desert news stories on Newser

Injured Hiker Survives 4 Days in Desert

Neal Colgrass — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 15:55:05 CDT

Maybe the sequel will be called 100 Hours ? Inspired by the cringe-inducing James Franco film 127 Hours, a North Carolina man went hiking in the Utah desert, broke his leg, and crawled toward his parked car for 4 days, the AP reports. Amos Wayne Richards, 64, is now recuperating...

Arizonan, 84, Survives 5-Day Desert Ordeal

Rob Quinn — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 01:21:52 CST

An 84-year-old Arizona man was found alive and well after spending 5 days stranded in the desert without water. Henry Morello, who is diabetic, got stuck in a ravine after taking a wrong turn while driving home from his favorite restaurant. He survived by drinking windshield wiper fluid and using...

Colossal Chinese Dustball Circles Earth in 13 Days

Rob Quinn — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:54:23 CDT

A dust cloud weighing nearly a million tons kicked into the atmosphere by a massive storm in China's Taklamakan desert circled the world almost intact in 13 days, the Telegraph reports. Scientists, who used NASA satellites to track the path of the dustball until it fell apart over the Pacific...

China Uses 'the Pill' to Stop Gerbil Overpopulation

Nick McMaster — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:55:31 CDT

Chinese officials have resorted to contraceptive pills to control the exploding gerbil population threatening a fragile desert ecosystem, the BBC reports. The government is placing feed pellets mixed with the medication by the gerbils’ burrows, which damage the roots of what plants survive there. Authorities have tried measures to boost...

Sahara Yields Ancient Cemetery

Rob Quinn — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:13:01 CDT

Explorers hunting for dinosaur bones have found a Stone Age cemetery deep in the Sahara desert, National Geographic reports. The team of paleontologists discovered bones from two separate ancient human cultures that lived in the region as long as 10,000 years ago, when monsoon rains turned parts of the...

Archeologists Uncover Treasures Via Google Earth

Sam Biddle — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 03:34:45 CDT

Google Earth has made detailed satellite imagery readily accessible to planetary voyeurs—but academics are also using it to get things done in ways never before possible. A team of university archeologists are uncovering hundreds of sites in the Afghan desert that might never have been discovered on foot, reports...

'Big Dig' Seeks More Manson Bodies

Rob Quinn — Tue, 20 May 2008 14:06:35 CDT

Investigators with high-tech equipment and shovels will be spending the next few days combing the Manson Family's desert hide-out for bodies, the Los Angeles Times reports. Rumors that murder victims are buried at the isolated ranch have persisted for decades. Police called in scientists after corpse-sniffing dogs became agitated at...

More Manson Victims?

Harry Kimball — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 09:37:59 CDT

A rag-tag group of forensic investigators, a gold miner, and a corpse-sniffing dog say they have turned up evidence of long suspected killings by the Manson family in the California desert, AP reports. Using the tools and techniques of chemistry and archeology, the group has concluded that there may be...

No Signals Mean Fossett Likely Dead: Experts

Wesley Oliver — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 12:35:16 CDT

As the search for Steve Fossett entered its 10th day, experts told the Telegraph the millionaire adventurer’s chances of survival were slim. Fossett hasn’t been seen or heard from since he left a Nevada airstrip Sept. 3, and authorities haven’t received signals from his plane or watch. Searchers would be...