So the 13th photo of the week is this sweet as pic of boiling mud from New Zealand’s North Island. Both photos were taken by me in July of 2009. I had to stand at the ready for quite a while to try and get good pictures of the bubbles bursting and there were many failed attempts. On the whole I think I did pretty well. Hope you like them! By the way, stay tuned for some an awesome guest post ...[Read More]
Green Tea and Velociraptors
The crux of the matter – language, context, and narrative
Throughout this series, I have highlighted the pitfalls and issues associated with effective communication of scientific knowledge to and with the public. This has largely been fueled by a recent paper highlighting these points as stepping stones and hurdles which scientists face and can develop upon to create strategies for becoming better at public communication. However, I’ve yet to offer ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Launch of Foresight Report: Reducing the Risk of Future Disasters.
Today the UK government released their highly anticipated foresight report into “Reducing the Risk of Future Disasters”. This report, led by the UK government’s chief scientific advisor, Sir John Beddington, looks at disasters in developing countries that have resulted from natural hazards. The aim has been ‘to provide advice to decision makers on how science can inform the ...[Read More]
Green Tea and Velociraptors
Story-telling rocks.
‘Story-telling’ is often quoted as a way of communicating scientific ideas to non-scientific audiences. It’s seen as a way of providing a form of narrative with which an audience can relate to, and thus provide a more engaging account of a scientific report. Admittedly, not everything can be transformed into a story of sorts, but there are many aspects of science, be it theoretical, model-based, o ...[Read More]
GeoLog
Imaggeo on Mondays: Ephemeral winter wonderland
Today’s text is brought to you by the author of this impressive picture, Patrick Klenk (Heidelberg University, Germany). This photograph is part of a series of images which I took in Death Valley National Park on a brisk December morning in 2011. In this case, we were close to Aguereberry Point, a mountain viewpoint located at 1961m above sea level, overlooking the central part of this “vast ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
China: The Future Looks Bright…
China, one of the largest and most populated countries on Earth, is emerging as an economic superpower. More and more frequently, emerging economies are choosing to peg their currency to the Yuan, rather than the US dollar. Their success is built on a strong research and development sector. Having just come under new leadership, China is entering an exciting decade. On a recent trip to Xuzhou city ...[Read More]
Green Tea and Velociraptors
The role of TV in geoscience communication
This is now the fifth part in a series exploring the public communication of geoscience, this time focusing on the role that television can play as a communication medium. It is based on, and a development of the ideas conveyed within a paper by Iain Stewart, no stranger to TV himself, and Ted Nield, a writer of popular geoscientific novels and Editor of Geoscientist magazine published by the Geol ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Friday Photo (58): Active Geology – Striations on a Fault Surface, Greece
An active fault surface in Greece – one of the most seismically active places on Earth. The striations on the surface can be used to measure the direction of movement on the fault. The exposed surface can be dated at various heights (using dating systems such as Beryllium-10) to infer the rate of slip. (c) Geology for Global Development
Green Tea and Velociraptors
Flying on the wings of dinosaurs
Archaeopteryx lithogaphica is probably the most iconic dinosaur ever. When it was first discovered, it was heralded as the holy grail of palaeontological findings, as it helped to consolidate the evolutionary continuum between theropod dinosaurs and modern birds. What it also represents though, is an example of the evolution of scientific thought through time. Palaeontologists, mechanists and deve ...[Read More]
GeoSphere
The 46th Ottawa Gem and Mineral Show
A few weeks ago I went to the 46th annual Ottawa Gem and Mineral show. I have always been a dedicated mineral and fossil collector and shows like this allow me to indulge my inner collector and drool over all the fantastic specimens. I have been to a lot of shows, all local such as Kingston, Peterborough and now the Ottawa show, but there are tons all over the world. In fact, I would speculate tha ...[Read More]