Author: Katherine Allen4
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Tale of a Carbon Atom
I am a wild carbon atom, To others I’ve sometimes been bound, Not locked in some hard, rocky stratum, I’m telling you: I get around!
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Iron Fingerprints
Metals galore in deep Earth, But at the sea surface, a dearth. Iron is key For greening the sea … To planktic cells, gold has less worth.
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Australopithecene Dental Calculus
Across a mixed landscape, Au. sediba plods Sometimes on two feet, and sometimes on four, Munching on fruits and leguminous pods, Nuts and some seeds … C3 foods galore!
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Dancing in the Darkness
In deep darkness, cunning lights are softly luring prey, Drawing closer to the glow, only some will flee … Subtle bodies, clear as glass, with organs on display, Exquisite dances only certain piercing eyes can see.
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Apophis
You may have heard the recent cries: An asteroid towards us flies! Apophis, a rocky mass, Some years from now will closely pass…
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Lake Goo Clue
The lands of Africa’s Horn, Great Valleys sliced by a Rift, By drought and famine are torn … What drives such a large rainfall shift?
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Some Do Not Like It Hot
The Great Dying, The Big One — The Permo-Triassic! (In a time machine, not sure if that’s where I’d aim …) As extinctions go, this one’s a blockbuster classic, When most of Earth’s species dropped out of the game.
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Unexpected Sisters
An ancient island’s trove of treasure: Madagascan fauna Tenrec, fossa, lemur, hippo, dugong, bat, iguana. A giant bird – O, wondrous beast! – a half a ton, and tall, Laid foot-long eggs, had beefy legs, and did not fly at all.
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Weak Underbelly
Antarctica’s uncertain fuse, A “weak underbelly,” said Hughes. Pine Island and Thwaites, Thrown open, the gates? As humans, what path should we choose?