Bob Gooday
@bobgooday.bsky.social
Geological Analyst for National Museums Scotland. Minerals, microscopes, maps, mountains, music.
6 7 is great because it's a genuine, bona fide internet meme. And for us millennial geeks who grew up swimming in a current of internet memes, it's the first time we're too old to feel like we're in on the joke. Delightful. The torch has been passed.
New display in the children's library.
If you don't get it, ask a young person.
(you probably still won't get it but don't worry - we don't get it either) #67meme
If you don't get it, ask a young person.
(you probably still won't get it but don't worry - we don't get it either) #67meme
January 19, 2026 at 3:59 PM
6 7 is great because it's a genuine, bona fide internet meme. And for us millennial geeks who grew up swimming in a current of internet memes, it's the first time we're too old to feel like we're in on the joke. Delightful. The torch has been passed.
Peridotite from 700m up the side of Sgùrr Alasdair in the Black Cuillin of Skye. Someone went to a LOT of trouble to get this back to the truck. From NMS collection #thinsectionthursday
January 15, 2026 at 1:58 PM
Peridotite from 700m up the side of Sgùrr Alasdair in the Black Cuillin of Skye. Someone went to a LOT of trouble to get this back to the truck. From NMS collection #thinsectionthursday
describing oysters as being 'planted' does seem a little disrespectful somehow
Thousands of oysters have been planted in Belfast Lough in a bid to restore the species in the waterway. Nature conservation charity Ulster Wildlife placed 2,000 adult European oysters and more than 30,000 juvenile oysters, called spat, grown on scallop and mussel shells.
Thousands of oysters planted to restore Belfast Lough
Thousands of oysters have been planted in Belfast Lough in a bid to restore the species in the waterway.
www.rte.ie
January 9, 2026 at 11:24 AM
describing oysters as being 'planted' does seem a little disrespectful somehow
Wrong and obscene. Everyone knows garnet is square and black, not triangle and colours. Perverse.
Thin Section Thursday!
XP image of a thin section cut perpendicular to [111] of cubic garnet unit cell setting showing chemical and structural zoning between orthorhombic garnet with second order interference colour and isotropic andradite.
Contributed by Huifang Xu. #thinsectionthursday
XP image of a thin section cut perpendicular to [111] of cubic garnet unit cell setting showing chemical and structural zoning between orthorhombic garnet with second order interference colour and isotropic andradite.
Contributed by Huifang Xu. #thinsectionthursday
January 8, 2026 at 3:07 PM
Wrong and obscene. Everyone knows garnet is square and black, not triangle and colours. Perverse.
new carnyx just dropped
‘Extraordinary’ iron age war trumpet find in Britain may have Boudicca links
Bronze instrument or carnyx dug up in Norfolk in area inhabited by Celtic tribe led by warrior who fought Romans
www.theguardian.com
January 7, 2026 at 9:50 AM
new carnyx just dropped
Maybe not the biggest problem in the world, but definitely top ten. My almost-year-long NYT crossword streak is over because a basic puzzle app can no longer run on a perfectly functional seven-year-old phone.
January 6, 2026 at 10:13 AM
Maybe not the biggest problem in the world, but definitely top ten. My almost-year-long NYT crossword streak is over because a basic puzzle app can no longer run on a perfectly functional seven-year-old phone.
This ancient living fossil is more closely related to Nigel Farage than to other fish.
(actually true)
(actually true)
Wishing a joyous Coelacanth Day to all! The “living fossil” known only from paleontology and long assumed to be extinct was found to be still among us on this day in 1938.
The 400-Million-Year-Old Fish Everyone Once Thought Was Extinct - Sciencing
The coelacanth was rediscovered off the coast of South Africa in 1938 after disappearing from the fossil record for over 60 million years.
www.sciencing.com
December 22, 2025 at 3:20 PM
This ancient living fossil is more closely related to Nigel Farage than to other fish.
