The Core of Everything

Kathy is an award-winning cinematographer and director for natural history documentaries and an Associate Professor at California State University Sacramento. We talk about the Greenland ice sheet, a secret Cold War Base, if documentaries are the best way to inspire action against global warming, and much more. Her new documentary is called The Memory of Darkness, Light and Ice. Follow us on Insta...

Professor Brendan Buckley is a dendrochronologist at the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University. We discuss what tree rings can tell us about past climates, how to read a tree stump, how they have been used to identify the rise and fall of civilisations, and much more. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok @coepod and Twitter/X @thecoepod #geology #podcast #science #earthscience #climat...

In this episode, we interview the amazing Dr Kate Marvel. We cover her background from drama to physicist to climate modeler and travel back in time to discuss how fear of the changing climate gave rise to witchcraft and religious phenomena. We finish with the present-day and future climate, including the role of fear but also courage, hope and above all, love. Kate is an Associate Research Scient...

In this episode, we are privileged to interview Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Kolbert. We talk about her style of writing and why it is engaging for so many readers and discuss her book Under a White Sky, which tells stories of human solutions to climate change that have not quite gone to plan. In essence, we chat about people trying to solve problems created by people trying to solve problems....

In this episode, we discuss the supervolcano that is Yellowstone. We uncover how it formed, massive eruptions in the past and, if it were to erupt today, what would we be facing? We also discuss the likelihood of a supermassive eruption in the future. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok @coepod and X @thecoepod

In this episode, we discuss the fundamentals of human evolution stemming from Africa, in particular the East African Rift Valley. We talk about our first ancestors up to six million years ago, ancient hominins, interbreeding with Neanderthals, and the Cognitive Revolution. We also discuss why our brains expanded and how we know this expansion occurred through fossil records. Instagram/TikTok @coep...

In this episode, we welcome back Mark Boyd. He tells us about fulgurites and what happens to rocks when lightning strikes the Earth. We also discuss how pebbles leave trails behind them BUT no one has ever seen them move! Mark is currently working in the meteorites section of the Natural History Museum in London. He's also writing up his PhD thesis at Imperial College London. Follow us on Inst...

Professor Kris Karnauskas researches atmospheric science and physical oceanography at the University of Colorado Boulder. In this episode, we talk about the Galapagos Islands, which were made famous by Charles Darwin’s expedition on the HMS Beagle in 1835, aiding the development of the theory of evolution by natural selection. We discuss why the serendipitous location of the Galapagos Islands, in...

Professor Olsen is a paleontologist and stratigrapher at Columbia University. In this episode, we cover the Triassic period. From the dawn of the dinosaurs to a mass extinction event, we cover what the climate was like, what dinosaurs were roaming the lands, and how 75% of all life forms were wiped off the face of the planet 200 million years ago. Follow us on X @thecoepod Instagram/TikTok @coepod

In this episode, I chat with Dr Jacob Anderson who is a postdoctoral researcher at the Lamont Doherty Observatory, Columbia University. Jacob's research focuses on the ice of Antarctica and Greenland. We discuss how permafrost, permanently frozen ground, can be used to inform us about past climates, including ice sheet retreat and the harmful release of frozen carbon back into the atmosphere. We a...

This episode covers the geology of Stonehenge. It has long been believed that the rocks of Stonehenge originated from both Marlborough, 25 km from the site, and Mynydd Preseli in Wales. However, a recent discovery by Anthony Clarke of Curtin University, has identified that the Altar stone, Stonehenge's centerpiece, may have come from rocks 750 km away in Scotland. We discuss this brand new res...

In this episode, we discuss the Moon. A recent paper has provided evidence for the theory of a magma ocean during the Moon's formation. We discuss this, how the Moon's surface is comprised of the highlands and lunar maria, and why we only see the near side. For more episode info and cool geology, Earth and science facts, follow us on: Insta @coepod TikTok @coepod X @thecoepod

The fourth planet from the sun, Mars is the closest approximation to Earth that we have. In this episode, we discuss how liquid water has been discovered on Mars for the first time by the NASA InSight Lander. We also cover the geology of Mars, including its internal core, mantle and crust. We highlight that similar evidence for water has also been identified on the dwarf planet Ceres using the NAS...

