Planetary Design: A Brief Introduction

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In my last post I tried to explain why I study rocks. In my next few posts I will describe my research focus and exactly what I am doing for my PhD thesis. However, in order to better explain this … Continue reading →

NASA’s Genesis Mission

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A few weeks ago I wrote a piece on this blog asking the question what is our solar system made of? I explained our need to know the composition of the starting material from which our solar system formed. The … Continue reading →

Why rocks?

Before I get into telling you about my PhD research I thought I would answer this question, most recently posed to me by a French businessman; and it got me thinking…seriously, why rocks? Following some thought, my answer was power … Continue reading →

What is our Solar System made of?

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According to the nursery rhyme, little boys are made of frogs and snails and puppy dog’s tails, whereas little girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice! But what about our solar system? What is that made from? … Continue reading →

Why do we keep going on about xenon?

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Those of you who have been following this blog may have noticed that there are quite a number of posts about xenon. We even have a special mass spectrometer which can only measure xenon. But why? Why are we so … Continue reading →

Noble Gases

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What are noble gases? Why are we interested in them? And what do they tell us about how the earth and solar system formed? Helium, neon, argon, krypton and xenon. These gases are very rare on Earth and in meteorites. … Continue reading →

Interplanetary CSI

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What are Isotope Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry? -  Interplanetary Crime Scene Investigation Since we are starting a blog about isotope geochemistry and cosmochemistry, we should talk a little about what these exotic subjects are.  We and others research groups like us … Continue reading →