David Wallace-Wells has an article in July 10 issue of New York magazine summarizing the best current knowledge about the consequences of doing nothing to address human-caused global warming. The magazine’s website has an updated and corrected copy of the … Continue reading
Category Archives: Science
In 1990 the Galileo spacecraft successfully detected evidence of life on Earth. That wasn’t too big a surprise, but it did make the point that in some cases strong signs of life on a planet can be detected from space … Continue reading
In the video below Hank Green does a good job of addressing one of my hobbyhorses, namely the popular misunderstanding of life expectancy. Current U.S. life expectancy at birth is about 76.5 for men and 81.2 for women, but if … Continue reading
Most explanations given for how airplanes fly, or more specifically how airfoils create lift, turn out to be either dead wrong or seriously incomplete. I found the explanation below, by Professor Mike Merrifield, animator Pete McPartlan, and prolific filmmaker Brady … Continue reading
The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) recently published an interesting report (PDF) of a survey of U.S. science teachers that gives an idea how they are talking about climate change. The good news is that the subject is fairly … Continue reading
Today, 2017 September 3, is Julian day 2,458,000. The last three digits just rolled over to all zeros. Granted, it’s not as dramatic as rolling over to Julian day 3,000,000 (which won’t happen for nearly 15 centuries), but it’s something. … Continue reading
An article by Geoffrey Supran and Naomi Oreskes just published in Environmental Research Letters concludes that “ExxonMobil contributed to advancing climate science — by way of its scientists’ academic publications — but promoted doubt about it in advertorials. Given this … Continue reading
I’m a huge fan of Gwyneth Paltrow and have been since Shakespeare in Love. She’s one of the best things about the Iron Man movies, for just one other obvious example. She’s a good actor with remarkable screen presence, and … Continue reading
This piece is very good and very informative, even to those of us who’ve already read and heard a lot on the subject. It also manages to be entertaining and funny despite the serious subject matter. If you’re busy at … Continue reading
If you’re anywhere near the path of Monday’s solar eclipse in the United States, you’ll want to check out Vox’s eclipse page (link) to get an idea what the eclipse will look like where you live. Just enter your zip … Continue reading