I am amused by astrophysicists playing the role of biologists. It is true we are all made up of the ashes of ancient stars. Even the iron in your hemoglobin carrying life giving oxygen throughout your body could have come from only one thing, a fantastic star explosion called a super nova. But by […]
Think of an ecosystem. Not the fairy-tale version from Walt Disney but a real ecosystem. We might think of it as a wonderful balancing act and maybe we are right but balancing acts do sway some from right to left. An ecosystem itself is a network of countless species changing over time. It is a […]
On the 17th of May 2013 at 13:43 Universal Time there was a 4.4 magnitude earthquake near Shawsville Canada. This is just west of Ottawa. The USGS called it “Southern Ontario.” There was some confusion about its magnitude. The initial report was 5.0 but the seismologists finally settled on 4.4. This is fairly weak and […]
In the late 1980′s government compliant research in industry was in a conundrum. Before I describe the conundrum let me tell the cause of it. The situation is this: even serious and professionally dedicated researchers can be flakes. Yes, I said “flakes” but in research this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Research in its purest […]
Some of the eSkeptic leadership have expressed disappointment with certain “science” based cable channels. Gee…why? Certainly they are professionally vetted aren’t they? Take the example of the huge difference between humans and and nearly every other life form on the planet. How could there be a continuous lineage between humans and non-humans? Obviously space aliens […]
cov·e·nant [kuhv-uh-nuhnt] noun 1. an agreement, usually formal, between two or more persons to do or not do something specified. Lance broke the one he had with us. Armstrong, that is. He was supposed to be our Superman, overcoming cancer to emerge victorious in seven Tour de France marathons, inspiration to all who followed his […]
Among my varied courses there are times I am obliged to discuss “global climate change,” which is a more sophisticated moniker for “Global Warming.” After all, it is a much more complicated phenomenon than mere “warming.” But regardless of what you call it, I must say I do present it with trepidation. It is not […]
I am embarrassed. Through at least the last half of the 200X years I was engaged both a pro bono and a paid consultant regarding heavy metal contamination of a golf course which was slated for remediation and development into a high-end residential community. In the mix were stories of teenagers with odd forms of […]
A tragic explosion of semiautomatic weapon fire and in 10 minutes more than two dozen unsuspecting children and teachers were dead. Even as few had yet recovered from this incredible violence, the news media put together hearsay and speculation ultimately pretending they actually have something we could touch and look at. Why would a 20-year […]
The Geminid Meteor shower is a December event so, unlike many other meteor showers, the part of the sky where the meteors are coming from (Gemini) is up at a very user friendly time. Gemini rises nearly as the sun sets so you have all night to track meteors if you want to. But if […]
