Latest from The Spokesman-Review

• The Rock Doc: Veterinarians learn grief counseling

  May 20, 2013 in City on Page A5 Modern veterinary science is a technically advanced field. Some animals receive not just X-rays but sophisticated scans such as MRIs. If you visit a large veterinary hospital you will find … 2

• Rock Doc: Slow-moving quakes may just delay the pain

  May 13, 2013 in City on Page A5 One of the most breathtaking geologic events is a major earthquake. In just a few moments, shaking of the earth can result in billions of dollars of damage and thousands …

• Rock Doc: Mass extinctions way more than just meteorites

  May 6, 2013 in City on Page A5 As any child can tell you, the Mesozoic Era ends with the extinction of the dinosaurs. Most geologists think the cause of that extinction was the impact of an enormous … 8

• The Rock Doc: Stream research goes with flow of technology

  April 29, 2013 in City on Page A5 It’s obvious that streams and rivers carry cobbles, gravel and sand downstream. Geologists know streams move a lot of material at flood stage but, even during calmer water flow, streams … 1

• The Rock Doc: Seeds of change start creation of new apple

  April 22, 2013 in City on Page A5 Today there are lots of options in the grocery stores when it comes to apples, from traditional varieties such as Jonathan and McIntosh to newer types such as Honeycrisp and … 5

• Rock Doc: Weak bedrock can make your house a hole

  April 15, 2013 in City on Page A5 Sometimes “solid rock” turns out to be anything but sturdy stuff. Limestone and a couple other related sedimentary rocks are common in some parts of the country, including in Florida. … 5

• Rock Doc: Just a tiny grain of sand can act as big evidence

  April 8, 2013 in City on Page A5 Born in 1632 in the Netherlands, Antony van Leeuwenhoek was a self-taught man who made microscopes, ultimately producing some 500 of them. Van Leeuwenhoek’s microscopes could magnify objects up to … 6

• The Rock Doc: Tweets, words share similar genetic makeup

  April 1, 2013 in City on Page A5 There are two features of this time of year that make my heart glad. One is the rapidly increasing length of the day. In September we lose daylight quickly, but … 3

• The Rock Doc: New hypothesis about fossils a healthy sign

  March 25, 2013 in City on Page A5 There’s a new debate in paleontology, one that took me by surprise but that shows nicely how some science works. There’s a particular type of ancient fossil called the “Ediacara … 12

• Rock Doc: Meteorite makes impression on geologists

  March 11, 2013 in City on Page A5 I think the most memorable single day of all my years as a student was the afternoon I got to examine moon rocks in graduate school. Rocks on Earth are …

• Rock Doc: Hearing loss may bring bigger issues

  March 4, 2013 in City on Page A5 “What?” That simple question gets asked by many people as they age and hearing loss begins to creep into daily life. Before my elderly mother got her hearing aids, it … 27

• The Rock Doc: Durum wheat now has a softer side

  February 25, 2013 in City on Page A5 Eighty years ago, my mother was in grade school, where paste was made by mixing a little flour and water together. Memories of that simple glue came back to her … 1

• Sutter’s Mill also site of modern-day meteorite rush

  February 4, 2013 in City on Page A5 As a geologist I hope you remember the story of Sutter’s Mill. It was the place in California where gold was discovered in 1848. As news of the discovery spread, … 8

• Rock Doc: DNA may hold key to mental illness

  January 28, 2013 in Features, Health on Page C1 For generations it’s been clear that a couple of major mental illnesses seem to occur much more frequently in some families than in others. But it hasn’t always been so … 3

• Rock Doc: Never take your waste for granted

  January 21, 2013 in Features on Page C1 A few weeks ago I lost the use of my toilet and learned firsthand just how much I missed it when it wasn’t there. My plumbing went out of order …

• Rock Doc: Engineering on a tiny scale hopefully will pay off big later

  January 7, 2013 in Features on Page C1 One of the most exciting frontiers of modern science is “nano” or tiny-scale technology. Recently some interesting progress was announced about micro-engineering on the nano-scale that could have useful applications. …

• Rock Doc: Naturally, there’s a better way

  December 24, 2012 in Features on Page C1 To a geologist like me, it was most notable by its absence in the political campaigns that lurched to their conclusions in November. I’m talking about an energy plan with … 1

• Rock Doc: Soil erosion has posed threats throughout history

  December 17, 2012 in Features on Page C1 This past fall I had to have a hole dug in my front lawn, part of a project to fix the sewer pipe that runs from my house to the … 1

• Rock Doc: Excessive aerobic exercise can take a toll on heart

  December 10, 2012 in Health on Page C1 Medical science increasingly has some evidence of a principle your mother warned you about: There really is too much of a good thing. A few folks throw themselves headlong into … 1

• Rock Doc: Progress of breast cancer research encouraging

  November 26, 2012 in Features, Health on Page C1 I have an elderly aunt who was diagnosed with breast cancer many years ago. She was treated and remained cancer-free for years. But I also had a next-door neighbor who …

• Book Notes: Rock Doc’s book explores climate change

  November 25, 2012 in Features on Page D6 E. Kirsten Peters, who writes the Rock Doc column that runs in Monday’s Today section, has a new book out. Peters, a geologist by trade who taught geology and science …

• Rock Doc: Digging deep to find source of extinction

  October 22, 2012 in Features on Page C1 Not too long ago I rewrote my will. There’s nothing like such a project to remind me of my mortality. But imagine not just your own individual death, but the … 1

• Rock Doc: Managing cougar populations requires reproductive math

  October 15, 2012 in Features on Page C1 Science often takes a lot of time and work. Those were my thoughts when I learned of all that professor Robert Wielgus has done to research the complex behavior of …

• Rock Doc: Hopefully, Rainier stays silent

  October 1, 2012 in Features on Page C1 Mount Rainier is a stunning site. At more than 14,000 feet, its summit is worthy of respect from even serious hikers. There’s no wonder it’s a national park. Mount Rainier …

• Rock Doc: Wheat that won’t die

  August 20, 2012 in Features on Page C1 When I’m feeling down, I like to reflect that the gene for death has been isolated – and reversed – by scientists. Sorry, it’s not the death of human beings … 3

• Those tiny microbes inside each of us offer big benefits

  August 13, 2012 in Features, Health on Page C1 Taken together, the microbes living in you weigh a few pounds. Within our bodies we have more than 10,000 different species of microbes. That’s a lot of different life forms, … 2