In this episode we cover the oldest rocks on Earth, stretching to our planet's formation 4.54 billion years ago. We explain where the rocks are found and how we date them using radioactive elements, including the geology of Greenland, Canada and Australia. We also discuss a mythical rock that was used to summon troops by King Alfred the Great during the Battle of Ashdown in Britain in 871 CE....

In this episode, we discuss gold, including how it and massive gold deposits are formed and its journey through human history. We also ask if alchemy is possible, including some examples of failed (and possibly successful) attempts, and finish by suggesting that Olympic gold medalists may not want to put that medal in their mouths. For more cool geology and Earth facts follow us on Insta and Tikto...

Hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant element and has been proven to be a revolutionary source of renewable energy. In this episode, we discuss how using hydrogen generates electricity, how we produce hydrogen, and how natural reserves can be seen in the subsurface. We break down the types of hydrogen and how we can use rocks to store hydrogen underground until we need it. We also explain how...

In this episode we discuss dunes. How do dunes form and what do they look like when preserved in rocks? What is the geology behind the recent Dune movies? What sounds do migrating sand grains make? We cover all this and more in our 20 minute episode. In this weeks edition of "what in the world?" we also play a very special geology version of the 1978 classic hit by The Police, "Roxa...

In this episode, we discuss how and where earthquakes occur, including how they are measured and how we predict them using the animal kingdom. We also chat about the recent April New York earthquake and the devastating 2004 boxing day tsunami which killed approximately 230,000 people. We finish by discussing how earthquakes produce seismic waves that are used to provide information on the layers o...

This episode focusses on diamonds. We cover how and where diamonds form, how geologists find them, what determines their value and what are the most valuable diamonds in the world. Topics include using sub-glacial streams or eskers to trace the source of diamonds upstream, the value of the largest diamond in the world, and the formation of diamond cores in dwarf stars. We also discuss diamonds tha...

In this episode, we discuss one of the most famous geological sites in the world: Lyme Regis, Dorset, UK. Lyme Regis is famous for some of best-preserved fossils in Europe, showing colonies of animals from the Jurassic period (200 million years ago). The alternating geology also gives insights into how the Earth's cyclical movements, or Milankovitch cycles, effect ancient climates and ecosyste...

In this episode, we welcome back Banusha Kugabalan to discuss moons. There are 293 moons in our solar system, but here we focus on Io and Titan. We discuss how they form, their compositions, what it would be like to visit and so much more. We chat about how astronomers of the past have used moons to calculate the speed of light, the lunar and solar eclipse, and where the word lunatics comes from....

In this episode we have Dr Matt Genge on the podcast. Matt is a senior lecturer at Imperial College London in Earth and Planetary Science. It was a fantastic chat covering a broad range of topics. We discuss the recent Psyche mission to a metal-rich asteroid in space, how meteors that fell to Earth may be responsible for the first drops of water on the planet and the origins of life. We even discu...

Our guest on this episode is Professor Dougal Jerram aka 'Dr Volcano' of the University of Oslo. He is the author of 7 books about geology and volcanology, including Introducing Volcanology, A Guide to Hot Rocks. Volcanoes of Europe, The Centre of the Earth: A Traveller’s Guide, and the children’s book Victor the Volcano. He has appeared in numerous media and television appearances, such a...

In this episode we chat with Dr Lior Suchoy all about subduction zones. Lior is a Research Associate at Imperial College London with a background in Geodynamics. He specialises in the numerical modelling of large-scale tectonic processes (specifically subduction dynamics) using languages such as Python, C++ and MATLAB. We discuss how plates move, what happens at a subduction zone where one plate s...

Today we focus on mountains. Is Everest actually the tallest mountain on Earth? What's the highest peak in our solar system? We also discuss Table mountain in South Africa and how it was once the bottom of a valley, the formation of the Hawaiian islands, and much more. As always, follow us on Instagram @coepod or X @thecoepod.