Finalists Announced in the 3 Quarks Daily Science Blogging Contest

Georneys didn't make it to the final round of judging in the 3 Quarks Daily Science Blogging Contest-- I guess ophiolites and geology words weren't the editors' cup of tea, and there was some stiff competition-- but that's fine. As I said, I'm thrilled to have just made it to the semifinal round and to have had so much support during the voting round. Since I'm relatively new to the science blogging scene, I'm proud to have such a strong following. Thanks again for all your support!

Here are the 9 finalist posts (6 chosen from the 20 semifinalists, and 3 wildcard entries added by the 3 Quarks Daily editors):

1. Cosmic Variance: The Fine Structure Constant is Probably Constant
2. Dr. Carin Bondar: Sacrifice on the Serengeti
3. Empirical Zeal: Blind Fish in Dark Caves Shed Light on the Evolution of Sleep
4. Highly Allochthonous: Levees and the Illusion of Flood Control
5. Laelaps: The Pelican's Beak - Success and Evolutionary Stasis
6. Oh, For the Love of Science: Prehistoric Clues Provide Insight into Climate's Future Impact on Oceans
7. Opinionator: Morals Without God?
8. Scientific American Guest Blog: Seratonin and Sexual Preference: Is It Really That Simple?
9. Starts With A Bang: Where Is Everybody? 

There are some great posts among the finalists, but I'm rooting for the geology-themed posts by Anne Jefferson of Highly Allochthonous and by Brian Switek of Laelaps. Good luck to them!

Vote for Me in the 3 Quarks Daily Science Blogging Contest

The nominations are in for the 3 Quarks Daily Science Blogging Contest. Now, the general public can vote for which blog posts they like best. The top twenty posts with the most votes will go on to the next round of judging.

If you like this blog or like ophiolites or like me, please go vote for my entry "Georneys: Geology Word of the Week: O is for Ophiolite." You can vote in the 3 Quarks Daily Science Blogging Contest here. I'm not sure if my post has a chance of winning, but it would be sweet to make it through the voting round to the semi-finals.

If for some reason you don't like ophiolites (though I don't know who doesn't just love ophiolites), I'd also recommend voting for the posts "Highly Allochthonous: Levees and the Illusion of Flood Control" and "Lounge of the Lab Lemming: Dear Hypothesis" as these are two of my favorite recent posts from the geoblogosphere.

Happy voting! I'm spending the evening on the mass spectrometer, but I'll post the next geology word of the week this weekend.

3 Quarks Daily Science Blogging Contest

My friend Christie Wilcox over at the blog Observations of a Nerd alerted me to the upcoming deadline for the third annual 3 Quarks Daily Science Blogging Contest.

Are you a science blog reader*? Or writer? Feel free to go over to the comments here and nominate a science blog post that you like for the 3 Quarks Contest. The deadline is May 31st.

Personally, I nominated Anne Jefferson's fantastic recent post Levees and the Illusion of Flood Control. 

[Warning: Shameless self-promotion ahead] I'm a fairly new science blogger and a scientist, not a professional writer. However, if you like any of my writings here on Georneys, please feel free to nominate them. Below I've listed a few blog posts of mine which I like. [End: Shameless self-promotion]

At the very least, please do go nominate some geology-themed posts! Geology needs to represent in these science blogging contests.


Georneys Posts:
Why are there Earthquakes and Volcanoes in Japan?

Geology Word of the Week: H is for Hotspot

Geology Word of the Week: L is for Lithosphere

Geology Word of the Week: O is for Ophiolite

A Million Random Digits

Technology Anachromisms in Science

*Since this is a science blog, the answer to that question is "yes."

A Blog Milestone

100,015 pageviews.

Fukushima spike.

Sometime yesterday my little geology blog passed 100,000 pageviews, a milestone that I expected to reach maybe by the end of 2011 or perhaps in 2012. I never expected to reach this milestone so quickly. I've only been blogging since November 2010, and when I first started blogging I was happy if I even had ten pageviews per day.

I have mixed feelings about reaching 100,000 pageviews. I am happy and sad. I am happy because so many people are interested in reading my blog, but I am sad because the primary reason I have so many pageviews is a result of interviews I've done with my father on the second-worst nuclear disaster in history. I must say, this is a depressing way to increase readership. However, I've noticed that a few of my "nuclear dad interview" readers are staying to read some of my geology-related posts. That makes me happy, at least.

The Small World of Science Blogging

Science is a small world. Science blogging is an even smaller world, though happily growing.

A few months ago, I was thrilled to learn that my former classmate Christie Wilcox is not only a biologist and grad student but also an amazing science blogger. Christie and I went to school together for several years. We've fallen out of touch (unless Facebook counts) in recent years, but I highly recommend her blog Observations of a Nerd. Leave this blog now and go read Christie's blog. It's fantastic.

And Christie-- I'm sorry for those times in Middle School when I made fun of you. Next time you're out east (or perhaps I'm in Hawaii? That sounds nicer), we should catch up! I owe you a beer (probably several) for any jokes I may have made at your expense in Middle School.

Christie Wilcox and I in a class photo, circa 1996 or so.

While I'm at it, here are a couple other blogger friends of mine:

Phil and I, Red Rocks, Nevada, circa January 2006.

This is my friend Phil Plait- aka The Bad Astronomer. Go read his blog Bad Astronomy.

Rebecca Watson and I, Woods Hole, MA, circa 2006, the year after Skepchick was founded.

This is my friend Rebecca Watson, fearless leader of the Skepchick bloggers.

As far as geobloggers go, the only other geoblogger I have met in person is Chuck Magee of Lounge of the Lab Lemming. Chuck is a fellow geochemistry nerd and all-around nice guy. Alas, we didn't take a picture at Goldschmidt!

I hope to meet more geobloggers next time I'm at a geology conference-- perhaps at the AGU meeting later this year?