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2006-10-05T08:25:00.000-07:00

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Cool maps 4: earthquakes in real time

2006-09-28T06:38:00.000-07:00

Helen asked, "How many earthquakes have occurred in India and Pakistan?" But I'm afraid I don't have the historical information. Maybe one of you out there does.

I can tell you that earthquakes are occurring all around the world, every day.

And I can point you to some great earthquake mashups. Here's a real-time, worldwide earthquake list for the past 7 days from the USGS, showing earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 and above. On this one, just move the gray box in the little "tv screen" on the map ... you can move it anywhere in the world.

Here's another similar one, from Dawn Endico, using USGS data, showing earthquakes in the last week.

Also see ...
Cool maps 1: world population treemap.
Cool maps 2: disaster event "alert."
Cool maps 3: breathing Earth.

For a noisy little frog, is it war or acceptance?

2006-09-27T06:35:00.000-07:00

Earth & Sky recently ran a radio show about how the booming population of an alien species of frog, the coqui frog, has become a problem in the state of Hawaii.

Sydney Ross Singer, director of CHIRP, an organization in Hawaii that's working to gain acceptance of the coqui, told us that the show was one-sided.

Singer wrote, "There is, in fact, no science showing the coquis are a threat to native birds or insects. In fact, coquis eat invasive insect pests, including mosquitoes, fire ants, and other harmful insects. Their sound is loved by millions of people throughout the Carribean, and about half the Hawaii population now accepts and appreciates the coqui."

For more, check out CHIRP.

Thanks Sidney for another way to look at this "invasive species."

In fact, I've begun to wonder whether the term "invasive species" is really a useful one anyway. Habitats aren't what they used to be. The world has become a human planet, whether it pleases us or not. Plus the climate is changing, which will alter what grows where. How many habitats are untouched, "native"? Besides, wasn't every species an invasive species at some time in its history?

Trying to keep new species out and the "native" ones in seems to me to be a losing battle. Why fight? I think we should be looking for a new kind of solution. Should we just let nature find a new balance in this changing world?

Read or listen: Little frogs with birg chirp invade Hawaii.

Amazing animation shows inner life of cell

2006-09-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

Neil sent us all a link today to this wonderful animation titled The Inner Life of the Cell. Thank you, Neil!

There's an explanation of what you're seeing at Andrew's Website.

According to Andrew, "Harvard University commissioned an animation of the internals of a cell (online version is a truncated version of the full 7-minute version). It's meant to be fairly accurate - structures were derived from known structure information wherever possible - and more importantly, it looks cool."

No question about it. It does look cool. Check out the animation, made by BioVisions at Harvard.

Ancient pet cemeteries found in Peru

2006-09-25T08:28:00.000-07:00

This is from the Associated Press today:

Peruvian investigators have discovered a pre-Columbian culture of dog lovers who built pet cemeteries and buried their pets with warm blankets and even treats for the afterlife.

"They are dogs that were thanked and recognized for their social and familial contribution," anthropologist Sonia Guillen said. "These dogs were not sacrificed."

Since 1993, researchers have unearthed 82 dog tombs in pet cemetery plots, laid alongside human mummy tombs of the Chiribaya people in the fertile Osmore River valley, 540 miles southeast of Lima. The Chiribaya were farmers who lived from A.D. 900 to 1350 before the rise of Peru's Inca Empire.

One of the well-preserved mummy dogs found, looking like a bit like today's golden retriever, is pictured above.

Eating fish, or how to eat "blue."

2006-09-24T14:13:00.000-07:00

We all know that fish is full of vitamins, minerals, protein.

Some scientists even suggest that we humans developed our remarkable intelligence because our ancestors ate so much fish.

Yet today, the depletion of the world's fisheries is one of our greatest 21st century challenges.

So do we turn to farmed fish if we want to eat "green," or, since we're talking about seafood, "blue?"

Earth & Sky talked to Carl Safina, president of the Blue Ocean Institute. He told us that fish farming is not a simple panacea.

"Most fish eat other fish," Safina said. "To grow them in farms, people are still fishing in the ocean to catch the fish to feed the fish in the farms that they're trying to grow.

"And they have to catch anywhere from two to ten times more fish out of the ocean to ground up and use as food for the fish farms."

Plus, when it comes to eating fish, along with health of the oceans, there's our own health to think about. In addition to the vitamins, some fish has mercury and other toxins.

OK, it's off to the natural foods store.....

...where, at mine, you can buy organically-fed, free-range chicken for $12 each. $12! That's for a chicken. And I don't live in San Francisco or Paris.

As for the seafood, I could buy jewelry instead.

Is living healthily and sustainably a privilege just of the rich?

Safina's organization Blue Ocean Institute, publishes a seafood guide that helps us seafood lovers figure out what fish to buy at our regular supermarket, or order at a restaurant, with a good conscience, feeling like we're not really contributing to the depletion of the ocean.

It tells you what fish are well-managed, what fish are relatively abundant, what fish are caught with fishing gear that doesn't hurt the habitat or catch too many other unwanted types of sea creatures.

Earth & Sky has more from Carl Safina.
Read or listen: Expert says fisheries can recover, in time.

More polar bear sightings doesn't mean more bears.

2006-09-22T07:06:00.000-07:00

Inuit hunters are seeing more bears this summer, so wildlife officials increased the allowable bear harvest.

But scientists from NASA and the Canadian Wildlife Service say there are actually less bears, according to a National Geographic report.

There are more bear sightings because Arctic sea ice is breaking up earlier, and that means bears have less time to feed. And as bears get skinnier and hungrier, they come into human settlements looking for food.

Down here in the lower 48, you and I may not feel the effects of climate change yet. But up in the northern high latitudes, the lives of polar bears are already changing.. and that's changing the lives of the people who live with the bears.

Read or listen: Global warming prompts polar bear protection.

New spacecraft images of famous "face on Mars"

2006-09-21T07:17:00.000-07:00

A European spacecraft has obtained some beautiful images of the of the Cydonia region on the planet Mars. This is the site of the famous face on Mars.

The "face on Mars" achieved widespread notoriety for some years in the late 1970s and 1980s, after this region on Mars was photographed on July 25, 1976 by NASA's Viking 1 Orbiter.

A few days after the images were obtained, on July 31, 1976, a NASA press release said the formation "resembles a human head."

By that time, NASA scientists had already interpreted the image as an optical illusion caused by the illumination angle of the sun: a play of shadows and light giving the impression of eyes, nose and mouth.

But the "face on Mars" had already taken on a life of its own.

For years, it was the subject of widespread speculation about a possible ancient civilization on Mars, which had built artificial structures - including the famous "face" - for an unknown purpose. The array of "structures" near the "face" were interpreted by some space enthusiasts as artificial landscapes, perhaps like earthly pyramids, or even a disintegrated city. Some believed the "face on Mars" was a kind of martian distress signal, aimed toward the heavens as Mars became drier and colder over the aeons, ultimately causing the ancient martians to vanish and their civilization to fall to dust.

In all those years of speculation, a hard core of science realism maintained that the "face on Mars" was merely a natural feature on the red planet, not an artificial structure built by martians.

These latest images - which are from European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft - confirm that reality.

Yet, speaking personally now, as I view these images, my mind seeks patterns: pictures, as in clouds. And the "face on Mars" legend still stimulates my imagination.

Read more and view the new images: Cydonia - the face on Mars from the European space agency.

From 2001: Unmasking the face on Mars from Science@NASA.

Is ethanol ethical?

2006-09-20T18:42:00.000-07:00

Ethanol is a crop-based substitute for oil. A blend of gasoline and ethanol can be used as motor fuel for most cars.

Some experts are concerned that the explosion in crop-based fuels like ethanol might eventually absorb too much food that would otherwise go to feed people.

For example, in July, Eric G Holthusen - an executive of Royal Dutch Shell - said his company considers using food crops to make biofuels "morally inappropriate," as long as some people are starving. Read more: Royal Dutch Shell execs exhibit corporate conscience

Meanwhile, Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute in Washington D.C. told Earth & Sky that "the grain required to fill a 25 gallon SUV gas tank with ethanol would feed one person for a year." Read more or listen: Ethanol: competition between food and fuel?

What do you think? We live in a world where nearly a billion people - or one in six of the world population - go hungry every day. Is it ethical to convert food crops to fuel?

"Does each equinox happen at the same place in space every year?"

2006-09-20T15:58:00.000-07:00

Cool question ... and the answer is no. Earth never comes back to a place in space where it's been before. Our planet is being carried along by the sun in its journey around the center of the galaxy. And the galaxy is moving, too, through the universe of galaxies, in a way that modern astronomers are only beginning to understand.

This year's September equinox happens at precisely 4:03 Universal Time on September 23. At this same moment in Indonesia, it's high noon Saturday, with the sun shining straight overhead at the equator. Here in the United States, it's 11:03 p.m. Central Daylight Time Friday night.

Equinox sun rises east, sets west on September 22

China: protect environment, sustain growth

2006-09-20T12:27:00.000-07:00

Protecting the environment of China in a way that sustains economic growth is one of the key themes in a special report called "China's Environmental Challenge: The Way Forward," by the Ecological Society of America, available free at this link.

All of the articles, aimed at exploring China’s environmental challenges and potential solutions, were written by Chinese scientists.

One out of every five people on Earth lives in China, which the editors of this new report call "a relatively poor nation with scarce natural resources." Despite a shortage of forests, fresh water, petroleum, and natural gas, China's economic growth is booming, with about a 10% annual GDP growth rate over the past two decades.

"China’s extraordinary rate of economic development makes it a historically unique, grand-scale socioeconomic and ecological 'experiment'," write the report's editors. "No one knows what the future holds, but there is no doubt that the experiment will have an unprecedented impact, not only on the country’s own environment and that of its neighbors, but on the world as a whole."

The city of Shanghai, mountain ecosystems (which cover over 3/4 of the country), emerging clusters of cities, and changes in biodiversity of the Central Yangtze ecosystem are among the many topics explored which provide a window to a world unknown to most of us on this side of the pond.

Warmer? Don't blame sun, say experts

2006-09-19T06:29:00.000-07:00

Getting Warmer? Don't Blame It on the Sun, Experts Say from the L.A. Times.

And the same story from skytonight.com: Solar Variations Not to Blame for Global Warming

International Space Station from above

2006-09-18T19:49:00.000-07:00

The International Space Station (ISS) as seen from above by cameras aboard NASA's space shuttle Atlantis ... notice how black outer space looks in contrast to the bright blue of Earth.

