Volunteers Needed for Earthquake Study (PC only thing needed)

You too can support big distributed computing seismology study by just donating the idle time of you PC.

GSL

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/09/25/earthquake.trackers.ap/index.html

New record for oldest rocks

4.28 Billion-Year-Old Canadian Bedrock May Be Oldest on Earth

Thursday, September 25, 2008




WASHINGTON — A traveler walking along the eastern bank of Hudson Bay in northern Quebec can stand on the oldest bedrock known on Earth. This ancient section of the planet's crust may be as much as 4.28 billion years old, researchers report in Friday's edition of the journal Science.
By measuring tiny variations in the chemical composition of the Nuvvuagittuq greenstone from Hudson's Bay, researchers Jonathan O'Neil of McGill University in Montreal and Richard Carlson of the Carnegie Institution of Washington were able to date various rock samples to between 3.8 billion and 4.28 billion years ago.
Previously the oldest piece of bedrock was the Acasta Gneiss in the Canadas's Northwest Territories, which is 4.03 billion years old.
Some zircon grains found in Western Australia have been dated to 4.36 billion years, but those are individual materials, not intact sections of bedrock.

Rubber Ducks, NASA, and Climate Research

Very creative use of simple technology to answer basic issues of glacier processes, crtical to understanding their role in climate change.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/09/22/nasa.ducks/index.html

Remote Sensing Used to help Giant Kangaroo Rat

Very interesting use of remote sensing to help an endangered species.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/09/18/rats.satellites.ap/index.html

Nearby Galaxy Loaded with "Dark Matter"

Hello to all Science Gal friends. Thanks for your nice blog for those of us interested in all of Natural Science. The following article is an amazing discovery of satellite galaxies to the Milky Way which are very massive, yet have few stars, and are thought to be full of the mysterious "Dark Matter".

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,424863,00.html

The Big Bang - Fact or Fiction

The initial test of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland was completed yesterday. The first round was to send a particle around the collider in one direction. The next test will be to send a particle in the opposite direction. Ultimately there will be an experiment to send two particles in opposite directions to create a collision that is expected to simulate the Big Bang.

For many, the question of the big bang is simply fiction and for others it is absolute fact. Is there an in between? As a geologist I of course learned that the Big Bang was the prevailing and most accepted theory (except creationism) for the origin of the universe and earth as we know it. Once the planet was created, it is theorized that life evolved over time......

What happens if the experiment produces a tiny universe under the ground in Switzerland and what if evolution can be proven (although there is already plenty of proof) over time inside the Hadron collider?

I know I won't be popular for posting this. But consider that creationism and evolution do NOT have to be mutually exclusive. What are your thoughts?

The Hadron Collider aka Put Your Head Down and Kiss Your........

OHHHH - not to be an alarmist or panic anyone but the Hadron Collider is going to be turned on tomorrow.... and there is a small chance that it could create a black hole,, oh my! However, if you read the safety statement on the CERN website, they don't seem to be too worried.

http://public.web.cern.ch/public/en/LHC/Safety-en.html

Well, as my good friend BB says in his previous comment on my I love Rocks post, if indeed a black hole was created, then we could be forever suspended in that moment of time when it happens. So I would pose this question:

If you knew the exact moment that the black hole (if one indeed were to be generated by the collider) was going to be created and knowing that would be the moment you were stuck in forever, what would you want to be doing and/or experiencing at that moment......

Try to keep it rated PG13 if you can!

:-)

I Love Rocks!

Welcome to the Cool Science blog. We are not talking temperature, we are talking neat, rad, cool, awesome, etc. science. So for everyone out there with a love of science, let's start some discussion!



If you are a scientist or an enthusiast, what is your favorite branch of science and why and is there a particular scientist that shaped your views on that aspect of science?

I grew up with a love of science, especially of geology, fueled by many hours spent sorting through rocks in the driveway and seeing fossils and strata in the smallest of rocks. As I went on through high school i continued to be fascinated by geology and weather as well but chose the path to study geology because there was no meteorology program in my state. I wish I could have done both but I was such a big baby that I was afraid to go far from home to school. I do not regret my choices, as since then I have continued on to pursue studies in oceanography and computer science and have had an awesome career as a geophysicist, oceanographer, and computer scientist. I spent six weeks studying geology in Switzerland for my field studies program and it was truly amazing. I actually saw an exposed section of the cretaceous-tertiary boundary and dug (hammered) into the limestone where the first achaeopteryx was found. If you love geology and paleontology you know or have an opinion about archaeopteryx. This fossil is long considered to be proof that dinosaurs and birds are related, even evolved from each other. All I will say is that it was so cool to be there where it was discovered.



To learn more about archaeopteryx:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeopteryx



http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/archaeopteryx/info.html



While I was studying geology, I worked every other semester as part of the cooperative education program and ultimately have worked in the same place (different and varying jobs) for my whole career. During my work semesters I rode on deep ocean survey ships mapping the bottom of the ocean and later worked analyzing sea surface temperature from imagery. I have since moved on to a Information Technology position and also own my own computer services business.



There are so many cool things about science in general and I was lucky at a young age to be encouraged to pursue my dreams of science. I am living proof that you can do or be anything you want!

I am still a geologist at heart, and plan vacations around places where I can stop and dig for fossils!!! You have probably seen me on the side of the road with my rock hammer!


So tell me what you love or hate for that matter, about science!



:-)