After a fascinating Common Lecture today by Joyce Hsiang on glaciers and the cryosphere, I was surprised to see an amazing photo by Dani Guindo of an Icelandic glacier. The link can take you to a whole series of photos.
11 March 2026
03 March 2026
Erosion can be fast
The Grand Canyon might make you think that erosion happens slowly, but this video of gully erosion shows that it can happen fast too.
25 February 2026
the world
“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”
― E.B. White
23 February 2026
Data Centers
In New Brunswick they successfully fought against a new data center. Meanwhile in Louisiana, Governor Landry happily announced that three Amazon data centers were coming to Northeast Louisiana. Data Center Infrastructure is the newest planning board version of the big box store or cell tower - the controversial topic that is loved and hated and poorly understood.
16 February 2026
Not everything should go down the drain
Someone noticed sludge in the Elizabeth River and called it in. Based on the coverage in NJ.com, it looks like someone might have by-passed the sanitary sewage system and released it into a storm sewer catch basin instead. The EPA is investigating.
Using the EPA WATERS tool, we can see what the path might look like:
10 February 2026
Learn something
On Fridays this spring, OSU Center for Urban and Regional Analysis is hosting free webinars. Here are some topics worth watching for:
- Local Data, Local Impact: Community-Centered Research in Central Ohio
- What are child-friendly cities like, why do they matter, and how do we build them?
- Building Cities for Everyone: Disability-Forward Housing Futures
- Creating Age-Friendly Communities: Local Approaches from Practice, Policy, and Research