And speaking of the ISS, be sure to click into this other amazing image, this time of the space station in front of the sun. The image is big. You'll have to move around on the page to spot the space station. It looks like nothing less than a sailing ship in front of a star ... which is what it is, except that ISS doesn't leave Earth orbit. For more, see the very excellent website spaceweather.com for September 18, 2006.

"I would like to know the dates of the full moon ... "

2006-09-18T14:56:00.000-07:00

This person added "for May 2007," but the answer is the same no matter what month it is.

Just use this great Custom Sunrise Sunset Calendar. Remember to click the box for "moon phases."

For more photos of the moon, like the one at right, be sure to visit Dan Bush's moon page.

How Earth is changing 2

2006-09-18T07:07:00.000-07:00

In a previous post (Who can tell us how Earth is changing?), I asked to tell me who YOU believe, when it comes to reporting on the 21st century connection between Earth and its 6.5 billion human inhabitants.

One of the places Earth & Sky believes is the Earth Institute.

About a month ago, the Earth Institute released an ebriefing on their State of the Planet conference, held in March 2006. At the conference, people of goodwill from around the globe came together to try to understand how best to navigate 21st century human and Earth challenges.

Earth & Sky also went to the conference and produced our own State of the Planet conference summary. In it, you'll find links to Earth & Sky interviews with many of the speakers at the March conference. These "sustainability scientists" are working toward human survival and well-being on the Earth. They're one reason we devoted our 5,000th radio broadcast to hope in a human world.

Who can tell us how Earth is changing?

2006-09-15T21:26:00.000-07:00

The Independent reported today on various Earth changes. Like so much in our world of too-much-information, it's hard to know how to read this article. Yes, lots of things are changing. But hasn't the world always changed? If so, how do we understand the types of changes in the Independent article: climate warming, permafrost thawing, glaciers melting, drought, flood, famine? Are these things happening more now - at a faster rate now - than 100 years ago? Or are there simply more people now to be affected by the changes? Or has the reporting of information gotten so much better that it only seems as if there's more changing now ... when really there are just more stories about Earth changes?

I believe the climate is changing and will continue to change. And, with 6.5 billion people on the planet, the synergy between Earth and its humans has never been more apparent. Meanwhile, scientists are finding more and more evidence that humanity and Earth are profoundly linked in what they sometimes call a coupled human-environment system.

But how to understand it all? Even in information sources that you like and trust (and I like the Independent), it's hard to grasp the context for understanding any story about Earth's changes.

Read: From Alaska to Australia, the world is changing in front of us from the Independent.

And tell me, how do YOU find out about the world? Who do you believe?

Summer 2006 is second-warmest on record

2006-09-14T12:45:00.000-07:00

Summer 2006 was the second warmest June-to-August period in the continental U.S. since records began in 1895, according to scientists at the NOAA National Climatic Data Center. Read more from NOAA.

Climate of 2006: August in historical perspective.

Xena, we hardly knew you

2006-09-14T09:11:00.000-07:00

The hopes of a lot of fans of the fantasy warrior-princess were dashed this morning with the announcement by the International Astronomical Union that what some astronomers once called the "tenth planet," 2003 UB313, will not be named Xena after all.

Instead, the IAU chose the name Eris, the goddess of discord who in Greek mythology started the Trojan war over jealousy for her golden apple. Eris has indeed caused a bit of a row amongst astronomers over what defines a planet.

Michael Brown, the astronomer at the California Institute of Technology who discovered Xena, has his own requiem for Xena, which to him was "more than just the 'tenth planet.'"

Astronomers announce "alien I.D. chart"

2006-09-14T08:47:00.000-07:00

The artist's image above depicts the Earth 3.9 billion years ago. The days were shorter and the sun was dimmer, shining as a red orb through an orange brick-colored sky. A single ocean is thought to have covered Earth then, colored muddy brown: a place that absorbed incoming meteors and comets bombarding the early Earth. At this time in Earth's history, Earth is thought by scientists to have possessed a turbulent, steamy atmosphere composed mostly of nitrogen, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide.

And so begins a description of Earth's past by astronomers Lisa Kaltenegger and Wesley Traub.

Kaltenegger and Traub have developed what they are calling an "alien I.D. chart" that will provide "the signposts astronomers will look for when examining truly Earth-like worlds" for signs of alien life.

They're basing their chart on geologic records indicating that Earth's atmosphere has changed dramatically during the past 4.5 billion years, in part because of life forms developing on our planet.

Mapping what gases comprised Earth's atmosphere during its history, Kaltenegger and Traub propose that by looking for similar atmospheric compositions on other worlds, scientists will be able to determine if that planet has life on it, and if so, that life's evolutionary stage.

Kaltenegger explains, "As daunting as this challenge sounds, I do believe in the next few decades we will know whether or not our little blue world is all alone in the universe or if there are neighbors out there waiting to meet us."

Read more: Astronomers Reveal First Alien I.D. Chart from spaceref.com.

Arctic sea ice continues "drastic" melting

2006-09-14T06:39:00.000-07:00

It's all over the web this morning. Arctic ice is shrinking much faster than anyone had predicted it would. The images above show how the balance of perennial and seasonal ice changed in the Arctic between 21 December 2004 and 21 December 2005.

Read more: Drastic" shrinkage in Arctic ice from the BBC.

Or just search in google news for the word "Arctic." You'll find hundreds of articles about this. Not sure how long those who doubt the reality of global warming will be able to hold out against images of a melting Arctic ...

Northernmost moon of 21st century on Sept. 14-15

2006-09-14T05:53:00.000-07:00

"The moon is going too far south to too far north. Back and forth back and forth. Out here were I live are no street lights and I'm watching the phenomena ... "

We got this note this morning from Mark, a careful observer of the night sky.

Mark was noticing a fine detail in the location of the moon in the sky. He noticed that the moon's path in our sky was carrying our companion world higher in the south, and two weeks later lower in the south, than usual. The moon's path continually shifts north and south as the moon orbits Earth in its monthly cycle.

But this year a longer 18.5-year cycle is superimposed over the moon's monthly cycle. That cycle is carrying to the moon to its northernmost and southmost extremes in our sky.

And tonight this longer cycle will carry the moon to its northernmost point in our sky for the entire 21st century.

Bruce McClure, who writes about the sky for the Earth & Sky radio series, is the expert on this subject.

Read more or listen: Northernmost moon this century on Sept. 14-15 a radio from Earth & Sky by Bruce McClure.

Read about the northernmost moon from Bruce McClure: Northernmost Moon of the 21st Century

By the way, the moon is at the last quarter phase today. That means it's in the sky between about midnight tonight and noon tomorrow morning. So you'll see a daytime moon in the west tomorrow. It'll look much like the image at left (which is from Dan Bush's fantastic moon page), but the lighted part of the moon will be facing down toward the western horizon.

Here's a place where you can get personalized moonrise/moonset times for your location.

Cool maps 3: breathing Earth

2006-09-13T14:03:00.000-07:00

We found this on digg earlier today. Once again, you have to go to the map to play.

It's "a simple animated geographical visualization that shows the relative impact different countries have on climate change over the timeline of watching the application."

You can also watch a representation of the birth and death rate in different countries.

Via infosthetics.com.

Oh, and by the way, I had to download a new flash player to make the breathing Earth map work for me. Just follow the instructions. If I could do it, you can.

Cool maps 2: disaster event "alert"

2006-09-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

This is another map that'll expand your thinking, but you have to follow this link to the map page itself to play.

The map shows natural disasters including earthquakes, volcanoes and hurricanes, as well as human disasters - chemical spills, biological hazards, and epidemic hazards - in real time all over the world.

It's from the Havaria Emergency and Disaster Information Services in Budapest, Hungary.

As part of our Human World Special Report, we at Earth & Sky spoke to Thomas A. Birkland, a political scientist who studies the politics and policies of natural and technological hazards. Here's what he had to say.

"In 2006, what direction do I look for Harvest Moon, and what date?"

2006-09-13T11:29:00.000-07:00

You'll look eastward around the time of sunset, on October 6, 2006, to see the legendary Harvest Moon just as its rising. The Harvest Moon will shine all night on October 6.

Officially, the name Harvest Moon belongs to the full moon closest to the September equinox. This year's equinox comes on September 22, and the Harvest Moon title goes to October's full moon.

The October 6 full moon isn't really bigger, or brighter, or more orange in color than other full moons. But it will have its own special magic.

Read more or listen: October 6 brings the legendary Harvest Moon from Earth & Sky.

And, by the way, the beautiful photo above came from Missouri Skies, and the photograper is Dan Bush. Thank you again, Dan.

And now it's your turn. Do you have a story about the Harvest Moon that you're willing to share with Earth & Sky?

Cool maps 1: world population treemap

2006-09-13T10:59:00.000-07:00

Some of you saw this a few months back, but it was new to me.

It's the World Population treemap from the Hive Group in San Francisco.

The map image posted above is a static jpg image generously made available to Earth & Sky by Tony Jewitt, CEO of the Hive Group. Thank you, Tony!

To get the most fun from the population treemap, follow this link and play with the interactive version. It'll expand your thinking about global population, population density, and geographic area.

And here's more about treemaps, in general.

"Large human influence" found in hurricane-breeding waters, say scientists

2006-09-11T16:51:00.000-07:00

Human activities related to greenhouse gas emissions have caused Earth's oceans to warm up in key hurricane breeding grounds, according to scientists.

A scientific study published online in the September 11 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says the warming is significantly greater than what occurs due to natural causes.

Read more from Earth & Sky, as reported by our senior producer Jorge Salazar.

How will wildlife adapt to our human world?

2006-09-10T11:06:00.000-07:00

A lot of our wildlife species are rapidly declining because they cannot adapt to changes in their environment.

But we have another whole group of species whose populations are increasing as a result of changes in their environment.

Think of coyotes. That species is faring so well that they've been seen dodging traffic in the Bronx and eluding capture in NYC's Central Park.

Meanwhile, in Florida, alligators went from being in danger of possible extinction to turning up in golf courses and swimming pools, and eating people's poodles.

How do we deal with animals we used to watch from afar that are becoming part of our world?

We altered these animals' habitats, and they're thriving.

Can we, should we, adapt now to these animals? In the world of the future, can wildlife and humans co-exist?

Read or listen: Wild deer find homes in American suburbs.

