Free Republic

It’s a popular upgrade for new homes, but could your granite countertop actually be a hazard to your health? The family who agreed to have their granite countertop tested for radiation wants you to know the answer to that question. They asked that their identity not be revealed, but they would like to share what was found at their home. “We’re living in a world that has radiation in it. And there’s nothing that you can do to stop it. However, that’s above background. That is an enhanced source of radiation,” said Bill Llope. Llope is a Rice University physicist....

Half-size: click for full-size. Found this with a search initiated on the term "exposed pluton". Looking Glass Rock turned up in that search, so I searched more until I found this picture.

Want your road to riches to remain paved with gold? Then you'd better pave your sidewalks with granite. Beverly Hills...City Manager Roderick Wood wants to start jack-hammering the dull concrete sidewalks along Rodeo Drive, ..home to ...Prada, Gucci, Cartier and Tiffany — and replace them with glimmering Kenoran Sage granite pavers. Never mind that the city just wrapped up a $16-million, two-year streetscape makeover that included new concrete sidewalks. ...."The greatest peril in today's luxury market is for one to rely on history only to become history." ... Wood said. .. But ...a rocky reception...there is the price. The city...

Enigmatic discoveryThe discovery of a red granite head of a king with Nubian features in the precinct of Amenhotep III's temple on Luxor's West Bank has puzzled Egyptologists, writes Nevine El-Aref "This really is a very surprising discovery," Hourig Sourouzian, director of the German conservation project for the Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III's temple, told Al-Ahram Weekly. She explained that since excavation of the site began in 1998 the mission had consistently stumbled upon homogenous New Kingdom statuaries until last week, when a well-preserved red granite royal head with Kushite features -- full cheeks and bulging lips -- was...

Sometimes I don't know how these things happen. I was wondering what I should post as the picture this week, and the phrase "needle's eye" occurred to me. I visualized a vague image of a formation called the Needle's Eye from my youth on a family trip. So I searched, and I found the "Needle's Eye" in the Black Hills. This is probably the one I'm remembering, since we took a trip to the Black Hills when I was a kid, and it seems to match my vague memory. (See the first comment for the challenge.) For a different perspective,...

THE STONED COUNTER By Henry Yang Our 13 year-old daughter Kelsey meets the legal definition of insolent, and so parenting this teenager is less formidable a challenge than taming Fallujah. During frequent internecine conflicts with her mother, I can almost envision Nancy radioing for back-up. During a family excursion to Wisconsin, The Impudent One prowls around Nancy's childhood bedroom where she discovers a high school diary. Like an oil strike in Qatar, this is a rich find. While Kelsey shows an indifference to most matters academic, her concentration and focus are fully brought to bear as she delights in reading:...

Link post: please direct any discussion of this image in the thread below. This link is posted in News/Activism to alert FReepers with a possible interest in the subject. Geology Picture of the Week, February 1-7, 2004

Not the best quality picture, but an interesting landform.

Black pharaoh trove uncovered The Nubian kings ruled 2,500 years ago Monday, 20 January, 2003, 17:47 GMT By Ishbel Matheson A team of French and Swiss archaeologists working in the Nile Valley have uncovered ancient statues described as sculptural masterpieces in northern Sudan. The archaeologists from the University of Geneva discovered a pit full of large monuments and finely carved statues of the Nubian kings known as the black pharaohs. The Swiss head of the archaeological expedition told the BBC that the find was of worldwide importance. The black pharaohs, as they were known, ruled over a mighty empire...