GLOFs & Jökulhlaups When I was just a wee nerd, one year at the Ohio State Fair I happened upon a merchant selling packs of playing cards called Magic: the Gathering. I had no idea what they were. My mother and sister, who were with me, had no idea what the game was. But they looked […]
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Frankenstein’s Monster Volcano Mary Shelley might not be the first name encountered when considering women in science and nature, but she led an extraordinary life and has an intriguing connection to one of the largest events in geologic history. Additionally, many literary critics dubbed one of her novels as the first science-fiction piece ever written. Her
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The Chelyabinsk Fireball This week the newsletter touched on a couple of important points in the study of meteorites. We started with a sharpshooting rock in Benld, Illinois, that left an interesting path to its final resting place in 1938. At the time it was the closest a human had been to a strike in recorded history.
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Sylacauga In the last issue, we traveled to the strangely-named Benld, Illinois, to investigate a close encounter with a meteorite. In 1938, some humans had the closest recorded brush with a meteorite impact. Just 50 feet away, a space rock hit a garage, went through the ceiling of a car, its cushion, its floorboard, bounced
The Benld Meteorite The scene: Benld, Illinois. The date: 29 September 1938. This story offered two strange things to my world. The larger anecdote we’ll get to in a bit, but let’s start with the second, smaller interesting point. How in the world do you pronounce Benld? What is a Benld? Who is or was
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The Tasmanian Devil Repossesses If you’re like I am, your first awareness of a Tasmanian Devil arrived thanks to the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies character often nicknamed Taz. He grunts, growls, and sucks up anything and everything through his tornadic locomotion. The figure first appeared in 1954, but really picked up cultural steam when it reappeared in the 1990s.
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Mapping the Forest Soundscape The internet is a sprawling amalgamation of wasteland and oasis. For every worthless, vile haven there is a beacon of wonder we could not have accessed a generation or two ago. I recently had a conversation about education in which it occurred to me that I believe one of the
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The Autumnal Equinox Pumpkin spice permeates the air. Color creeps into the leaves. A favorite season for many people begins tomorrow – autumn. With all the fun of fall, unfortunately, comes the notion that, indeed, winter is coming. Daylight is slipping away. For those of us who loathe the lack of daytime in the winters, the autumnal
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Giant’s Causeway In the days of ancient yore, a Scottish giant named Benandonner challenged an Irish giant named Fionn mac Cumhaill to a fight. Fionn accepted the summons, but the giants had a problem. A sea lay between the two colossi, so Fionn constructed a causeway across the North Channel. The exact details are sketchy
Sand Cats Today we celebrate Felis margarita. No, not a cat named after a tequila cocktail, but a species named after the French general Jean Auguste Margueritte. May I introduce the adorable Sand Cat, also sometimes dubbed the Sand Dune Cat. Sand Kitty – photo by Payman Sazesh This small, wild cat resides in the sandy and stony