(actually true)
(actually true)
For #MineralMonday, the vanishingly rare and delightfully named* clinojimthomsponite. A very weird triple-chain silicate from Achmelvich, Sutherland.
*named for James Thompson, but there was already a thomsonite, so they called it jimthompsonite, and this is the monoclinic polymorph
*named for James Thompson, but there was already a thomsonite, so they called it jimthompsonite, and this is the monoclinic polymorph
December 22, 2025 at 11:50 AM
For #MineralMonday, the vanishingly rare and delightfully named* clinojimthomsponite. A very weird triple-chain silicate from Achmelvich, Sutherland.
*named for James Thompson, but there was already a thomsonite, so they called it jimthompsonite, and this is the monoclinic polymorph
*named for James Thompson, but there was already a thomsonite, so they called it jimthompsonite, and this is the monoclinic polymorph
A blessed solstice to you all. What better way to celebrate a festival of the hearth than by rebuilding one. A reminder that light and warmth always return.
December 21, 2025 at 3:03 PM
A blessed solstice to you all. What better way to celebrate a festival of the hearth than by rebuilding one. A reminder that light and warmth always return.
And so the sun sets at its earliest time this winter. From now the evenings start getting lighter again. 🌅
December 14, 2025 at 3:39 PM
And so the sun sets at its earliest time this winter. From now the evenings start getting lighter again. 🌅
Can’t quite put my finger on why this is a perfect photo. The neon lights in the background and the guy being on his phone are important, but there’s something else.
'Skull of St. Thomas Aquinas being transported to Fossanova Abbey.'
Photograph by Daniel Ibanez
Photograph by Daniel Ibanez
December 10, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Can’t quite put my finger on why this is a perfect photo. The neon lights in the background and the guy being on his phone are important, but there’s something else.
"The tribunal clarified that it is not unlawful for a trans person to use facilities aligning with their gender identity"
Worth reading given how badly the majority of media reports have spun this case as some kind of victory or vindication for anti-trans side.
Worth reading given how badly the majority of media reports have spun this case as some kind of victory or vindication for anti-trans side.
We've written & published a short summary statement regarding the Sandie Peggie V NHS Fife Health Board employment tribunal case & the judgment given yesterday. Much of the media coverage has missed key information, the most important aspect being that all claims against Dr Beth Upton were dismissed
December 9, 2025 at 1:26 PM
"The tribunal clarified that it is not unlawful for a trans person to use facilities aligning with their gender identity"
Worth reading given how badly the majority of media reports have spun this case as some kind of victory or vindication for anti-trans side.
Worth reading given how badly the majority of media reports have spun this case as some kind of victory or vindication for anti-trans side.
Begging people to stop calling this a wobbegong. Wobbegongs are rad, but this is a picture of a goosefish, a type of angler fish (all of which are also rad).
The Tasselled Wobbegong is a master of disguise that can eat a fish almost as big as itself in one gulp. It's classified as a shark, but when it lays on the sea floor it looks like a harmless rug if you manage to see it. But with powerful jaws and sharp teeth they are no fish to mess with.
December 8, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Begging people to stop calling this a wobbegong. Wobbegongs are rad, but this is a picture of a goosefish, a type of angler fish (all of which are also rad).
New self-imposed rule: Buy your top 5 Spotify Wrapped albums on physical media.
If you've listened to Deftones that much in a year, you owe them thirteen quid.
If you've listened to Deftones that much in a year, you owe them thirteen quid.
December 3, 2025 at 5:10 PM
New self-imposed rule: Buy your top 5 Spotify Wrapped albums on physical media.
If you've listened to Deftones that much in a year, you owe them thirteen quid.
If you've listened to Deftones that much in a year, you owe them thirteen quid.
You’re never truly alone when you contain multitudes.
December 3, 2025 at 3:11 PM
You’re never truly alone when you contain multitudes.
