Recent written articles

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Why are we sending missions to Mars? 22nd July, 2020. https://lighthouse.mq.edu.au/article/july-2020/Please-explain-why-are-we-sending-missions-to-Mars

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The spikey end of geodynamics: The story of the echidna and plate tectonics. EGU Geodynamics Blog, April 1st, 2020.

https://blogs.egu.eu/divisions/gd/2020/04/01/the-spikey-end-of-geodynamics-the-story-of-the-echidna-and-plate-tectonics/?fbclid=IwAR2UiXqmDnFJYGbX2-dXKcQhfcR8hLXoP7RAQXoAucqBKFzQxf462Pu9onw

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A 'seiche' wave can outpace a tsunami and both can be triggered by meteorites and earthquakes, The Conversation, 4 April, 2019, https://theconversation.com/a-seiche-wave-can-outpace-a-tsunami-and-both-can-be-triggered-by-meteorites-and-earthquakes-114753

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How the dinosaurs went extinct: asteroid collision triggered potentially deadly volcanic eruptions, The Conversation, Feb 22, 2019, https://theconversation.com/how-the-dinosaurs-went-extinct-asteroid-collision-triggered-potentially-deadly-volcanic-eruptions-112134

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Recent press coverage

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Life in the Galaxy: maybe this is as good as it gets? Goldschmidt press release, 22 June 2020.  Reposts:

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https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/astronomy/plate-tectonics-and-the-search-for-life/

https://www.space.com/milky-way-exoplanets-life-early-formation.html

https://www.cnet.com/news/time-might-be-running-out-for-alien-life-in-the-milky-way/

https://www.iflscience.com/space/life-may-have-developed-sooner-rather-than-later-in-a-galaxys-history/

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/time-might-be-running-out-for-alien-life-in-the-milky-way/ar-BB15SGQ9

 

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From the archives...

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Television:

2004: Totally Wild, Marine Science.

2006: Catalyst, Diamonds forever? 26th October 2006, http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s1773940.htm

2010: Meteorite Men, Season 2, Episode 8, 'Henbury Craters, Australia', Dec. 2010. https://www.amazon.com/Meteorite-Men-Season-2/dp/B004AUFVSW

2020: Catalyst, 5 May, Asteroid Hunters. https://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/s21-e04-asteroid-hunters/12198186

2020: National Geographic’s Foxtel series Nature's Fury (https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-guide/t/natures-fury-2020/38923)

2022: Mysteries from above, (Saloon media), Episode 2

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19226058/?ref_=ttco_co_tt (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIW44gnEF4U).

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In print and online:

Note: Some of the older links listed are now only accessible via internet archive.

 

Australia's diamond belt identified, Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, 8 Aug 2006

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/australias-diamond-belt-identified/2006/08/08/1154802878105.html

New Study Helps Predict Location of Australia's Diamonds, Diamonds.net, NY - 8 Aug 2006, http://www.diamonds.net/news/NewsItem.aspx?ArticleID=15418

Diamond pickings just a volcanic eruption away in Australia, Australian Associated Press General News - Aug 8 2006, 438 words.

Diamond pickings just an eruption away, Shepparton News (Vic), Aug 9 2006, Page 11.

Life Cycle of Diamonds Indicates the Best Places to Search for ... Azom.com – 28 August 2006, http://www.azom.com/details.asp?newsID=6468

The nous to share science news, The Australian, Australia - 29 Aug 2006 http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20296847-12332,00.html

Where thick crust meets thin, the best place to find diamonds, ABC Rural Bush Telegraph – 15 August 2006, www.abc.net.au/rural/telegraph/content/2006/s1715341.htm

Earth crust as a diamond indicator (sic), ABC – Rural Outback NT: Wednesday 9 August, 2006, www.abc.net.au/rural/regions/content/2006/s1710491.htm

Tiwi Island diamonds, ABC Rural Report Online, 10 Aug 2006, http://www.abc.net.au/rural/nt/content/2006/s1711727.htm

Diamond days for young Macquarie earth scientists, 30/8/2006

http://www.pr.mq.edu.au/events/index.asp?ItemID=2581

Diamonds are forever? You have to know where to look... Macquarie University News, 09/2006, http://www.pr.mq.edu.au/macnews/showitem.asp?ItemID=517

Searching for diamonds, Research Active, Sept 2006, http://www.researchactive.mq.edu.au/showitem.asp?ItemID=700

The life and death of diamonds, The mining chronicle, Sept. 2006, Vol 11, No. 8.

