I know you’re going to file this under “Who cares?” but you should at least take a passing interest in what’s going on out there in earth science research:

Geologists from the University of Alberta have found that portions of Canada collided a minimum of 500 million years earlier than previously thought. Their research, published in the American journal Geology, is offering new insight into how the different continental fragments of North America assembled billions of years ago.

As the Canadian Arctic starts to gain attention nationally and globally, Michael Schultz believes the time is right to push for more geological exploration in the region. “All this newly discovered geological information means that large portions of Northern Canada are still very poorly understood, and in fact may contain rocks that nobody knows about. This has many implications, both academically and for mineral resources,” said Schultz.

Schultz is right. The Arctic is gaining attention. There will be fights over ownership and minerals.

OK, now let it pass.