July 4 – Dirty Superb @ Central PA 4thFest (State College, PA)

July 9 & 10 – Mysterytrain @ Solar Shakedown (Tipton, PA)

July 16 & 17 – Mysterytrain @ Cosmic Jam (Millmont, PA)

July 31 – Mysterytrain @ Campout at the Berry Farm (Bellefonte, PA)

We learned last weekend that Sunsational Campground in Millmont is one of the region’s best kept secrets. Great stage, great food, great atmosphere, great staff…if you missed the last festival, be sure to make it to Cosmic Jam!

Many attempted resolutions have been proposed to this problem, but none has provided a complete solution for a warm, wet early Mars. In a recent paper published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, on which I am a co-author, we argue that greenhouse warming by sulfur dioxide could not have kept early Mars warm enough. Sulfur dioxide has been suggested in the literature because it is an effective greenhouse gas, similar to carbon dioxide or methane. However, we show that atmospheric photochemistry with sulfur dioxide leads to the production of sulfate aerosols in the upper atmosphere that absorb incoming sunlight and cool the surface. Thus, sulfur dioxide may have caused net cooling on early Mars, rather than warming.

We’re still trying other mechanisms to explain a warm, wet early Mars. Most likely, it was some combination of processes, including several greenhouse gases and warming by clouds. A negative result for sulfur dioxide is not as exciting as a solution to the early Mars problem, but it’s still a small step forward.

Jun 4 & 5 – Mysterytrain @ Depot Fest (Tipton, PA)

Jun 11 & 12 – Mysterytrain @ Sunrize Festival (Altoona, PA)

Jun 19 – Mysterytrain @ Caterpillar Cafe (Lewisburg, PA)

Jun 25 & 26 Mysterytrain @ Looney Moon Jam (Millmont, PA)

Jun 27 – Mysterytrain @ Ye Old Meeting Place (Milton, PA)

I can’t wait to check out the new stage at Sunsational Campground in Millmont. I’m also looking forward to Phish at Hershey Park on the 12th!

May 1 – Mysterytrain @ Party on the Stone 3 (Rochester Mills, PA)

May 7 – Mysterytrain @ Caterpillar Cafe (Lewisburg, PA)

May 8 – Mysterytrain @ Magoo’s (Cresson, PA)

May 14 – Mysterytrain @ 30 Something (Altoona, PA)

May 15 – Mysterytrain @ Spring Campout (Tipton, PA)

May 16 – Mysterytrain @ Blair County Arts Festival (Altoona, PA)

May 22 – Mysterytrain @ Jordan’s Bar & Grill (Ridgway, PA)

May 29 – Mysterytrain @ Castle Pub (Ebensburg, PA)

The weather is warming up, so break out the tent and join Mysterytrain for our first campout of the year!

Voting is open until April 20, and each person is allowed one vote per day, so you can vote often. First place gets a cash award and an internship with Scientific Blogging, so I’m crossing my fingers!