GD
Geodynamics

Wit & Wisdom

The spikey end of geodynamics: The story of the echidna and plate tectonics

April 1, 2020
An equidna
Echidna (Source: National Geographic).

This week, Craig O’Neill, Associate Professor and director of the Planetary Research Center at MacQuarie University shows that not only humans are suffering from the consequences of global warming. The recent Australian bushfire season has precipitated a shift in the Australian – and the world’s – perception of the urgency of addressing climate change. With most of the east ...[Read More]

Should we still study LLSVPs?

March 4, 2020
Should we still study LLSVPs?
Tomography model S40RTS (Ritsema et al., 2011) at the CMB with velocity contours from -2 to 2 % δVs with increments of 0.5 % δVs.
Normally I’d add some kind of clever remark here, but it’s just a figure full of blobs. What can I say about that? Maybe that dogs are better? Scroll down for a dog! So proud that we finally have dog content on this blog.

All blobs are equal, but some blobs are more interesting than other blobs. In this new Wit & Wisdom post, Jamie Ward, PhD student in seismology at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom, explores this age-old saying and discusses whether or not LLSVPs are the most important blobs in our lives. Also, there is a picture of a dog. It makes sense, I promise. Large Low Shear Velocity Provinces (LL ...[Read More]

Postdoc: Europe vs. United States

February 26, 2020
Postdoc: Europe vs. United States

Being a postdoc provides you with an extended training period after receiving your PhD. It is the pathway towards becoming an independent scientist; therefore, it is important to undertake your postdoc in a place where career development is enhanced and supported.  Let’s start with a basic yet crucial question: why should I move to another continent? The United States remains the most popular coun ...[Read More]

Science. Exploration. Survival.

February 19, 2020
Shackleton
E. H. Shakleton at the wheel (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London).

A scientific career can be a struggle. This week Dave Stegman, Associate Professor at Scripps, draws parallels between being a scientist and being an Antarctic explorer. He dangled in the crevasse, unable to touch the sides; the abyss beneath was hundreds of feet deep; the rope he was suspended from was 14 feet long, connected above to the sledge he had been hauling. Was it luck when his sledge ha ...[Read More]