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Joseph Kirschvink
Joseph L. Kirschvink (born 1953) is an American geologist and geophysicist. He is the Nico and Marilyn Van Wingen Professor of Geobiology at Caltech, known for contributions to paleomagnetism and biomagnetism (discovery of the first magnetofossils) and the Snowball Earth hypothesis. He is also Principal Investigator (PI) of Earth–Life Science Institute. Biography In 1988, Kirschvink was recognized as a "Rising Star" in Southern California by the ''Los Angeles Times''. In 2021, Caltech settled with the Department of the Interior to pay $25,465 for damages to petroglyph sites in Volcanic Tablelands after they were damaged by Dr. Kirschvink on Earth Day 2017. See also *Greenhouse and icehouse Earth Throughout Earth's climate history (Paleoclimate) its climate has fluctuated between two primary states: greenhouse and icehouse Earth. Both climate states last for millions of years and should not be confused with glacial and interglacial periods ... References America ...
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Caltech
The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasionally referred to as "CIT", most notably in its alma mater, but this is uncommon. is a private university, private research university in Pasadena, California. Caltech is ranked among the best and most selective academic institutions in the world, and with an enrollment of approximately 2400 students (acceptance rate of only 5.7%), it is one of the world's most selective universities. The university is known for its strength in science and engineering, and is among a small group of Institute of Technology (United States), institutes of technology in the United States which is primarily devoted to the instruction of pure and applied sciences. The institution was founded as a preparatory and vocational school by Amos G. Throop in 1891 and began ...
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Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. It is one of the highest-ranked universities in the world. The institution moved to Newark, New Jersey, Newark in 1747, and then to the current site nine years later. It officially became a university in 1896 and was subsequently renamed Princeton University. It is a member of the Ivy League. The university is governed by the Trustees of Princeton University and has an endowment of $37.7 billion, the largest List of colleges and universities in the United States by endowment, endowment per student in the United States. Princeton provides undergraduate education, undergraduate and graduate education, graduate in ...
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Geobiology
Geobiology is a field of scientific research that explores the interactions between the physical Earth and the biosphere. It is a relatively young field, and its borders are fluid. There is considerable overlap with the fields of ecology, evolutionary biology, microbiology, paleontology, and particularly soil science and biogeochemistry. Geobiology applies the principles and methods of biology, geology, and soil science to the study of the ancient history of the co-evolution of life and Earth as well as the role of life in the modern world. Geobiologic studies tend to be focused on microorganisms, and on the role that life plays in altering the chemical and physical environment of the pedosphere, which exists at the intersection of the lithosphere, Celestial body atmosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and/or cryosphere. It differs from biogeochemistry in that the focus is on processes and organisms over space and time rather than on global chemical cycles. Geobiological research synth ...
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Paleomagnetism
Paleomagnetism (or palaeomagnetismsee ), is the study of magnetic fields recorded in rocks, sediment, or archeological materials. Geophysicists who specialize in paleomagnetism are called ''paleomagnetists.'' Certain magnetic minerals in rocks can record the direction and intensity of Earth's magnetic field at the time they formed. This record provides information on the past behavior of the geomagnetic field and the past location of tectonic plates. The record of geomagnetic reversals preserved in volcanic and sedimentary rock sequences (magnetostratigraphy) provides a time-scale that is used as a geochronologic tool. Evidence from paleomagnetism led to the revival of the continental drift hypothesis and its transformation into the modern theory of plate tectonics. Apparent polar wander paths provided the first clear geophysical evidence for continental drift, while marine magnetic anomaly, magnetic anomalies did the same for seafloor spreading. Paleomagnetic data continues t ...
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Biomagnetism
Biomagnetism is the phenomenon of magnetic fields ''produced'' by living organisms; it is a subset of bioelectromagnetism. In contrast, organisms' use of magnetism in navigation is magnetoception and the study of the magnetic fields' ''effects'' on organisms is ''magnetobiology''. (The word biomagnetism has also been used loosely to include magnetobiology, further encompassing almost any combination of the words magnetism, cosmology, and biology, such as "magnetoastrobiology".) The origin of the word biomagnetism is unclear, but seems to have appeared several hundred years ago, linked to the expression "animal magnetism". The present scientific definition took form in the 1970s, when an increasing number of researchers began to measure the magnetic fields produced by the human body. The first valid measurement was actually made in 1963, but the field of research began to expand only after a low-noise technique was developed in 1970.{{cite journal , last1=Cohen , first1=David , la ...
