rock doc

Rock Doc column: From shopping bags to alternative fuels

By E. Kirsten Peters, College of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences PULLMAN, Wash. – My household accumulates quite a number of plastic shopping bags. Most come home with me from the grocery store. I use them to line the little garbage pail that sits under the kitchen sink and the wastebasket that’s in the […]

Rock Doc: A step forward in predicting volcanic eruptions

By E. Kirsten Peters, College of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences PULLMAN, Wash. – There are two main things most people would like to know about particular volcanoes: when is the next eruption and how big will it be? Scientists in Iceland have taken a step forward in monitoring volcanoes to best predict when they will […]

Rock Doc: Small but splendid snowflakes

By E. Kirsten Peters, College of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences PULLMAN, Wash. – Those of us living in the northern half of the country can be forgiven for being tired – at this stage of winter – of shoveling snow.

Rock Doc: How to better interpret what science reports

By E. Kirsten Peters, College of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences PULLMAN, Wash. – We live in an age shaped by scientific research. Medical practice, for example, changes a bit each year because of new discoveries in the laboratory or in drug trials. We have come to expect progress in a variety of technical […]