The 8th annual GeoCare Basket Auction will be held Friday, April 6 in the Geophysical Institute Globe Room. All proceeds will go to the GeoCare Employee Assistance Fund. The suggested general basket theme is Springtime (think fresh, flowers, green, etc.), although you may choose to pick your own theme.

Tourist Trap, a novel by North Pole resident and former Geophysical Institute researcher sbowling [at] mosquitonet [dot] com (Sue Ann Bowling), was named best Fiction Book of the Year by Reader Views. 

By nrozell [at] gi [dot] alaska [dot] edu (Ned Rozell)

After reading a recent column about whales’ ability to smell, a few people wanted to know more about the same sense in birds.

"Every bird that’s been studied has a sense of smell,” said Julie Hagelin, a biologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks who has pondered that overlooked ability in birds for years.