Monthly Archives: January 2012

The pyroclastic flows of Mount Doom

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Pete Rowley

I thought I might take the opportunity to write a few posts about my first love – pyroclastic density currents (PDCs).  These are basically particle-laden flows, rich in ash and pumice, which form from explosive eruption columns or the collapse … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Geology, Physics, Science, Sedimentology, Travel, Volcanism | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments

What an opportunity

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Pete Rowley

Today marks the start of the 9th year that NASA’s Opportunity rover has been active on Mars. Launched back in 2003, and landing on January 25th 2004, Opportunity had an operational expectation of 90 sols (a sol being a Martial … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Chemistry, General, Geology, News, Science, Sedimentology, Travel | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Welcome to a new age

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Pete Rowley

As you’ve probably noticed, the blog has changed name. Look on it as part 2 of a New Year facelift (albeit more in sync with the Chinese calendar than the Gregorian). I was never really enamoured with the original title, … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 3 Comments

El Hierro 5 – Resurgence?

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Pete Rowley

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of my updates on the eruption offshore of El Hierro, and for those of you who aren’t regularly up on your volcano news, you may have been lulled into the belief that … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Geology, Hazard Assessment, News, Science, Volcanism | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Things wot I ‘av learned

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Pete Rowley

Last June when I started this blog, my reasoning was that it provided a very much better vehicle for the various notes, rants and diatribes that I was otherwise just dumping on Facebook.  I rapidly came to the realisation that … Continue reading →

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Some ways in which science journalists demonstrate they don’t understand science journalism

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Pete Rowley

This afternoon Ananyo Bhattacharya, the Chief Online Editor for the journal Nature, posted a piece on the Guardian website entitled “Nine ways scientists demonstrate they don’t understand journalism”. While he makes a few valid points further down the article (the … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, General, Media & Perception, News, Science | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

A New Years resolution

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Pete Rowley

To be honest, I don’t really hold with New Year resolutions. My thinking is that if you realise something is worth doing, get on and do it.  Using an arbitrary calendar date as some kind of opportunity window seems peculiar … Continue reading →

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2011 in review

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Pete Rowley

Well, this amused me.  Got to love the fact that after El Hierro and the Van Earthquake, the most searched for terms that led people here were to do with Barney the dinosaur. Happy New Year everyone!   The WordPress.com … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 1 Comment