Scientists discover that stalagmites adhere to a single mathematical rule

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Lee H. Skinner

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Oct 17, 2025, 3:51:33 PM10/17/25
to Mike Mansur, Sandia Grotto, SWR >> New Mexico Cavers, Texas Cavers Mailing List, Victor Polyak (polyak@unm.edu)

Lee H. Skinner

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May 3, 2026, 2:41:29 PMMay 3
to Victor Polyak, Mike Mansur, Sandia Grotto, SWR >> New Mexico Cavers, Texas Cavers Mailing List

Thanks, Victor,


I haven't been to Embudo Cave in over 50 years.  It was a completely wild cave then, with a small, typical cave gate that allowed bat access.  What is all the science equipment in there doing?


I enjoyed looking at all four "mathematical rule for stalactites" articles (neat pictures) mentioned, but the video(6:09) referenced there has been removed because the YouTube account associated with it has been terminated. I hope you downloaded a copy of it before that happened.


Regards,
Lee




On 5/3/2026 8:51 AM, Victor Polyak wrote:
Hi Lee,

Have you seen this video before?

Elliot Bailey was UNM Facilities Manager.  From 1988.

Victor

From: Lee H. Skinner <ski...@thuntek.net>
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2025 1:49 PM
To: Mike Mansur <ca...@protonmail.com>; Sandia Grotto <sandia-grotto-of-the-nati...@googlegroups.com>; SWR >> New Mexico Cavers <Swrc...@googlegroups.com>; Texas Cavers Mailing List <texas...@texascavers.com>; Victor Polyak <pol...@unm.edu>
Subject: Scientists discover that stalagmites adhere to a single mathematical rule
 

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Crash Kennedy

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May 3, 2026, 3:00:27 PMMay 3
to cav...@googlegroups.com, Victor Polyak, Mike Mansur, Sandia Grotto, SWR >> New Mexico Cavers, Texas Cavers Mailing List
Wow, what a crappy cave gate.  And it isn't bat-friendly at all.  All that brushy overgrowth at the entrance also makes it really hard for bats to use.  The whole thing should be redone.  Thanks for sharing.

Crash

Lee H. Skinner

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May 3, 2026, 8:24:36 PMMay 3
to Victor Polyak, Mike Mansur, Sandia Grotto, SWR >> New Mexico Cavers, Texas Cavers Mailing List

Victor,


I think there was always a small sink entrance there, not exposed by the ski slope building.   I was surprised that it was driven to, as I had to walk up the steep ski slope to get there.  Too bad that the bats there were made homeless when they made that larger gate with no access to the cave for them. Do you know what all that instrumentation inside the cave is for?


Lee




On 5/3/2026 5:42 PM, Victor Polyak wrote:
Hi Lee,

Was the cave exposed during the ski slope development?

Victor

From: Lee H. Skinner <ski...@thuntek.net>
Sent: Sunday, May 3, 2026 12:39 PM
To: Victor Polyak <pol...@unm.edu>; Mike Mansur <ca...@protonmail.com>; Sandia Grotto <sandia-grotto-of-the-nati...@googlegroups.com>; SWR >> New Mexico Cavers <Swrc...@googlegroups.com>; Texas Cavers Mailing List <texas...@texascavers.com>
Subject: Re: Scientists discover that stalagmites adhere to a single mathematical rule
 
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