In today's show: Holly debuts her rock-omendation, the article on The Importance of Stupidity in Scientific Research. And after exploring why 'ignorance' is good for science and curiosity, Anthony embarks on tectonic travels to the South Sandwich Islands and (with the help of good old Google Earth) we stitch together the fascinating formation of these landscapes, their connection to todays polar ice caps, and we encounter some of the largest seal and penguin populations on the planet ...

Find us on Instagram @thegeoco

GeoCo connects to you from the traditional country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains, South Australia. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging.

Thumbnail image: Brian McMahon on Unsplash

Oh, long time no see! In today's episode Holly and Anthony first catch up on their adventures while away from the studio... followed by the GeoGist where we unpack Tibet's devastating January 2025 earthquake and the mysterious earthquake swarm shaking Santorini and nearby Greek islands of the Aegean Sea. We recorded this episode of Wonder in February 2025, one month before another magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the Myanmar region— resulting in a disastrous loss of life with critical rescue efforts ongoing at the time of publishing. Anthony mentions a scientific paper on Tibet's topographic ooze— find it linked here. Now we mentioned a GeoCo website, but alas, we're not yet live... it's coming soon! Until then, find us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegeoco⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

A tremendous thank you to the Geological Society of Australia for making this episode of Wonder possible.

GeoCo connects to you from the traditional country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains, South Australia. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging.

Thumbnail image credit: Plateau of Tibet, Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Left on the table, after our previous conversation with Professor Alan Collins, were some unexplained and weird trinkets. A vial of black slime, a rock, a 25 pack of toilet paper ... obviously, we turned the cameras back on. What on earth did Alan bring in his backpack???

Happy bonus episode!

find us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegeoco⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Join Holly Cooke & Dr Anthony Reid in conversation about our beautiful, ancient, and alive earth. We are all about connecting people to planet by exploring the curiosities of our natural world.

The Geo Co. connects to you from the traditional country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains, South Australia. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging.

From the western Mediterranean to Southeast Asia - join our geological globetrots with Professor Alan Collins as we explore the extraordinary interconnectedness of the earth system. After a few episodes of unpacking why today's landscapes look the way they do, Alan helps Holly and Anthony peer past the present and deep into the rock archives of earth history.

[ Wonder podcast takes on the everchanging Earth. In this miniseries we pull apart the mysteries of tectonics, piece together ancient supercontinents, and visit the far space and time corners of our unique planet. ]

find us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegeoco⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Join Holly Cooke & Dr Anthony Reid in conversation about our beautiful, ancient, and alive earth. We are all about connecting people to planet by exploring the curiosities of our natural world.

The Geo Co. connects to you from the traditional country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains, South Australia. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging.

Now that Dr McLaren has literally *warmed* us up on all things earthquakes, mountains, and building a planet ... Dr Jack Mulder (hey again, Jack!) takes us to the early Earth and the mysteries of the everchanging continents that dance across the face of our planet.

[ Wonder podcast takes on the everchanging Earth. In this miniseries we pull apart the mysteries of tectonics, piece together ancient supercontinents, and visit the far space and time corners of our unique planet. ]

find us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegeoco⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Join Holly Cooke & Dr Anthony Reid in conversation about our beautiful, ancient, and alive earth. We are all about connecting people to planet by exploring the curiosities of our natural world.

The Geo Co. connects to you from the traditional country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains, South Australia. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging.

From the soaring peaks of Mount Everest to the deepest dwellings of the Mariana Trench - why does Earth look the way it does? How does our planet create such incredible diversity of landscape? Really .... how does the earth work? Dr Sandra McLaren walked us through Earths thermal engine in our previous episode, and now it's time to untangle plate tectonics and how it built (and continues to build!!!!) the planet we know today.

[ Wonder podcast takes on the everchanging Earth. In this miniseries we pull apart the mysteries of tectonics, piece together ancient supercontinents, and visit the far space and time corners of our unique planet. ]

find us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegeoco⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Join Holly Cooke & Dr Anthony Reid in conversation about our beautiful, ancient, and alive earth. We are all about connecting people to planet by exploring the curiosities of our natural world.

The Geo Co. connects to you from the traditional country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains, South Australia. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging.

Change is the only permanent thing about Earth. Our landscapes are transient, from mountains to oceans to rivers to plains. But have you ever wondered what makes our earth so *dynamic* compared to our solar systems other rocky planets? We have a world of these questions for Dr Sandra McLaren ... for starters, why should mountains and ocean basins exist at all? And at the heart of it, why does heat make the world go round?

[ Wonder podcast takes on the everchanging Earth. In this miniseries we pull apart the mysteries of tectonics, piece together ancient supercontinents, and visit the far space and time corners of our unique planet. ]

find us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegeoco⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Join Holly Cooke & Dr Anthony Reid in conversation about our beautiful, ancient, and alive earth. We are all about connecting people to planet by exploring the curiosities of our natural world.

The Geo Co. connects to you from the traditional country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains, South Australia. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging.

Now, our last polar explorer and geologist Dr Jack Mulder whisks us through the hidden lands beneath all that ice. What supercontinent secrets are revealed by the rocks down there? And why does the Denman Glacier sit atop the scars of ancient mountain ranges? Jack walks us through these mysterious worlds and more in our fascinating Antarctic finale.

[ Wonder podcast takes on the big, beautiful, icy continent at the bottom of the Earth ... it's time to talk everything Antarctica! When three adventurous Australians returned from their summer expedition to Antarctica, we knew we had to get them on the pod... ]

find us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegeoco⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Join Holly Cooke & Dr Anthony Reid in conversation about our beautiful, ancient, and alive earth. We are all about connecting people to planet by exploring the curiosities of our natural world.

The Geo Co. connects to you from the traditional country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains, South Australia. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging.

We interrupt the Antarctic content with a debrief and check in!

We've now chatted with Dr Halpin and Dr Selway on their summertime Antarctic field expedition ... but Holly and Anthony need a minute to debrief on this polar science frenzy! Make a cup of tea - we've settled into a quick and casual catch up (work from home, anyone?) to touch base on the last two episodes!

Next up on the pod to talk all things Antarctica is geology legend Dr Jack Mulder! And we will have to get our rock science hats ready for that one....

find us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegeoco⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Join Holly Cooke & Dr Anthony Reid in conversation about our beautiful, ancient, and alive earth. We are all about connecting people to planet by exploring the curiosities of our natural world.

The Geo Co. connects to you from the traditional country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains, South Australia. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging.

Here we chat with geophysicist Dr Kate Selway on how seeing beneath Antarctica's ice simply requires some cosmic 'listening', plus, what on earth is a blizz line?!?! Go on, have a listen to two geologists soaking in the wisdom of an expert geophysicist and feel a sense of magic about the electric-current-curiosities of the rocks beneath the Denman Glacier.

[ Wonder podcast takes on the big, beautiful, icy continent at the bottom of the Earth ... it's time to talk everything Antarctica! When three adventurous Australians returned from their summer expedition to Antarctica, we knew we had to get them on the pod... ]

find us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegeoco⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Join Holly Cooke & Dr Anthony Reid in conversation about our beautiful, ancient, and alive earth. We are all about connecting people to planet by exploring the curiosities of our natural world.

The Geo Co. connects to you from the traditional country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains, South Australia. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging.