Author Archives: Chris Rowan

Stuff we linked to on Twitter last week

Posted on June 5, 2011 by Chris Rowan

Announcements Anne’s wonderful post, ‘Levees and the illusion of flood control‘, has been nominated for the 2011 3 Quarks Daily Prize in Science. There is currently a round of public voting, with the 20 most popular of the 79 entries … Continue reading →

Categories: links

If you’re waiting for an earthquake warning, you’re doing it wrong

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Chris Rowan

The magnitude 6.3 earthquake that stuck central Italy near the city of L’Aquila in April 2009 killed more than 300 people, made tens of thousands more homeless, and caused billions of Euros’ worth of damage. No-one could have predicted exactly … Continue reading →

Categories: earthquakes, geohazards, public science, ranting, society

New at Erratics: Chalk is weird

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Chris Rowan

The theme for the upcoming Accretionary Wedge is ‘weird geology’. In his contribution, Simon Wellings takes a look at what might superficially appear to be an unlikely subject: the chalk that forms the rolling hills of southern England: No texture, … Continue reading →

Categories: links, rocks & minerals

Earthquake ‘precursors’ and the curse of the false positive

Posted on May 21, 2011 by Chris Rowan

Whenever you read a story that describes some phenomenon that preceded a large earthquake, and dangles the carrot of true earthquake prediction, don’t just look at the headline event. Check for false positives. Continue reading →

Categories: earthquakes, geohazards, geophysics

Chris talks earthquakes in Chicago

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Chris Rowan

If any of you happen to live in the Chicago area, you’re at a loose end tomorrow (Wednesday) evening, and you fancy hearing yours truly talk about earthquakes, then I’ve been invited to give a talk at East-West University in … Continue reading →

Categories: public science