So true

As a followup to my AGU posts, an offering from Surviving The World (my new favorite webcomic):

I wish I could have done this in my intro geo labs

Unfortunately, I highly suspect I would have had to spend a lot of time afterward avoiding irate parents and cell-phone-addicted students if I'd tried to chuck their gadgets out into the hall.

If I were a geologist on Star Trek...

...I could apply for a joint medical degree, because sometimes rocks need doctoring.


...Sometimes a rock hammer wouldn't be enough to deal with those really stubborn minerals.


...I could give up hand lenses, thin sections, petrographic microscopes, microprobes, XRD, and point counting for this...

(although a good geologist would never give up their hand lens)

...It wouldn't take me until the end of the episode to figure out that I could use the local geologic resources to make a cannon to fire at the angry dinosaur-type aliens.


...I'd be really popular whenever Scotty needed some new dilithium crystals.


Unfortunately, I'm not a geologist on Star Trek (they tend to be rather expendable, at any rate). But I will be a geologist watching Star Trek when the movie comes out on Friday!

(Sorry for the sparse posting - grading and finishing up the final version of my thesis proposal is eating up all my time! Something more substantial later this week, I promise.)

Poor land-use planning and volcanoes

From http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/bigphotos/images/090319-tonga-volcanic-eruption-ap-video_big.jpg

So it looks like someone is already moving in on the new land created by the eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai near Tonga*. That's right - with enough Pa'angas, you could own some of the newest land on the planet, if you don't mind digging yourself out from under the tephra every few days. The article I found didn't say much about who's claimed the land, but it seems to have been through a loophole in Tongan land use laws (one that their Royal Land Commission will no doubt be fixing soon). I suspect we'll soon see signs on the more stable parts of the island calling the new land "Trump" and advertising the finest in pumice exfoliating stones.

Now, I've heard of this sort of thing happening in Hawaii - people buying up and selling land on the slopes of Kilauea or Mauna Loa that is very likely to get run over by the next lava flow. The land is usually covered in lava already (not a fun building surface), and completely uninsurable. So, if you have a movable house - a yurt, for instance - and you don't mind packing up and moving for a bit when the next flows come through, I guess you're okay. (This would probably necessitate having a tank or other AWD vehicle in order to get back to your house, though.)

But speculation before the land's even done being formed is a bit much. And, despite the fantastic views and desirable location (get away from everything!), I should think that the danger of living next to an active volcano might bring down property values a bit. Then again, if you're a volcanologist, this could be a plus. Any takers out there in the geoblogosphere? I bet we could probably afford the place if we pooled our resources, although my contribution would have to be much smaller due to my grad student status.

Given the intense tourist interest in the eruption, the article is unsurprising, though. Bunker on the beach, anyone?





*Wow, really? No comments? Either the blog is getting too boring, or I was really believable on this one. Or everyone is too paranoid to believe anything written on April 1.

Happy belated April Fools...and no, I still wouldn't be surprised if Trump jumped on the Tonga Pumice Stone idea.

Sweet irony

Guess who isn't commenting on the eruption of Mount Redoubt?

Sometimes nature has really perfect timing.

It's getting a little nippy out there

Having lived in the mid-Atlantic my entire life, I'm finding it a bit hard to get adjusted to how cold it can get around here sometimes. (If any of you live in Alaska or the Dakotas or Minnesota or other such places, you're allowed to scoff, but I'm sure glad I'm not living where you are!)

For example, here's what I saw when I checked Weather.com this morning:


Being a good scientist, of course, I switched over to metric:


And, because I've got to have something to amuse myself in my windowless workspace, I checked XKCD's "Guide to converting to metric":

Yep, that's about what I said this morning. I'm hoping we don't get to the "spit goes 'clink'" point.

And geology is...

(From http://xkcd.com/)

...way over to the right somewhere. Possibly off the screen. Yeah, we use ALL that stuff.

I wanna be a Science Scout!

I just found this website (part of the Science Creative Quarterly), and I had to get my own "flair". (Never was in the Scouts, but I was always a little jealous of the cool badges.) Apparently some of the folks up at the University of British Columbia have a lot of time on their hands. Or maybe it's just a Canadian thing.

Look! They have one that was definitely designed for me.

The “active volcano is my research locale” badge.More exotic than the usual laboratory bench. (R)

This one's pretty self explanatory...



And some others...

The “talking science” badge. Required for all members. Assumes the recipient conducts himself/herself in such a manner as to talk science whenever he/she gets the chance. Not easily fazed by looks of disinterest from friends or the act of “zoning out” by well intentioned loved ones. (DN)

Zoning out just means that they're not conscious enough to run away, so you've been successful in capturing their attention.

The “I blog about science” badge. In which the recipient maintains a blog where at least a quarter of the material is about science. Suffice to say, this does not include scientology.

Snarking about bad science counts as science, right?

The “inappropriate nocturnal use of lab equipment in the name of alternative science experimentation / communication” badge.In which the recipient has “borrowed” scientific supplies for the sake of stealth scientific communication. (JG)

What, like you've never used the big sledgehammer on a can of Natty Lite just to see what would happen?

The “I may look like a scientist but I’m actually also a ninja” badge. Lethal when in combination with the “destroyer of quackery” badge. (AC)

I took a year and a half of judo and a semester of high ropes training. And I have a black facemask and a sword lying around somewhere...

The “totally digs highly exothermic reactions” badge.Might be best to keep an eye on such recipients. (JM)

If a volcanic eruption doesn't count as an exothermic reaction, I don't know what does.

The “works with acids” badge.
In which the recipient has worked with acids. (L)

Oh, the joys of HF. Or rather, the total paranoia caused by working with a liquid that etches bone and causes internal acid burns.


The “I didn’t bathe at all for an entire month, because of science” badge. Ah the joys of field work… (SW)

It was only two weeks, okay? And the smell really wasn't noticeable after the first week, anyway.

The “has done science whilst under the influence” badge.
This can apply to both achieving moments of intellectual clarity or actual performance of an experiment whilst under the influence. It presumes talking about science under the influence a given. (JD)

This is practically a job requirement for geologists, right?

An appropriate situation for "ROTFL"

Okay, I don't usually talk about the whole evolution/creationism thing, but this post on Pharyngula is just about the funniest thing I've seen all week. I had to share.