Rock Doc

More than One Way to Do It

Those of us who’ve been around for a few decades have seen friends or family engulfed in bitter custody disputes. There’s nothing like denouncing the other parent of your children in open court (and paying steep legal bills for the privilege of doing so). Custody clashes are clearly only the tip of the iceberg of […]

Looking at Life as We Know It

Hard-working graduate students do much of the nitty-gritty fieldwork in geology.  Toiling outdoors each summer, the young folks can look forward to toiling in the laboratory during the school year. As a student I studied gold-bearing hot springs in California, sampling the sulfur-belching waters when the day’s highs were around 103 degrees. It was hellish, […]

Put the Pedal to the Metal

Imagine driving to work in a vehicle that costs a penny per mile to run and creates no exhaust. That’s what my neighbors Robert and Cecilia Richards do. The Richards commute from home to work in an electric car called a Zap. They recharge the car at home, racking up whopping 20-cent bills on their […]

Smut City

I’m living in what used to be the smut capital of the nation. I’m not talking about dirty pictures, but about the fungi that plague cereal plants like wheat. The fungi are known as “smut,” and they were once rife in the Pacific Northwest. The good news is that smut is mostly under control these […]

Mamas and Papas

The “birds and the bees” is a subject parents often don’t relish talking about with their kids. For folks in my generation, the phrase conjures up memories of junior high health class in which we learned a great deal about birds, followed by just a little bit about people. I was happy enough to take […]

Good Jobs for the Taking

The fact that Baby Boomers are starting to retire creates changing job opportunities.  Some lucrative positions will be available in increasing numbers in the coming years. Entry-level positions are already open, with most starting salaries around $75,000. As an added bonus, if you take such a job you’ll be contributing everyday to America’s energy independence. […]

The Three Bears Dance With Climate

An unusually large grizzly sat on top of a deer carcass outside of Cooke City, Montana earlier this fall. Locals got pictures of the great grizzly, estimated at 900 lbs, which evidently was guarding the deer by sitting on it. “It’s a bear in good fall condition, not an old behemoth,” said Kevin Frey based […]

Hybrid Evolution

Americans drive a lot. You’ve got little choice about the matter if there isn’t public transport in your area or you work odd shifts. But with modern gas and diesel prices, what’s a person to do? Enter the hybrid. They get about 30% more miles per gallon than a standard car, decreasing both your gas […]

Dumping gasoline, going with gas

Bold visions have shaped American economic history at many different watersheds in our nation’s history. T. Boone Pickens fits squarely in that tradition, applying the think-big approach to American energy needs. A geologist by training, Pickens has most recently been trading in oil and gas futures. He’s also just published a book to tout his […]

The Steelhead Family Tree

From judges deliberating in federal courthouses to fishermen wading into streams, many people have ideas about how to restore salmon and steelhead runs in the Northwest. When Gary Thorgaard, director of Washington State University’s School of Biological Sciences, thinks about salmon and steelhead recovery plans, his framework of analysis includes the genetics that link the […]