Category Archives: Nature of Science

What do you discuss at dinner?

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A nice meal with family and friends, a bottle of wine and good conversation — a perfect Sunday evening. Who could ask for more? What did we talk about? Well neutrinos breaking the ultimate of speed limits — the speed of light. What else would we have been talking about?

No really, that was part of our conversation. Nothing is suppose to be able to go faster than the speed of light! That’s part of Einstein’s theory of relativity. You know Einstein, the guy with the funny hair.

So what is going on at CERN, the mammoth underground particle accelerator in Europe?

Image Source BBC

Click here to read more and listen to an interview with Professor Antonio Ereditato of CERN.

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Know Your Source

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So if scientists publish their findings in scientific peer reviewed journals and those journals, along with most scientific research projects, are not written in a way the average person can easily understand, how do we learn about new discoveries? Where do we get our science?

Well that depends on what you read, watch and listen to.

Many types of popular media include science related information, but we must be able to spot bias. Does the publication have a specific point of view they are trying to support? Are they trying to sell something using “science” to increase sales? Do they have staff that are qualified to write about science? What is the reputation of the publication or media? Can the claim be supported through other information sources? Be careful of anything that claims secret knowledge — real science is open to the public.

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Worst Hurricane in Decades?

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Hurricane Irene, currently a category 3 with 120 mph winds and pressure of 954mb, is anticipated to strengthen. Traveling over warm waters above 85 degrees F, with low upper level wind shear and abundant atmospheric moisture, it should become a very large cat 4 system probably sometime tomorrow.

Image Source: WeatherUnderground.com

The projected path for Irene which shows unprecedented model agreement takes it sufficiently east of Florida to only have moderate impacts on this state but tracks along the highly populated east coast and into New England. This could be one of the strongest storms for this part of the U.S. in decades. States are preparing for storm surge, high winds and flooding. Evacuations of some areas are anticipated but over 55 million people live in the path of this storm.

This may be a long weekend for many as the storm is anticipated to pass the North Carolina coast on Saturday and make its way to Maine by Monday.  Discuss the storm here and look for updates.

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Why We Study Earth Science

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Frequently students will ask “why do we have to learn science?” and in particular Earth Science. Seems they’d rather dissect a frog. But when tragedies like earthquakes and tsunamis strike, like the recent catastrophe in Japan,  we see the importance of this line of study.

Earth science helps us to better predict these events, develop warning systems, create buildings that can withstand the stress and ultimately save lives. In this situation we also have to understand the consequences of our energy choices, both at home and abroad. With this recent news clip from ABC News, we see how our understanding of ocean currents plays a role also.

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