17 Sep, 2017

Part 1: Alien Life Can we prove that life exists away from Earth? Science has gone a long way toward indicating the possibility. The Kepler spacecraft alone has confirmed 2,335 exoplanets of all sizes and configurations. Planet candidates -- not yet confirmed but highly possible sightings by Kepler -- number thousands more. Of the confirmed, more than 30 are known to be planets not larger than twice Earth’s size orbiting in the habitable zone of their stars. And it’s important to remember

07 Sep, 2017

Many horrific human disasters are happening as I write -- in the United States alone, monstrous forest fires are roaring through Washington, Oregon and Montana, killing people, threatening parks and destroying homes; Texas is reeling in the aftermath of the deadly Hurricane Harvey; Florida is evacuating cities for what is potentially an even more destructive hurricane, Irma, and two others are churning nearby. Wildfires in our region are so large that here in Salt Lake City I felt sick and my

27 Aug, 2017

Of the six total solar eclipses I've witnessed, this was by far the most beautiful. In the days preceding the eclipse of Monday, August 21, 2017, a unique mass migration poured into the zone of totality, a swatch stretching from Oregon to South Carolina -- a streak more than 2,600 miles long and only around 65 miles wide. How many millions made the trek or were lucky enough to experience totality from their homes, is anybody's guess. Here's one story of the adventure among millions. Predicted

17 Aug, 2017

Frisco Peak, the highest point of southern Utah’s San Francisco Mountains, pokes up 3,000 feet above the sagebrush desert. The heavily wooded mountaintop houses a big set of microwave repeater towers. Windswept bristlecone pines and other evergreens and shrubs lean around the peak, which reaches the elevation of 9,660 feet. Mountain range after mountain range recede to the horizon. But what brought Nightly News there wasn't the microwave towers or the spectacular Beaver County scenery. Jolting