In Madeline Miller's Circe, an object is described as being made of mahogany, causing a discussion about whether or not the gods of the Greek pantheon knew about the Americas.
my spouse and my children think i’m a sad nerd for letting my enjoyment of the novel i’m reading, set in 1789, be ruined by anachronisms such as its protagonist using “access” as a verb, the first known instance of which appeared in 1953. i don’t disagree with them.
December 1, 2025 at 11:15 AM
In Madeline Miller's Circe, an object is described as being made of mahogany, causing a discussion about whether or not the gods of the Greek pantheon knew about the Americas.
"An extraordinary discovery? At this time of year, in this part of the country, localised entirely within a famous Neolithic site?"
"Yes!"
"May I see it?"
"...No."
"Yes!"
"May I see it?"
"...No."
November 27, 2025 at 1:21 PM
"An extraordinary discovery? At this time of year, in this part of the country, localised entirely within a famous Neolithic site?"
"Yes!"
"May I see it?"
"...No."
"Yes!"
"May I see it?"
"...No."
Beautiful mineral. The name comes from Greek for 'bad guest' because its presence in iron ore would ruin the quality of the iron.
A last minute #MineralMonday for y'all! Some gorgeous cacoxenite from Alabama.
November 25, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Beautiful mineral. The name comes from Greek for 'bad guest' because its presence in iron ore would ruin the quality of the iron.
Good heavens what a sentence. The things some people can do with the 26 English letters.
November 21, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Good heavens what a sentence. The things some people can do with the 26 English letters.
In this world of generative slop, photos like this feel like a genuine act of resistance.
Astrophotographer snaps 'absolutely preposterous' photo of skydiver 'falling' past the sun's surface
Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy has snapped a striking shot of a skydiving YouTuber perfectly aligned with the fiery surface of the sun. The unlikely image, dubbed "The Fall of Icarus," required met...
www.livescience.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:31 AM
In this world of generative slop, photos like this feel like a genuine act of resistance.
Ptygmatic. Good geology word.
Ptygmatic folding, along with a slight pinch and swell structure, in a quartz vein intruding Greater Himalaya gneiss.
Pindari Valley, Kumaon Himalaya.
November 2025.
#FridayFold
Pindari Valley, Kumaon Himalaya.
November 2025.
#FridayFold
November 14, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Ptygmatic. Good geology word.
Reposted by Bob Gooday
Today is #RLSDay which marks the birthday of the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson who would have been 175 today.
It's also a good day to remember that it is NOT actually his birthday because in 1891 he gave it away to a young girl because she didn't like her birthday. 🧵
It's also a good day to remember that it is NOT actually his birthday because in 1891 he gave it away to a young girl because she didn't like her birthday. 🧵
November 13, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Today is #RLSDay which marks the birthday of the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson who would have been 175 today.
It's also a good day to remember that it is NOT actually his birthday because in 1891 he gave it away to a young girl because she didn't like her birthday. 🧵
It's also a good day to remember that it is NOT actually his birthday because in 1891 he gave it away to a young girl because she didn't like her birthday. 🧵
I collected this specimen of the Arran granite intruding the Dalradian schists ten years ago, and finally got round to cutting it. Really happy with how it’s come out. Half going to National Museum, half to Arran Geopark.
November 12, 2025 at 3:51 PM
I collected this specimen of the Arran granite intruding the Dalradian schists ten years ago, and finally got round to cutting it. Really happy with how it’s come out. Half going to National Museum, half to Arran Geopark.
Not hugely into the modern custom of performative remembrance, but the ferry I’m on marking the hour of armistice with the foghorn was pretty cool.
November 11, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Not hugely into the modern custom of performative remembrance, but the ferry I’m on marking the hour of armistice with the foghorn was pretty cool.
A pilgrimage I have not made for many years – Hutton’s Unconformity at Lochranza, Arran. The site where Hutton could finally prove the earth was unimaginably ancient. A place of deep history in every way.
November 10, 2025 at 4:16 PM
A pilgrimage I have not made for many years – Hutton’s Unconformity at Lochranza, Arran. The site where Hutton could finally prove the earth was unimaginably ancient. A place of deep history in every way.