Author Archives: gymnosperm

Something In Us Loves a Witch

Posted on April 14, 2013 by gymnosperm

Something in us loves a witch. We’ve already explored the irrational behavior demonstrated by Prohibition and the Salem Witch Trials. See “Global Warming and Prohibition”. The nature of the human condition is that we are constantly confronted with forces beyond … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Climate, History, Metaphor | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Edge

Posted on April 7, 2013 by gymnosperm

It never ceases to amaze how quickly in any research endeavor one reaches the edge of human understanding. Research by search engine in any subject is like peeling back the skins of an onion. First comes the chaff, and then … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Half Dome | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

El Patron, El Sol

Posted on April 2, 2013 by gymnosperm

This is what I will be looking like soon. The wages of a Nordic phenotype who spent his life in the sun. Not so much at the beach, although there too when I was younger. High altitude sun, Radon and … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Biology, Wilderness | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Wine, Volcanoes, and the Dioxides

Posted on March 24, 2013 by gymnosperm

Making wine teaches important lessons about the wee beastie soup we live in, call it the dim sum. It also holds lessons about Carbon and Sulfur. Carbon and Sulfur were instrumental in the evolution of life on this planet, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Biology, History, History of Life, Metaphor, Ocean Acidification | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Duty of Truth

Posted on March 17, 2013 by gymnosperm

Those who work at public institutions owe the public, their patrons, a duty of truth. Private citizens are free to engage in any foolishness that suits them, but public servants must be held to a higher standard. The graph above … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate Change, Global Warming, Paleoclimate | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Here’s the Beef, Or the World Economy Explained by a Billion Cows

Posted on March 9, 2013 by gymnosperm

Grasses coevolved with ungulates (we can call them cows). About 30 million years ago due to declining temperature, humidity, and atmospheric Carbon dioxide a bunch of plants including grasses evolved a more efficient form of photosynthesis called C4. This allowed them … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthropology, Climate, Climate Change, Economics, Geography, History, History of Life, Paleoclimate, Salvation from Cows | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Hawaii

Posted on March 3, 2013 by gymnosperm

By incredibly good luck I’ve been spending lots of time in Hawaii lately, on business no less. I stay in this unbelievable house.   One really gets the sense of being out in the middle of the ocean in Hawaii, … Continue reading →

Posted in Geography, Geoid, Geology, Gravity Anomalies, Oceanography, Plate Tectonics | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Half Dome then and Now

Posted on February 25, 2013 by gymnosperm

The first time I went up the cables on Half Dome was in July, 1974. I was skiing the Muir Trail during Christmas vacations, hiking it for the second and third times during the summers, and going to school in … Continue reading →

Posted in Half Dome, Wilderness | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

California Great Central Valley as a Cretaceous Sea of Cortez

Posted on February 18, 2013 by gymnosperm

I was travelling the world as I often do in Google Earth, pondering how strange it is that the Hawaiian Seamount chain created a gravity low its entire length, when I noticed this: Probably just because gravity lows are a nice deep … Continue reading →

Posted in Geography, Geology, Gravity Anomalies, Paleogeography, Plate Tectonics | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Bad Hair Days and Magnetic Excursions

Posted on February 16, 2013 by gymnosperm

This picture of a model simulating the weakened and divided magnetic field during a reversal should be in the thesaurus when you look up “bad hair day”. If this is anywhere near correct it should be no surprise that the nano … Continue reading →

Posted in Gravity Anomalies, Magnetic Reversals, True Polar Wander, Virtual Geomagnetic Pole (VGP) | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment