Occasional musings on meteorology and other bits of Earth science
Author: hcpI’m beginning to hear from a variety of sources the opinion expressed that this summer is particularly disappointing. Both farmers and beekeepers were grumbling loudly on the radio this morning, while ski lift operators were cheering about how long the skiing season had lasted. I knew already that bees were not having a good summerContinue reading The summer so far …
Academics get some time to think over the summer, and I have been busy thinking about a topic that forms part of a course that I taught for the first time this spring, and which I felt I had not got to the bottom of. I think it might make a good student research projectContinue reading Balance in science reporting
I spotted this nice display of noctilucent clouds last night. I have blogged about these clouds before; as I noted then I don’t observe them seriously, but I do keep an eye out for them. This year it has taken me until nearly the end of the season to see any. People sometimes give theContinue reading Noctilucent clouds: catching the end of the season
I spent yesterday afternoon at the University of Edinburgh’s graduation ceremony. I am in two minds about attending graduations. They are quite long, and you have to listen to a speech which you have heard several times before. But I think it is important to say goodbye to each year’s crop of geophysics graduates asContinue reading Leaving the nest
We went for a short walk today, to Fast Castle, a small ruin on the coast between Dunbar and St. Abbs. There isn’t a lot of castle left; we really went there to look at the nesting seabirds, such as this handsome razorbill. Fast Castle isn’t that far from Dunbar, but it is far enoughContinue reading Silurian and Devonian: Hutton’s unconformity
I returned from a short holiday to find a package containing these shiny metal things waiting in my office. Now, you might wonder why I have been spending my employer’s money on steampunk plant-pot stands. As is often the case, the answer to an odd question is to do with gravity. When our Lacoste-Romberg gravityContinue reading Cast in Aluminium
This year, the annual retreat for some of our staff and Ph.D students has been scheduled at a time when I can go to it. Which is nice, but it does mean that I have to work up a talk on whatever research I am managing to get done. And I was just scratching myContinue reading The eruption of Calbuco, and its stratospheric aftermath
One of the odd jobs that I have ended up doing is the care and maintenance of our gravity meters. We are lucky to have these instruments; they are very long-lived and a new one would be a very expensive purchase. The fact that we have three in working order is largely because one ofContinue reading Gravity: the vintage gear keeps on working
Last summer I posted a picture of two broccoli plants that had refused to flower and had grown to a large size instead. I speculated at the time that a second winter might prompt them to produce an enormous crop. It did, sort of. The one on the right is a normal-sized plant on topContinue reading A land of giants: the followup
As I have noted before, a side effect of having been on the Helmsdale geology excursion with the geophysics students is that I can not walk past a sandstone wall without looking for examples of current bedding. Sometimes there are other things to be seen as well. This block is in High School Yards andContinue reading Faulting close to home