Fresh Science press release, 8th Aug 2006, http://www.sciencenow.org.au/sciencenow/2006/craig.htm

Young scientist of the year, Macquarie Globe, Sept 21 2006, http://www.international.mq.edu.au/globe/default.aspx?id=244&EditionID=115

Using computers to spot diamonds, Future Materials, Sept 2006.

http://www.future.org.au/news_2006/sept/sens_mat2.html

New Study Helps Predict Location of Australia's Diamonds, Diamond & Jewellery News, http://www.shopadf.com/ViewArticle.aspx?id=449

Life Cycle of Diamonds Indicates the Best Places to Search for Them, Azom, 28 Aug 2006, http://www.azom.com/details.asp?newsID=6468

Diamonds forever, Australasian Science, Vol 28 No. 2, March 2007, 22-24.

World’s Oldest Diamonds found, The Australian (online), Aug 23, 2007, http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22294772-30417,00.html

Oldest diamonds may answer questions about early Earth, Aug 28th 2007,

http://www.smm.org/buzz/buzz_tags/oneill

The secret life of Craig O’Neill, Macquarie University News, Sept 2007, http://www.pr.mq.edu.au/macnews/showitem.asp?ItemID=598

Geodynamics: Breaking the lid, Nature Geoscience Research Highlights, 13th September, 2007,

http://www.nature.com/ngeo/reshigh/2007/0907/full/ngeo.2007.10.html

The plate tectonics of alien worlds, Cosmos online, 17th Oct 2007, http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1658

Do super-Earths have geology suited to life?, Nature News, 19th October, 2007,

http://www.nature.com/news/2007/071019/full/news.2007.176.html

O’Neill named Young Tall Poppy, Macquarie University PR Unit, Oct 19th 2007, http://www.pr.mq.edu.au/events/index.asp?ItemID=3173

Do 'super-Earths' beyond our Solar System have life-harbouring conditions?, Yahoo News India, 22 Oct 2007, http://in.news.yahoo.com/071022/139/6m8nh.html

Plate tectonics on a planet far, far away, Geotimes, February 2008,

http://www.geotimes.org/feb08/article.html?id=nn_tectonics.html

New Planet, Bybla.net 23 October, 2007, http://bylba.net/2007/10/23/new_planet.html

Evolution of a habitable planet, Australasian Science, April 2008, 16-18.

Habitable planets might need Plate tectonics, March 21st, 2008, http://www.astronomycast.com/LIVE/rebecca/planets/habitable-planets-might-need-plate-tectonics/

Craig O’Neill: Geodynamic modeller, Double Helix, June-July 2008, Issue 120, p8.

Volcanic shutdown may have led to 'snowball Earth', 09 May 2009, http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227073.800-volcanic-shutdown-may-have-led-to-snowball-earth.html

Volcano 'Vacation' Produced First Glaciers, May 14, 2009,

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/05/14/first-glaciers-tectonics.html

Early Mars stayed molten, Thursday, 23 July 2009,

http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20092307-19455.html

Molten Mars kept life at bay, Tuesday, 21 July 2009, http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2009/07/21/2631861.htm

Molten Mars Too Hot to Handle Life, July 21, 2009,

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/07/21/molten-mars.html

Mars breakthrough: Scientists uncover red planet's hot and steamy secrets, 21st July, 2009.

http://www.physorg.com/news167407498.html

Enceladus episodic overturn, Scientific American, January, 2010,

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=saturn-enceladus-episodic-overturn

Saturn’s ice moon shows signs of life, The Australian, 11 January, 2010 (Page 5), http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/saturns-ice-moon-shows-signs-of-life/story-e6frg8y6-1225817874008.

The anatomy of a megathrust earthquake, Cosmos Online, 7th April, 2011.

http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/features/online/4203/the-anatomy-a-megathrust-earthquake

Giant Jupiter helps shape solar system, Starstuff, ABC Science, 8 June, 2011, http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/science/podcast/starstuff/starstuff20110608.mp3

Neptune's day measured to the second, Cosmos Online, Monday, 4 July 2011,

http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/4474/neptunes-day-measured

Neptune celebrates first birthday 165 years after discovery, Starstuff, ABC Science, 20/7/2011,

http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/science/podcast/starstuff/starstuff20110720.mp3

One ‘year’ on Neptune remains a mystery, ABC Science News, 14/7/2011,

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2011/07/14/3268823.htm

Dust particles may run rings around Pluto, ABC Science News, 10/8/2011,

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2011/08/10/3290120.htm

Mercury findings raise new questions, ABC Science News, 22/3/2012,

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/03/22/3460456.htm

Why is the transit of Venus so rare? ABC Science – Ask an Expert, 23/5/2012 http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/05/25/3510139.htm