September 7 full moon isn't the Harvest Moon, but it's closest for this year

2006-09-07T07:12:00.000-07:00

I guess I'm just not in the mood for "official" stuff at the moment, after Pluto's sad demotion from full planet status last month. At least astronomers and others are protesting.

Anyway, tonight's moon misses being the official Harvest Moon by just hours. Officially, a Harvest Moon is "the full moon closest to the September equinox," which comes this year on September 22.

So the Harvest Moon in 2006 is, officially, the October 6 full moon.

But tonight's full moon behaves exactly like a Harvest Moon. It rises in the evening as the days are growing short, and the nights cool. In the next few evenings, it'll rise not long after the sun goes down, leaving only a short period of darkness between sundown and moonrise. That's how the Harvest Moon got its name, after all. Before the days of tractor lights, it let farmers work in the fields by moonlight.

So if you want to call tonight's moon the Harvest Moon - as you watch it rise big, round and golden in the east around the time the sun goes down this evening - go for it!

Tonight's moon also happens to be the closest full moon for 2006. Read more or listen.

And you can identify a bright star near tonight's moon. Check out our sky chart for today.

Is global warming already affecting the natural world?

2006-09-06T13:43:00.000-07:00

The question now isn't whether the world will get warmer in the 21st century. Among scientists, that debate is long settled, and the answer is yes.

The question now is shifting to how much global warming is already affecting the natural world.

The dramatic increase in large wildfires in the western U.S. over the past few decades appears to be part of a chain of reactions to climate warming, according to scientists. Read or listen: Warming climate sparks wildfires, say scientists.

Another new study shows global warming might already be affecting forests at far northern latitudes. Read or listen: Expert says northern forests affected by warming.

And read this Earth & Sky interview: Will a warming world bring more or less rain?

How about you? Do you see signs of global warming in your yard, neighborhood, or town?

NASA to hold space elevator competition

2006-09-05T06:44:00.000-07:00

DailyTech.com reported on September 4 that NASA will be hosting a competition with the goal of showcasing interesting designs for elevators to space.

To learn more about NASA's space elevator competition: NASA Wants Elevator to Space from DailyTech.com.

The space elevator idea isn't new. Probably its most eloquent expression so far was in Kim Stanley Robinson's great science fiction Mars trilogy. In the three books - titled Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars - a space elevator rises from the martian surface. Its fate ... well, I won't ruin it for you, but it's a stunning image.

One of the leading contenders in NASA's competition is LiftPort Group, whose "to-scale" image at left was added after the original post was published earlier today.

In Liftport's image, the blue-green ball at the bottom is Earth. The first arrow up points to geosynchronous orbit, 26,000 miles above Earth's surface.

For more about Liftport's space elevator concept, see the comments to this post. Brian Dunbar of Liftport Group is commenting here and explains the concept.

Or visit LiftPort's site.

Happy Planet Index

2006-09-03T14:13:00.000-07:00

On the subject of hope for the future, a week or so ago I promised to start presenting some of the web sites that seem hopeful to me.

The Happy Planet Index world map, launched in July 2006 by the New Economics Foundation, is a great place to start. It uses three indicators for calculating happiness: ecological footprint, life-satisfaction and life expectancy.

And if you'll look at the map, you'll see that, according to these indicators, the wealthiest countries are not the happiest countries. The G8 countries, for example, score poorly in the Index: the UK 108th, Italy is 66th, Germany 81st, Japan 95th, Canada 111th, France 129th, United States 150th and Russia 172nd.

Meanwhile, Vanuatu in the South Pacific scores 1st. Mexico scores 38th! Here are the countries of the world in rank order according to the Happy Planet Index.

The Happy Planet Index seems hopeful to me, even though the U.S. scores poorly. As the New Economics Foundation says, "It reveals for the first time that happiness doesn’t have to cost the Earth. It shows that people can live long, happy lives without using more than their fair share of the Earth’s resources."

You can calculate your own happy planet index.

Top scientist's fears for climate

2006-09-03T04:54:00.000-07:00

The new president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, John Holdren, talked to the BBC about his fears for the current and future climate.

He said climate is already changing faster than predicted.

"We are experiencing dangerous human disruption of the global climate and we're going to experience more," he said.

Read: Top scientist's fears for climate from the BBC.

Is longevity inherited?

2006-08-31T14:27:00.000-07:00

Today the New York Times reported on a recent study in the science journal Human Genetics that sought to answer the age-old question, "Am I likely to live as long as my parents?" Is there a longevity gene?

The researchers looked at the life spans of over 20,000 Danish twins, and they found that before the age of 60, a person's genes have almost no influence on their life span. But as people get older, past their eighties, the odds increase slightly that if a twin lived that long, his brother (or her sister) will do so also. The odds of reaching the age of 92 are about 1.8 percent, compared to 4.8 percent if your twin is a nanogenerian.

"While the estimated overall strength of genetic influence is compatible with previous studies, we find that genetic influences on life span are minimal prior to age 60 but increase thereafter," the authors write. "These findings provide a support for the search for genes affecting longevity in humans, especially at advanced ages."

Planetary scientists: "no need to throw away current school texts"

2006-08-31T12:11:00.000-07:00

Astronomers and individuals are protesting the vote taken in Prague last week by members of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which excluded Pluto from the list of "classical planets" in our solar system.

A grass roots petition on the Internet - signed by 300 astronomers - protests the new definition for planets. It states: "We, as planetary scientists and astronomers, do not agree with the IAU's definition of a planet, nor will we use it. A better definition is needed."

There is also a petition for the rest of us to sign at pleasesavepluto.org.

In another surprising turn of events last week, the world’s largest group of planetary scientists - the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society - issued a statement suggesting the IAU's new planet definition should be re-examined between now and the next IAU meeting in 2009.

According to the statement, "There is no need to throw away current school texts; Pluto has not gone away."

Malted milk balls and gold nanoshells

2006-08-31T09:40:00.000-07:00

"If you could see it, it would look like a malted milk ball, only the crunch inside is made of glass and the chocolate shell layer is made out of gold."

That's how Naomi Halas, Stanley C. Moore Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Professor of Chemistry at Rice University describes a nanoshell, a new type of invisibly small nanoparticle created by her laboratory.

What's special about nanoshells is that they have tunable optical properties especially suited for biotechnology applications -- for example diagnosing cancer, and even curing diabetes.

Dr. Halas spoke with Earth & Sky's Jorge Salazar in July of 2006 about her lab's breakthrough work with nanoshells and the potential medical benefits.

Read the Earth & Sky interview: Gold nanoshells might cure diabetes, diagnose cancer.

SMART 1 spacecraft will strike moon this weekend

2006-08-31T07:43:00.000-07:00

Note from Earth & Sky: The SMART-1 craft struck the moon as expected Saturday night. Here's a pretty good animation of the impact. You have to let it run for 30 seconds or so, watching for the impact flash in the upper right of the image. Or try these final images from SMART-1 from the Planetary Society's weblog.

Many places are reporting that the European Space Agency will allow its SMART-1 spacecraft to crash into the moon's surface this weekend. According to skytonight.com, the crash will occur "with enough force, they hope, to create a brief flash visible through telescopes on Earth."

The impact will occur on Saturday, September 2 at 10:41 PM PDT (5:41 UT, September 3).

Here's what a site for amateur astronomers says: SMART 1 Awaits Its Fate from skytonight.com.

And here's an update page from the Planetary Society.

Do you think nanotechnology will invade your privacy?

2006-08-30T15:34:00.001-07:00

Scientists are creating materials on the scale of atoms and molecules. They say this nanotechnology - this science of the very small - could revolutionize how human society feeds itself, quenches its thirst, heals its sick, communicates and much more.

But with great potential comes great responsibility.

Read or listen ...

Nanotech advances could limit privacy

Nanotech innovations in information technology.

Nanotechnology, surveillance and your privacy.

Nanotech sensors raise privacy issues.

Later this fall, Earth & Sky will be a partner in a Fred Friendly Seminar whose topic is nanotech and privacy. Tell us your thoughts now, and we'll pass them along to the seminar's producers.

Do you think nanotechnology will invade YOUR privacy?

Click the "comments" button below to answer.

Rare, high clouds above surface of Mars

2006-08-29T08:35:00.000-07:00

A lovely view of the dawn sky as seen on the planet Mars. This image was taken by the Mars Pathfinder rover in 1997.

Now instruments aboard ESA's Mars Express spacecraft have revealed that carbon dioxide clouds form and exist very high above the Martian surface. They're being called "the highest clouds ever observed above any planetary surface."

For more see: Rare high-altitude clouds found on Mars from physorg.com.

"What's that bright star flashing colors?"

2006-08-29T05:46:00.000-07:00

"HI DEBORAH. It is 12:01am and if I look toward the western part of the sky its there right now, it has red and green lights and seems to be spinning? It is very pretty, but a mystery to me and my family. Thanks for your response, Margo."

Margo, I'm thinking you're seeing the bright star Arcturus in the constellation Bootes. In absolute terms, this pinpoint on our sky's dome is really a giant star, much bigger than our sun. It's 37 light-years away.

But, since I'm not standing there with you, it's hard to know for sure that's what you saw.

I suspect it is, because Arcturus is low in the west at that time of night. And when you see stars low in the sky, you're seeing them through an extra thickness of atmosphere in contrast to when they're overhead. Bright stars, especially, tend to flash various colors because this extra atmosphere does a good job breaking the starlight into its various components: the colors of a rainbow.

Autumn is the time of year when people write to report seeing lots of bright stars, at different times of night, low in the sky - flashing colors!

Katrina anniversary

2006-08-28T21:03:00.000-07:00

On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana. It became the most destructive hurricane ever to strike the United States, according the National Aeronautics and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the National Hurricane Center.

Check out NOAA's new web site - launched a year to the day after Katrina made landfall - detailing the development of the storm, its power and destruction.

Is scientific peer review due for an overhaul?

2006-08-28T19:21:00.000-07:00

Peer review - where experts in a given field scrutinize each others' research or ideas - is integral to science. But, in recent years, it has been under attack, and now alternatives to traditional peer review are beginning to emerge.

In February, 2006, for example, David Kaplan told Earth & Sky: "The system that we currently have for peer review is highly corrupt. It's highly inefficient, and it has the tendency of eliminating manuscripts that are different, or unusual, or innovative. And these are the kinds of manuscripts that you really would like to have out there because you want to engender debate. That's how we move ahead. We move ahead in science by having debates."

Apparently Kaplan isn't the only one who believes it's time for a change.

