NWGS was very interesting, of all the talks I went to the presentations on the Alaskan Pebble mine and the Keystone XL Pipeline were my favorites, mainly because it shed new light on an issue I had only seen from one perspective. It's ALWAYS best to get opinions and facts from both sides of the argument, and this really fleshed out my stance on the issues. Very enlightening.

The Europa/Ganymede talk also tied for first, lots of interesting science behind the possibility of life developing on the moons. It was too complicated for me to summarize easily for a journal post, but it had to do with dense ice that sank to the bottom of the oceans and blocked off access to the salts and minerals in the sediment needed for the development of simple life. It was called either an "ocean sandwich." I also got to talk to the astrobiologist who presented, which was very cool. He was super nice and gave me some insights on possibly pursuing the field, though it is more likely I will end up in marine biology.

Those were the main highlights of today, except of course for the bit where I waited for a bus that was two hours late, but no matter, I got farther in my book than I would have otherwise. After that I had a watergun fight (because there is no such thing as being too old for waterguns), fed goats, who also tried to eat my hair (though I suppose it is enticingly straw colored), climbed on roofs, and ate pine needles. I am exhausted and am going to sleep.