Author Archives: paleololigo

Scientist (Paleontology, Geochemistry, Geology); Writer (Speculative and Science Fiction, plus technical and non-technical Science); Mom to great boy on the Autism spectrum; possessor of too many hobbies.

The Mystery of the Delta Value – Why ‰ isn’t Parts Per Thousand

I’m about to gripe. But it’s a science gripe. It’s a technical gripe. It’s about stable isotopes. If you aren’t interested in stable isotopes, I suggest you tune out now.

There’s this thing in stable isotopes, especially the so-called ‘light’ isotopes like hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen. It’s called the ‘delta’ value. When we say what the stable isotopic measurement of something is, we say ‘the delta value is blah-blah-blah.’ The value is always in the units of permil (‰).

“δ13C of warm-season grasses is -14‰.”Continue reading “The Mystery of the Delta Value – Why ‰ isn’t Parts Per Thousand”

Mental Health Days

My appointment at the university where I work is a strange one. I’m not faculty. My title is not professor. But I do most of the same things that professors have to do: I teach, do research, write papers, submit grant proposals. Things I don’t have to do are: advise graduate students, go to faculty meetings, and worry about getting enough grant money and publications to get tenure.Continue reading “Mental Health Days”

Tap-tap-tap

Here is my response to yesterday’s challenge over at the RocNaNo blog. Do you have a pet peeve?

—–

Tap-tap-tap.

Glibert leaned closer to the book. It was hard to make out the text in the fire light. He brought a candle closer. “Those who bear the Mark, must ever give their life in service of their King,” he read aloud.  He slid his finger down the text, looking for the line he needed.

Tappa-tap-tap.
Continue reading “Tap-tap-tap”

Comet West

This is my response to today’s Challenge over at the RocNaNo blog. The challenge is to use this note (found in a used astronomy book we recently purchased) to set the stage for a novel.

A note stuck into an astronomy book. It reads: "Comet West - March 5, 1976 5:32 A.M. There appeared at the top of the window a very brilliant light and in the instant that it took me to focus, right before me was a brilliantly glowing ball but of a hazy shape. greenish in color and indescribably bright. It seemed to wobble a little which must have been its revolutions and moved with a slightly downward curve then was suddenly gone. Sky was overcast for a next few days."
A note stuck into an astronomy book. It reads:
“Comet West – March 5, 1976
5:32 A.M.
There appeared at the top of the window a very brilliant light and in the instant that it took me to focus, right before me was a brilliantly glowing ball but of a hazy shape. greenish in color and indescribably bright. It seemed to wobble a little which must have been its revolutions and moved with a slightly downward curve then was suddenly gone. Sky was overcast for a next few days.”

Continue reading “Comet West”