Wired.com is reporting today that, since June, the esteemed science journal Nature has been experimenting with a new more open method of review, using the Internet. According to Adam Rogers in the article Get Wiki With It, "authors submitting papers (to Nature) can choose a two-track process. While the work goes through the usual peer review drill, a preprint version gets posted on the Web. Anyone – even you – can comment, as long as you attach your name, affiliation, and email address. As of July, 25 articles had undergone this process ... "

Rogers said that Nature plans to report on how this process went by the end of 2006.

Rogers also spoke of several other non-traditional publication outlets for scientists, including arXiv, and PLoS ONE.

Wikipedia has a great page on peer review, by the way, if you're interested in learning more about its history, uses, and failures.

And you might like to read How to fix peer review by David Kaplan, Ph.D.

Also see: Scientist calls for peer review overhaul from Earth & Sky.

Does pheromone perfume make you irresistibly sexy?

2006-08-28T06:32:00.000-07:00

Cruising the internet, you might have run across ads for "pheromone" perfumes that claim to make you irresistibly attractive to the opposite sex.

Sure would be nice.

But that's just wishful thinking, according to George Preti at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. Dr. Preti has studied human pheromones since the 1970s.

Some animals and insects -- for example, pigs and moths -- are known to produce pheromones for sexual attraction. But, in decades of research, no reputable study has identified pheromones in our bodies that act as human sexual attractants.

Pheromones are chemicals secreted by one animal that cause another animal of the same species to react in a specific way. Pig pheromones create a response in other pigs -- but not in humans.

So a perfume using pig hormones isn't going to get us the result we want.

But studies have shown that people do produce pheromones too. For example, it's known that women emit pheromones that appear to regulate the length and timing of other women's menstrual cycles.

Read or listen: Do pheromones cause sexual attraction in humans?

Scientists find memory molecule

2006-08-27T15:48:00.000-07:00

Interesting article at phyorg.com.

"Scientists at SUNY Downstate Medical Center have discovered a molecular mechanism that maintains memories in the brain. In an article in Science magazine, they demonstrate that by inhibiting the molecule they can erase long-term memories, much as you might erase a computer disc."

Read: Scientists Find Memory Molecule from physorg.com.

Flexible brain distinctly human from Earth & Sky.
"I've heard that people only use ten percent of their brains. Is this true?" from Earth & Sky.

"Last Days on Earth"

2006-08-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

ABC is presenting Last Days on Earth, a special 2-hour edition of "20/20" on Wednesday, Aug. 30, at 9 p.m.

My TV guide describes it like this: "Scientists explain seven of the deadliest threats to humanity: black holes, artificial intelligence, supervolcanoes, asteroid strikes, nuclear war, disease and climate change."

Black holes a threat to Earth? Come on!

Meanwhile, there's lots on the Internet about hope. What's hopeful is that scientists are talking to each other about solving global problems (although some problems will be tough to solve).

That's what our State of the Future post was about.

I'll start pointing some of these other more hopeful sites out, in the coming week or so.

How do scientists know what's true?

2006-08-26T09:47:00.000-07:00

Population expert Joel Cohen speaks of "a range of uncertainty."

It's the Information Age. You can find expert opinions on many sides of almost any question. Is Pluto a planet, or not? Is coffee is good for your health? Is global warming happening? Will the global population continue to grow?

How do you know what to believe? In fact, how do the experts themselves decide what's true?

Earth & Sky has been asking scientists in many different fields of study: how do you know what's true?

Here's how that question was answered by Joel Cohen, who is Professor of Populations at Rockefeller University and Columbia University.

Read also the July 2006, Earth & Sky interview: "As a species, we're learning to be a mature adult." Joel Cohen explains 21st century population growth.

Honk if Pluto is still a planet

2006-08-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

Note from Earth & Sky: News on this subject is changing fast. See our latest post Planetary scientists on Pluto: "no need to throw out the textbooks.

I don't know about a "groundswell of protest," as described by one blogger.

But I love this bumper sticker, available at cafepress.com

Only four dollars, and all proceeds go to The Planetary Society.

Bye, bye Pluto ...

2006-08-24T06:48:00.000-07:00

Note from Earth & Sky: News on this subject is changing fast. See our latest post Planetary scientists on Pluto: "no need to throw out the textbooks.

Pluto has lost its planet status. Well, not lost exactly. It's been demoted to a "dwarf" planet in contrast to the "classical" planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

There are lots of places to read about this on the Intenet today. Here's the first Pluto story I saw this morning, from AP, on AOL.

Here's a good explanation of Pluto's new status from physorg.com.

And skytonight.com has an excellent report from the scene of the IAU's vote.

Check out the State of the Future

2006-08-24T05:03:00.000-07:00

Some people are concerned. Others are not. Some believe "business as usual" will get us through. Others think that humans on Earth in the 21st century must change their awareness of and relationship to the planet.

Meanwhile, since the mid-1990s, more and more scientists have become involved with what is called the science of sustainability: that is, the science of figuring out what we need to survive and prosper in what has become a human world.

On August 14, 2006, experts released a new edition of the State of the Future report, from the Millennium Project of the American Council for the United Nations University.

Its Executive Summary makes very fascinating reading.

You can also buy the book here.

Also see:
Human World Special Report, from Earth & Sky.

Single stem cell method a "step in the right direction"?

2006-08-23T13:34:00.000-07:00

An article today in the science journal Nature described a new technique to grow stem cells without harming an embryo. It was developed by scientists at the biotech company Advanced Cell Technology. The procedure involves extracting one cell from the cluster of about 100 comprising a young embryo. That one cell is the genesis of an entire line of new stem cells, which can be used to treat a multitude of diseases.

The Associated Press reported that the scientists assert no interference with the development of the embryo in this method. But critics point out that the single cell plucked from the embryo could potential grow into a human being. A U.S. Whitehouse spokesperson called the discovery "a step in the right direction."

Is a single cell a young human? That's probably one of many questions to carefully consider as science discovers new folds in the fabric of life.

For a bit of comic relief, comedian Steven Colbert discuss the ethics of stem cell research with Princeton biologist Lee Silver in the video below.

Astronaut catches volcano in the act of erupting

2006-08-23T11:49:00.000-07:00

The most active of of the volcanoes in the Peruvian Andes is this one, called Ubinas. An astronaut aboard the International Space Station caught it in the act of erupting on August 14, 2006.

Here's more about this photo and this erupting volcano from NASA's Earth Observatory.

Read or listen: Volcano map tracks Earth's hot spots from Earth & Sky.

Is shared water a peacemaker?

2006-08-22T12:14:00.000-07:00

The Associated Press picked up a story about World Water Week, happening now in Stockholm, Sweden.

Over 1500 experts, including 700 scientists, are meeting to present "concrete examples of how problems of poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and gender inequality can in large measure be solved with water and sanitation as the key entry points," according to the Stockholm International Water Institute, which is hosting the event.

One of the hopeful themes explored at the meeting will be the idea that shared water is a peacemaker, in that people are more inclined to cooperate than conflict over access to shared waters. The Stockholm International Water Institute noted "that during the entire Intifada between Israelis and Palestinians, the only thing on which they continued to co-operate at a basic level is over their shared waters."

A fact cited by the institute is that "the total number of water-related events between nations is weighted towards cooperation: 507 conflict related events, versus 1,228 cooperative ones, implying that violence over water is not strategically rational, effective or economically viable. Source: UNESCO"

Speakers include Dr. Jaiafar Abubakar Sedeeq, African Ministers’ Council on Water, Nigeria and Prof. Asit K. Biswas, Third World Centre for Water Management, Mexico. Dr. Biswas will receive the the 2006 Stockholm Water Prize, worth USD $150,000, at the meeting.

Frank Rijsberman of the International Water Management Institute is scheduled to present a five-year study asserting that the Earth's resources of land and water can support all of human life. We just need to think differently about how water is used in order to grow enough food for all, including the world's poorest. Earlier this year, Rijsberman explained some of his ideas to Earth & Sky in his interview with us.

Attention aurora-watchers!

2006-08-21T14:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, we're not saying you'll see an aurora - otherwise known as the northern or southern lights - in the sky tonight.

But the prospects for aurora-watching are good in the coming years, according to the National Solar Observatory and SOLIS.

NSO and SOLIS astronomers announced today that a new solar cycle has begun. How do they know? Check out the picture above. Notice the reversed east-west orientation of the eruptions. According to these astronomers: "Magnetic patterns in the northern hemisphere will be reversed, i.e., black-white near the equator for the current cycle and white-black near the poles for the new cycle."

Increased solar activity causes increased numbers of auroras spotted in clear dark skies at high latitudes. According to these scientists, "solar Cycle 23, now waning, was relatively weak and some predictions are that Cycle 24 will be considerably stronger. Such predictions are difficult because little is known about what governs the strength of the cycles, or when they may appear. A fast rise of activity may be a sign of a pending strong cycle ... "

Which would mean more auroral activity in the years ahead. Keep your fingers crossed.

Read more about the onset of the new solar cycle from SOLIS.

Be sure to check out NSO's latest live images of the sun.

And tell us about the best aurora you ever saw!

Where is Pluto in the night sky?

2006-08-21T13:59:00.000-07:00

Here's the little planet that's causing a big controversy this week.

Pluto is about a thousand times too faint to be seen with the eye alone. But, though invisible to the eye, Pluto is now in our sky every evening. It's in the south to southwest after sunset, not far from the bright star Antares in the constellation Scorpius and the very bright planet Jupiter.

Note from Earth & Sky: News on this subject is changing fast. See our latest post Planetary scientists on Pluto: "no need to throw out the textbooks.

First-ever direct detection of dark matter

2006-08-21T12:21:00.000-07:00

Look closely at this image, taken by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Earlier today, astronomers announced that it provides the first-ever direct detection of dark matter in our universe.

Before this, astronomers believed dark matter exists because of what it does. It makes galaxies in clusters move at a certain rate of speed, for example. But dark matter has never been seen because it's ... well ... dark.

This image shows the galaxy cluster 1E 0657-56. Don't you love those sort of names? I do. But if that name doesn't suit you, this cluster is also called the Bullet Cluster. Astronomers believe it formed after two large clusters of galaxies collided. You can see that it still looks "double." What's more, the bullet-shaped clump on the right is the hot gas from one cluster, which passed through the hot gas from the other larger cluster during the collision.

When Chandra looked at this cluster, it recorded the two pink clumps seen here, which contain most of the normal matter: that is, matter made of baryons.

