Monthly Archives: December 2007

A presidential science debate?

It’s a curious state of 21st century affairs when a person’s suitability for leading the world’s most powerful nation hinges more on whether they mouth the right Christian platitudes than on whether they understand the difference between a Bronze age … Continue reading

Categories: public science

Two new doctors in the blogging house

Congratulations to Brian and MarkH, who have both just successfully defended their PhD theses*. It’s interesting how the process of getting a PhD differs in different countries. As Mark explains in his post, in the US you don’t start with … Continue reading

Categories: academic life

AGU? Bah, humbug

Anyone who has noticed my latest Nature column will be aware that I have had to forgo the AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco for yet another year. I suppose I can feel virtuous about not ramping up my already … Continue reading

Categories: academic life, ranting

Pictures from an undersea eruption

Mid-ocean ridges are a fundamental component of the Earth’s tectonic engine: they mark places on the earth’s surface where two plates are moving apart, creating space for mantle rocks to move upwards, decompress, and melt. Every year, the resulting volcanic … Continue reading

Categories: geology, tectonics, volcanoes

Carnivalling

Philosophia Naturalis #15 is up over at Sorting Out Science. My musings on the Black Sea flood paper made the cut; I’ve been quite amused by the attention that that particular post has generated, given that (a) I almost gave … Continue reading

Categories: links