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And the day starts! Over 100 first year #Geoscience students arriving at #MelvilleKoppies. The goal is to learn about a variety of field based activities that Geoscientists do! @WitsGeoscience @FoSWits
That’s us in the physical properties lab measuring sustainability AND magnetic field. Exciting work!!
Exciting news!
A scientific research report into meteorite fragments linked to the Nqweba bolide – a rare fireball event that occurred in the Eastern Cape on 25 August 2024 – has just been released.
sajs.co.za/article/view/2160…
And another 22 students and staff are following on in the #18SAGA2024 conference at the same venue In Windhoek! Exciting times for Science! #SouthernAfricanGeophysicalAssociation
Over 35 staff, students and alumni from @WitsUniversity @WitsGeoscience attended the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG) conference in Windhoek 🇳🇦 Well done to grad students Mabatho, Kamogelo and Mary who won prizes for the best poster presentations (details to follow)!
If you are keen to work at Wits School of Geosciences we have a job opening! Email me for more information if needed. Applications open until October 1, 2024 sedimentology, stratigraphy and Paleoclimate
Eish scientists talking about science come off badly here!!! We have work to do!!
Prof. Susan Webb retweeted
Job Alert! 2+ year postdoc on critical metal tin-lithium granites - suit ig/met petrologist with LA-ICPMS experience @EarthSciStA - details below
earthworks-jobs.com/geoscien…
Prof. Susan Webb retweeted
Exciting research opportunities in the Bushveld Complex with the BUGEMET team. The application deadline is on 12 July, so don't hesitate to apply now. Find more information at wits.ac.za/geosciences/bugem…
#academictwitter #science #geology #wits #witsgeoscience
Prof. Susan Webb retweeted
New books from Adrian Tchaikovsky and the late Michael Crichton (with James Patterson) are among the great new sci-fi novels out this month. newscientist.com/article/243…
Prof. Susan Webb retweeted
When I was a postdoc, I heard about a lab where the professor & two postdocs talked all day in front of a blackboard for months. Then they'd go into the lab to do the experiment they settled on, which would lead to a big discovery. Then they'd repeat that process again & again..
Prof. Susan Webb retweeted
My heart is broken💔: As friends & family know, my wife was pregnant with our 2nd child, & about to begin her 2nd trimester. A few days ago she had severe pains, & bleeding, and had to go to the emergency room. There, it was discovered that our baby no longer had a heartbeat. Devastated doesn't come close to what that feels like.
Unfortunately for people like us, because of the current laws in the state of Texas, that was only the beginning of this nightmare. Jess (my wife) had an "incomplete miscarriage", and what needed to happen, what was best for HER, and her health, was to terminate the pregnancy, and get the baby out.
The doctor gave her a medication that would move this process along, and sent her home. Where, apparently we would be handling it ourselves. We were told it might take a couple of attempts before it worked.
I'll let you decide how you feel about that.
After a long, painful night of the equivalent of early labor, the baby was still with her. So, we went back to the Emergency Center to get the 2nd dose. A new doctor was on call. He was an older man. You could hear him in the hallway as he said, "I'm not giving her a pill so she can go home and have an ab*rtion!". Being well aware that our baby no longer had a heartbeat. Then, he came into the room to say, and I quote: "Considering the current stance. I'm not going to prescribe you this pill". Then, just sent us on our way.
The "CURRENT STANCE"?! Did he really just say that?!
No one should ever have to hear their wife say: "Get this dead baby out of me!".
Can you even imagine how that must feel?
The pain, and the bleeding continued. So, we decided to go to another hospital, about an hour away. There was a female doctor on call there, and we thought we might have better luck.
I should probably mention, the procedure to get the baby out is called a D & C. It's scary, & traumatizing, but sometimes necessary in situations like ours. Especially in emergency circumstances.
So we get to the next hospital. They take Jess in, ask her a bunch of questions, do a new scan... confirm that the baby is still there, with no heartbeat, and then disappear... for hours. Only to come back in and keep asking the same questions over and over. It's becoming clear that they're primary concern is NOT my wife's health. Instead, they seem to be worried about the legalities involved.
So, they decide it is not "enough of an emergency" to perform the D & C.
They do, however, prescribe another, stronger, final dose of the medication for us to try again... at home.
So, we go home to try again. Another long day/night of early labor pains. Only to discover my wife UNCONSCIOUS in the bathroom. Having to pick my wife's cold, limp body off of that bathroom floor, not sure if I was about to lose her, is something I will NEVER forget.
She had to be rushed to the hospital.
By this point she had lost so much blood, and bodily fluid, her body gave out.
They were able to stabilize her, give her the fluids she needed, and we came back home yesterday afternoon. We were also able to confirm that our baby was no longer with her.
Now, not only do we have to live with the loss of our baby... we have to live with the nightmare of what we just experienced because of political and religious beliefs. MY WIFE'S HEALTH SHOULD HAVE COME FIRST. PERIOD!
God knows what mental and emotional damage this has done.
If you consider yourself a staunch "pro-lifer" ... 1) You've never been through what we just went through, and 2) You should take a long, hard look in the mirror and reevaluate your reasons for supporting such a cold, barbaric, ignorant point of view.
It's not that black & white, and it's never going to be.
If you think your "Pray To End Ab*rtion" sign in your yard is "Christian", I suggest you revisit the teachings of Jesus and try again. If you support these laws that make ab*rtion illegal, and result in people being put through what we just were, you should be ashamed of yourself. I've never been so angry, or heartbroken... and the devastation I'm feeling must pale in comparison to what my poor wife is feeling.
Prof. Susan Webb retweeted
[𝗭𝗔𝗠𝗕𝗜𝗔𝗡 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 & 𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗬] @KoryxCopper has initiated an induced polarisation (IP) survey programme at its Zambian Copperbelt-based Luanshya West project. The IP survey will assist in drill target generation. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲: bit.ly/3QUoX06
Prof. Susan Webb retweeted
No matter the failings – or otherwise – of the ANC-led government, #Shell was always going to divest its downstream (actually, practically all) operations in SA.
#Moneyweb #SouthAfrica
ow.ly/cFjV50Ry6Bc
Prof. Susan Webb retweeted
What do you want to know about Earth's magnetic field over the last 100 million years?
Such an important diagram!!
Thanks! More later exhausted now!!
Congratulations to @GeophysicsWebb for breaking ground at the Bushveld Complex Drilling Project! What an incredible day for Bushveld Research. youtu.be/eFOlO5xQixc
Prof. Susan Webb retweeted
M6.3 earthquake in southern Japan a short while ago - felt widely across the area.
Notable quake, preliminary info: M 6.3 - 17 km WSW of Uwajima, Japan earthquake.usgs.gov/earthqua…
Prof. Susan Webb retweeted
Here is the link for the Japanese Meteorologial Agency page about the earthquake: data.jma.go.jp/multi/quake/q…
Very interesting talk today on muon detection and applications to geoscience! So many great talks be sure to join our Geotalks!! @WitsGeoscience #Geophysics
Prof. Susan Webb retweeted
My clever friends-
I am on the finishing end of writing this book but just haven't been able to get the name right. Please help!
The topic is the value of "silly" science and covers punching shrimp, law of urination, spiders in makeup, flying snakes, robot roaches, worm blobs..


































