Human Evolution Puzzles & Problems
August 20, 2012
Recent stories on human evolution continue to illustrate ongoing problems that overturn long-held beliefs.
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Rocks Don’t Lie, But Liars Rock
August 14, 2012
A geologist, trying to be nice to religious people, not only deals fast and loose with rock, but rolls into circular reasoning.
Brazil's Islands in the Sky Defy Evolution
August 9, 2012
Isolated table mountains with sheer cliffs in South America should be natural laboratories for evolution. Why aren't they?
Mt. St. Helens Renewal Slow, Steady
August 6, 2012
This is an eyewitness report of ecological renewal at the volcano that erupted 32 years ago.
Palm Trees Thrived in Antarctica
August 2, 2012
Evidence for tropical trees has been found 5 km deep off the coast of Antarctica.
Left-Handed Amino Acid Puzzle Remains
July 28, 2012
A new suggestion of how life ended up with left-handed amino acids comes up short.
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.
Dark Matter Remains Missing
July 21, 2012
The most sensitive test to date for dark matter in the form of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) has turned up nothing.
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.
Maple to the Rescue
July 11, 2012
The SWAT team surrounds the compound. An officer tosses a maple seed into an open window and checks the readout on his computer. The team bursts in and, surprising the terrorists, rescues the hostages safely.
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.
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.
Stellar Dust Disk Vanishes in 3 Years
July 7, 2012
According to widely accepted theory, planets evolve from orbiting dust disks surrounding stars. If so, planets trying to form in the dust around one young star didn't have much time. The disk evaporated within 3 years.