide), called “chalcedony.” They often show growth bands. They originate in the hellish conditions of volcanic eruptions, […]

Q: What do banana slugs know about reproduction? A: Our familiar banana slug, Ariolimax californicus, denizen of moist forest floors, has solved one of the major paradoxes of life — sexual reproduction. As practiced by the great majority of animals, sex carries many costs, one being that only females produce offspring while the males simply […]

This photograph by Ron LeValley shows a pelican gliding just above the surface of Humboldt Bay. It is not doing so to spy fish, which is better achieved at a higher altitude, but to take advantage of the so-called "ground effect," also experienced by pilots as they approach a runway. Let us first consider a […]