Life in Pahrump

We have been enjoying beautiful spring weather here in Pahrump for the past few weeks. I've been using the spa & sauna in the fitness center alternating with the swimming pools, reading on my Kindle and socializing with our RV friends. Several of our friends from the Havasu Falls RV Resort followed us here to Pahrump and it has been fun having them here. They have all moved on now to their respective summer homes and we will be pulling out next Monday for our trip back to Michigan for the summer.
The last to leave were Hank and Eva Syberden from Cochran, Alberta who left this morning. Eva and Teddy share an interest in geology and Hank is a retired television engineer so we also have common interests in technology. Last Wednesday the four of us took a day trip to the old "ghost town" of Rhyolite, Nevada. Rhyolite is about 50 miles Northwest of here on the Eastern edge of Death Valley.
According to a volunteer host that we met there, in the early part of the last century it was once the third largest city in Nevada, teeming with people and homes, two banks and a railway station all supported by a gold mining operation that failed in the big market crash of the 20s. All that remains now are a few crumbling foundations, a preserved home made with glass bottles for walls, the aging railway depot and several standing building ruins including two large concrete edifices that are the remains of the two banks.

The Cook Bank, Rhyolite, NV

The old RR Station

The Bottle House

Standing at the entrance to the town is an odd collections of sculptures apparently put there by a frustrated  artist looking for a place to exhibit his art.

This strange collection of

ghostlike figures was titled

"The Last Supper"

And here Teddy seeks protection

from one of the "Disciples".

 

While I relax on this

giant ceramic couch.

We had a lot of fun and of course being "rockhounds", Teddy and Eva managed to bring back several pounds of rocks that they collected.  ;-)

Recent advances in science 2010

Click on date below for other advances in science

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Recent advances in science 2010

As the above picture shows, botanist at the Silverton Botanical Laboratory in Hoopoe, California have been hard at work attempting to modify the chromosomes of common fruits and vegetables to cause them to display UPC symbols on their skin when they ripen. According to Dr. Steven Washburn, Director of Operations, they have had some limited success on apples, pears, oranges and bananas and have now reached a point that will allow them to introduce graftings of some of these fruits to growers in selected areas. Washburn also said that one of the problems that they had to overcome was to modify the scanners to maintain accuracy as the fruits wrinkle and darken due to aging. He also admitted that they have not as of yet been successful with root crops such as potatoes or carrots. Peaches also proved to be problematical due to the fuzz. But he predicts that these problems will be solved by perhaps altering the outer peel (skin) to present a more acceptable surface. Also the color of some food crops might have to be changed to provide more contrast to scanners. Of course the public would have to be educated to accept the different appearance of their favorite fruits or vegetables. It is also not known what the public reaction to the system will be given the recent reluctance of some people to accept milk from genetically enhanced cows. Dr. Washburn stressed, however that this "in no way, affects the quality or taste of the product providing that the skin itself is discarded."

Only time will tell! ;-)