Stuff we linked to on Twitter last week

DonorsChoose Update – now with a Prize!

It’s been a quiet week for our Earth Science Challenge through DonorsChoose, but as we head into the final stretch of this year’s Science Bloggers for Students event, it’s
time to rally for the cause….and that means it’s time to roll out the prize.

Brian Switek has kindly allowed Anne to donate her review copy of “Written in Stone,” his forthcoming and praise-garnering book on “Evolution, the Fossil Record, and Our Place in Nature.” Look for our review of the book here later this week, as well as an interview with Brian, but let us just say in advance that it is excellent in every respect – lots of cool science and very, very well written. Anyone who donates through our challenge page by November 9th will be automatically entered to win the book, and I’ll notify you by email if you are the winner of the random drawing. So if you’ve been putting off contributing to earth science education, do so no longer. And if you’ve already given, you are already entered, but please give more as you are so moved.

As many geologists gather in Colorado for the Geological Society of America meeting, it seems fitting to highlight the Colorado projects in our challenge. First-graders in Denver need rocks and minerals to touch, sort, classify, and help them get excited about geology. Middle school students in Falcon would love to have a GPS unit to support their school’s geologic mapping project.

Blogs in motion

• Lots of excitement this week with the launch of the AGU Blogosphere, a new community of Earth and space science blogs that is now the home of several awesome geobloggers, including Jess Ball of Magma Cum Laude, Callan Bentley of Mountain Beltway, and Dave Petley of The Landslide Blog.
• There’s also a new geomorphology blog, Sinuosity, on the scene.

Volcanoes

• Glorious demise of the first volcano web-cam on Earth (Etna, 2001):
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/etnaboris/5125662700/
  (via @etnaboris)
• Volcanic ash clogs jet engines when turbine blades are hot, but it clears on cooling due to change in crystal structure (video).
  http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19647-caught-on-video-why-ba-009-rose-from-the-ashes.html
• Indonesia Mount Merapi began a new eruptive phase last week. As usual, Eruptions provides detailed rolling coverage.
  http://bigthink.com/blogs/eruptions/tags/23417

Earthquakes

• If Mount Merapi wasn’t enough (see above) Indonesia was also been hit by a M7.7 earthquake, produced by thrusting at the subducting plate boundary. Dave’s Landslide blog provided excellent coverage of the aftermath of the earthquake and the resulting tsunami.
  http://daveslandslideblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/mantawai-islands-tsunami-and-eruption.html

Fossils

• ~50 million year old trove of insects, spiders, and crustaceans found in Indian amber, suggests later Africa rifting?
  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/26/science/26obamber.html?ref=science
• It seems no study of interesting Neoproterozoic geochemistry is complete without spurious link to Cambrian explosion…
  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101027133146.htm

Water

• A PhD graduate research assistantship is available beginning Jan in geospatial analysis and hydrology. [Kevin McGuire, the professor, comes highly recommended.]
  http://www.hydro.vwrrc.vt.edu/Lab/News/Entries/2010/10/30_Looking_for_PhD_student_in_geospatial_analysis.html
  (via @kjmcguire)
• Infrastructurist: Can We Save America’s Crumbling Water System? [Not unless we pay for it]
  http://www.infrastructurist.com/2010/10/29/can-we-save-americas-crumbling-water-system/
  (via @jfleck, @columbiawater)
• Fantastic images from the GRACE satellite of water’s gravity anomaly and its seasonal variation )
  http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=46472
  (via @NASA_EO)
• Connections between water & government stability. In Yemen, water Grows Scarcer
  http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/in-yemen-water-grows-scarcer/
  (via @jfleck, @nytimesgreen)

Environmental

• Interesting analysis of the psychology of climate inaction: Climate Change Literacy Won’t Be Enough:
  http://www.climatecentral.org/breaking/blog/climate_change_literacy_wont_be_enough/
  (via @Revkin)
• Shale Gas: Abundance or Mirage? Why The Marcellus Shale Will Disappoint Expectations
  http://www.theoildrum.com/node/7075
  (via @TheOilDrum)

General Geology

• New photo gallery: geological road signs –
  http://geology.about.com/od/geo_travel/ig/geological-signs/
  (via @aboutgeology)
• WANT. Victorian Infographics of rivers and mountains in size order!
  http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/cliff-kuang/design-innovation/infographic-day-victorians-did-it-better
  (via @SmallCasserole, @ladycrafthole, @theretronaut)

Interesting Miscellaney

• This is pretty fun: random views from Google Street View. Shame there isn’t a roadcut filter….
  http://www.mapcrunch.com/
• Whoa…Grizzly chomps Bison and the chase is on! #ynp #yellowstone #nature
  http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=445467060682&set=a.50201915682.73140.519005682
  (via @darwinsbulldog, @jasonkintzler, @Laelaps)
• Why science blogging is not just useful, but essential.
  http://electroncafe.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/why-blog/
  (via @BoraZ)