Find alien civilizations by their pollution?

There's been speculation that advanced telescopes may be able to find hallmarks of alien life by looking for oxygen in the spectrum of light reflected off of exoplanets, but this article suggests using the James Web Space Telescope to look for pollution: Pollution on other worlds may show advanced alien life - space - 27 June … Continue reading Find alien civilizations by their pollution? →

Neanderthals ate their veggies

We know this because: Found: Oldest Known Poop From a Human Ancestor | RealClearScience. Archaeologists in Spain have dug up the oldest known feces from a human ancestor. Their find is detailed inPLoS ONE. Retrieved from El Salt, an open-air site near Alicante, Spain, the samples date back around 50,000 years, firmly trouncing the previous record of … Continue reading Neanderthals ate their veggies →

“The Universe Should Not Have Lasted for More than a Second”: The limitations of scientific theories

Stan Hummel called my attention to, and asked for my thoughts on this article: Big Bang Theory Challenged --"The Universe Should Not Have Lasted for More than a Second". British cosmologists are puzzled: they predict that the universe should not have lasted for more than a second. This startling conclusion is the result of combining the … Continue reading “The Universe Should Not Have Lasted for More than a Second”: The limitations of scientific theories →

Collapse: How Societies Choose To Fail Or Succeed, a brief review

After my post the other day on what fields I thought someone needed to be familiar with for coming up with credible theories about why civilizations collapse, a number of people recommended I read Jared Diamond's book, 'Collapse'.  I finished it this week, and like the other books I've read by Diamond, I enjoyed it. … Continue reading Collapse: How Societies Choose To Fail Or Succeed, a brief review →

Fluid tests and quantum reality

The other day, I mentioned that I had some sympathy for the deBroglie-Bohm interpretation of quantum mechanics, namely an interpretation that there isn't a wave-function collapse as envisioned by the standard Copenhagen interpretation, but a particle that always exists but is guided by a pilot-wave. It turns out that there are some people doing experiments with … Continue reading Fluid tests and quantum reality →

How life transformed the planet – Robert Hazen – Aeon

In my post on how similar or dissimilar life might be if evolution started over, I observed that much of the environment that life operates within is itself generated by other life.  It turns out that goes deeper than I imagined.  I knew that things like oxygenated atmosphere and soil were products of life, but it turns … Continue reading How life transformed the planet – Robert Hazen – Aeon →

The Paleo delusion, and a delusion about that delusion

Today at lunch I listened to the latest Point of Inquiry podcast, which was an interview of Marlene Zuk about her new book on common delusions about evolution and the paleolithic life style.  These misconceptions usually run along the lines of assuming that since we evolved to be hunter gatherers, that we should live like those … Continue reading The Paleo delusion, and a delusion about that delusion →

Sean Carroll defends philosophy

Sean Carroll, theoretical physicist, has a post up on his blog telling his fellow physicists to "stop saying silly things about philosophy". The last few years have seen a number of prominent scientists step up to microphones and belittle the value of philosophy. Stephen Hawking, Lawrence Krauss, and Neil deGrasse Tyson are well-known examples. To redress the balance a … Continue reading Sean Carroll defends philosophy →