A report in chroniclejournal.com, written by Darryl Greer says that a caver has been rescued after being trapped vertically underground at the Rat’s Nest Cave in Canmore, Alberta, Canada, in an operation that deployed volunteer-built underground radio technology for the first time. Search and Rescue Alberta says the man became pinned in a tight spot known as the “Psych Squeeze” around 11:30 a.m. local time on Saturday.
The Alberta/BC Cave Rescue team was called in, and hammer drills were used to remove rock, with the caver eased out in a process measured in “inches per hour.” Search and Rescue Alberta says the man was freed around 10 p.m. and he finally emerged from the cave around midnight, after an operation involving 13 cave rescuers, 10 firefighters and two Kananaskis Mountain rescue members.
The rescue group says a cave radio that transmits signals through rock was used in a live operation for the first time. The technology was developed by members of Alberta/BC Cave Rescue, which is part of Search and Rescue Alberta, in response to the difficulty of using traditional communication methods like phones, radios or GPS underground.
“By providing reliable text-based communications from deep inside caves to the surface, or between different locations in a cave, teams can now deploy with equipment that is purpose-built by the rescuers who will use them in the field,” Search and Rescue Alberta says in a news release.
It says the new radios are smaller and lighter than traditional analog cave radios, which use technology that can no longer be repaired.
The rescue team now has a cave radio system using technology known as QDX-M, capable of communicating through more than 500 metres of solid rock, the release says.
“Such units are not currently available commercially at an affordable cost, so the benefits of volunteer design and construction work by cavers with electrical engineering and amateur radio backgrounds has been considerable,” it says.
John Alexander, the CEO of Search and Rescue Alberta, said the Rat’s Nest rescue “is a display of what can be achieved when multiple emergency response agencies come together in collaboration, and of the incredible innovation and initiative taken by our 1,500 volunteer search and rescue professionals who defy odds and overcome barriers every day, so others may live.”
Thanks to Darryl Greer for his article.
Popular Mechanics is reporting this week that few things are more dangerous to living beings than radioactive material. The ionizing radiation emitted by radionuclides can damage tissue and alter human DNA, so in a way, it’s remarkable just how cavalier Western countries have often been in their choice of methods to dispose of this extremely dangerous waste.
Europe decided to dump more than 200,000 barrels of radioactive waste into the Atlantic Ocean between 1971 and 1982!
For the past two years, scientists from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) have used resources from the French Oceanographic Fleet to survey the North Atlantic nuclear waste disposal site. They’ve discovered thousands of barrels lying on the seafloor covered in sea sponges, anemones, and crabs. In 2025, the CNRS canvassed the 14,500-square-kilometre spill site with an autonomous robot capable of diving to a depth of 6,000 meters (20,000 feet) and used a multi-beam echo-sounder and synthetic antenna imaging sonar to map huge areas of the seabed. Although the robot mapped only 2 percent of the spill area, it successfully found 3,500 barrels of radioactive waste.
“The barrels alter the environment by providing a hard substrate that becomes colonized, potentially facilitating the transfer of radionuclides to living organisms,” two researchers involved in the project, Javier Escartin and Patrick Chardon wrote in The Conversation. “This is one of the first radio-ecological studies in the deep sea, requiring the implementation and development of new procedures and methodologies ranging from the definition of the sampling strategy to onboard radiation protection.”
While it’s too late to undo the damage inflicted on the environment by previous generations, having a deeper understanding of how these systematic episodes of pollution impacted the world will help future generations avoid making the same mistakes.
Thank you to Popular Mechanics for these excerpts from their article.
The ARRL, writing in their letter of Friday says that Hawaii was bracing for Hurricane Lala last week. The eye of the hurricane skirted Hawaii’s Big Island without making landfall but left heavy wind and rain damage. On Saturday, August 15, and Sunday, August 16, 2026, amateur radio operators throughout the state assisted emergency management agencies during the hurricane’s approach.
Several Big Island locations received over 90cm of rain, with Laupāhoehoe recording more than 1070 mm in just two days. The Nāhuku Lava Tube and Nene Cabin, one of two A-frame vacation cabins located just outside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park in Volcano, received just over 920 mm of rain. Hurricane-force gusts up to 220km/h were recorded at Mauna Kea’s summit.
National Weather Service (NWS) radar for Saturday, August 16, 2026, at midnight UTC, showed the 80km approach of Hurricane Lala to South Point on the Big Island. South Point is the southernmost location in the United States. The greatest damage occurred at Naalehu in the Big Island district of Kau, where the runoff from the torrential rains on Saturday night devastated the community. Roads were blocked and damaged, which isolated and impeded response.
Torsten ZS1ABT reports that HAMNET assisted in event communications on Sunday 16 August (2026) at the Kogelberg Biosphere Trail Series Super League trail run.
ZS1ABT set up BASE radio at the Kleinmond Day Camp before sun rise, and was later joined by ZS1GA, ZS1SWN and ZS1HR.
ZS1CBY deployed west above the Palmiet lagoon with his 4×4 vehicle to provide communications relay to stations beyond line of sight of BASE.
106 runners completed the 23 km extra-long course, with only one runner dropping out due to injury.
Special thanks go out to the members of the Winelands ARC who cut their time short at the Hangklip lighthouse, as part of the International Lighthouse Weekend, to assist at this event.
Finally, remember that the 26th August is International Dog Day, so please be extra specially kind to your furbaby on Wednesday!
This is Dave Reece ZS1DFR, sharing my private stash of biltong with my doggie, and reporting for HAMNET in South Africa.