Don't Panic Geocast

This week we go over the last year and discuss our plans for 2020 before diving into a discussion on pupil shapes in various animals. Don't miss it! Fun Paper Friday Banks, Martin S., et al. "Why do animal eyes have pupils of different shapes?." Science advances 1.7 (2015): e1500391. Contact us: Show Support us on Patreon! www.dontpanicgeocast.com SWUNG Slack @dontpanicgeo show@dontpanicgeocast.com John Leeman www.johnrleeman.com @geo_leeman Shannon Dulin @ShannonDulin

This week we finish up talking about deserts with some of our favorite features - dunes, ventifacts, and more! Sailing Stones Ventifact Dunes Fun Paper Friday How can math and physics "improve" hunting a lion? Pétard, H. "A contribution to the mathematical theory of big game hunting." Amer. Math. Monthly 45 (1938): 446-447. Contact us: Show Support us on Patreon! www.dontpanicgeocast.com SWUNG Slack @dontpanicgeo show@dontpanicgeocast.com John Leeman www.johnrleeman.com @geo_leeman Shannon Dulin @ShannonDulin

This week we stick to a dry subject - deserts! Learn about how rocks weather in a place where there isn't much. Peltier diagram on weathering Desert Varnish Rock Exfoliation Video Fun Paper Friday What if the Earth were replaced with blueberries? Sandberg, Anders. "Blueberry Earth." arXiv preprint arXiv:1807.10553 (2018). Contact us: Show Support us on Patreon! www.dontpanicgeocast.com SWUNG Slack @dontpanicgeo show@dontpanicgeocast.com John Leeman www.johnrleeman.com @geo_leeman Shannon Dulin @ShannonDulin

Deserts - hot and dry right? Wrong! There's so much more to them! Fun Paper Friday Synthetic Uranus? Magnetic Fields? Learn more in this week's fun paper. Chau, Ricky, Sebastien Hamel, and William J. Nellis. "Chemical processes in the deep interior of Uranus." Nature communications 2 (2011): 203. Contact us: Show Support us on Patreon! www.dontpanicgeocast.com SWUNG Slack @dontpanicgeo show@dontpanicgeocast.com John Leeman www.johnrleeman.com @geo_leeman Shannon Dulin @ShannonDulin

This week we talk about the dreaded stereonet and why it's useful and somewhat... odd. Great Stereonet Video Series On Teaching Stereonets Visible Geology Fun Paper Friday What's the best way to make a uniform crepe or pancake? Find out with just a bit of math! Boujo, E., and M. Sellier. "Pancake making and surface coating: optimal control of a gravity-driven liquid film." Physical Review Fluids 4.6 (2019): 064802. Contact us: Show Support us on Patreon! www.dontpanicgeocast.com SWUNG Slack @dontpanicgeo show@dontpanicgeocast.com John Leeman www.johnrleeman.com @geo_leeman Shannon Dulin @ShannonDulin

This week we talk about how YOU can contribute to science with citizen science efforts and what it takes to make a successful citizen science project. SETI@Home Pl@ntNet BioBlitz OK BioBlitz urad Monitor Bud Burst Fun Paper Friday How to run a successful citizen science project Contact us: Show Support us on Patreon! www.dontpanicgeocast.com SWUNG Slack @dontpanicgeo show@dontpanicgeocast.com John Leeman www.johnrleeman.com @geo_leeman Shannon Dulin @ShannonDulin

This week Matt Hall of Agile Scientific joins John to talk about teaching Python, the ways scientists get around learning programming, and how to help them learn these tools! Contact us: Show Support us on Patreon! www.dontpanicgeocast.com SWUNG Slack @dontpanicgeo show@dontpanicgeocast.com John Leeman www.johnrleeman.com @geo_leeman Shannon Dulin @ShannonDulin

This week we talk about fire weather and wildfires! It's a hot topic. We also visit a somewhat Halloween appropriate fun paper from the Journal of Experimental Biology. National Fire Danger Rating Index Mesonet Fire Weather Page Burning Index Ignition Component Spread Component Fuel Moisture Keetch-Byram Drought Index Fun Paper Friday It's Halloween Fun Paper Time! Hands, guitar tuners, and accelerometers. Horns, Joshua, Rebekah Jung, and David R. Carrier. "In vitro strain in human metacarpal bones during striking: testing the pugilism hypothesis of hominin hand evolution." Journal of Experimental Biology 218.20 (2015): 3215-3221. Contact us: Show Support us on Patreon! www.dontpanicgeocast.com SWUNG Slack @dontpanicgeo show@dontpanicgeocast.com John Leeman www.johnrleeman.com @geo_leeman Shannon Dulin @ShannonDulin  

This week we talk to Dr. Jeffrey Wagman about experimental psychology, perception, and what it takes to write a "Fun Paper" worthy paper! Jeff's Website Fun Paper Friday This week we discuss knights in shining armor! Askew, Graham N., Federico Formenti, and Alberto E. Minetti. "Limitations imposed by wearing armour on Medieval soldiers' locomotor performance." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 279.1729 (2011): 640-644. Contact us: Show Support us on Patreon! www.dontpanicgeocast.com SWUNG Slack @dontpanicgeo show@dontpanicgeocast.com John Leeman www.johnrleeman.com @geo_leeman Shannon Dulin @ShannonDulin  

This week we wrap up our discussion of how plate tectonics can influence climate, then discuss zebra stripes on a fascinating fun paper Friday! Fun Paper Friday Kojima, Tomoki, et al. "Cows painted with zebra-like striping can avoid biting fly attack." PloS one 14.10 (2019): e0223447. Contact us: Show Support us on Patreon! www.dontpanicgeocast.com SWUNG Slack @dontpanicgeo show@dontpanicgeocast.com John Leeman www.johnrleeman.com @geo_leeman Shannon Dulin @ShannonDulin