Geology

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The Sociology of Climate Science

July 22, 2012

What has become known as "climate science" offers an opportunity to investigate the sociology of science and ask how political biases influence individual scientists. Since the lukewarm political response to the Rio conference, news articles indicate that climate science has a climate of its own – one that's heating up over the inability to convince the public.

Geology

Our Poisonous Moon: Better from a Distance

July 13, 2012

The moon stabilizes Earth's axis and regulates the tides, but enjoy it from a distance. Now there are more reasons you wouldn't want to live there.

Dating Methods

Volcano Tour Planned

July 10, 2012

A key researcher of the catastrophic geology at Mt. St. Helens is leading hikes on the volcano next month.

Darwin and Evolution

Are Two Cambrian Explosions Better than One?

July 9, 2012

Something seems wrong with this picture: deep sea creatures living in the dark were preserved in ash from a land volcano.

Botany

Explanatory Filter in Action: Fairy Circles in Africa

June 30, 2012

The old "crop circle" craze fanned the curiosity of many, till humans were filmed making them. Now, scientists have a different circle mystery, and they're stumped.

Astronomy

Scientific Markers Can Mislead

June 26, 2012

In historical sciences, observable phenomena are often used as indicators of past phenomena. Some recent examples show how these can mislead researchers.

Darwin and Evolution

Evolution as Lottery Manipulator

June 22, 2012

Lady Luck is often clearly the stated referee of evolutionary events, but the vast number of times evolution wins suggests design afoot.

Birds

Mating Turtles Fossilized Instantly

June 19, 2012

Evolutionary paleontologists have a mystery on their hands: how did turtles in the act of mating become fossilized?

Education

Scientific Method Evolves

June 17, 2012

The so-called "scientific method" (if there is such a thing) has undergone dramatic changes throughout history, but there is one constant that can be relied upon: the myth of scientism.

Dating Methods

Titan Lake News: Throwing Caution to the Wind

June 15, 2012

Planetary scientists cautiously suggested the possible presence of an equatorial lake on Saturn's moon Titan. You wouldn't know that from the headlines.

Astronomy

Too Hot to Handle: Io and Enceladus

June 12, 2012

Two moons in the solar system are turning up the heat on beliefs that they could be billions of years old.

Dating Methods

Geology of the Gaps: Dolomite

June 9, 2012

Dolomite, a common rock minerals of the world, suffers from an "explanation gap."

Dating Methods

Geology Can Be Explosively Rapid

June 1, 2012

When people hear of "geologic time," they are trained to think of millions of years. Big things can happen in far less time.

Darwin and Evolution

How to Liven Up Dead Geology

May 24, 2012

A new study shows some carbon compounds from Mars formed, not by living organisms, but from geological and chemical processes. What does life have to do with it? Ask some science reporters.

Dating Methods

Crater Count Dating Still Unreliable

May 22, 2012

Worries about the crater count dating method, widely relied upon to infer ages of planetary surfaces, began emerging in 2005. Those worries have not subsided; they have only grown worse. Crater numbers may have nothing to do with age.

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