Don't Panic Geocast

Jezero crater is a really interesting place on Mars - that's why we have landed so many spacecraft in the area. This week we talk about some exciting findings from the crater as well as a modern day twist on a modest proposal.

• Jezero Crater

Fun Paper Friday

In a twist on an old tale, this authors examine how applying ethical matricies to AI driven questions can still result in questionable outcomes - like grinding up the geezers.

• Keyes, Os, Jevan Hutson, and Meredith Durbin. "A mulching proposal: Analysing and improving an algorithmic system for turning the elderly into high-nutrient slurry." Extended abstracts of the 2019 CHI conference on human factors in computing systems. 2019.

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John Leeman

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Shannon Dulin

• @ShannonDulin

How do you know if your cool new result is real or just some artifact? Is it data or noise, and are those not always so dissimilar? This week we tackle that along with how good your BS detector is.

Fun Paper Friday

• Is your BS just BS or fake profundity?
• Pennycook, Gordon, et al. "On the reception and detection of pseudo-profound bullshit." Judgment and Decision making 10.6 (2015): 549-563.

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John Leeman

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Shannon Dulin

• @ShannonDulin

Wildfires can change the landscape and have geologic implications. Also, what makes your sneakers squeak, and what does that have to do with earthquakes?

Fun Paper Friday

• A peek into the physics of squeaky sneakers

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John Leeman

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Shannon Dulin

• @ShannonDulin

This week we recap the GEARS 2026 workshop, our return from summer break, how hot it has been, and chat about floods of the 1300's in Europe.

• GEARS Workshop

Fun Paper Friday

• Kiss, Andrea, et al. "Cascading continental-scale floods across Europe in 1342–1343." Nature (2026): 1-8.

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John Leeman

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Shannon Dulin

• @ShannonDulin

There was a very large earthquake in the Philippines - John and Shannon break down what you need to know. We also explore the question - what's the deal with birds?

Fun Paper Friday

• Baldassarre, Daniel T. "What’s the Deal with Birds." Sci J Res Rev 2 (2020): 1-4.

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John Leeman

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Shannon Dulin

• @ShannonDulin

This week John and Shannon discuss the book "Slow Productivity", our other summer reading lists, and if swearing makes your exercise sessions better.

Fun Paper Friday

• Jiannine, Lia, and Jose Antonio. "The effects of cursing on exercise performance." Journal of Exercise Physiology Online 26.5 (2023).

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John Leeman

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Shannon Dulin

• @ShannonDulin

This week we talk about GPR or ground penetrating radar as Shannon considers buying one and asks what to look for.

Fun Paper Friday

• Do trees glow before lightning strikes?
• McFarland, P. J., et al. "Corona discharges glow on trees under thunderstorms." Geophysical Research Letters 53.4 (2026): e2025GL119591.

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John Leeman

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Shannon Dulin

• @ShannonDulin

This week we talk about how you should approach an outcrop in the field for the first time. What do you look for? What kind of notes do you take? This and more field camp tips plus a discussion about the rheology of pasta sauce.

Fun Paper Friday

• Busiello, Daniel Maria, Vincenzo Maria Schimmenti, and Ivan Di Terlizzi. "Physical properties of a perfect pasta sauce." Physics Today 2026 (2026).

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John Leeman

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Shannon Dulin

• @ShannonDulin

This week we help a listener identify their bizarre fossil - and it's a trace fossil! Learn all about it and find out if you'd remember more if we were funnier!

• Trace Fossil Dictionary
• Shannon’s Favorite Trackway
• Asterosoma

Fun Paper Friday

• Would you remember more about science if your teachers presented it in a funny way?
• Frank, Alexandra L., et al. "Wit meets wisdom: the relationship between satire and anthropomorphic humor on scientists' likability and legitimacy." Journal of Science Communication 24.1 (2025): A04.

This week, we continue to talk about temperature with a discussion of temperature scales, where they came from, and why there are so many!

Fun Paper Friday

• Kaiser, Caspar, and Andrew J. Oswald. "The scientific value of numerical measures of human feelings." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119.42 (2022): e2210412119.

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John Leeman

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Shannon Dulin

• @ShannonDulin

What is temperature? Why do we care? Where did all of these temperature scales come from? This week, we find out!

Fun Paper Friday

• Di Lorenzo, Emilia, et al. "Periodic cooking of eggs." Communications Engineering 4.1 (2025): 1-10.

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John Leeman

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Shannon Dulin

• @ShannonDulin

This week it's all about liquefaction as we explore why some caskets are above ground and how some cars get half way buried.

• Flame Structure
• Sand Boil
• Quicksand

Fun Paper Friday

• Can creatively shaped pasta fold itself when cooked?
• Tao, Ye, et al. "Morphing pasta and beyond." Science Advances 7.19 (2021): eabf4098.