The blue areas in this image show where astronomers find most of the mass here. They determined the concentration of mass using the effect of so-called gravitational lensing, where light from the distant objects is distorted by intervening matter. According to the astronomers who conducted this research, "Most of the matter in the clusters (blue) is clearly separate from the normal matter (pink), giving direct evidence that nearly all of the matter in the clusters is dark."

Read more from NASA about the galaxy cluster 1E 0657-56.

"All hell broke loose" during planet debate

2006-08-19T15:47:00.000-07:00

Note from Earth & Sky: News on this subject is changing fast. See our latest post Planetary scientists on Pluto: "no need to throw out the textbooks.

According to skytonight.com (the web site of Sky & Telescope magazine), all hell broke loose on Friday, August 18 as astronomers began openly debating the definition of a "planet" at the general assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in Prague.

Richard Tresch Fienberg, editor in chief of Sky & Telescope, who is attending the meeting, wrote that the debate "quickly became contentious and at times seemed on the verge of a brawl as the assembled astronomers argued two key issues: Should planets be defined by internal properties such as mass or roundness, or by external properties such as the shapes of their orbits or their proximity to similar objects? And should the definition include or exclude Pluto and other bodies that are mere specks compared to the tiniest naked-eye planet, Mercury?"

Read more from skytonight.com.

Scientists say jets explain martian icecap "spiders"

2006-08-17T19:24:00.000-07:00

Scientists have suggested an explanation for mysterious features on the icecap at the south pole of our neighboring planet, Mars.

The features are dark spots, typically 50 to 150 feet wide and spaced several hundred feet apart. They appear every in the spring as the sun rises over the martian icecap, last for three or four months, and then vanish. The following year, they reappear.

These scientists have explained these features as powerful jets of carbon-dioxide (CO2) gas erupting through the icecap's topmost layer.

As the jets climb high into the thin, cold martian air, they carry fine, dark sand and spray it for hundreds of feet around each jet, creating the dark spots.

Read more from the Mars Odyssey mission THEMIS team.

Our solar system may get three new planets

2006-08-16T09:28:00.000-07:00

(image courtesy IAU/Martin Kornmesser)

Note from Earth & Sky. News on this subject is changing fast. Look here for our most recent post:
Is Pluto a planet? Join the debate.

It looks pretty good for Pluto.

But we still may have to change the textbooks.

The "planet definition committee" of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), meeting in Prague, is planning to add three new planets to our solar system.

The new planets are:

Ceres
Charon
and 2003 UB313, discovered just last year by Mike Brown.

The IAU will vote on a proposal for redefining what constitutes a planet. The new definition describes eight "classic" planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune - and a new class of planets called "plutons", such as Pluto, Ceres, Charon, and 2003 UB313.

IAU draft definition of "planet" and "plutons"

Flipping through the "photo album" of the cosmos.Avi Loeb on what we know about the universe and ourselves.

2006-08-16T08:33:00.000-07:00

Avi Loeb is a theoretical astrophysicist at Harvard University. He wants to know what makes the universe tick.

He wonders, how did the first stars form? What causes mysterious explosions in space called gamma-ray bursts? Can we detect planets by looking through so-called "gravitational lenses"? Where do the magnetic fields between galaxies come from? Read the Earth & Sky interview.

Read or listen: Astrophysicist seeks missing "pages" of universe.
Read or listen: Astrophysicist finds comfort in the big picture.

What's a natural disaster?

2006-08-15T06:16:00.000-07:00

A hurricane swirling in the Gulf of Mexico isn't a natural disaster.

"It only becomes a disaster when it encounters a society." said University of Florida anthropologist Anthony Oliver-Smith. "So when we talk about "natural disasters" we're talking about the impact, or the intersection of a natural force with a society."

And the amount of destruction and suffering resulting from a natural event depends on where that event occurs.

"You can have two earthquakes that are approximate in terms of their strength on the Richter scale and they will produce very different outcomes in different societies," Oliver-Smith told Earth & Sky.

And whether it's a flood, earthquake, hurricane, or landslide, the world's poor suffer most.

That's because poor areas often have inadequately enforced building codes, overcrowding and few escape routes. So, for example, the 2005 Pakistani earthquake killed some 87,000 people. But the 1994 Northridge earthquake - of the same magnitude - killed fewer than 100 people in a densely-populated Los Angeles suburb.

Read or listen: Poor are more vulnerable to natural disasters.

Is Pluto a planet? Join the debate.

2006-08-13T15:55:00.000-07:00

Note from Earth & Sky: News on this subject is changing fast. See our latest post Planetary scientists on Pluto: "no need to throw out the textbooks.

The controvery about what is and is not a planet in our solar system is in its home stretch. Astronomers in Prague are due to vote on Thursday, August 24.

At stake: whether Pluto will maintain its planet status.

Also at stake: the status of a number of other solar sytem objects, including 2003 UB313, which is now thought to be larger than Pluto.

A panel, led by Owen Gingerich of Harvard, recommended a week ago that our solar system be divided into several planet categories: terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars), giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) and a third class ("plutons”) that would include Pluto, its moon Charon, the asteroid Ceres and 2003 UB313.

Then yesterday (August 22), astronomers in Prague adopted a new draft resolution, whose adoption would mean Pluto will NOT be a full-fledged planet. Instead, astronomers are now leaning toward just eight planets, according to newscientistspace.com.

I still like what Robert Naeye at skytonight.com said. He wrote, “I predict that as we learn more about planets around other stars, we'll find plenty that don't fit neatly into these categories. The history of science tells us time and time again that Mother Nature refuses to conform to human expectations and nomenclature systems.”

To which I add a hearty amen. These classifications are just words, after all. They’re a net of human language thrown over a universe that isn’t - perhaps won’t ever be - thoroughly known to us.

On the other hand, school children and many adults in all parts of the globe enjoy knowing how many “planets” there are. So should Pluto be called a planet or not?

Now it's your turn. While there’s still time to debate, before the IAU makes its decision on Thursday, August 24, what do you think? Should Pluto maintain its status as the 9th planet in our solar system?

Also see:
"All hell broke loose" during planet debate.

Rising sea level forces islanders to relocate

2006-08-13T13:35:00.000-07:00

Tegua is a small island in the south Pacific. Last year, the island's single settlement of over 100 people entirely relocated as a result of rising sea level caused by Earth's warming temperatures. It's one of the first examples of adaptation by a community to climate change in this century.

Earth & Sky talked to Taito Nakalevu, speaking from Samoa, where he is Climate Change Adaptation Officer at the Pacific Regional Environment Programme. He helped coordinate the Tegua islanders' relocation project.

Read or listen: Rising sea forces islanders to relocate.

Read or listen: Is rising sea level a risk for low-lying cities?

Can we steer the course of our changing climate?

2006-08-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

Earth & Sky asked climate scientist Scott Doney, "Do you think that the climate is changing so fast that we will need to adapt, or do we still have time to steer the course?"

Read his reply in the Earth & Sky interview.

Will America's environmentalists accept positive developments?

2006-08-10T14:35:00.000-07:00

Interesting article today over at Gristmill by Lisa Renstrom, president of the Sierra Club and her husband Bob Perkowitz, president of ecoAmerica. I guess you can't get much greener than these two.

Their article is called Wake up and smell the progress: why won't America's environmentalists accept positive developments?

Speaking, for example, of criticism of WalMart's plan to sell organic foods, Renstrom and Perkowitz wrote, "If environmentalists want to win, we need to avoid being ineffective, effete purists unable to discern between real progress, bad policies, and destructive demagoguery."

And they wrote, "We all know that America has the financial and technical wherewithal to stop global warming. We can end our addiction to oil and get back on the path to saving our natural legacy. It is, however, going to take more time and be more difficult if progressives become reactionary and inhibit progress instead of supporting it."

It’s a good post. You should read it.

The comments to Renstrom and Perkowitz’ post are beginning to come in this afternoon. At least a couple said, essentially, “we don’t trust big coorporations.”

But I agree with Renstrom and Perkowitz. At Earth & Sky, we encounter many people of very good faith in the science community who are struggling hard with the complicated issues surrounding the creation of a sustainable world.

Increasingly, we speak to those in the corporate community as well - for example, Abby Joseph Cohen on the “greening” of business - who understand very well their responsibilities with respect to sustainability.

These issues are very complex. The answers aren’t going to come easily.

And I would ask those who criticize, what if the shift toward a sustainable world - a greener world - were actually beginning to take place? What would it have to look like, before you’d begin to believe it?

The car of the future

2006-08-10T09:24:00.000-07:00

How should we think about the car of the future? Earth & Sky, spoke with Joe Romm, a physicist who's worked extensively in clean energy technologies.

He said, "Global warming is the issue of the century, and that's what should be driving U.S. transportation policy and decisions about which cars that we drive."

"I think that global warming that is going to transform this country and our transportation and the way we live our lives. If we don't act pretty soon, in an intelligent fashion, then change will be forced upon us by the radically changed climate.

"We need to develop cars that use a lot less oil to get us where we want to go. The first and foremost strategy for doing that is to make our vehicles more efficient."

Today's hybrids combine a conventional car engine with a battery. When you hit your brakes, the energy generated in the braking process goes to re-charge the car's battery-powered electric motor. Romm thinks that the next generation of cars will be fully electric - plug-in hybrids - re-charged from an electric grid.

For more from Joe Romm, read the Earth & Sky interview.

Read or listen: Car of the future could be plug-in.

Joe Romm authored a report called "The Car and Fuel of the Future" for the National Commission on Energy Policy. He wrote a book called 'The Hype About Hydrogen: Fact and Fiction in the Race to Save the Climate.'

"It's like C.S.I., on a really big, oily scale." Biologist Darleen Ketten on whale beachings.

2006-08-09T11:45:00.000-07:00

Despite our best rescue efforts, most beached whales die. Whale expert Darlene Ketten does narcropsies - animal autopsies - on stranded whales and dolphins.

Ketten said, "Just like we'd do an autopsy on someone who collapsed on the sidewalk, we want to know who they are and how they died."Read the Earth & Sky interview.

Read or listen: Why whales beach themselves.
Read or listen: Survival odds slim for stranded marine mammals

Want to watch meteors in August?

2006-08-08T13:45:00.000-07:00

This chart shows Perseus, the lovely constellation visible in the northeast after midnight at this time of year. I always think of these stars as "dancing." It's something about the constellation's shape, the graceful flinging of its stars across the dome of night.

