Bird Tricks
April 24, 2015
News about feathered friends and flying wonders, and speculations about how they evolved.
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100,000 Galaxies Without a Sign of Life
April 19, 2015
An orbiting infrared telescope found no clear signs of life in 100,000 galaxies.
What You're Not Being Told About Earth's Magnetic Field
April 17, 2015
The simple story for the public: a dynamo creates the earth's magnetic field. The real story: complex scenario needed to start it and keep it running.
Cosmic Ruler Flawed
April 13, 2015
Type 1a supernovae, vital to estimates of the size and expansion of the universe, are not uniform. This has cosmic implications.
Solving Moon Origin Unsolves the Last Solution
April 9, 2015
The moon's origin has been "demystified," scientists are claiming. That's what they said last time.
How Rocks Can Look Older Than They Are
April 8, 2015
Researchers find that the most common dating method can produce "spuriously old" dates.
Of Brontosaurus, Cartoons, and Revisionism
April 7, 2015
With the resurrection of Brontosaurus as a valid dinosaur name after a century of repudiation, what's a kid to think? Thoughts on science's arbitrary and tentative nature.
Messages from Mercury
April 6, 2015
With MESSENGER in its final days before impact, the innermost planet has become a familiar place.
Animal Excellence Exceeds Mere Survival
April 4, 2015
A tiny bird could live like other birds do without having to fly non-stop for 1,700 miles. Other examples abound of over-design in the animal world.
Plants Borrow Their Transportation
April 2, 2015
Seed dispersal in plants is a fascinating study about diverse mechanisms for survival. Here are two methods of hitchhiking on animal transportation.
Biomimetics Still Trending Up
March 28, 2015
The imitation of nature's designs (biomimetics) is all the rage, and shows no sign of slowing down.
Evidence-Based Cosmology
March 27, 2015
From what we observe, we can draw inferences without the need to posit occult phenomena.
Animals Wonderful and Bizarre
March 24, 2015
The variety of living organisms on our planet is astonishing and often surprising. Here are a few examples that have come to light in news reports.
Orbital Ice Age Theory Melts
March 23, 2015
Orbital cycles do not cause ice ages, a new study suggests. Instead, the whole world experienced an ice age at the same time.
Geology Upset: Wind Carves Canyons Fast
March 19, 2015
According to a new study, wind carves canyons ten times faster than water. This has implications for theories on Mars and Earth.