When I first moved up here to Massachusetts, I did what I always do when visiting a new town, I went to the science museum. (Picture from here.) There was an exhibit of the cave paintings. The docent talked about them and said (as close as I remember): “Who were these wonderful artists? It certainly wasn’t …
My Paleontologist/Geologist spousal unit Thor Talks more rocks! In an earlier blog, I commented on our (or my) current obsession with polishing rocks and the stories they tell. Here’s the latest batch of beach pebbles that Sara and I gathered, nicely tumbled:
(Picture from here.) These are the kinds of posts that get me in trouble. I am quite pro-environmental. We have as much solar as we can possibly afford at the moment. Our power supply is aggressively electric. The only place where we use fossil fuels is in heating—which, in the northeast, is a difficult thing …
What better way to start the year than with Cheese Ends? (Picture from here.) I’m getting older every year, so we’ll start with a possible approach to human longevity. Anyone who has worked with culturing cells has noticed that after a number of generations—say 50, or so—the cells get bloated, sick, and generally unhappy. They …
Join my paleontologist/geologist husband Thor Hansen as he talks about our fascination with marble pebbles we collect on Greek beaches. NOTE: I’m busy this holiday week as it’s my featured week to create daily posts for The International Pulpwood Queens Book Club, since my novel PAUSE is a December selection of the club. Check it out …
Last time I talked about the evolution of structures—called morphogenesis, in biology. (Picture from here.) I spoke of it a bit frivolously in the context of anti-evolution conversations. I didn’t give it the airtime it deserved. So. Today, let’s talk about how drosophila, cephalopods, and human beings can develop from a zygote into vastly different …
People who don’t believe in evolution make me tired. (Picture from here.) For one reason, it’s like saying I don’t believe in the sun. The sun is there whether one believes in it or not—the existence of the sun is independent of belief. The fact of evolution also exists independent of belief. The obscuration of …
By popular demand, Thor explains the colorful variety of stones found in our Pacific Northwest. Sara asked me to contribute a blog on our recent obsession with rock tumbling. First a little prologue about the local geologic context, and why we have such a variety of stones here in the Pacific Northwest: A few hundred …
Remember Paul Ehrlich and The Population Bomb ?
Random mutterings from science!
The evolution of the eye was one of the big issues for those that sought to disprove evolution. (Picture from here.) The rationale (which echoed Darwin somewhat) was that the eye was too complex to have evolved since it would not work without all of the working parts. Since evolution requires a successful adaptation to …
(Picture from here.) I’m down sick with COVID so I’m not going to give this one much in the way of effort. So far, it’s a thick in the brain, cough, low fever sort of thing. The virus is trying to wear me down rather than put a spike protein through my heart. We will …
Originally published May, 2018 What do an environmental consultant, a wildlife scientist and a physicist have in common? They all have written books. And good books, too, with the help of science writers and their own writing experience. I love reading about wildlife. I skip over the sad parts, though, even though when one is …
