Buried Treasure Found Under the Ocean: DNA
May 11, 2013
The most information-rich medium known to man has been found in abundance under the sea, but man didn't put it there.
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Dinosaur Evolution Story Survives In Spite of Evidence
May 3, 2013
The evolutionary story of extinction and the rise of dinosaurs faces challenges, but survives when the glue of imagination holds fragmentary evidence together.
Intact Dinosaur Skin Found
May 2, 2013
Some material that flaked off a fossil in Alberta was not stone; it was dinosaur skin. Discoverers were excited and puzzled: how could it last so long?
Saturn's Rings Impacted by Meteoroids
April 30, 2013
Cassini has observed clouds of dust from meteoroids hitting the rings. The data will "impact" theories of the rings' origin and age.
Major Cosmic Questions Remain Unanswered
April 28, 2013
Some basic ideas about physics and astronomy remain so mysterious, and their explanations so flexible, they may lead some to question whether they should be called "hard sciences."
Coelacanth: Making the Most of an Unevolved Fish
April 18, 2013
The coelacanth genome has been sequenced. Does it show evidence for evolution? Only to those with a good imagination.
Titan's Methane Still Puzzles Scientists
April 16, 2013
The methane in Titan's atmosphere should be long gone, and may be disappearing soon, planetologists say.
Intact Protein Remnants Found in Dinosaur Eggs
April 10, 2013
A new record for soft tissue in a dinosaur fossil was reported in Nature: collagen in dinosaur eggs from the early Jurassic.
Using Finagle's Rules in Cosmology
April 10, 2013
Fudging and finagling often underlie the confident-sounding claims of cosmologists.
Bimbo Eruptions in the Solar System
April 6, 2013
Planetary origin theories come across as popular and charismatic, till some little moon pops off and says, "Yoo-hoo! Remember me?"
North American Geology All Wrong
April 3, 2013
Researchers are stating that beliefs about the origin of western mountains in North America are all wrong.
Freckled Trilobites Had Great Eyes
March 29, 2013
Darlings of the Cambrian Explosion, trilobites had spotted markings and sophisticated eyes. Some have been exceptionally well preserved as fossils, down to the level of individual cells.
Scientific Findings Can Be Counterintuitive
March 28, 2013
Here are examples of recent claims in science that seem to contradict what some would consider intuitively obvious. They should be kept in mind when evaluating other scientific truisms, like evolution.
The Ediacaran Era May Be a Flawed Concept
March 26, 2013
Before humans arrived, no strata came with "Ediacaran" stamped on them. Does this human-invented name have any real meaning? Does it tell time?
The Trouble with Zircons
March 25, 2013
Geologists' favorite tool for dating rocks at millions and billions of years old has revealed problems with interpretation.