Monthly Archives: July 2007

Is getting tenure Mission Impossible?

Over at Galactic Interactions, fellow Scibling Rob Knop has announced that he’s leaving academia for a job at Linden Labs, the people who run Second Life. Even though that particular phenomenon leaves me a little bemused – I have enough … Continue reading

Categories: academic life, ranting

Earthquakes in Japan

Update: A more detailed analysis of this earthquake can be found here Japan was hit by a couple of large-ish earthquakes yesterday. According the USGS moment tensor solutions, the first magnitude 6.6 was caused by the rupture of a normal … Continue reading

Categories: earthquakes, geohazards, geology

I just have to face the fact that I’m a scibling redshirt

Just like Sam Rockwell’s character in Galaxy Quest, I fear that my role in Scienceblogs:The Movie will probably involve being vaporised within the first five minutes, probably as an anonymous victim of cross-fire in the opening flame-war (Religion? Framing? Maybe … Continue reading

Categories: bloggery

In defence of the scientific paper

Janet brings us some rather vitriolic criticism by Sir Peter Medewar: The scientific paper in its orthodox form does embody a totally mistaken conception, even a travesty, of the nature of scientific thought. The argument seems to be that the … Continue reading

Categories: academic life, public science, publication

Where the Moon was at, 3.2 billion years ago

It may not look particularly cosmic, but the rock below not only tells us that the Moon was present back in the Archean, but also that it was orbiting the Earth at a much closer distance than it is today.

Categories: Archean, geology, paper reviews, past worlds