The Magic of Density
Before we get started, we need to agree on a couple bits of background information gleaned from the realm of physics (sorry, but it’s gotta be done). First, all matter is composed of tiny...
Category: Technology
Follow the money…
Sorry. This one may stray a bit from the earth sciences, but I have to ask: How ridiculous can we be? It reminds me of the early days of the railroad, when the gauge...
Deep Sea Mining
I read an interesting article in Mother Jones (7/16/23) about mining on the deep-sea floor (aka the abyssal plain) for metallic nodules. This follows up on another article on the same site that discusses...
E-waste and rational resource management
How many of you still have your original cellphone? Not your flip-phone, I’m talking about the brick you had before that. But hey, what did happen to your first flip-phone? Or your first beeper...
Fusion and Clean Energy
The big science news of the week (possibly the decade, if not the century) comes out of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, where nuclear physicists at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) finally...
Talcum Power and Asbestos
I read with interest the decision by Johnson & Johnson to discontinue the sale of talc-based baby powder by 2023. While J&J has not sold talcum powder in the United States and Canada since...
Kill Your Car?
The tagline on the noon news was enough all by itself: “California to ban the sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2035.” This is another one of those ideas that sounds so good, and yet...
The number you have reached…
…is not in service at this time. This one isn’t about the earth — at least not directly — but I feel it’s important anyway (and there’s nothing that says I can’t veer off...