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Magnetofossil
Magnetofossils are the fossil remains of magnetic particles produced by magnetotactic bacteria (magnetobacteria) and preserved in the geologic record. The oldest definitive magnetofossils formed of the mineral magnetite come from the Cretaceous chalk beds of southern England, while magnetofossil reports, not considered to be robust, extend on Earth to the 1.9-billion-year-old Gunflint Chert; they may include the four-billion-year-old Martian meteorite ALH84001. Magnetotactic organisms are prokaryotic, with only one example of giant-magnetofossils, likely produced by eukaryotic organisms, having been reported. Magnetotactic bacteria, the source of the magnetofossils, are magnetite (Fe3O4) or greigite (Fe3S4) producing bacteria found in both freshwater and marine environments. These magnetite bearing magnetotatic bacteria are found in the oxic-anoxic transition zone where conditions are such that oxygen levels are less than those found in the atmosphere ( microaerophilic). Comp ...
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Snowball Earth
The Snowball Earth hypothesis proposes that, during one or more of Earth's Greenhouse and icehouse Earth, icehouse Climate, climates, the Earth's surface, planet's surface became entirely or nearly entirely Freezing, frozen. It is believed that this occurred sometime before 650 M.Y.A. (million years ago) during the Cryogenian period. Proponents of the hypothesis argue that it best explains sedimentary Deposition (geology), deposits that are generally believed to be of glacial origin at tropical palaeolatitudes and other enigmatic features in the geological record. Opponents of the hypothesis contest the geological evidence for Glacial period, global glaciation and the geophysical feasibility of an ice- or slush-covered ocean, and they emphasize the difficulty of escaping an all-frozen condition. A number of unanswered questions remain, including whether Earth was a full snowball or a "slushball" with a thin Equator, equatorial band of open (or seasonally open) water. The snowball ...
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Earth–Life Science Institute
Earth–Life Science Institute (ELSI) is an established independent permanent scientific research institute based at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan. ELSI employs more than 70 scientists in disciplines ranging from astrophysics to biology, who perform collaborative research on the broad connections between the origin and evolution of planets and life. History ELSI was established in 2012 with a charter to build a bridge between the Earth and Life sciences by rallying researchers around questions concerning the link between the origins of planets and life. ELSI has satellite-institutes at Ehime University, Harvard University, and the Institute for Advanced Study, and is currently led by Director Yasuhito Sekine and Vice Directors Tomoaki Matsuura and John Hernlund. Funding sources Funding sources for the institute include a combination of support from Japan's World Premiere International Research Center Initiative (approximately $7M/year), a grant from the John Te ...
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Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States. The publication has won more than 40 Pulitzer Prizes. It is owned by Patrick Soon-Shiong and published by the Times Mirror Company. The newspaper’s coverage emphasizes California and especially Southern California stories. In the 19th century, the paper developed a reputation for civic boosterism and opposition to labor unions, the latter of which led to the bombing of its headquarters in 1910. The paper's profile grew substantially in the 1960s under publisher Otis Chandler, who adopted a more national focus. In recent decades the paper's readership has declined, and it has been beset by a series of ownership changes, staff reductions, and other controversies. In January 2018, the paper's staff voted to unionize and final ...
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Pasadena Now
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its population was 138,699 at the 2020 census, making it the 44th largest city in California and the ninth-largest city in Los Angeles County. Pasadena was incorporated on June 19, 1886, becoming one of the first cities to be incorporated in what is now Los Angeles County, following the city of Los Angeles (April 4, 1850). Pasadena is known for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade. It is also home to many scientific, educational, and cultural institutions, including Caltech, Pasadena City College, Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, Fuller Theological Seminary, ArtCenter College of Design, the Pasadena Playhouse, the Ambassador Auditorium, the Norton Simon Museum, and the USC Pacific A ...
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Greenhouse And Icehouse Earth
Throughout Earth's climate history (Paleoclimate) its climate has fluctuated between two primary states: greenhouse and icehouse Earth. Both climate states last for millions of years and should not be confused with glacial and interglacial periods, which occur as alternate phases within an icehouse period and tend to last less than 1 million years. There are five known Icehouse periods in Earth's climate history, which are known as the Huronian, Cryogenian, Andean-Saharan, Late Paleozoic, and Late Cenozoic glaciations. The main factors involved in changes of the paleoclimate are believed to be the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (), changes in Earth's orbit, long-term changes in the solar constant, and oceanic and orogenic changes from tectonic plate dynamics. Greenhouse and icehouse periods have played key roles in the evolution of life on Earth by directly and indirectly forcing biotic adaptation and turnover at various spatial scales across time. Greenhouse Earth ...
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American Geophysicists
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams Soccer * Ba ...
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