Author Archives: Chris Rowan

Am I missing something?

I’m naturally as pleased as the next geologist (or biologist, or philosopher) to see a strong anti-ID statement from the UK government. But didn’t we sort out this nonsense last year? Any updates from UK readers would be appreciated.

Categories: antiscience, public science

A paradigm nudge in paleontology

Apparently, if a handful of dinosaurs survive the KT extinction it ceases to be important.
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Categories: fossils, geology, palaeomagic

June Carnival of the Post-docs now available

Sciencewoman is hosting the latest edition of What’s Up Postdoc?, arranged around the theme of ‘Uniqueness’. It seems that yesterday’s musings from yours truly made it in just under the wire, a feat which gives them a certain meta-topicality given … Continue reading

Categories: academic life, links

Inspiration

If there’s one thing that a scientist can’t be without, it’s ideas. A good working knowledge of your field, and its outstanding research questions, is not enough; you also need to have the imagination to exploit it. But it’s a … Continue reading

Categories: academic life

Namibia: the stromatolites’ last hurrah

Some of the more massive limestone beds in the Nama group are chock full of stromatolites, the remnants of sizeable Precambrian algal reefs. Technically, stromatolites are not true fossils, because the mineralised layers are not directly precipitated by the photosynthetic … Continue reading

Categories: fieldwork, fossils, geology, outcrops, past worlds, photos, Proterozoic