Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

A fond farewell

A fond farewell

Since August 2013, Elspeth and Charly, editors of Between a Rock and a Hard Place, have contributed a range of interesting and thought-provoking posts to the EGU network blogs: from a broad volcanology and petrology theme, through to sharing valuable insights they picked up during their journey towards completing their PhDs.

However, the PhD theses are now submitted and defended, and Elspeth and Carly are fully immersed in the ‘real-world’ of work! With their careers now in disciplines outside of the Earth sciences, the editorial duo has decided that it is no longer viable to maintain the blog as part of the EGU blog network. Sadly, the time has come to wave goodbye.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place had an earlier home, prior to joining the network, and you’ll be able to keep up to date with Elspeth and Carly (and a wider blogging team) here. All the posts they shared via the network are also archived there, so you’ll be able to revisit your favourites from their three years as EGU bloggers too. You can also follow Elspeth and Charly on twitter.

From the EGU, we thank Charly and Elspeth for contributing excellent content to the blogs and wish them the very best of luck for the future.

By Laura Roberts, EGU Communications Officer

The year ahead – twenty fift-green?

The year ahead – twenty fift-green?

Firstly, happy New Year from all those at BaR!

The start of January always seems to herald a surfeit of navel-gazing blog posts. Therefore, I thought I would attempt to broaden my horizons and consider whether, with only five years to go to meet the 20-20-20 EU climate targets, will 2015 be the greenest year yet?
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Christmas cracker jokes 2014

cracker

Sorcha
Q:Why didn’t the geologist want his Christmas dinner?
A: He lost his apatite.

Elspeth
Q: Who did Santa bring along to perform at the Earth Sciences Christmas party?
A: Elf-is Presley!

Charly
Q: What is Father Christmas’s favourite element?
A: Holmium (Ho Ho Ho!)

KT
Q: What happened to Rudolph when he accidentally ate clay?
A: He got illite.

James
Q: Why are advent calendars like the dinosaurs?
A: Because their days were numbered!

Mel
Q: Why aren’t there any single geologists at Christmas parties?
A: They will date anything!

Merry Christmas from Team BaR! See you in 2014.

P.S If you thought these were bad, have a look at last year’s!

Science Snap (#35): Twinning

Science Snap (#35): Twinning

Twinning is a phenomenon in mineralogy whereby a single crystal of a mineral has two or more parts in which the crystal lattice is differently orientated.

The shared surface between two twins is called the composition or twin plane, and the orientation to either other is determined by symmetry through rotation or reflection; this relationship is described by a twin law.

Schematic showing the change in crystal structure across a twin plane. Credit: Imperial College London

Schematic showing the change in crystal structure across a twin plane. Atoms are shared by the two twins at regular intervals. Credit: Imperial College London

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