20-foot boat that drifted to California is tsunami debris

The barnacle-covered boat with Japanese lettering spent 758 days at sea before it drifted onto a Northern California beach.

Nearly three weeks after the 20-foot boat washed ashore in Crescent City, about 20 miles south of the Oregon border, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration determined it was from the 2011 tsunami, the first confirmed debris to reach California. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tsunami-debris-20130427,0,3140009.story

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by Kate Mather

 

Supersonic flight brings Virgin Galactic closer to space tourism

With a sonic boom that resounded above the Mojave Desert, a rocket plane belonging to British billionaire Richard Branson's commercial space venture Virgin Galactic got one step closer to carrying tourists into space.

On Monday the company's SpaceShipTwo ignited its rocket motor in mid-flight for the first time and sped to Mach 1.2, faster than sound, reaching about 56,000 feet in altitude. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-virgin-galactic-20130430,0,507052.story

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by W.J. Hennigan

 

 

Officials battle giant, rat-sized snails in Florida

Florida has a snail problem. And it's a big one.

The southern part of the state is being invaded by the giant African land snail, a species of snail that can grow up to 8.5 inches in length and that snacks on stucco, car tires and 500 types of plants.

"Just about anything you grow in the garden is on their menu," said Denise Feiber, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services  http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-giant-african-land-snail-20130415,0,2472882.story

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by Deborah Netburn