Mark‭

There are three fluids in your car that contain water: the battery electrolyte, the washer fluid, and the coolant. Everything else is hydrocarbon-based, and in a properly-functioning car, contains...

posted 7y ago by Mark‭

It depends on the nature of the deficiency. The most common form, red-green colorblindness, isn't a problem: I'm not aware of any situation where color coding is used to convey safety-critical inf...

posted 10y ago by Mark‭

In the Grand Canyon, it's because it's easier for a human to get off the trail than it is for a mule. I suspect the same reasoning applies in most places.

posted 10y ago by Mark‭

For any reasonable depth (ie. something you'd be willing to dig without specialized machinery), a deeper hole makes for a more stable temperature. The extra mass of soil surrounding your cellar ac...

posted 10y ago by Mark‭

For reasonable values of "trail", "parallels", "navigable", and "river", the Washington and Idaho Centennial Trails run 59 miles from Higgens Point on Lake Coeur d'Alene to Sontag Park on the Spoka...

posted 9y ago by Mark‭

The big risk in geyser basins is that you can't see what's going on underground. There are often latent hot springs or fumaroles: areas where hot water or steam has eroded the ground almost all th...

posted 9y ago by Mark‭

I'm not familiar with the Wichita refuge; my bison experience comes from the Yellowstone area. That said, I would never describe bison as being particularly "active": they spend most of their time...

posted 9y ago by Mark‭

Look under the bridge for cracked or rotted beams -- in particular, cracking in the middle of the bridge, or rotten wood at the ends. If the bridge is more sophisticated than a deck nailed on top ...

posted 8y ago by Mark‭

While out hiking today, I came across a spot where someone had fired off a couple dozen shotgun shells, then left the spent cartridges lying around. Dealing with those was simple (put them in my t...

1 answer  ·  posted 8y ago by Mark‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by System‭

The easy technique is to simply hold the spear in your hand with the tip under the water and stab the fish. Once your spear enters the water, refraction has identical effects on your view of the s...

posted 8y ago by Mark‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by System‭

At a guess? A change in architecture. Pigeons favor cliff ledges as nesting sites; they'll happily build nests on window ledges as a substitute for natural cliffs. Sparrows favor cavities: tree ...

posted 8y ago by Mark‭

The presence of a ford in a river is a local condition: it's a point in the flow where the river has leveled out, producing a wide, slow, shallow flow. In addition, a ford generally has a hard bot...

posted 7y ago by Mark‭

It's called the "mountain climber's weight loss program": eat everything you want, and climb two mountains a week. Serious rock climbers aren't fat because they can't eat enough to get fat. Climb...

posted 7y ago by Mark‭

The crime rate on most trails is 0, due to the very low frequency of use. The trails that have had a crime committed on them tend to have a very high crime rate, again due to the low frequency of ...

posted 7y ago by Mark‭

Most of the time, the "Known to the State of California" warning is an incantation to ward off lawyers. That's not true for fuel. White gas/Coleman fuel/whatever-it's-called has significant amoun...

posted 6y ago by Mark‭