Month: March 2015

Why the Exodus, as commonly understood, probably never happened

At the urging of one of my relatives, I watched Ridley Scott's 'Exodus: Gods and Kings'.  This relative, knowing my skeptical nature, thought I might enjoy Scott's naturalistic (mostly) take on the events in the story.  I'm sorry to say that I didn't really enjoy the movie, which is unusual for me because I usually do enjoy … Continue reading Why the Exodus, as commonly understood, probably never happened →

Interstellar: more accurate than the typical sci-fi movie, but still had issues

This week, I watched the movie Interstellar, the Christopher Nolan film about travel to another galaxy, a black hole, a wormhole, and other exotic environments.  I enjoyed it immensely, although I also had some issues with it. In the film, at some point in the future, the Earth is dying due to a global crop blight. … Continue reading Interstellar: more accurate than the typical sci-fi movie, but still had issues →

Yep, Mars One appears to be a scam

I've written critically about Mars One before, just evaluating their claims at face value.  But it appears that I wasn't nearly skeptical enough.  Mars One appears to be a scam.  A Mars One "finalist" candidate explains why: Mars One Finalist Explains Exactly How It’s Ripping Off Supporters — Matter — Medium. “When you join the ‘Mars One … Continue reading Yep, Mars One appears to be a scam →

Just in case you’re not there yet, homeopathy doesn’t work

As I've discussed a few times, I've been dealing with shoulder pain for the last few months.  As I've been fighting through this, one of the things I've been reminded of is how many purported breakthrough or unconventional cures are offered out there, that promise to avoid the often frustrating limitations and ambiguity of evidence based medicine.  For … Continue reading Just in case you’re not there yet, homeopathy doesn’t work →

Alien search won’t doom planet Earth, say scientists who want to contact ET

It's interesting how these related stores seem to come in batches: Alien search won't doom planet Earth, say scientists who want to contact ET | Science | The Guardian. Fears that a major program to contact alien life could spell disaster for planet Earth were dismissed as “paranoid” on Thursday by scientists who hope to beam … Continue reading Alien search won’t doom planet Earth, say scientists who want to contact ET →

Subsurface oceans everywhere and the possible pervasiveness of life

Well, it now looks like Ganymede, one of Jupiter's moons, has a subsurface ocean. Ganymede's great distinction among moons - apart from its size - is that it has its own magnetic field. Hubble has managed to track that field's behaviour by watching how it draws in and excites space particles, generating a glow of … Continue reading Subsurface oceans everywhere and the possible pervasiveness of life →

The Milky Way May be 50 Percent Bigger Than Thought

Sometimes it's amazing how much settled science, even something as longstanding as the size of our galaxy, can get called into question: The Milky Way May be 50 Percent Bigger Than Thought : Discovery News. A ring-like filament of stars wrapping around the Milky Way may actually belong to the galaxy itself, rippling above and below … Continue reading The Milky Way May be 50 Percent Bigger Than Thought →

Three conditions are necessary for SETI to succeed

Tom Hartsfield has a post up at Real Clear Science criticizing both the Drake equation and SETI: If you like science fiction, you're probably familiar with the Drake equation. This famous one-line formula solves for the number of intelligent alien civilizations within our galaxy with whom we might be able to communicate. Supporters of the … Continue reading Three conditions are necessary for SETI to succeed →