I made this reminder “sticky” so it stays on top for a while. For new articles, just scroll down a little bit.
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Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.
…has now been solved:
Ark Theory.
(By Bizarro; found at Pharyngula the other day.)
I’m quite happy that I didn’t yet have to discuss with students the creationst crap the cartoon makes fun of.
Neulich hab ich beim Abschicken einer Glückwunschkarte in einem einfarbigen (aber nicht weißen) Kuvert erfahren müssen, daß Briefe in farbigen Umschlägen grundsätzlich 90 Cent kosten. :-/
WTF?
Mir scheint, daß die zunehmend modernere Technik immer weniger zu leisten instande ist. Anders kann ich mir das nicht erklären. (Außer es ginge darum, dem Kunden möglichst viel Geld abzuzocken; aber das würde die Post doch nie tun…)
Unlike an advent calendar, this one is for the whole year. And it doesn’t cause weight gain, because there’s no chocolate in it, but (mostly) ravenous parasites:
Parasite of the Day
Cymothoa Exigua replaces a fish's tongue. (Photo from Parasite of the Day)
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I’ve waited so long for this, and now I’ve almost missed it: there are some first results from the geoblog survey 2009. Lutz Geißler presents a summary on geoberg.de (and a shorter German version on geonetzwerk.org). Also, there’s going to be a publication about it in a not-yet-known journal.
It’s interesting (similar to the first survey) that in Germany, geoblogs are limited to the east and north. Is there nobody who likes to write about e.g. the Alps?
Quite some time ago, I posted a colourful specimen of modern art and asked whether someone could tell what it is. One or two people seemed to like it, but couldn’t add anything to my suggestion of the “Purple Woman Holding a Large Fish”.
So now the picture in its complete context:
Groundwater Map of Bavaria 1:25000, Section 6532 Nürnberg (1970).
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Sometimes, leafing through old books yields little gems.
The hydraulic processes of groundwater in nature cause great difficulties for calculations. To date, the geologist usually tends to rely on imagination [impression? understanding? concept? How the hell do you translate „Anschauung“?] only, and to disregard calculations completely. The mathematically trained engineer, on the other hand, often lacks the necessary understanding [imagination? etc.] of geologic structure. Especially in this field of groundwater science, progress can only be made by close collaboration of the geologist and the mathematically trained engineer.
W. Koehne (1928): Grundwasserkunde [Groundwater Science]. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart. p. 116–117.
Quite flattering how he denies geologists any mathematical skill. Hopefully this has improved since then. I, however, am a mathematically trained engineer who only needs to be acquainted with the understanding of geologic structure. 
I wish all my readers a happy new year!
Fireworks in Obermaiselstein, view from Oberdorf chapel
Dominion on her/his blog “The Couloir Times” has shown a part of the Blue Ridge Mountains where she/he grew up as WoGE #177.
Just in time before Christmas, I’d like to present the new snowy/icy WoGE #178:
A snowy place as WoGE for Christmas season.
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This month’s Accretionary Wedge (hosted by Magma Cum Laude) is about earth science outreach, so I’d like to write a bit about the practical courses our university (BTU – Brandenburg University of Technology at Cottbus) provides for secondary school students in 11th and 12th grade.
Our department (Environmental Geology) offers such practicals since 2007, but other departments have started earlier. Students of the secondary schools “Max-Steenbeck-Gymnasium” here in Cottbus and Carl-Friedrich-Gauß-Gymnasium in Frankfurt (Oder) attend practicals here as part of the “Forschungs-Bildungs-Kooperation” programme (FBK). Sorry, the schools’ and FBK’s websites are in German only.
Both schools have a special focus on mathematics, natural science and technology, and the students choose a practical course topic according to their elected “Leistungskurse” (intensive courses). In our case, these were either biology or chemistry. Sadly, geography intensive courses are not part of the FBK programme.
Up to now, we had three groups and topics:
- Physical properties of highly concentrated solutions of various salts (Gauß Gymnasium)
- Water quality of a small ditch flowing through a fen (Steenbeck Gymnasium)
- Release of nutrients from strongly degraded peat soils (Steenbeck Gymnasium)
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