Mt. St. Helens Recalls Overturned Paradigms
May 18, 2010
The eruption of Mt. St. Helens in May 1980 not only eroded mountains and canyons, it caused earthquake shifts in geological paradigms.
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Titan Continues to Surprise Saturn Scientists
May 16, 2010
Since reaching Saturn in 2004, the Cassini spacecraft has now made 68 flybys of Titan, the large smog-shrouded moon. Space.com highlighted a recent picture showing the rings appearing to bisect the moon. What are some of the latest findings of this alien world – the only moon in the solar system with a substantial atmosphere? […]
Venus May Be Hot with Active Volcanoes
April 13, 2010
We already know Venus is hot from its suffocatingly dense atmosphere, but additional heat could be coming from underground. Results from the European Space Agency’s Venus Express orbiter suggest that volcanoes have erupted any time between now and 2.5 million years ago, a “geologically recent” time compared to the assumed age of the planet (4.5 […]
Snakes Alive! An Evolutionary Tale
April 3, 2010
Blind snakes that look like worms: they rule the world. They’re everywhere. Where did they come from? “Blindsnakes are not very pretty, are rarely noticed, and are often mistaken for earthworms,” admits Blair Hedges, professor of biology at Penn State University. “Nonetheless, they tell a very interesting evolutionary story.” So reported Science Daily. National Geographic […]
The Earth Should Have Frozen
April 3, 2010
According to stellar evolution theory, the earth should have frozen solid four billion years ago, because the young sun could not have put out the heat it does in its middle age. Called the “faint young sun paradox,” this problem has puzzled scientists for decades. A new study has failed to solved the puzzle. […]
The Copernican Geological Revolution
March 17, 2010
The Copernican Revolution did not just affect astronomy and physics: it revolutionized geology.
Search for Intraterrestrial Life Scores Big
March 16, 2010
Single-celled organisms may be tiny, but what they lack in bulk they make up for in volume and importance. Scientists have been appreciating more than ever the ubiquitous presence of microbes on our planet and the roles they play to sustain the biosphere. PhysOrg reported that half of the world’s life may lie […]
Mars Discoveries Change Paradigms
March 15, 2010
Mars is under assault by an armada of orbiters gathering intell from the planet with photons and radar beams. What kind of information has been seized recently? Dry rivers: Remember the networks of river channels that were telltale signs of water? Remember the hope for life those images generated? Some of those riverbeds could have […]
Swinging at Saturn’s Moons: Keep Your Eye on the Ball
March 1, 2010
To avoid being misled by planetary scientists, keep your attention focused on the age issue.
Incredible Preservation of Beetle Wings Found
February 9, 2010
Beetle wings with their original shimmering luster have been found preserved in fossilized peat in Japan. The strata in which they were found have been labeled middle Pleistocene and dated at 600,000 years old. Yet these same wings, when dried in the sun, lose their luster within hours. The authors of the paper […]
Specious Theories Obey the Law of Inertia
January 15, 2010
Last March, scientists publishing in Geology falsified the so-called “Permian Extinction,” calling it a “non-event.” (see 03/09/2009). Not only was there no smoking gun of a catastrophe in the rocks, the scientists said that the “claims of rapid vertebrate recovery… also must be called into question.” Our commentary at the time wondered how long it […]
Cave Dates and Climate Estimates May Be Off
December 19, 2009
The steady drip, drip, drip of water from stalactites should provide a way to calculate the age of cave formations, right? Don’t be too sure. A scientist at Florida State found that calcite deposition is a function of how the cave “breathes,” reported New Scientist. This finding “pours doubt on ancient climate records derived from […]
Debunker Busters
December 17, 2009
Often in science reports, new findings debunk previously held beliefs. But then, a thoughtful reader might ask, didn’t the previously held belief debunk a belief prior to that? Sometimes it gets difficult to believe the current belief has any credibility, when the debunkers turn on each other. A dilemma about dilemmas: Psychologists and philosophers have […]
Darwin Was Wrong About Geology
December 2, 2009
Field geologists have revisited a site Darwin visited on the voyage of the Beagle, and found that he incorrectly interpreted what he found. A large field of erratic boulders in Tierra del Fuego that have become known as “Darwin’s Boulders” were deposited by a completely different process than he thought. The modern team, publishing in […]
Ferocity of Geological Change Stuns Scientists
November 4, 2009
A crack in Ethiopia 500 meters long took just days to form. New Scientist reported about a team of scientists who used seismic sensors to reconstruct the event. “They found that a 60-kilometre-long, 8-metre-wide dike of solidified magma formed in the rift, causing the crack, in a matter of days.” They believe the crack will […]