Winter in Montreal and the life archaeological

Day before last, we received another 23cm of snow in my fair city. The resulting digging and shoveling gave me a rare occasion to use skills I usually put into use mostly during the summer months, when I'm working in the field... but then I realized something.... do you know how to tell you have archaeologists living on your block after a snowstorm? You look for the car that's been dug out and looks like it's sitting in an excavation unit!

An archaeologist's astronaut's best friend?

I'm talking, of course about duct tape, also known as "American Tape" in some of the localities where I worked a few years back! Duct tape is truly wonderful for so many purposes in the field, from patching up boots that are on their last leg (eh!) to sealing sample tubes to holding together dead-ish stadia rods and trowels (all true stories!).

Well, it turns out, other scientists have been making good use of duct tape for years... in outer space!

Et c'est le but!!

Most of the people who know me will tell you that I'm generally not much of a sports fan. The two exceptions to this is when Italy plays in the World Cup and, as a true Montréalais, when the Canadiens are in the playoffs! So, you might have to bear with a bit of misplaced exuberance over the coming weeks, especially if last night's game is any indication. Yes, yes.