Maddie Stone's discussions

the blog has moved https://johncook.kinja.com/jim-spanfeller-is-a-herb-by-emma-carmichael-1839545670

There’s definitely a paradigm shift taking place. When I was an undergrad ecology major we were still learning that all of the old soil carbon was ‘humus’ basically described as a mess of indigestible, aromatic compounds. In grad school I studied deep tropical soils from a Puerto Rican forest and we learned that all… Read more

honestly not a criticism i expected but points for creativity

Alaska has some of the best public-facing climatology info I’ve encountered. Much of it thanks to UAF which, unfortunately, the governor wants to gut :|  

i would love to see some ice age fish that have been evolving in a dark submarine aquifer for the last 10,000 years

Can’t wait for the trans-Pangea Ultima railroad!

This is one of my more embarrassing typos to date. It has been corrected!

Thanks, this has been fixed!

Wow this article sparked some deep discussion! Just wanted to say, I know y’all don’t all agree with me, but thanks for sharing your thoughts and keeping it civil. I like that we can have good conversations here.

I really mean it. I think the key to saving humanity—at least in its current form as bipedal, oxygen-breathing primates—is always going to be sustaining the Earth. Space habs could maybe offer a very temporary stopgap in the event of some huge cataclysm, but even then I imagine the key to our survival will be… Read more

Electric flying cars that charge off the bridge? https://earther.gizmodo.com/scientists-dream-of-a-future-where-flying-cars-fight-cl-1833915708

lol stop

Hello, editor here. The ppm/ppb discrepancy was completely my fault and the consequence of attempting to edit after three hours of coaching college kids on science writing without sufficient caffeine. It has been fixed.

Yea, unwashed bottles and cans was a big factor folks I spoke with cited when asked why contamination is so high. Having seen old roommates literally toss unwashed peanutbutter jars in the recycling, I believe it.

My understanding from speaking with those plants is that the were in the mix beforehand but now constitute a much higher fraction (especially on the plastics side). Food scraps /waste are another big one, I’d imagine.

Glad my efforts don’t go unnoticed around here.

Dang, and I even tweeted it correctly. It’s been fixed, thx for catching!

hmm good point. will rethink wording next time!

NOAA’s Hurricane Hunters are so badass. Read more

Michael is continuing to swirl into the far southeastern corner of Alabama and southwest Georgia at a fairly rapid clip. In its 5pm advisory the National Hurricane Center downgraded Michael to a Category 3, which is to say, this is still an extremely powerful and dangerous storm. Michael is expected to continue… Read more