February 14, 2025

Episode 411 - "TSA Does Not Care About Your Data "

45 minutes

Ever wondered how geologists figure out when a landslide happened? Or how ancient river terraces and glacial deposits get dated? This week, we dive into the detective work behind dating geomorphic features! 🌍🔬 From tree rings to cosmic rays, we explore the fascinating methods geologists use to reconstruct Earth’s history and assess natural hazards.

Why Dating Landslides and Other Features is Hard

Landslides can reactivate multiple times, fluvial deposits get reworked, and glacial features have complex histories.

What are we really dating—the event, the material, or the last exposure?

Dating Techniques in Geology

Dendrochronology 🌲 – Tree rings reveal landslides, floods, and debris flows.

Radiocarbon Dating 💀 – Organic material like charcoal and buried soil horizons provide time markers.

Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) 🌞 – Measures when quartz grains were last exposed to sunlight.

Cosmogenic Nuclide Dating ☄️ – Tracks surface exposure using cosmic rays.

Other Methods – Lichen growth, volcanic ash layers, and earthquake trenching.

Fun Paper Friday

Ever wondered if your favorite neon-orange snack has hidden superpowers? This study explores how strongly absorbing molecules, like those found in food dyes, can reduce light scattering in biological tissues—making them temporarily more transparent! Researchers applied tartrazine (a common food coloring) to live mice and were able to see internal structures like blood vessels without invasive procedures. The discovery could improve biomedical imaging, but we’re mostly just fascinated that Dorito dust might have unexpected side effects!

Ou, Zihao, et al. "Achieving optical transparency in live animals with absorbing molecules." Science 385.6713 (2024): eadm6869.

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John Leeman

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Shannon Dulin

@ShannonDulin

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