Category Archives: Exploration

Free course on remote sensing for water exploration

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Ron Miksha

250 million people who live in the drylands of Africa and Asia face a shortage of water for their entire lives. Hundreds of millions more in less drought-prone regions of the ‘Third World’ have to cope repeatedly with reduced supplies.…

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Tunguska’s Kulik

Posted on August 19, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Leonid Kulik is probably another geologist you’ve never heard of. Well, it’s his birthday anyway, and here’s your chance to add a new name to your fact file, just in case you get that call from Jeopardy and the Remarkable … Continue reading →

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Into Big Valley

Posted on August 10, 2016 by Ron Miksha

A few days ago, I lamented that the lovely town of Big Valley is blessed with a Creation Science Museum. The museum is a single-room curio shop with a fossilized Teddy Bear and not much more. It’s a disappointing destination … Continue reading →

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Cuba, America, and Oil

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Ron Miksha

With America’s president visiting Cuba this week, I thought it might be helpful to re-post my story “Has Cuba Got Oil?” which I wrote in 2014.  It’s still valid. Cuba still has oil. But I argued that I doubt oil … Continue reading →

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Wegener’s Death and Drift’s Hiatus

Posted on February 7, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Over the past few days, I’ve written about Alfred Wegener’s continental drift theory, which is celebrating its 100th year as a spunky idea that explains a lot of our geology. From mountains to earthquakes and deep sea rifts to island … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Culture, Exploration, Geology, People, Plate Tectonics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Drilling into Hell . . . enjoy your visit!

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Ron Miksha

Yesterday, I wrote at length about the many disastrous expensive attempts scientists and engineers made in their quest to collect material from the mantle. So far, they’ve all ended far short of their target. Drilling through crust material (granite on … Continue reading →

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Drilling into Hell . . . almost there

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Ron Miksha

Chasing gold, humans have dug tunnels almost four kilometres into the Earth. Oil men have drilled down ten kilometres, but with occasionally disastrous results. Money is a strong motivator, but scientific curiosity is even stronger when measured in meters of … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Engineering, Exploration, Geology, Oceans | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Drilling into Hell

Posted on December 13, 2015 by Ron Miksha

They’re going to drill into the Earth’s mantle. This has been an unachieved goal of Earth scientists for decades. This time they really mean it. No stopping before they get the job done. Over the next three days, I’ll look … Continue reading →

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Water on Mars

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Ron Miksha

Not since Schiaparelli published his drawings of Martian “canals” has the popular press been so excited about water on Mars. Giovanni Schiaparelli, an Italian astronomer, science historian, and senator, had a good clear view of Mars through his scope back … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Exploration, Geology, Space | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Busted by Oil

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Ron Miksha

The list is long. Spindletop in Texas; Drake’s well in Pennsylvania; Petrolia, Ontario; Baku, Azerbaijan; Boryslav in Galicia. And many more. These are places spoiled by the boom and bust, rust and dust of oil production. I wonder if one … Continue reading →

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