Homely Scientist

One of those big questions that has been hanging around for a long time in Physical Anthro (long before Quest for Fire and Clan of the Cave Bear) is the whole Homo sapiens and Neanderthal question.  Originally it was thought that Neanderthals were part of our genetic/evoloutionary line.  Then it turned out we were all hanging around at the same time.  So … how did Neanderthals (a dead-end on the whole Homo sapiens line) influence our genetic makeup?  Was there significant interbreeding and intermixing?  Looks like … no.  Sure it appears to have happened (this should come as no surprise), …read more

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Part of this answer is rather cool, leaves don’t actually turn red (or yellow or orange) … they are always that colour it’s the green chlorophyll that masks it.  As trees stop photosynthesis in the fall, the chlorophyll goes away and reveals the "true colours".
There is a greater science question here though.  Things in nature don’t just happen for now purpose or reason.  The reason why leaves turn, what was the physiological or adaptive strategy in play here, is something of a mystery.  ScienceBase linked to a Wisconsin U. article with one theory.  In order to store the nutrients and …read more

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From Quirks and Quarks last week (this is a time-sensitive post) …

Elusive Mercury, the fastest, most difficult planet to spot in the sky, will make a rare appearance November 8 as it crosses the face of the sun. Transits of Mercury happen roughly every seven years, although the last one took place in 2003.
These events are not visible to the naked eye, and even with a telescope, they’re not easy to see. But if you can see the sunset next Wednesday, and if you have a telescope with a proper filter (and don’t even think about trying to look at …read more

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Is it too late the change the course we’re set on?  Is it too late to turn back the tide of global warming?  Maybe, yes, for now.  While this post from Sky Watch highlights the real severity of the problem:

Relatively small temperature changes have disproportionately large effects. I have heard people wonder why we should be worried about an increase in the average temperature of, say, 4°C or 5°C during the present century. One answer is that the resulting rise in sea levels would put cities such as New York and London as well as most of Bangladesh and Vietnam …read more

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The Hubble space telescope has got to be one of the most amazing pieces of space tech in our lifetimes.  From being a piece of busted space junk to an invaluable research tool, Hubble has worked well beyond its planned lifetime.  So, one final trip is planned to fix her up before NASA calls it quits.

"Launched in 1990, it was the butt of jokes at first when it wasn’t working properly [the mirrors were improperly installed --Ed.]… In the 13 years since Hubble got a major focusing problem fixed, the telescope has changed the field of astrophysics and what scientists …read more

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Ah Fall.  The leaves, the change in the air, the frost.  Frost is cool.  Okay cold, but what I mean is that it looks cool.  In fact the whole process of frost forming is really interesting.
So frost forms when the dew point (the temperature below which water comes out of the air) is below freezing.  Now the interesting thing about frost is that it doesn’t form well (if at all) if it’s windy … even a light breeze can stifle frost from forming on surfaces.  The next thing is that dew/frost settles down.  For example, I park my car in …read more

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