Physics

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Why Milankovitch Cycle Theory Is Like Astrology

June 22, 2018

Sometimes a hunch proves to be unworkable. The Milankovitch Cycle theory has too many complications. It’s time to give it up. In the 1920s, Milutin Milankovitch, a Serbian astronomer, mathematician and popularizer of science, had a bright idea. Knowing that certain orbital cycles drift over time, he wondered if they could influence the earth’s climate. […]

Origin of Life

OOL Cells Are DOA

June 21, 2018

NASA throws money at origin-of-life (OOL) studies that are doomed to failure, and at education programs to tell students that futility is good science.

Terrestrial Zoology

Bugs Ride on the Wings of the Wind

June 19, 2018

Small animals can take advantage of wind to go long distances in remarkable ways.

Politics and Ethics

Climate Science Underestimates Natural Sources of Warming

June 18, 2018

Scientists discover two more potent sources of greenhouse gases, both of which have nothing to do with human activity.

Biomimetics

Nature Knows Best

June 13, 2018

Recent news articles show how engineers and inventors are helping mankind by imitating what plants, cells and animals do every day. A new kind of vaccine based on spider silk (Science Daily). Because spider silk is tough and yet biodegradable, it can be used as a delivery capsule for vaccines that might otherwise be resisted […]

Physics

Van Allen Belts Protect Earth from Solar Wind

June 11, 2018

Geophysicists are still puzzling over how the earth's magnetic field and Van Allen radiation belts protect the surface from deadly particles in the solar wind.