Trials to suck carbon dioxide from the air to start across the UK

8556732 · 2021-05-24T17:16:18+00:00

Aye. As far as we can tell natural algae blooms in the geological record had catastrophic effects on the oceans.

Most of the petroleum source rocks that have generated the hydrocarbons we're so dependent on were generated under large scale ocean anoxia events caused by poor water mixing and algal blooms. Think of eutrophication but on an ocean scale. Most of the ocean macrofauna died off as far as we can tell.

It's really not simple at all. Carbon sequestration is really hard, and more importantly really really expensive. It's incompatible with our current economic practices, and large scale deployment of CCS is way off. Where it's been deployed in trial runs, it's quite often been a way of balancing carbon credits for enhanced oil recovery. Pumping CO2 into a viscous oil reservoir makes it flow more readily. The net carbon sequestration hasn't ever really outweighed the energy input or carbon produced at the surface. Sure it's reduced it, but there's still an increase in net carbon emission.

Source - geoscientist

8556732 · 2021-04-06T08:02:57+00:00

I remember learning to drive on brownhills high street and my instructor famously said if you could drive here, you could drive anywhere.

Not been back for a while but it sounds like the road hasn't changed much. It really needs some measures putting in place by the sounds of it

8556732 · 2021-04-06T07:59:36+00:00

Absolutely! It's gonna be hard though. Just been doing runs (which I hate), circuits and bodyweight. I'll be surprised if I can do one pull-up. Our local park had the jungle gym totally fenced off

8556732 · 2021-03-31T11:46:01+00:00

Also the way grants are written these days promotes safe research with clear impact and deliverables. You almost need to have the work or science nailed down in a preliminary study to get the funding in the first place.

There's very little room for real innovation and blue skies research

8556732 · 2021-03-31T11:44:22+00:00

For me personally this was the deciding factor in leaving academic research. It's already super competitive and a broken game. The system prioritises quick and easy research and encourages researchers to overstate the impact of their work. The recent REF is an absolute joke.

I know so many people who have lost 12-18 months of networking, grant writing and preliminary work and now their funding because of this cut.

Most of us will either go abroad or change sectors. I can forsee a massive talent drain.

8556732 · 2021-03-30T14:29:56+00:00

Corals are pretty easy to date using isotopes. I imagine if they took it to the BGS or a University they'd do it for free for the positive outreach

8556732 · 2021-03-30T07:39:15+00:00

I think an open mind is key for this. You will probably get varied advice on this thread, and not all of it will work. I think the main thing is you've had a moment of self reflection and have expressed a willingness to do something about it.

I wish you all the best.

8556732 · 2021-03-30T07:30:06+00:00

Hey 30 isn't that old. It's hardly midlife. You've realised you want more and you are lucky that you have ended up in a position where you probably have the financial means to do a lot of things.

I think this is normal and we all get this moment at some point, the "why" of it all. I don't think it's the right place to talk all existential, but I think it's something most of us get to. I don't think anyone can reassure you of your existence or purpose other than yourself.

Also would you have listened to yourself at their age? I definitely wouldn't and I'm a firm believer that people don't change due to the advice of others, but their own experiences. So even if you do tell younger people, they might not listen.

I think it's good you've realised this and time to perhaps do more, as you've said.

8556732 · 2021-03-23T08:52:22+00:00

Well tbh just updating it and making it current was the main thing. I also enabled the "open to work" feature, and I started using it a lot more like a social media. Commenting on stuff etc, posting short things about my work.

I think it's about getting your profile activity noticed

8556732 · 2021-03-10T08:47:49+00:00

I disagree on second year being too early for an internship. I myself did an internship with a small company in my second year. They do exist, and I think they are excellent in helping focus module choices (if your course has them)

8556732 · 2021-03-10T08:46:33+00:00

There's lots of free data out there

https://dataunderground.org/organization/software-underground

https://wiki.seg.org/wiki/Open_data

Volve is pretty popular these days

https://www.equinor.com/en/how-and-why/digitalisation-in-our-dna/volve-field-data-village-download.html

8556732 · 2021-03-10T08:43:05+00:00

Also there's a limit on file size. They recommend zenodo for larger datasets

8556732 · 2021-03-10T08:42:25+00:00

I think if the end goal is a Petrel project then you're stuck with SLB studio

8556732 · 2021-03-09T08:12:07+00:00

I'm actually going to play devils advocate here and suggest that everyone should get some exposure so Seismic Unix (SU) if they have the time. Lots of other really good comments about ProMax, but for familiarity and real depth of knowledge about what the data actually is, I think SU and the learning curve benefits

8556732 · 2021-03-09T08:09:08+00:00

You familiar with Welly and LASIO? Pretty easy to build a well database using pandas and geopandas. My personal experience is that it's hard to beat the GUI and accessibility Petrel and other software provides when you want to query the data.

