The Evolution of Penguins
May 23, 2013
Science reporters are dancing with happy feet about a news story supposedly explaining how penguins evolved.
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Fresh Impacts Viewed on Mars, Moon
May 21, 2013
New impacts observed on the moon and Mars allow space scientists to learn about crater formation in near real time. What conclusions can be drawn?
Moon Water and Magnetism Mystifies Astronomers
May 12, 2013
Two mysteries from the moon are forcing revisions to textbooks. One concerns water in moon minerals. The other concerns the moon's magnetic field.
Trouble for Mars Lifers
May 8, 2013
Evidence disputes Mars water, let alone life. It's looking like a toxic place. Besides, where would the water come from?
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."
How to Use Your Brain
April 24, 2013
The fact that you can ponder how to use your brain implies it is a physical tool your soul uses. New findings support the idea that we can improve our brain function through effort, like we can learn to become better computer users.
Latest Attempt to Explain Homochirality Underscores the Problem
April 23, 2013
Finding that some stars emit circularly polarized light will not help explain why life uses only left-handed amino acids.
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?"
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.
Gold, Earthquakes, and Time
March 17, 2013
How long does it take to form veins of gold in the rock? (a) millions of years; (b) less than a second.
Evaluating the Chicxulub Impact Dinosaur Extinction Hypothesis
February 10, 2013
Science Magazine claimed the Mexican crater named Chicxulub is the smoking gun of the dinosaurs' demise, and the media fell in line. Are there reasons to doubt the story?