If Science can’t settle this one…

I always enjoy seeing contradictory results from peer-reviewed science. The simpler the topic the better.

Is the science settled on this or not? The latest paper says it should be changed to the thirty-second rule which contradicts as earlier paper which said the zero-second rule should always be applied.

If I favor the thirty-second rule does that mean I also believe the Earth is flat and I am anti-science? Or is it the other way around. If two more papers come out saying the zero-second rule is correct, does that become a consensus and mean that only anti-science people pick up an M&M that falls on the ground? Would anybody take scientific papers on the five-second rule and apply them in their lives?

I believe MythBusters tested double dipping and found that dip already has so much bacteria in it that it wasn’t possible to determine the impact of double dipping using food. That had to use sterile gelatine to perform the tests.

Night Returns to Barrow, Alaska

For the past couple of years I have found many interesting sources of information. I am going to share one of my favorites now. Gaisma.com has a vast library of locations around the world and they show the yearly solar cycle for these locations. I have definitely spent more time than was required just strolling through the various locations around the world and seeing how the day-night cycle behaves.

Glacier National Park Trip

I am going to be traveling for a few days.  Fortunately my phone is very capable, but there will not be any new articles for a few days.  Expect that I will have lots of pictures from Glacier National Park when I get back and that many of those pictures will make it here on [...]

Independence Day 2011

May all the American readers have a safe and enjoyable 4th of July with friends and family.  That is certainly my plan.  That and lighting off a ridiculous amount of fireworks throughout the day. This is my favorite holiday and has been for a very long time.

Ski Resorts Extending Ski Season

The snow is melting so slowly this year that skiing has been extended all over the Western United States. Such events do happen, but not very often. Of course the predictions over the past 10 years make it seem that such late skiing would never happen again, but of course those predictions are being proven wrong again.

Here is a list of ski locations that are open and some history of such events that I have been able to find.

Real World Impact of Japanese Earthquake

This is very interesting stuff.  This is what science is supposed to be doing. ——————————————————– Japan Earthquake Shifted Seafloor by 79 Feet Earthquake slip is the largest ever recorded. Main Content An acoustic transponder that tracks earthquake movements is installed off Japan in an undated picture. Photograph courtesy Japan Coast Guard via Science/AAAS Richard A. [...]

Milky Way Galaxy: Time to update your picture.

Growing up as an avid space buff I have enjoyed the ever changing understanding of the Milky Way Galaxy. Oddly enough science has had a much easier time understanding other galaxies because they are easier to see. It is much like determining the size of a forest while standing in the middle of one. There is a lot of trees and hills in the way.

For the past ~150 years the idea has been around that the Milky Way was a spiral galaxy much like the nearby Andromeda Galaxy.

BROOD XIX Arrives: What Cicada say about Global Warming

Every once in a while an unexpected opportunity presents itself to show that the Earth is doing just fine. That despite the unrelenting news that global warming is going to forever alter every aspect of life on Earth, things really are not changing according to the theory of global warming. There is a current news blossom about The Great Southern Brood of cicadas. It is also known as Brood XIX.

Nuclear Update from The Economist

This is a nice summary of the actual impact from the Fukushima nuclear accident. Despite all the hand-wringing, it appears that there will be very little environmental and human life impact from the nuclear plants themselves.
In the end it will be the tsunami that caused the greatest environmental impact.

The Abdication of President Obama

I am going to change topic here for a moment because I am tired of the generally useless discussion going on about the intervention in Libya. There are unending discussions about the decision to enter the conflict and even more about the lack of leadership by President Obama.

They are missing the point. President Obama may be a very reluctant warrior in this case, but there is nothing wrong with being cautious about entering an armed conflict. That type of caution is warranted whenever an important decision must be made. The reason President George W. Bush is considered a war monger is because he was determined to enter into conflict with Iraq, regardless of the reason.