Month: February 2014

Is Planet Earth Under New Management? : Krulwich Wonders… : NPR

A hundred million years from now, when we're all dead and gone, a team of geologists will be digging in a field somewhere ...and they will discover, buried in the rocks below, a thin layer of sediment — very thin, about the width of a cigarette paper, says British stratigrapher Jan Zalasiewicz. That skinny strip, when … Continue reading Is Planet Earth Under New Management? : Krulwich Wonders… : NPR →

America’s first settlers were trapped in Beringia for 10,000 years

The ancestors of Native Americans came to the New World by walking over a land bridge across the Bering Strait. But there's a rather glaring 10,000 year gap in the story — one that could be explained by a migratory pause that lasted for millennia. via America's first settlers were trapped in Beringia for 10,000 years. … Continue reading America’s first settlers were trapped in Beringia for 10,000 years →

The Ken Ham Creation Museum Ark Encounter project may have been funded

There is news out this morning that the silly Ark Encounter project may have gotten funded, although Sharon Hill is skeptical that this is true.  If it is true, and if municipal bonds really are helping to fund this thing, then the residents of Louisville, Kentucky should be alarmed by what their local government is doing, … Continue reading The Ken Ham Creation Museum Ark Encounter project may have been funded →

Artificial intelligence is what we can do that computers can’t…yet

I think I've mentioned before that I listen to a number of different podcasts.  One of them is Writing Excuses, a podcast about writing science fiction.  One of the recent episodes featured Nancy Fulda to discuss writing about AI realistically.  In the discussion, she made an observation that I thought was insightful.  What we call … Continue reading Artificial intelligence is what we can do that computers can’t…yet →

Skin cancer risk may have driven evolution of black skin — ScienceDaily

Early humans may have evolved black skin to protect against a very high risk of dying from ultraviolet light-induced skin cancer, a new analysis concludes. Skin cancer has usually been rejected as the most likely selective pressure for the development of black skin because of a belief that it is only rarely fatal at ages … Continue reading Skin cancer risk may have driven evolution of black skin — ScienceDaily →

The importance of (experimental) design — ScienceDaily

One of the hottest debates in evolutionary biology concerns the origin of behavior: is it genetically encoded or do animals and birds copy their parents or other individuals? A classic experiment published in 2000 seemed to provide overwhelming evidence that a particular behavioral choice (whether individuals of a species of swallow breed in a small … Continue reading The importance of (experimental) design — ScienceDaily →

PHD Comics: The Higgs Boson Re-Explained

This is a pretty good explanation of the Higgs Boson.  (Not that I have the expertise to judge it, but it matches other stuff I've read and seems more accessible.) Click though to see the full size version. via PHD Comics: The Higgs Boson Re-Explained. I'm sure it's a simplistic interpretation, but the picture of all … Continue reading PHD Comics: The Higgs Boson Re-Explained →