Perseus is also the "radiant point" of the famous Perseid meteor shower, which is due to peak on Saturday morning, August 12.

Unfortunately, in 2006, the Perseid meteor shower will be drowned in bright moonlight.

But don't give up. There's always more to see in the night sky. Read: Moonlight drowns Perseids, but more meteors ahead, from Earth & Sky.

And if you see any meteors this month, let us know!

Ethicist ponders genetic selection of babies

2006-08-08T08:46:00.000-07:00

Doctors use genetic tests to screen for life-threatening disorders such as cystic fibrosis. But now, some doctors are offering their clients the ability to choose the sex of babies born through in vitro fertilization. And someday parents might be able to choose other genetic traits -- such as eye color, height or intelligence.

Kathy Hudson is Director of the Genetics and Public Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University. She says bioethicists are concerned.

"Are there some tests that are ethically acceptable and some tests that aren't? And where is that line between ethically acceptable and ethically unacceptable and probably more importantly, who should draw that line?"

Read or listen: Ethicist ponders genetic selection of babies, from Earth & Sky.

"Everything is interconnected."Jane Goodall talks about global sustainability

2006-08-06T12:37:00.000-07:00

Jane Goodall traveled to East Africa in 1960, with the goal of studying chimps in the wild. Today, in addition to being a world authority on chimpanzees, she works tirelessly on global sustainability issues.

Earth& Sky's Eleanor Imster spoke to Dr. Goodall about how to share the Earth. Read the interview

Read or listen: Jane Goodall's conservation message

Media attacked for "climate porn."

2006-08-03T09:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the BBC News reported that a study done by a UK think tank says that apocalyptic visions of climate change used by newspapers and environmental groups amount to "climate porn."

The report says that alarming images make people feel helpless.

What's the right approach? How should the media talk about climate change?

Contrails' effect on warming "big question mark."

2006-08-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

If you think you're seeing more contrails, it's not your imagination.

Contrails.are made by the combustion of fossil fuels in jet engines at high altitudes.

Many scientists think that contrails contribute to trapping heat in Earth's atmosphere.

Patrick Minnis at NASA's Langley Research Center told Earth & Sky that as contrails dissipate, they act like cirrus clouds, which hold heat in the atmosphere. And that, he said, can have an estimated "two to four times greater impact per unit than the same emissions at the surface."

Experts say that, today, all of aviation accounts for about two percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. But as air traffic increases around the world, how much will contrails contribute to greenhouse warming?

"Their impact is still a big question mark." said Minnis. "We're pretty sure that they cause warming, but whether that warming it negligible or whether it's greater than we expect from the greenhouse gases like CO2 and ozone that are produced by the aircraft exhaust, we're not sure."

Read or listen: More contrails might increase climate warming.

Read or listen: Contrails effect on warming "big question mark."

Waxing moon drowns meteors from view

2006-08-01T13:27:00.000-07:00

In the northern hemisphere, the best time to watch meteors - or "shooting stars" - typically begins in early August. That's when the famous Perseid meteor shower begins rising to its peak.

Unfortunately, this year, the moon is waxing toward full in early August.

The moon will interfere with the Perseids, which peaks this year on the morning of August 12. If you want to watch meteors, you'll have a narrow window between moonset and dawn, in the hours before dawn, from now until about August 7. After that, any meteors that are flying will be drowned in bright moonlight from the full moon due August 9.

It's hot out there ...

2006-08-01T12:11:00.000-07:00

More than 50 new all-time high temperature records were established in the central and western U.S. during the last two weeks, according to NOAA meteorologists.

Nanoshells could aid in cancer detection

2006-07-31T13:24:00.001-07:00

Scientists have created tiny sensors, smaller than a living cell, to detect changes in body chemistry known as pH. They might someday aid in cancer detection, curing diabetes, and more. Read or listen: Nanoshells could aid in cancer detection from Earth & Sky.

Seed atmosphere to fight global warming?

2006-07-31T12:39:00.000-07:00

Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen has proposed an "emergency plan" to save the world from global warming, by altering the chemical makeup of Earth's upper atmosphere, according to a story published today in The Independent.

Crutzen, who is also an Earth & Sky Science Advisor, won a Nobel Prize in 1995 for his work on the hole in the ozone layer. Now he has proposed artificially cooling the global climate by releasing particles of sulphur into the upper atmosphere. The idea is that the particles would reflect sunlight and heat back into space, thereby cooling the Earth.

According to The Independent, Crutzen's proposal is "being taken seriously by scientists."

Crutzen envisions using a fleet of high-altitude balloons to scatter the sulphur particles high overhead. Or the sulphur could be fired into the atmosphere using heavy artillery shells.

In January of 2002, in a Nature article titled Geology of Mankind, Crutzen coined the word anthropocene to describe the pervasive influence of human beings on the Earth.

I guess he wasn't kidding. It really is a Human World, after all.

Hurricanes and warming link challenged, defended

2006-07-28T15:11:00.000-07:00

A research meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center today challenged a proposed link between global warming and hurricane intensity, which had been reported earlier by other hurricane researchers.

Two of those other hurricane scientists - whose research indicates this link does exist, and that global warming is already causing stronger hurricanes - have now responded.

Read: Experts respond to questions challenging link between global warming and hurricanes.

Who do you believe? Are we already seeing signs of global warming in the strong hurricanes of the 2005 hurricane season?

Scientists describe Human World

2006-07-28T08:52:00.000-07:00

Earth & Sky launched its special report on the Human World in the fall of 2005.

The idea for this online content had emerged a year before that, as the Earth & Sky team struggled to find a way to present scientific research about the Earth without continuing to recite what Bjorn Lomborg, a Danish statistician, had called the litany of environmental ills.

We at Earth & Sky came to see that our world is, very simply, a Human World, much as Mars is the Red Planet, or Saturn is a planet of rings and moons.

We asked 50 scientists to help us describe the Human World of the 21st century. Our special report features their answers.

Now we want to know what YOU think. How would describe the Human World of the 21st century?

Utility companies pass hat for global warming skeptic

2006-07-28T05:51:00.000-07:00

CBS News reported yesterday - in a story by AP science writer Seth Borenstein - that coal-burning utilities are "passing the hat" for one of the few remaining scientists skeptical of the global warming harm caused by industries that burn fossil fuels.

In the story, John Holdren, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, remarked, "These people are just spitting into the wind. The fact is that the drumbeat of science and people's perspectives are in line that the climate is changing."

Scientist wants to "set record straight" on global warming

2006-07-27T11:07:00.000-07:00

"I would like to remove my name from the list of scientists who dispute global warming. I know my coauthors would as well."

Those are the words of Peter Doran, writing as an op-ed contributor in this morning's New York Times, in a piece called Cold, Hard Facts.

He writes, "Our results have been misused as 'evidence' against global warming by Michael Crichton in his novel 'State of Fear' and by Ann Coulter in her latest book ... Search my name on the Web, and you will find pages of links to everything from climate discussion groups to Senate policy committee documents — all citing my 2002 study as reason to doubt that the earth is warming."

Doran is speaking about his scientific research in Antarctica, which has been frequently cited by global warming skeptics. His measurements in "one small ice-free area of the Antarctic mainland" showed actual cooling. Doran wrote, "I explained that our studies offered no evidence that the earth was cooling. But the misinterpretation had already become legend, and in the four and half years since, it has only grown."

He wrote the op-ed piece in this morning's Times, he said, "to set the record straight."

Also see:
Will global warming make Antarctica icier? from Earth & Sky.

Nanotech companies dropping "nano" from names

2006-07-27T05:32:00.000-07:00

George Elvin reported yesterday in Nanotech Buzz that some companies have dropped the word "nano" from their company names. Read "Nano" a no-no in new corporate name game.

An example is NovaCentrix, a materials and equipment manufacturer, formerly called Nanotechnologies, Inc.

Elvin, who is President of a company called Nanosearch, suggests this reason: "After the Magic Nano turmoil, in which over 80 people were hospitalized with respiratory problems after using the nano-named cleanser (which turned out to contain no nanoparticles), I suspect many companies decided that having nano in their name was a liability."

Read or listen: Can you tell which consumer products are nano? from Earth & Sky.

Do you think Earth's population will stabilize?

2006-07-25T10:40:00.000-07:00

According to Joel Cohen, professor of populations at the Rockefeller University and Columbia University, it’s possible humans have “finally outgrown our childhood and adolescence as a species.”

He was speaking to Earth & Sky’s Jorge Salazar about the scientific prediction that Earth’s population may well stabilize sometime during the 21st century. Read the Earth & Sky interview: "As a species, we're learning to be a mature adult." Joel Cohen explains 21st century population growth.

What do you think? Will people begin to have children at the replacement rate in this century? Or will a growing number of people continue to inhabit the Earth?

NOAA forecasts big "dead zone" in Gulf in 2006

2006-07-25T07:59:00.000-07:00

A team of scientists is forecasting that the "Dead Zone" off the coast of Louisiana and Texas this summer will be larger than the average size since 1990. Read more.

NASA deletes goal of protecting Earth

2006-07-24T12:57:00.000-07:00

It was NASA that gave us the first view of Earth from space.

It came in the late 1960s, when the Apollo spacecraft began winging their way to and from the moon. For the first time in recorded history, the electronic "eyes" of earthly cameras looked from afar at our own home world. Because of those first images of Earth in space, a revolution in thought began to occur.

Today, we all know how fragile and small our Earth looks against the vast backdrop of space.

But we didn't know, until NASA spacecraft made it possible.

So it's ironic that now, according to a July 22 article by Andrew Revkin in the New York Times, NASA has deleted the idea of protecting Earth from its mission statement. If my memory is correct, NASA has always included some idea of protecting Earth in its mission, at least since the first Landsat satellites were launched in 1972.

Since 2002, the exact wording of the NASA mission statement has been: "to understand and protect our home planet; to explore the universe and search for life; to inspire the next generation of explorers ... as only NASA can."

In early February, 2006, the phrase "to understand and protect our home planet" was deleted, according to Revkin's article.

To me, it's almost inconceivable that NASA would delete the goal of understanding and protecting Earth, and, by extension, Earth's very abundant human inhabitants ... just when we humans need that space perspective the most.

Earth & Sky has received funding from NASA to create radio programs on the subject of observing Earth. Over the years, we've spoken to hundreds of scientists who use satellite data to ... well ... understand and protect the Earth. The dedication of individual scientists to this goal is very clear.

