Anchorage Daily News

NED ROZELL

Satellites track swan migrations

A couple of weeks ago, at a time I assumed most migrating birds were long gone, a flock of swans flew overhead in a formation that resembled a check-mark headed out of Alaska. As the birds silently wafted out of sight, I wondered where they might be headed.

Reading the North

New books of interest to Alaskans

NED ROZELL

Do hares medicate with dirt?

When she began studying snowshoe hares in the foothills of the Brooks Range 12 years ago, Donna DiFolco heard something new from Wiseman local Jack Reakoff.

Reading the North

New books of interest to Alaskans

NED ROZELL

Civil War arrived in Alaska -- a bit late

About 150 years ago, a few days after summer solstice, the gray skies above the Diomede Islands were heavy with smoke from whaling ships set ablaze by Confederate sailors who didn't know the Civil War had ended.

Reading the North

New books of interest to Alaskans

New postage stamp marks Alaska statehood

New postage announced for the coming year included commemorative stamps marking Alaska and Oregon statehood, lunar new year -- the year of the Ox -- and a postal card marking the bicentennial of Miami University of Ohio.

NED ROZELL

Taste tests might spur more oil in pink salmon cans

A steady flow of twenty-somethings wearing jeans and backpacks entered a room that smelled slightly of fish. They sat down in front of paper plates holding three helpings of pink salmon. The crowd -- mostly college students -- had responded to a sign outside: "Do you like to eat fish?"

Reading the North

New books of interest to Alaskans

Plummeting toward Earth, meteors spark Alaska light show

Want to wish upon a falling star? You might be able to do so this morning as Earth makes its regularly scheduled pass through the heart of the Orionid meteor belt, the celestial residue of Halley's comet.

Photos: Astrophotography

NED ROZELL

Where are Alaska bats in winter?

Eileen Weatherby of Fairbanks wrote in mid-September that her cat carried in a surprise one morning. Instead of the usual vole, her cat had captured a bat.

Reading the North

New books of interest to Alaskans

Reading the North

New books of interest to Alaskans

Lab studied northern conditions

"Rectal Temperature of the Working Sled Dog."

Nancy Lord named state writer laureate

Author Nancy Lord of Homer has been selected as the new Alaska writer laureate.

Reading the North

New books of interest to Alaskans

NED ROZELL

Intriguing tidbits from a science conference

Some notes from the pad, scribbled during the 2008 Arctic Science Conference held in Fairbanks Sept. 15-17:

Reading the North

New books of interest to Alaskans

NED ROZELL

Scientists see blasted, ash-dusted new Okmok

Jessica Larsen knows an island in Alaska's Aleutian chain so well that you could drop her off blindfolded anywhere on its eastern lobe and she'd know where she is.

Reading the North

New books of interest to Alaskans

NED ROZELL

Whither the ice worms? Team offers up a bounty

A five-man team just returned from a walking tour of Alaska Range glaciers where they had hoped to spot the mythical ice worm, a fingernail-clipping size creature that lives on ice and dies if away from it. After 11 days of moving, they found no worms.