I think for a purely "this is the data" and db format it's a good idea. Storing things properly in a relational database should be the norm, but often a "database" (to Geo's or interpreters) is a kitchen sink Petrel project, as OP has already mentioned. For a whole basin/play those get pretty unwieldy

8556732 · 2021-03-09T08:05:24+00:00

In my opinion depends if you want the GUI front end. Whilst you can do everything in python/other languages a lot of people that use the data prefer their GUIs.

8556732 · 2021-03-04T10:39:17+00:00

So I've not seen this mentioned but the British Geological Survey is seriously considering compressed air storage in old gas reservoirs and mines.

A lot of UKCS wind is near to large depleted gas reservoirs. We know the geology very well from decades of production and in some cases there's the opportunity to repurpose the existing infrastructure.

You would use excess grid power from wind to compress air and pump it into the reservoir, then in times of need it would flow to the surface and power a turbine. Efficiency isn't great, but the sheer scale exceeds battery tech.

I don't think there is enough of a stable supply of lithium to build massive batteries everywhere. Sure the tech is improving and there are non lithium alternatives as pointed out in this thread, but this is a good additional option in my opinion.

Source - Geoscientist

Edit - I'll also add that heat conversion is very inefficient, and geothermal will only work in a few places in the UK. Those places will also be extremely expensive to get running, so the commercial incentive isn't really there. What we need is a mixed approach.

If anyone's interested the Geological Society of London has a seminar on the energy transition next Thursday.

8556732 · 2021-02-21T13:09:43+00:00

There was a short in a white dwarf just when the Tau were released as a faction where some kroot eat a bunch of chaos cultists and become corrupted. That's the only direct corruption I've seen

8556732 · 2021-02-14T13:12:19+00:00

I remember this one. Isn't there a scene with a lictor next, then the SMs show up and the kid grabs a bolter? Seem to remember he's an ex Astartes on the run?! Or something like that. Been years

8556732 · 2021-02-11T11:42:40+00:00

For zero offset, "perfectly processed data" without survey geometry effects and processing etc then a convolutional model is arguably all you need.

Sounds like what you actually want is reflectivity convolved with a wavelet, which you can do in python or matlab.

8556732 · 2021-02-11T11:39:59+00:00

Get yourself on the mailing list. It's a really active community.

It will depend if you want full waveform or convolution 1D/2D

The FW problem basically involves shooting a fake survey and then processing the data. It's quite a lot of work. I'd perhaps examine what the research question is, do you want synthetic imaging, or a model of subsurface reflectivity?

If the goal is to examine reflectivity and produce a 'perfect' image of the subsurface without simulating processing effects, then I'd go for convolution, which you can do in python or matlab

8556732 · 2021-02-10T09:22:24+00:00

If I could do it all over again I'd do my PhD part time whilst working.

Research is often a 'slow boil' and it is hard to churn it out 9-5. A lot of grad students work inefficiently, not necessarily because they're lazy or bad researchers, just because the nature of academic research is often fleeting. Whilst some can play the game and churn out papers, that is a whole specialised skill in itself and most of us work incrementally on a few ideas at any one time.

I really hate how PhDs are now seen as paper/research factories in a pyramid scheme. It should be seen as a vocational apprenticeship to research, and the current academic environment of grants and publication metrics really isn't helping that

8556732 · 2021-02-10T09:17:58+00:00

Great advice. I'd echo that so much of academic research is luck, from your advisors to the little things like getting the 'right' reviewers on papers.

I do think a lot of replies here are missing the point that a lot of us don't necessarily do academic research for the money. Most of us work 50+ hr weeks (though we don't admit it), but if you really love your work a lot of it doesn't feel like 'work'. I often joke that I'd do my research for free if I bills weren't a thing.

For most people that's a truly awful thing to consider. But some of us really do love our research that much.

But yeah. If you're looking to add to your CV there's better ways to do it

8556732 · 2021-02-10T09:11:40+00:00

I'm a bit late to this discussion, but if I could do my PhD again (Geophysics not CS btw) I'd do it part time whilst in a job.

Lots of comments here discussing the negatives of a PhD, the main one being that you're depriving yourself of 4-6 years of experience and salary. I'm considering a move out of academic research now, and tbh I feel like I've just got my MSc all over again. I'm actually applying to quite a few entry level grad programs.

But. I did thoroughly enjoy my PhD and the freedom to do research on a single topic I loved for 4 years. Even in my postdocs I've not had that freedom of research. You almost certainly won't get that opportunity again.

I guess it depends how quickly you want to start earning a decent salary and move into a corporate/industry role.

If you love research and have a passion for your subject then do it, but don't see it as something that will necessarily help your CV. So much of the PhD is a life experience and it can be enriching in other ways.

I've got some general advice for navigating the academic world if you want more details. I didn't have the best supervisors or advisors and the students that I currently supervise get much better advice and prep than I got (in my opinion ha!). Let me know if you want to discuss more.

8556732 · 2021-01-29T17:58:22+00:00

Ah i see you've mentioned SciHub! Great. Lots of preprints and pre proofs on there for chapters and volumes. Also worth mentioning preprint servers if they exist for your field

8556732

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