John & Susy Pint

 The full story of Saudi Arabia's longest cave, now under study by archaeologists (Photos by John Pint unless otherwise indicated. Adapted from chapter 17 of the book Underground in Arabia by John Pint) By John Pint Recently, Dr. Mathew Stewart and members of the Palaeodeserts Project published "First evidence for human occupation of a lava tube in Arabia: The archaeology of Umm Jirsan Cave." Here we find scientific results. But what is the story of the first explorations of this historic cave-- the human story? That story begins in 2007... After crawling around in viper-infested limestone caves in northern Saudi Arabia, it was time for a change and we decided to pay a visit to what I consider the most fascinating lava field in the whole country: Harrat Khaybar, home of the celebrated Black and White Volcanoes. I must confess we were partly motivated by hopes of finding a lava tube longer than Al Fahda Cave in Jordan which held the record for being the longest surveyed la...

 Por John Pint A José María Mercado no le cuesta mucho encontrar 50 voluntarios dispuestos a ir a capturar el puerto de San Blas. Pintura: Santana Campante Nuño. Poco después de que Miguel Hidalgo iniciara la lucha por la independencia de México de España en 1810, recibió un mensaje del cura del pueblo de Ahualulco, en Jalisco. El padre José María Mercado había sido influenciado por el pensamiento de Hidalgo y ahora solicitaba permiso para ayudar a la rebelión tomando el control de San Blas. Hoy San Blas, situado 90 kilómetros al norte de Puerto Vallarta, destaca por sus aves acuáticas y cocodrilos y, por desgracia, también por sus legiones de molestos jejenes. El puerto de San Blas. Hoy el faro vigila más pelícanos que barcos. Foto John Pint Durante muchos años, sin embargo, San Blas fue uno de los puertos más importantes de México en la costa del Pacífico porque su bahía era lo suficientemente profunda como para permitir la entrada de barcos muy grandes - lo suficientemente impor...

  The unique Great Wall of Pipes in Mexico's Primavera Forest... and how to get there. By John Pint Naturalist Rodigo Orozco with two nicely rounded pipes each measuring 45 centimeters in diameter. Many years ago, while hiking through the huge Primavera Forest—located immediately west of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second largest city—I stumbled upon a strange sight that I quickly found myself calling “The Great Wall.” It was a cliff face about 70 meters long and 25 high. Protruding from this high wall I could see the tips of hundreds of cylinders of rock, piled one upon the other. Many of these cylinders were perfectly round and about half a meter in diameter but among them were others much fatter. The Great Wall of Pipes is about 70 meters long and 25 high and is located at the northwest corner of Jalisco’s Primavera Forest. “What in the world is this?” I wondered. The Great Wall was not easy to get to, and after a while it faded from my memory, but very recently I discovered a relativ...

 Studies show leaf blowers pose unexpected health hazards, especially for Mexico By John Pint Mexican kids: what is in the air they’re breathing and what is their future? Photo: John Pint EN ESPAÑOL A recent analysis by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City indicates that the air and noise pollution from gas leaf blowers (GLBs) seriously impact respiratory health and are also associated with problems like cancer, heart disease and dementia—and that children, in particular, are highly susceptible to these hazards. A separate study shows how extremely tiny particles of metal from small gas engines can be carried directly to the brain via the olfactory nerve, producing the features of autism, attention-deficit disorder, and schizophrenia. These studies suppose seasonal use of GLBs to blow leaves off paths, not the heavy and frequent use now in vogue throughout Mexico. The toxic cloud from a leaf blower can remain in the air for hours or even days. The M...

Estudios demuestran que las sopladoras de hojas suponen peligros inesperados para la salud, especialmente para México Por John Pint Niños mexicanos: ¿qué hay en el aire que respiran y cuál es su futuro? Foto: John Pint Un reciente análisis de la Escuela de Medicina Icahn del Hospital Mount Sinai de Nueva York indica que la contaminación atmosférica y acústica de las sopladoras de hojas a gasolina (SHG) afecta gravemente a la salud respiratoria y también está asociada a problemas como el cáncer, las cardiopatías y la demencia, y que los niños, en particular, son muy susceptibles a estos peligros. Otro estudio muestra cómo partículas extremadamente diminutas de metal procedentes de pequeños motores de gasolina pueden ser transportadas directamente al cerebro a través del nervio olfativo, produciendo los rasgos del autismo, el trastorno por déficit de atención y la esquizofrenia. Estos estudios suponen un uso estacional de las SHG para soplar las hojas de los caminos, no el uso intenso y ...

Guadalajara is where all five of Mexico’s ecosystems come together--with amazing results By John Pint Guadalajara's Magic Circle:  by J. Pint after Rhoda & Burton For a while I’ve been asking myself how it’s possible that I keep finding new natural wonders to write about after 25 years of living near Guadalajara. So, one day I sat down with a map and drew a circle around the city, with a radius of around 250 kilometers, nicely encompassing the places a citizen of Guadalajara could conveniently drive to in one day. As I looked over what was included in that circle, I realized it was filled with attractive, picturesque, exciting, charming, even amazing sites. There was Lake Chapala, biggest lake in the country, the Primavera pine and oak forest, the live and fiery Volcán de Fuego, the white sand beaches of the Pacific Coast, huge, deep canyons carved by the Santiago River, limestone mountains supporting incredibly rich cloud forests like El Cerro de Manantlán, the mangrove swamps...