Thursday's Thrills

Today at AGU involved shopping. Down in the meeting hall there is a big space set aside for vendors and exhibitors. These include people you might expect, like the U.S. Geological Survey, makers of big-ticket equipment, geoscience consultants, publishers and the occasional public-interest group and professional society. They also include rock, gem, fossil and jewelry dealers, and despite my best professional interest these last places are where I gravitate. Yummy mineral specimens, personal adornments made of unusual gemstones, meteorites, fancy fossils and a million amber necklaces and agate soupbowls are all popular items. I held in my hand a thick ring of placer gold set with raw diamond crystals and platinum nuggets—should I save up for that or for a new car? I'm still thinking. An easier decision was snapping up a pretty chondrite, a class of meteorite I haven't owned until today. You'll see it in the photo gallery shortly.

Today also included an hour-long address by Al Gore on the topic of how scientists should inform policy. He harkened back to the rise of the Enlightenment, when science was a handmaiden of progress, when truth was not, despite a few exceptions, considered inconvenient. With the ascendence of television and the decline of print, Gore said, reason and logic have been in retreat in policymaking circles. He urged scientists to make themselves heard. He also dropped an incendiary quote given by a US Geological Survey scientist, Jim Estes, responding to new review rules at the agency. Estes said he felt "like they're doing this to keep us under their thumbs. It seems like they're afraid of science. Our findings could be embarrassing to the administration." (See the AP story.) The speech was an appeal to his audience's hearts through its brains, and a good conversation piece. LiveScience has a story on the speech.

Later in the afternoon a speaker reported having called Estes right after Gore's speech to tell him that Gore had quoted him. Estes' first words were "Oh s**t." It added spice to the session, which was about scientists interacting with the media. Many scientists could do a much better job with the press. Fortunately I welcome and (mostly) understand them, so maybe I'm not part of the problem. But I still want to be part of the solution.