Other Earths could be 'in our backyard', ABC Science News, 7/2/2013, http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/02/07/3685458.htm

Record asteroid to fly close to Earth, ABC Science News, 8/2/2013,

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/02/08/3686287.htm

Asteroid to narrowly miss Earth next week, ABC News, 12/2/2013,

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-08/asteroid-to-narrowly-miss-earth/4507970

Planetary science: Caught in the act, Nature News Feature, 30/1/2013,

http://www.nature.com/news/planetary-science-caught-in-the-act-1.12324?nc=1359858974694

Saturn’s rings rain on its atmosphere, ABC Science News, 11/4/2013,

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/04/11/3734009.htm

Keeping a lid on it: The controversy over Earth's oldest rocks, The Conversation, 11/11/2013, https://theconversation.com/keep-a-lid-on-it-the-controversy-over-earths-oldest-rocks-19825

Expert reaction: Earthquake in California, Australian Science Media Centre, 25/8/2014, http://www.smc.org.au/2014/08/expert-reaction-earthquake-in-california-experts-respond/

Kosciuszko explained: mystery of the Snowy Mountains solved, SMH, March 17, 2016, http://www.smh.com.au/environment/kosciuszko-explained-mystery-of-the-snowy-mountains-solved-20160314-gnj2zg

Plate tectonics just a stage in Earth’s life cycle, May 31, 2016, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/plate-tectonics-just-stage-earth%E2%80%99s-life-cycle

Asteroids delivered bulk of the Moon's water, study finds, ABC Science, 1 June 2016, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-01/asteroids-may-have-delivered-bulk-of-the-moon's-water/7463102

Does a planet need plate tectonics to develop life? The Conversation, June 29, 2016, https://theconversation.com/does-a-planet-need-plate-tectonics-to-develop-life-6130

Reposts: Australasian Science, June 29 2016,

http://www.australasianscience.com.au/article/science-and-technology/does-planet-need-plate-tectonics-develop-life.html

IFLS, June 2016, http://www.iflscience.com/environment/does-a-planet-need-plate-tectonics-to-develop-life/

Cosmos, 4/7/2016, https://cosmosmagazine.com/geoscience/does-a-planet-need-plate-tectonics-to-develop-life

Phys Org, June 29 2016, http://phys.org/news/2016-06-planet-plate-tectonics-life.html

Study Says Earth's Plate Tectonics May Be Just a Phase, Smithsonian magazine, 8/7/2016, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/study-says-earths-plate-tectonics-may-be-just-phase-180959705/

Old planets always get too hot or cold for life in the end, New Scientist, 27 July 2016,

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2099139-old-planets-always-get-too-hot-or-cold-for-life-in-the-end/

What 3.7-billion-year-old fossils mean for life on Mars, Cosmos Magazine, 01 Sept 2016,

https://cosmosmagazine.com/palaeontology/what-3-7-billion-year-old-fossils-mean-for-life-on-mars

Did meteorites create the Earth’s tectonic plates?, Cosmos Online, 26 Sep 2017, https://cosmosmagazine.com/geoscience/did-meteorites-create-the-earth-s-tectonic-plates

Large meteorite impacts drove plate-tectonic processes on the early Earth, PhysOrg, 26 Sep 2017, https://phys.org/news/2017-09-large-meteorite-impacts-drove-plate-tectonic.html

Did giant meteorites activate our tectonic plates? New Zealand Herald, 26 Sep 2017, http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11926492

Huge space rocks could have helped start Earth’s plate tectonics, New Scientist, 25 Sep 2017, https://www.newscientist.com/article/2148366-huge-space-rocks-could-have-helped-start-earths-plate-tectonics/

Earth’s earliest tectonics driven by impacts, Nature Asia, 26 Sep 2017, https://www.natureasia.com/en/research/highlight/12193

Why Earth’s Cracked Crust May Be Essential for Life, Quanta Magazine, June 7, 2018, https://www.quantamagazine.org/plate-tectonics-may-be-essential-for-life-20180607?fbclid=IwAR037JSEkurRKqBauLW3VgQr21O2TtNas-LN3Po8i4JDIczSRbU6QqyHwnU

A 'seiche' wave can outpace a tsunami and both can be triggered by meteorites and earthquakes, The Conversation, 4 April, 2019, https://theconversation.com/a-seiche-wave-can-outpace-a-tsunami-and-both-can-be-triggered-by-meteorites-and-earthquakes-114753

