65 million years ago dinosaurs went extinct, but for many million years before this they were roaming all over the planet. There were many different species in many different places, but we most commonly associate them with old dense forests filled with ferns, or grasslands and forests. However, they did live in quite northern and … Continue reading 41: Dinosaurs of the Antarctic and Arctic

It’s not just mud. Soil is pretty important, for all kinds of reasons including us being able to grow food and flowers, and not having to walk around on rocks all the time. But what is soil, and what’s in soil, and how can that brown stuff that we walk over every day be partly … Continue reading 40: Soil and Carbon Stocks

This week is another animal spotlight, but instead of looking at the furry creatures of the north, we will be looking at birds, or one very impressive bird in particular. This is the Arctic tern, who though it lives part of the year in the Arctic, spends much of its time on the wing travelling … Continue reading 39: Arctic Terns

For this weeks plog we will be following the cold theme and looking at ice ages. The words "Ice Age" may make you think of mammoths and sabre tooth tigers wandering around a little over 10,000 years ago (or of a Disney movie with a rather wonderful sabre tooth squirrel). However, this recent age of … Continue reading 38: Ice Ages

It is many people's wish and dream to one day see the Northern Lights. They are, after all a wonder of nature that have captivated people for centuries. These lights, also occurring in the south of the planet, are not only beautiful, they are also a connection between us and space beyond our little planet, … Continue reading 37: The Northern (and Southern) Lights

You may have heard of North Pole (yay Arctic), you may have heard of the South Pole (go Antarctic!), but have you ever heard of the Third Pole? This week we will be stepping out of the Arctic and exploring the nature and science of a somewhat similar place, the third pole, which is found … Continue reading 36: The Third Pole

Scientist quite like classifying stuff, and literally all living things on the planet are no exception. This is done through taxonomy, which in biology is simply the scientific organisation of all living and once living but now extinct things. Our current system of taxonomy has, with some changes, existed since the 1700s originating with botanist … Continue reading 35: Taxonomy and names, both classic and stupid (or hilarious!)

Time for another animal spotlight, and this week, it’s the moose! Sadly in my research I discovered meese is definitely not the plural of moose… it’s just moose, like sheep and sheep. Despite the sad loss of this wonderful word, there are lots of interesting and often unexpected bits of life history connected to these … Continue reading 34: Prepare to be amoosed

Fossil fuels eh? Awful! Scourge of humanity! But… what are they? And why are they so bad? Should we stop using them straight away? And what does a fern have to do with any of this? As always the answers aren’t always simple, but some of them are quite interesting. This week we will be … Continue reading 33: Fossil Fuels- what happens to a fern 300 million years after it dies?

On a bit of a different line this week, we will be taking a look at some of the practicalities of doing scientific research, rather than what the research itself has discovered. It’s easy to think of scientific research being done in two ways- one in a high tech lab with fancy instruments and lots … Continue reading 32: Research Stations