So why delete this goal? Why? And why now?

Do you believe the world needs a "new economy?"

2006-07-23T10:22:00.000-07:00

"What we're faced with is the need to shift from a fossil fuel based automobile-centered throwaway economy to an economy that is powered largely by renewable sources of energy, that has a much more diversified transport system, and that recycles everything," said Lester Brown, president and founder of the Earth Policy Institute.

He was speaking with Earth & Sky's Jorge Salazar. Read: Do we need to transform our world economy? Lester Brown assesses humanity's future.

Tell us what YOU think by clicking the "comments" link below.

Saturn's moon Titan has "Earth-like land"

2006-07-21T08:36:00.000-07:00

"We could only speculate about the nature of this mysterious bright country, too far from us for details to be revealed by Earth-based and space-based telescopes. Now, under Cassini's powerful radar eyes, facts are replacing speculation," said Jonathan Lunine, a space scientist at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

He's talking about Xanadu, a region of "Earth-like land" just identified on Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Titan, which is completely covered with clouds, is being examined now by radar on board the Cassini spacecraft. Thus our generation will be the first to peer beneath Titan's clouds, strip by strip, as the radar does its work.

The red planet Mars in August 2006

2006-07-19T19:49:00.000-07:00

Friends and family are asking about it, and here at Earth & Sky we've received many enquiries every day all this week. "I'm sure you know about this event ... Are there any telescope parties coming?" It's all due to the amazing traveling email claiming that, in August, Mars will be close to Earth, bigger than the moon: SPECTACULAR!

But it's just not so. Check out these Earth & Sky articles: Will Mars be close in August 2006? and Can Mars appear as large as the moon?

First six months of 2006 warmest since 1895

2006-07-14T11:04:00.000-07:00

This morning, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - employer of many of the scientists who track weather data for the U.S. - announced that the first six months of 2006 were the warmest first six months of a year since 1895, when records began being kept. And let's don't even focus on the ongoing widespread drought in much of the U.S.,combined, strangely, with record rainfall in the northeast.

Greg Hernandez of NOAA, one of my heroes, also provided a link to this nifty page on the climate of 2006: June in historical perspective

Earth & Sky tried for over a decade to stay neutral on the subject of climate warming. I can't explain in this short space how hard we tried.

But as scientists have stopped being neutral on this subject - and started speaking out - we have felt compelled to do likewise. Our goal, after all, is to be "a clear voice for science, nature and people."

Earth & Sky now believes that if you could sit where we sit - witnessing the publication of individual study after study over the past decade showing rising global temperatures, and the effects of warming (for example, plants and animals shifting their ranges to the north, or earlier springtimes) - like us, you would believe the world is surely getting warmer.

Combine that with the rock solid measurement since the 1950s of increased carbon dioxide in the air, the understanding that the burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide, and the scientific certainty that atmospheric carbon dioxide traps heat in a "greenhouse effect," and it's only a short hop to believing that our human activities are to blame for this warming.

How do scientists know what's true?

2006-07-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

How do scientists know what's true? Truth, in the world of science, has become a deeply misunderstood commodity.

This morning, the American Geophysical Union - which has been working hard in recent years to create a loud voice for scientific truth - released a story that the European Alps could lose some 80 percent of their glacier cover by the end of this century, if summer air temperatures rise by 5 degrees Fahrenheit.

These are the conclusions of "numerical modeling experiments" - number crunching by a computer - by Michael Zemp, Wilfried Haeberli, Martin Hoelzle and Frank Paul from the University of Zurich, Switzerland.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, Kit Stolz featured a piece in the beautifully written and important blog A Change in the Wind about global warming as a spectator sport. It was about a huge chunk of rock - twice the size of the Empire State Building - that's about to fall of a mountain in the Swiss Alps. Apparently tourists have been gathering in a nearby town in hopes of watching what The Guardian called "the biggest rockfall in living memory."

European researcher, Hans Rudolph Keusen, has been using satellite and radar technologies to study the mountain. According to Stolz and The Guardian, Keusen commented that the cause of the rock's fall is global warming.

How does he know that's true? How does Keusen know that global warming is causing the rock to fall?

Keusen isn't studying global warming. According to his own web site, he is using "Earth observation data for detecting and monitoring hazardous mass wastes" on mountainsides.

But Keusen is a scientist - trained in logic, trained to assimilate observations - and his statement about the rock falling due to global warming is a logical conclusion. The world is getting warmer, which is causing ice to melt, which is causing the rock to fall. That's a valid kind of scientific truth.

Meanwhile, the University of Zurich scientists are taking a different approach. They are using computers to create "models" of possible futures that may or may not come to pass. They are plugging in known quantities like the observed rise in temperature since 1850, and the observed shrinking of glaciers in the Swiss Alps, to project out into the future. Computer models are powerful tools. They're one of the most important tools we have for navigating this challenging century. They represent another kind of scientific truth, equally valid.

Royal Dutch Shell execs exhibit corporate conscience

2006-07-07T22:02:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, an executive of Royal Dutch Shell said his company considers using food crops to make biofuels "morally inappropriate," as long as some people are starving.

Royal Dutch Shell is the world's top marketer of biofuels, which are made of crops including corn and wheat, according to Reuters' coverage of this story.

Speaking in Singapore, Eric G Holthusen of Shell said, "We think morally it is inappropriate because what we are doing here is using food and turning it into fuel. If you look at Africa, there are still countries that have a lack of food, people are starving, and because we are more wealthy we use food and turn it into fuel."

He added, "This is not what we would like to see. But sometimes economics force you to do it."

Holthusen's title at Shell is Fuels Technology Manager Asia/Pacific.

Last year, another Shell exec - Ron Oxburgh, chairman of Royal Dutch Shell in Britain - was quoted by MSNBC as saying that governments should push society towards a world less dependent on fossil fuel given the potentially “disastrous” consequences of climate change.

Attitudes in a company generally come from the top down. Reading these two comments from Shell execs, it's easy to imagine some pretty enlightened talk going on in Shell's corporate meeting rooms.

Who would have imagined that anything could replace the proverbial "bottom line" - profits - for big corporations? But now, although it's sometimes hard to sift through the eco-hype, corporations more and more do seem to be moving toward helping humanity navigate the 21st century successfully. Not just moving ... in many cases, leading. Earth & Sky's interview with Abby Joseph Cohen of Goldman, Sachs & Co. on the "greening" of business also comes to mind.

She told us, "A company needs to measure its success not just on the basis of things like earnings and revenues, but also on the basis of whether they're doing what they should be doing in the environmental area, whether they're doing what they should be doing with regard to worker safety and other issues."

A few months ago, a friend who moves in these circles described a high-powered corporate meeting in which the people were energetic, powerful, trying hard to do good in the world. "Like knights," he said. I love that image, and I believe that in every area of 21st century life there's a more definite line being drawn between what's good in the world and for the world, versus what's bad or selfish or done for the wrong reasons. Corporations are entities in the world, too, so it's only natural they are beginning to come down now on one side or the other of that line.

Ocean chemistry undergoing dramatic changes

2006-07-05T08:39:00.000-07:00

Marine scientists released a landmark report today summarizing the known effects of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide on marine organisms such as coral reefs and other creatures that secrete skeletal structures.

Richard Feely, one of the report's authors and an oceanographer at NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) in Seattle, said that increased atmospheric CO2 is leading to "the most dramatic changes in marine chemistry in at least the past 650,000 years."

The report is called Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Coral Reefs and Other Marine Calcifiers. You might also like looking at this website related to it, from a workshop by the same name that took place in April of 2005.

Ocean acidification is a by-product of the build-up of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere. The oceans are naturally alkaline, and they are expected to remain so. But as CO2 builds up in the atmosphere, some of this greenhouse gas is absorbed by the oceans. People sometimes point to this process as a reason NOT to believe Earth's climate will get warmer in this century. And yet this process is not benign either. It's making the oceans less alkaline and more acidic.

The increased acidity is slight, but it upsets a natural balance. For example, it lowers the concentration of carbonate ion, a building block of the calcium carbonate that many marine organisms use to grow their skeletons and create coral reef structures.

Joan Kleypas, the report's lead author and a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, said, "It is clear that seawater chemistry will change in coming decades and centuries in ways that will dramatically alter marine life. But we are only beginning to understand the complex interactions between large-scale chemistry changes and marine ecology. It is vital to develop research strategies to better understand the long-term vulnerabilities of sensitive marine organisms to these changes."

I found a place on the web where Kleypas said she came to love the oceans as a teenager, while diving with her brother in the Gulf of Mexico. It's striking to me how many scientists express this love for nature, and for the Earth's wonders, even as they struggle to understand the changes and challenges confronting us in this century.

Identity of objects near moon on July 4

2006-07-04T20:20:00.002-07:00

If any of you are wondering about the identity of the objects near the moon on the evening of July 4 ... the star near the moon was Spica in the constellation Virgo. The brighter object nearby was the planet Jupiter. Here's more about them.

The population clock keeps ticking

2006-07-03T08:09:00.000-07:00

This morning the U.S. population clock was at 299,124,456, about 41,000 more people in the U.S. than there were last Wednesday, when David R. Francis of the Christian Science Monitor read the clock for his great recent article on world population.

The U.S. is supposed to reach the 300 million mark sometime in October. The world population clock now is at just over 6.5 billion.

It's like a race. More people need more to eat. And, as Francis stated in his article: "This year's world grain harvest is projected to fall short of consumption by 61 million tons. That's the sixth time in the past seven years that production has failed to satisfy demand, notes Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute in Washington."

Many believe, and I am among them, that there's plenty of cause for hope in the world. But, as Francis pointed out in his article, "... there must be widespread recognition that population growth is a function of increases in food availability ..."

Will humanity realize that population growth and food availability go hand in hand? Will Earth's population stabilize? Or does a different fate await us?

Millennium Project's top 15 global challenges

2006-07-02T09:50:00.000-07:00

In my first 15 years as a science writer, when I used to write exclusively about astronomy, I used to think a lot about what's called the cosmological principle. It's the idea that we're in no special place in the universe ... not the center of the solar system, or the center of the galaxy, or the center of the universe. We're in no special place in space at all, contrary to what various earthly cultures - our ancestors - used to believe.

I always used to think there should be a "cosmological principle" in time, too. It would mean that we don't live in a special place in time.

But I was wrong.

In fact, we do live in a special time. That's what my second 15 years as a science writer has taught me. We live in the time on Earth when humans have come, at last, to dominate the planet.