Reposts: ABC News, 4 April 2019, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-04/a-seiche-wave-can-outpace-a-tsunami-meteorite-earthquake/10970306?fbclid=IwAR1uFGRGz4d-8Wmf15XtJrhKAJrg0UWHXfGXNfq9BkTlD2EIfAC1sPod12E

How the dinosaurs went extinct: asteroid collision triggered potentially deadly volcanic eruptions, The Conversation, Feb 22, 2019, https://theconversation.com/how-the-dinosaurs-went-extinct-asteroid-collision-triggered-potentially-deadly-volcanic-eruptions-112134

Moonquakes measured during Apollo missions suggest the Moon may still be tectonically active, study finds, ABC Science 14 May, 2019, https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-05-14/moon-tectonic-activity-moonquake-study/11106794?fbclid=IwAR0VS3wkmrWb852jI9BluiFrXPqkvgtSkxLZaye_2BlOQLNfR5Oq1rZynGg

How did Earth get its water? A spacecraft in the desert offers a new answer, The Age, 5 May 2019, https://www.theage.com.au/national/how-did-earth-get-its-water-a-spacecraft-in-the-desert-offers-a-new-answer-20190505-p51k6o.html?fbclid=IwAR37Gke2Ro44d0COpenfDPW69Kxo8yRIpkWpQymh_xM2m2EvYvyIkD6GwAM

Life in the Galaxy: maybe this is as good as it gets? Goldschmidt press release, 22 June 2020 (https://goldschmidt.info/2020/pressReleasesView).

Reposts:

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/gc-lit061920.php

https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/astronomy/plate-tectonics-and-the-search-for-life/

https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/alien-life-most-likely-to-have-evolved-on-older-planets

http://astrobiology.com/2020/06/life-in-the-galaxy-is-this-as-good-as-it-gets.html

https://www.advancedsciencenews.com/maybe-life-on-earth-is-as-good-as-it-gets/

https://www.courthousenews.com/life-more-likely-to-exist-on-older-milky-way-planets/

https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2020/06/24/a-catalog-of-celestial-exotica/

https://www.space.com/milky-way-exoplanets-life-early-formation.html

https://www.cnet.com/news/time-might-be-running-out-for-alien-life-in-the-milky-way/

https://www.iflscience.com/space/life-may-have-developed-sooner-rather-than-later-in-a-galaxys-history/

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/time-might-be-running-out-for-alien-life-in-the-milky-way/ar-BB15SGQ9

https://www.smalltechnews.com/archives/168397

Why are we sending missions to Mars? 22nd July, 2020. https://lighthouse.mq.edu.au/article/july-2020/Please-explain-why-are-we-sending-missions-to-Mars

Ceres is an ocean world with active geology, according to close-up data from NASA spacecraft Dawn, ABC Science, 11 Aug 2020, https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2020-08-11/nasa-spacecraft-dawn-reveals-dwarf-planet-ceres-ocean-world/12535630

Please explain: Why is NASA returning to the Moon? The Lighthouse, 16 Oct, 2020, https://lighthouse.mq.edu.au/article/please-explain/october-2020/please-explain-why-is-nasa-returning-to-the-moon

NASA finds water on the Moon, raising hopes for exploration and habitation, ABC Science, 27 Oct, 2020, https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2020-10-27/water-molecules-discovered-on-moon-using-nasa-flying-telescope/12806148

It’s confirmed. There is water on the Moon, Cosmos Magazine Online, 27 October 2020, https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/astronomy/its-confirmed-there-is-water-on-the-moon/

Stellar Smashups May Fuel Planetary Habitability, Study Suggests, Scientific American, 17 Nov 2020,

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/stellar-smashups-may-fuel-planetary-habitability-study-suggests/.

 

 

Radio:

8/8/06 9:49 ABC Central Australia (Alice Springs) Morning show with Katya Quigley

8/8/06 Syn radio (RMIT, Melbourne) Interview with Will Ockenden

9/8/06 6:17 ABC Central Australia (Alice Springs) The rural report with Luke Fitzgerald

9/8/06 12:24 ABC Central Australia (Alice Springs) NT Country hour with Adrienne Francis

11/8/06 7:00 ABC radio National (Sydney) Relayed interview with Fitzgerald

15/08/06 11:28 ABC Radio National (Canberra) Bush Telegraph with Margo Foster - relayed interview with Fitzgerald

16/08/06 11:30 Radio Adelaide Life 107.9 Interview with Kari.

17/10/06 11:30 (prerecorded) 2SER 107.3 Radio Interview with David Myton.

6/03/07 10:00am ABC WA Morning show with Wayne Dowsett, prerecorded.

-amongst many other recent appearances.

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