Tearing the Nation Apart

/
Tearing the Nation Apart

Sorry to say it, but New Mexico is tearing the country apart.

Or, to be more precise, it’s stretching it apart. We’re talking plate tectonics, in which slabs of the Earth’s rigid lithosphere drift atop the stiff-but-fluid mantle, gradually rearranging the oceans and continents. What’s so special about the Rio Grande compared to other rivers around the nation?

Read More

Round Balloons in a Square Box

/
Round Balloons in a Square Box

I love waking up in Albuquerque on clear mornings: a glance out my west-facing window often reveals a couple hot air balloons dotting the horizon.

Albuquerque is the self-proclaimed “Ballooning Capital of the World,” and ballooning is popular here year-round thanks to well-suited weather. Cloudless skies and mild temperatures are common across New Mexico, but the terrain around this city in particular sometimes shapes a favorable wind pattern known as the “Box.” What’s so special about the air above Duke City that attracts balloonists by the dozens?

Read More

Into Thin Air

/
Into Thin Air

At an average of 5,300 feet above sea level—5,352 at the Sunport, as the ABQ airport is adorably named—Albuquerque is officially a mile-high city. That means the atmosphere is pretty thin around here.

After all, it’s common knowledge that the higher you go, the thinner it gets: skiers get light-headed around Boulder (10,000 feet), climbers wear oxygen tanks up Mount Everest (29,000 feet), and airplane cabins are pressurized to keep us conscious (36,000 feet).

But can you explain why? Why isn’t the planet wrapped in a blanket of evenly-dense air from the ground to the edge of space?

Read More