EARLY—AND FUTURE—PLANETARY ENVIRONMENTS
By Janne Blichert-Toft | December, 2016
Dear friends. This final issue of Elements for 2016 marks the end of my term as a Principal Editor. Looking back, my tenure finishes near to where it began—with a focus on mineral–water interfaces (Elements, “Mineral– Water Interactions,” v9n3, 2013). A recurring theme throughout the current issue is that chemical reactions at mineral surfaces likely had a role in sparking what we now experience as complex living systems. Indeed, mineral−water interfaces may reside at the heart of the ultimate scientific question—“What is the origin of life on Earth?”
EU SCIENCE AND “BREXIT”
By Bernard J. Wood | October, 2016
Everybody reading this will know that on 23 June 2016 the people of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union (EU). For almost all of us in the UK academic community, this was a shocking result, leaving us feeling bereaved as if by the death of a family member. The impact on our university and research communities cannot be overestimated, but nor can the impact on our European neighbours, colleagues and friends. The President of the Royal Society (UK Academy of Science) has welcomed the fact that our government has promised to replace the funding (~€1.15 billion/year) which comes to British science from European Research Council grants and contracts. He also stated, however, that simple restoration of EU funds by our government does not replace the many other benefits of such funding. Collaborations and networks with other EU scientists have taken many years to build and have enabled us to influence the planning of future European research directions and new facilities.
NUCLEAR WASTE DISPOSAL, CLIMATE CHANGE, AND BREXIT: THE IMPORTANCE OF AN EDUCATED PUBLIC
By Gordon E. Brown, Jr. | August, 2016
Modern society faces a variety of major challenges that will impact the quality of our lives. Of these, 15 have been singled out as “Global Challenges” by the Millennium Project (2014)(SEE FIGURE BELOW). One of the greatest of these challenges is the availability of sufficient clean water. Another is sustainable development and climate change. Much of the US public now accepts that the rapidly increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere are caused by human activity, including the burning of fossil fuels. However, there is little consensus among US scientists, engineers, politicians, and the public about how to reduce atmospheric CO2 levels, especially at a time when developing countries are seeking the same standard of living enjoyed by the world’s most industrialized countries. Yet another challenge, which is related both to the burning of fossil fuels and to climate change, is adequate energy to power our global society.
GEOCHEMICAL SAMPLES: BEAUTIFUL SMALL OR BETTER BIG?
By Friedhelm von Blanckenburg | June, 2016
“What are the main challenges for geochemistry in the future?” was a question asked of Al Hofmann, the recent Urey medalist of the European Association of Geochemistry (Elements, February 2016, p 68). “The ability to analyze most or all atoms in a very small sample by microanalytical methods,” was his answer. As an Earth surface geochemist interested in large-scale fluxes, my spontaneous response was surprise. Isn’t the grandest of all challenges rather to use large spatial scale geochemical signals to reveal processes and fluxes of global significance? Then I contemplated the vast amount of information that has been harvested from the smallest samples. And I began to question whether the “small is beautiful” or “bigger the better” avenues are actually opposing approaches. The editing of my first issue as an Elements principal editor, this cosmic dust volume, contributed enormously to a swing of my opinion.
THE GLITTERING PRIZES
By Bernard Wood | April, 2016
It is the time of year when many learned societies are seeking nominations for medals and other awards which confer honour on those colleagues of exceptional achievement. Having been a member of several awards committees, it has become apparent to me that few of us take the trouble to nominate even the most deserving of colleagues for awards. In fact, awards committees are usually so short of nominations that the Chair has to cajole and browbeat friends and colleagues into submitting nominations for scientists who are clearly of the right level of distinction.
THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZA AND ARCHIMEDES’ PALIMPSEST: WHAT WOULD INDIANA JONES THINK OF MODERN APPROACHES TO ARCHAEOLOGY?
By Gordon E. Brown Jr. | February, 2016
My first exposure to cultural heritage occurred in 1974 when I was asked by a group of physicists from the Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International based in California, USA) to serve as a mineralogical consultant for their project on the pyramids of Giza (Egypt). Their objective was to perform radio frequency (rf) sounder experiments in search of archaeologically significant hidden chambers. I carried out powder X-ray diffraction and optical emission spectrographic analyses of limestone chips from the Giza pyramids. The high water content of the analyzed limestones, the high relative humidity (80%) inside the pyramids, and the hydrous clay minerals found in the limestone helped explain the high attenuation of the rf signal, which prevented any new chambers from being located (Dolphin et al. 1975).