[RadioAstronomer]

The challenge was about how oil companies really go about finding oil ~ and, the answer is, they rely on somebody else's discoveries.

Flapdoodle!

My father (PhD Geology) did oil exploration before switching to uranium exploration. I spent many an hour in the field with him. Believe it when I say he used all kinds of interleaved data to hunt for new oil fields.

He was good at it too. BTW, evolution was one of those data points.

[muawiyah]

OK, so your dad did all the finding, and oil companies did all the drilling and pumping.

Fur Shur they do find it easier to navigate to KNOWN oil fields.

[ga medic]

My mom married a geologist who was in minerals exploration - uranium. I had to spend 4 weeks is a place called Uravan in Colorado, at a uranium/vanadium mine. I heard they closed it down, and have blocked off the entire area because of contamination. It is rare to meet anyone in uranium exploration now days.