Now the challenges on Earth belong to all of us. They are global challenges. I'm fortunate to be on the mailing list of Steve Salmony of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He connects a large group of people - scientists, policy-makers, journalists and so on - who have an interest in the scientific aspects of all that has come to be labeled "green" in the popular culture.

At the end of last week, Salmony forwarded an email exchange between him and Jerome C. Glenn, director of the Millennium Project. Glenn sent this fascinating link to what more than 2,000 people - many of them scientists - over 10 years have identified as the top 15 global challenges posed to humanity. I won't list all 15 here. But here are the first five:

How can sustainable development be achieved for all?

How can everyone have sufficient clean water without conflict?

How can population growth and resources be brought into balance?

How can genuine democracy emerge from authoritarian regimes?

How can policymaking be made more sensitive to global long-term perspectives?

Earth & Sky is coming up on its 15th anniversary - and its 5,000th radio broadcast - both in September of 2006. To celebrate, we're going to be asking YOU to vote on what you think are the biggest global challenges. If you want to suggest some things to add to our list of global challenges, please click on the "comments" link below.

Asteroid 2004 XP14 to sweep close to Earth

2006-06-29T14:22:00.000-07:00

Scientists report that an asteroid will sweep close to Earth in the next few days. It'll be late Sunday night for us in the U.S. when asteroid 2004 XP14 passes not much farther than the moon's average distance from Earth. Lance Benner of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory calls this asteroid one of the closest we've ever seen.

Close. But it won't strike Earth this time, according to Benner.

I recently spoke with Ralph von Frese of Ohio State University on a story about the discovery of what may be the crater of a huge asteroid that wiped out almost all life on Earth back about 250 million years ago. I asked him Von Frese if something like this could ever happen again, and I was struck by his reply. "Well, this is an open-ended question," said Von Frese. "Geologically, when things have happened, it's usually a question then of when they reoccur. It's not a question of if they'll reoccur," he added.

Getting back to the asteroid at hand, 2004 XP14 will be passing close enough to Earth that telescope hawks might be able to catch a glimpse of it as it streaks by. Lawrence Garrett with the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers has some good tips for seasoned skywatchers up for a challenge, and this sky map from SpaceWeather.com could help.

How safe are nano products?

2006-06-28T05:33:00.000-07:00

Do you believe that products containing nanoparticles - engineered particles tens of thousands of times smaller than the width of a single human hair - are safe?

Earlier this week, Earth & Sky broadcast a couple of radio shows about consumer products - such as sun screens and cosmetics - that incorporate invisibly tiny particles made by nanotechnology. Monday's show was "Nano skin products lack specific regulations".

Tuesday's show was "Can you tell which consumer products are nano?"

And both radio shows pointed to an online inventory of nanotechnology-based consumer products.

The expert on the shows was Dr. Kristen Kulinowski, Director of the International Council on Nanotechnology at Rice University. She told Earth & Sky that, to her knowledge, there's been no hazard associated with any nano product on the market. She added, "There's a lot of toxicological research on nanoparticles underway right now, all over the world. and I think in the next year or two we're going to see hundreds to thousands of papers that are going to begin to help us draw a general picture about in what circumstances nanoparticles are okay to use, and when we might want to limit our exposure to them."

Afterwards, we heard from several listeners who pointed to already-existing evidence of danger and damage by nanoparticles. What do you know of this? And what do you think?

CO2 is going to the Supreme Court

2006-06-27T08:45:00.001-07:00

NOTE: IF YOU ARE HAVING DIFFICULTY POSTING COMMENTS TO OUR BLOG. PLEASE LET US KNOW. WE CAN POST YOUR COMMENT FOR YOU, IF YOU LIKE.

Yesterday, CBS reported on a case going to the Supreme Court over whether carbon dioxide is pollution that should be regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Court To Hear Global Warming Case
Supreme Court Agrees To Consider If Carbon Dioxide Must Be Regulated
WASHINGTON, June 26, 2006
(AP / CBS)
In 2003, the EPA's top lawyer concluded that the agency lacked the authority to regulate carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act.

(CBS/AP) The Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider whether the Bush administration must regulate carbon dioxide to combat global warming, setting up what could be one of the court's most important decisions on the environment ...

The case seems to be framed over whether we, or the nation's scientists, really understand the extent to which the greenhouse gases that are coming out of our power plants and tailpipes today actually "endanger the public welfare."

The effects of increasing the CO2 load on our air and oceans as predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change aren't the kinds of things that have prompted EPA action in the past, such as asthma and other respiratory diseases.

Does the greenhouse gas CO2 have a snowball's chance in a warm place to be covered by the EPA?

Ice age versus global warming

2006-06-27T07:47:00.000-07:00

NOTE: IF YOU ARE HAVING DIFFICULTY POSTING COMMENTS TO OUR BLOG. PLEASE LET US KNOW. WE CAN POST YOUR COMMENT FOR YOU, IF YOU LIKE.

I've had a great email discussion going with Earth & Sky community member Benjamin Napier about the global warming controversy. It's just too good not to move to this blog. Ben pointed me to a the home page of Robert Felix, who has written a book called Not By Fire, But By Ice in which he apparently states (I haven't read the book) that the next ice age is around the corner. As Felix states on his website: "It's all part of a dependable, predictable cycle, a natural cycle that returns like clockwork every 11,500 years. . . And since the last ice age ended almost exactly 11,500 years ago . . . "

Felix is a former architect who now calls himself a science writer. I've got no problem with that. I'm a former English major who has called herself a science writer for 30 years. But I do have a problem with his "not by fire but by ice" assertion. Sure, another ice age will come. But the kind of exactitude he suggests - "like clockwork every 11,500 years" - isn't really knowable in science, even if an individual study suggests it, or even if several individual studies suggest it. Science writers should know that.

Beyond that, I found Felix's site tough to swallow in other ways. I don't believe his assertion, for example, that there are " hundreds of highly qualified non-governmental, non-industry, non-lobby group climate experts who contest the hypothesis that human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are causing significant global climate change." Sorry, but I just don't believe it. A handful of climate experts, maybe. But not hundreds.

This morning, in an email, Ben asked me, "By the way, if there is warming, could it be the earth is still recovering from the last ice age?"

Absolutely, Ben. We are definitely recovering from the last ice age. At the same time, we are on our way to the next ice age. Where are we now in that cycle? The reality is . . . no one knows. What scientists are trying to do is find out. They are individuals, and they are looking at the problem in different ways. So often their results do not overlap, or they even appear contradictory. It's tough to know who to believe.

Even more importantly, in talking about ice ages and global warming, there's a key fact to consider. Let's suppose, for one moment, that Felix is correct and the next ice age is around the corner. That could still mean that the shift toward the next ice age is centuries away. Global warming is not like that. Global warming is an issue for THIS century. Do you really want to put your faith in a ice age that may or may not be coming vs. a warming climate that is happening NOW?

Ethanol: love it or hate it, it's coming

2006-06-25T14:20:00.000-07:00

The July 2006 issue of Car and Driver magazine contains a fascinating article by Patrick Bedard called "Ethanol Promises." Bedard speaks of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, signed last August, which mandates that, starting in 2006, the average gallon of “gas” will contain 2.78-percent ethanol.

As Bedard points out,
"There’s no requirement for every gallon of gas to contain ethanol. Instead, an annual ethanol quota must be met. So gasohol and E85 (85-percent ethanol, 15-percent gasoline) will still be sold where there’s availability and demand ..."

The sub-title to Bedard's article - "Farm-raising our own energy independence: Could it happen?" - might give you the idea that he is neutral on the subject of ethanol. Not exactly. He starts out calling ethanol "the gasoline equivalent of Hamburger Helper" and goes from there to, as he says, "examine the various promises for ethanol one by one, to see if it can deliver."

In reading and thinking about all this, it's good to know about a link to a 2005 article about a study suggesting that turning plants such as corn, soybeans and sunflowers into fuel uses more energy than the resulting ethanol fuel. One of the authors to this study David Pimentel of Cornell is an Earth & Sky Science Advisor, by the way, but then we're just cool like that.

So . . . ethanol. Yes? No?

Full circle rainbow seen?

2006-06-23T12:04:00.000-07:00

From an excited Earth & Sky community member, in the tropics,

"I saw a full circle rainbow from the earth's surface! I stood looking east out to sea atop a c. 400 ft. high peak on the immediate seashore at Oahu, Hawaii. It was nearly sunset. And I have a witness!!"

They didn't bring their camera. We don't know what they saw. But we know it was exciting, and, no doubt, it was beautiful. If you by chance have snapped a photo of something that wow'd you in nature and would like to share it with all of us at Earth & Sky, send it along to jsalazarATearthsky.org (substitute an "@" for "AT" there).

Did the "Hockey Stick" stand up?

2006-06-22T13:40:00.000-07:00

Word today from the National Research Council supports the "hockey stick, " a chart of temperatures based on research by Michael Mann and Ray Bradley, which shows a spike in average temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere over the last 1,000 years. The NRC released the report called "Surface Temperature Reconstructions for the Last 2,000 Years," upon the request of Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-NY and chairman of the House Science Committee, in response to what is reported to be "intimidation" from Rep. Joe Barton, R-TX, in scrutinizing the work of the "hockey stick" scientists.

Quoted from the report,
"The basic conclusion of Mann et al. (1998, 1999) was that the late 20th century warmth in the Northern Hemisphere was unprecedented during at least the last 1,000 years. This conclusion has subsequently been supported by an array of evidence that includes both additional large-scale surface temperature reconstructions and pronounced changes in a variety of local proxy indicators, such as melting on icecaps and the retreat of glaciers around the world, which in many cases appear to be unprecedented ..."

Do humans need to expand to outer space in order to survive as a species?

2006-06-14T16:44:00.000-07:00

One of Earth & Sky's Science Advisors, Bill Patzert, kindly sent along an interesting article today featuring Stephen Hawking on the subject of space as the key to the survival of the human species. Patzert was suggesting we poll our Advisors on this subject. Cool idea, Bill. Thanks!

So what does everyone think? Do humans need to establish bases on the moon, in order to insure our survival as a species?

By the way, there's a fascinating collection of articles on Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century . . . okay, it's from a NASA-sponsored, public symposium hosted by the National Academy of Sciences in 1984. I know that seems like the dark ages now, but people were dreaming even back then about human expansion into the Galaxy. If you haven't read Asimov's Foundation Trilogy ... well, I just can't explain it to you.