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John Leeman

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Shannon Dulin

• @ShannonDulin

We are back after a very challenging 2025 but don't panic - there is a plan!

Fun Paper Friday

• Taloni, Andrea, Vincenzo Scorcia, and Giuseppe Giannaccare. "Large language model advanced data analysis abuse to create a fake data set in medical research." JAMA ophthalmology 141.12 (2023): 1174-1175.

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John Leeman

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Shannon Dulin

• @ShannonDulin

We're still here - it has just been a very difficult time, but this week we're talking about Hurricane Melissa and Halloween Candy!

• Hurricane Melissa
• Video Inside the Hurricane

Fun Paper Friday

• Trick or Treat! Maybe it should be Treat or Toy? Find out in this week's Fun Paper!
• Schwartz, Marlene B., Eunice Y. Chen, and Kelly D. Brownell. "Trick, treat, or toy: children are just as likely to choose toys as candy on Halloween." Journal of nutrition education and behavior 35.4 (2003): 207-209.

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John Leeman

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Shannon Dulin

• @ShannonDulin

This week, we chat about our GEARS workshop that recently wrapped up, how it has evolved, and how it went!

• GEARS Workshop

Fun Paper Friday

• Hejnol, Andreas, and Mark Q. Martindale. "The mouth, the anus, and the blastopore—open questions about questionable openings." Animal Evolution: Genomes, Fossils, and Trees (2009): 33-40.

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John Leeman

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Shannon Dulin

• @ShannonDulin

This week we are back and discussing the recent large earthquake in Russia!

Fun Paper Friday

• Is that viral video of a fault rupture form a security camera real? This paper checks it out.
• Kearse, Jesse, and Yoshihiro Kaneko. "Curved Fault Slip Captured by CCTV Video During the 2025 M w 7.7 Myanmar Earthquake." The Seismic Record 5.3 (2025): 281-288.

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John Leeman

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Shannon Dulin

• @ShannonDulin

We're hitting the open road — geologically speaking. This episode kicks off our new state-by-state series covering the most fascinating, scenic, or just plain weird geologic stops in the U.S. We’re going alphabetically (because of course we are), starting with Alabama, Alaska, and Arkansas. Some sites we've visited, others are firmly on our dream list, but every pick is guaranteed to bring a bit of science to your next adventure.

Alabama

• Cheaha Mountain
• Cathedral Caverns

Alaska

• Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
• Mendenhall Glacier

Arkansas

• Crater of Diamonds State Park
• Blanchard Springs Caverns

Fun Paper Friday

• Frost, Mungo, et al. "Diamond precipitation dynamics from hydrocarbons at icy planet interior conditions." Nature astronomy 8.2 (2024): 174-181.

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John Leeman

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Shannon Dulin

• @ShannonDulin

What makes a mineral a favorite? In this fun and down-to-earth episode, John and Shannon swap stories about the minerals they love most — and why. Along the way, they unpack cool crystal habits, formation environments, fieldwork memories, and the aesthetic appeal of minerals from museum specimens to muddy boots.

Shannon shares her appreciation for:

Hematite – With its metallic luster and planetary significance.
Goethite – A subtle but important iron oxide-hydroxide.
Smithsonite – Beautiful colors and a fascinating history in ore geology.

John counters with:
Ulexite – “TV rock,” with fiber-optic properties that never fail to wow.
Uraninite – A dense, radioactive reminder of geologic power and energy.
Tourmaline – A colorful, complex favorite of mineral collectors and scientists alike.

Fun Paper Friday

• James, C. W., et al. "A nanosecond-duration radio pulse originating from the defunct Relay 2 satellite." The Astrophysical Journal Letters 987.1 (2025): L16.

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John Leeman

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Shannon Dulin

• @ShannonDulin

We're back from summer break - Shannon taught field camp, John travelled for work and got hailed on, and more!

• John’s Hail Storm

Fun Paper Friday

• How does modern AI stack up against a cognition test designed for humans?
• Dayan, Roy, Benjamin Uliel, and Gal Koplewitz. "Age against the machine—susceptibility of large language models to cognitive impairment: cross sectional analysis." bmj 387 (2024).

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John Leeman

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Shannon Dulin

• @ShannonDulin

This week we talk about how we power our instruments in the field and all of the weird and wonderful ways they fail. Including getting turned into charcoal by lightning!

Fun Paper Friday

• Why does ketchup splatter? Find out!
• Arstechnica Article
• Cuttle, Callum, and Christopher W. MacMinn. "Dynamics of compression-driven gas-liquid displacement in a capillary tube." Physical Review Letters 130.11 (2023): 114001.

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John Leeman

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• @geo_leeman

Shannon Dulin

• @ShannonDulin