A quick video from minutephysics that explains the difference between evolution and natural selection. It is important to understand the distinction between these two concepts. Those who argue that evolution isn’t real are not only wrong but they haven’t even taken the time to learn the basic vocabulary of science. To argue that evolution isn’t real is to…
Scientists Hatch 700 Year Old Eggs
As the discovery of extrasolar planets has accelerated in recent years there has been a great deal of discussion about which planets might and might not support life. At the same time life has been showing us just how resilient it can be. Tardigrades (water bears) have shown that they can live in extremely high…
Video from ASAP Science: Does being cold make you sick?
Conventional wisdom holds that you need to bundle up and stay warm during the winter because you will catch a cold if you don’t. According to the video below from AsapSCIENCE, it isn’t nearly that simple. Colds and flu are, after all, caused by viruses and being cold, by itself, doesn’t bring you into contact…
NASA Discusses It’s Next Mars Mission [video]
From the NASAtelevision YouTube Channel, NASA officials and scientists discuss their next Mars mission. The Maven satellite will launch in just under a month (on November 18). Maven’s mission will be to run tests on the Mars atmosphere to try to determine where it’s at now, what it may have been like in the past…
Short Video Explains How Fracking Works
People are, generally speaking, against fracking. By this I mean fracking in the fuel business, not fracking in the Battlestar Galactica sense. Generally most people, whether they admit it or not, are all for the BSG kind of fracking. Although they are opposed to fracking many do not seem to really understand what fracking is,…
What Are Genetically Modified Foods [Video]
There is a lot of talk about genetically modified food but there frequently seems to be far more talk than thought on the subject. Yes, there are problems but they are not generally health related problems. The key problem, in my opinion, is that genetic modification happens so quickly now that the impact on the…
Support the Petition to Name Storms After Climate Change Deniers
A petition is circulating to change the naming system for tropical storms and hurricanes. Currently the World Meteorological Society gives storms the names of people. Those names however are fairly random and the people storms are named after have done nothing to earn the dubious honor. The folks at Climate Name Change have a fantastic…
Did Life on Earth Begin on Mars?
It is no secret that Mars was once rich with water and could have supported life. Now new evidence, at least to some, that Mars may once have been more hospitable to life than the Earth was. The suggestion is not that complex, highly developed life evolved on Mars and then deliberately travelled to Earth.…
Elon Musk Promises Faster, Cheaper, Open Source, High Speed Rail.
Elon Musk, on whom the latest incarnation of Tony Stark is based, chairman of Tesla Motors and Solar City, CEO of Space X, lead cheerleader for a Mars colony, has promised to unveil the plans for a ‘Hyperloop’ high speed train in August. According to Musk the train would travel at 800 mph, shuttling people…
Beware the Killer Beavers of Belarus
Remember 2011, when people were talking about replacing the beaver as Canada’s national animal? Senator Nicole Eaton called beavers a “dentally defective rat” and wanted to replace them with polar bears as a symbol for the country. Well, the Senator would have a hard time making that argument in 2013 Belarus. According to the Guardian a beaver…