Rocks

In a modern retelling of one of Aesop's fables, British researchers have shown that members of the crow family can use tools to retrieve a worm that they wouldn't otherwise be able to reach. In "The Crow and the Pitcher," Aesop wrote of a thirsty bird confronted with a half-full pitcher of water. When the bird discovered that the water level was too low to reach, he dropped stones in to raise the level until it was high enough to quench his thirst. Aptly named zoologist Christopher David Bird of University of Cambridge showed that rooks, members of the crow family, could perform the same task, dropping stones in a tall glass beaker to retrieve a floating wax worm.

PALO ALTO -- Rock samples extracted from two miles deep within the San Andreas fault -- the first samples of their kind -- are a breakthrough that could provide new understanding of how earthquakes function, scientists said Thursday. Earthquake scientists from Stanford University and the United States Geological Survey said that the minerals taken from the core of the active fault could help scientists learn what triggers an earthquake and whether quakes can be predicted.

Paul Chambers' quarry at the base of the Cabinet Mountains is a hard-rock bazaar. Choose your look: Smooth slabs? Stackable stones? How about some football-size rock ornaments? In the hands of designers, the rock will become garden tables, waterfall spillways, rustic fireplaces or exterior facades. Chambers and his customers see those and more in the stone his crew extracts and moves to the outdoor showroom. He is in a growth industry.

In a man's lifetime, he finds he has little influence over two important things: growing older and choosing his neighbors. Usually these two items run separately, but on occasion they come together in unexpected ways. A little more than a year ago, my wife and I were in one of those situations. We were in a local sports arena standing at the edge of the crowd when a security guard came over. "Sir," he said, "no offense, but do you know where you are?" "Sure," I said.

The U.S. military's culture of silence about troops' mental health had finally begun to change. In the early years of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the various branches had been roundly criticized for failing to adequately address post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and other psychiatric problems. Responding to that criticism, leaders made progress in diagnosing and treating such illnesses among service members. But Thursday's attack at Ft. Hood -- as well as two other recent incidents in which military personnel allegedly turned guns on their own -- indicates an intractable problem not easily overcome.

I enjoyed the article on Red Rock Canyon State Park ["Otherworldly, in a Reel World Kind of Way," Down and Dirty, April 8]. It is an amazing place, otherworldly and spectacular. However, I was dismayed that you ran the photos of this eerie and colorful natural phenomenon in glorious black and white. On the preceding page, you did run a rather dull photo of a Las Vegas bar in color. DAVID KOETH \o7Bakersfield \f7

Chevron Corp. said it made an oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico that may rival the 500-million-barrel Jack prospect found in 2004. The Buckskin find is 190 miles southeast of Houston in waters 6,920 feet deep, the company said. Chevron, which is based in San Ramon, Calif., and its partners discovered a 300-foot column of oil-soaked rocks in a 24-million- to 65-million-year-old formation known as the Lower Tertiary. The find appears to be similar to the Jack discovery, which is 44 miles to the east and part of the same geological trend, Chevron said.

For the first time, scientists have matched a meteorite found on Earth with a specific asteroid that became a fireball plunging through the sky. The small asteroid blew up in the sky in October; a search through the Sudan desert turned up 8.7 pounds of black, jagged rocks, pieces of the asteroid. The report was published Thursday in the journal Nature.

Seven Cubans who set out for the United States in a rickety plastic foam boat wound up instead in front of the U.S. mission to Cuba. The would-be migrants drew gawkers, as well as the attention of Cuba's coast guard, because their journey ended along the rocks lining Havana's heavily traveled Malecon seafront boulevard near the U.S. Interests Section. Coast guard craft surrounded the disabled little boat around midday, so the seven men jumped into the water and clambered out over the rocks.