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Zelda Breath of the Wild Geology Tour: Death Mountain

This post, and posts like it, is an attempt to make real-life geological phenomena more accessible to a rising generation of tech-savvy, gaming youth. Studies have shown that there is room in education for the use of virtually created worlds from video games to teach real-world geology and other scientific processes. One particular study of […]

Professor Aspen’s Research Quests: Crustle

Greetings trainer! My name is Professor “Quaking” Aspen. ‘Aspen’ is my family name while ‘Quaking’ is just a nickname given to me because of my muscular physique… and because I have had tremors since I was a boy. “Why do all professors in this world have tree names” you ask? I have no idea what […]

Zelda Breath of the Wild Geology Tour: The Rock Rings Mystery

The science behind a video game character: Zelda’s Gorons [Part 2]

The rough and tumble Gorons from Death Mountain have been a dominant species in Hyrule for many years. A big reason for their survivability is their massive physique and their unique diet (read this blog post to learn more about Goron anatomy and nutrition). But perhaps the biggest factors are their physical adaptations and their […]

The science behind a video game character: Zelda’s Gorons

Northeast of Hyrule Castle lies Death Mountain. It is called “death” for a reason. Consider the sweltering heat and lava that comes from the incredibly active volcano, add in the noxious, smoke-filled air and sprinkle in the lifeless rocky terrain and you get a hostile ecosystem unfit for living creatures. Unless you’re a Goron. These […]

Science Snapshot: Lichen

Vast armies of yellow, orange, green, blue, black, and any other color imaginable spread across the barren landscape. After an asteroid impact wiped out the majority of species on this planet, these colorful symbionts march forth to take advantage of the wide open world. Two unlikely organisms join forces to thrive in this new world. […]

Mythology Meets Geology: Fulgurites

With the clap of his mighty hands and the swing of his brawny arm, Zeus sent ear-shattering thunder and blinding bolts of lightning through the air and down to Earth. Zeus’s intentions were not to punish the people of Earth, but to remind them who possesses all power both in heaven and Earth as the […]

Periodic Players: Oxygen

The periodic table of elements… if you are still reading this I am pleasantly surprised! Ever since high school chemistry, the periodic table of elements has become taboo mixed with unpleasant recollections of memorizing each element along with its (sometimes perplexing) atomic symbol. Well, now that I have the worst part out of the way, […]

All of the Rocks at the Party

There is nothing like a good mystery to spark intrigue and interest into our boring lives. Whether that comes in the form of a suspenseful thriller movie, a good novel like Sherlock Holmes, that disturbing CSI show you can’t stop watching, or even just trying to figure out who stole your doughnut at work. But […]

Science Snapshop: Metamorphic Rocks

Anybody who is anybody gets invited to the rock party. But once you have attended the rock party, you know that there are really only three types of people who attend the rock party. First you have the sedimentary people who are rough, rigid, and not afraid to tell you about the storms they have […]