photography - Through the sandglass

art coastal photography sand science travel

Rugby: England 34, France 10

Right, a new category for this blog - sport. I tend, not surprisingly, to collect images that use sand in any way, and the picture above comes from an advertisi...

March 1, 2009 4 min read

art books climate_change education geomorphology history photography sand science travel

March 2009

Musings and news on the extraordinary stories sand has to tell of our planet and daily lives

March 1, 2009 5 min read

art climate_change coastal education geomorphology history photography sand science travel

Building New York - the Long Island Sandminers

You’re standing by the side of the road when a dump truck hauls into view, one of the big ones, filled with sand. It’s closely followed by another, and another,...

February 1, 2009 5 min read

art coastal history photography rivers_water sand science travel

Drawing lines in the sand - the art of Jim Denevan

Anyone who builds a sandcastle, or doodles on the beach, feels the impermanence of such creations. It’s one of sand’s many qualities - for a material that lends...

February 1, 2009 4 min read

art books coastal education geology geomorphology history photography sand science travel wildlife

From Bogart to Bugs - the Angle of Repose

I try to make a point of watching all movies that feature sand in a significant role (probably the subject of a future post), and my 88-year-old father-in-law w...

February 1, 2009 6 min read

art books climate_change coastal education geology geomorphology history photography rivers_water sand science travel

Magic Crystals - Tales Zircons Tell

The picture on the left is of our oldest earthly possessions. They are sand grains, but special ones, each an individual crystal of zircon, the silicate of the...

February 1, 2009 8 min read

art coastal history photography rivers_water sand science travel

February 2009

Musings and news on the extraordinary stories sand has to tell of our planet and daily lives

February 1, 2009 4 min read

art coastal education environment history photography sand science travel wildlife

Grain-by-Grain (1): worm superglue

We are not the only species that builds homes and condominium complexes from sand. For example, some foraminifera construct shells from sand grains, as does the...

January 1, 2009 4 min read

art education environment geology history photography rivers_water sand travel

Grain-by-Grain (2): the amazing sand bottles of Andrew Clemens

Sand has always provided a medium, a muse, an inspiration in many ways, but the way in which it inspired Andrew Clemens was extraordinary - and unique. Clemens...

January 1, 2009 13 min read

art books climate_change environment geology photography sand science travel

Granular stuff, earthquakes, and power laws - again

Back in November, in my post on the sandglass, I commented that watching avalanches of sand in a sandglass is to witness one of nature’s most fundamental laws i...

January 1, 2009 4 min read

art climate_change coastal education environment history photography sand science travel wildlife

Of Mice and Sand - Evolution in Action

This is the year of the great Darwinfest and, inevitably, sand makes its contribution. The immediate reference would be to the “sand walk” at Down House in the...

January 1, 2009 6 min read

art coastal education environment geology history photography sand science travel

Sediment Budget Busting

Sometimes you have to wonder. And the good tax-paying citizens of Bournemouth are certainly wondering. An article in yesterday’s UK Guardian newspaper highlight...

January 1, 2009 6 min read