Last week British Airways announced that the world’s first sustainable aviation fuel plant will be built in Thurrock, Essex. The airline claims that 575,000 tonnes of plastic waste, otherwise destined for landfill or incineration, will be converted into 120,000 tonnes of liquid fuel each year. According to BA, that’s enough to power the annual flights from London City Airport, twice over. The conc ...[Read More]
GeoSphere
Modelling the Vadose Zone…What fun!
Sometimes our projects take stage and unexpected turns down pathways that we have no experience in whatsoever. My project on the input of Fukushima iodine-129 into groundwater has taken one of those turns. This is not a bad thing, but it is a time consuming one, as these deviations often are. However, instead of bemoaning my new lot in life as modeller of the unsaturated (vadose) zone, I thought I ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
European Geosciences Union – General Assembly 2014 (Part 3)
A couple of weeks ago we outlined the ways in which we will be participating in the EGU General Assembly taking place in Vienna next week. We’re currently asking a few of the GfGD team who are attending to give us an outline of the sessions that caught their eye and to tell us more about their roles at the event. Yesterday Jane Robb outlined a number of sessions, and today it is the turn of ...[Read More]
Geology Jenga
Looking forward to EGU 2014
This time next week EGU 2014 I’ll be looking at a sea of posters and enjoying workshops, splinter sessions and talks galore and I literally can’t wait! You may have noticed (and we apologise), Dan and I haven’t been so good at updating Geology Jenga with regular posts. We have both made the transition into the deepest and darkest depths of thesis writing and it really is an all-consuming thing. Th ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
European Geosciences Union – General Assembly 2014 (Part 2)
A couple of weeks ago we outlined the ways in which we will be participating in the EGU General Assembly taking place in Vienna next week. On our blog over the next few days we ask a few of the GfGD team who are attending to give us an outline of the sessions that caught their eye and to tell us more about their roles at the event. Jane Robb (EGU Educational Fellow / GfGD University Groups Resour ...[Read More]
Green Tea and Velociraptors
Every time you publish behind a paywall, a kitten dies.
“Every day, people are denied access to something they have a right to.” That’s the opening line from a new appeal from students Joe McArthur and David Carroll. Open Access describes a form of publication of research where articles are made instantly available for free, and with unlimited reusability rights, as long as the source is attributed. There are many pseudo-open access & ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
GfGD Committee Updates
Joel Gill, GfGD Founder and Director, writes about recent additions and updates to the GfGD Executive Committee… Over the past few weeks we’ve been adding to and reshaping our Executive Committee, a group of excellent individuals who work with myself to coordinate our range of projects and development. Each member of the committee is in full-time education or work, and as such gives up ...[Read More]
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Science Snap (#25): Vesuvius, Andy Warhol
Quite simply, volcanoes are inspiring. I’ve yet to meet someone who disagrees. The majestic volcanic landscape has thus been an inspiration to many an artist and author, whether intentional or not. Furthermore, artwork itself can be a valuable tool to help decipher and understand eruptions and their effects on the climate. Pictured here is Vesuvius erupting in all its glory and is one of my ...[Read More]
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Science Snap (#24): The psychedelic Zambezi flood plain
This colourful image shows the Zambezi River’s floodplain in Zambia. The image was created from three acquisitions from Envisat’s radar instrument that were merged together. Each acquisition was assigned a colour and when combined show changes in the floodplain between each satellite acquisition. The white patch of pixels in the upper right quadrant marks the city of Mongu and appears ...[Read More]
WaterUnderground
Best groundwater song ever? “Once in a Lifetime” by the Talking Heads?
Contributed by Kevin Befus, University of Austin – Texas website – email If there has ever been a song for hydrogeologists, “Once in a Lifetime” by the Talking Heads is the best. Here’s why I have taken this song on as my hydrogeologic theme song. But first, here is a link to the music video, in all of its early 1980’s glory: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x19cqk0_talking-heads-once- ...[Read More]