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You are browsing the archive for July 2011 - Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal.

30 July 2011

Forbes Version of Science Is More Than A Little Deluded

  Someone on twitter asked me about an op-ed in Forbes with the breath-taking title NEW NASA DATA BLOWS GAPING HOLE IN GLOBAL WARMING ALARMISM. With a title like that, you know right off the bat that this article is written for people looking for confirmation to their belief that ALL of the planet’s major science bodies are wrong and a very tiny handful of skeptics are right. Furthermore, this is …

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28 July 2011

Tropical Storm Don Fights Wind Shear

  Tropical Storm Don will likely come ashore near Corpus Christi, TX on Friday evening as a tropical storm and not a hurricane. This is really good news, because it means Texas will get some much-needed rain without significant damage. There are several reasons why it is unlikely that Don will become a hurricane, the chief being the wind shear over the storm. Tropical systems like low wind speeds with …

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Chandra-The Other Space Telescope

The public know all about the Hubble Space Telescope but most have just heard the name Chandra a few times if at all. The images from Chandra have led to as many if not more amazing discoveries and this post is about just one of them. A friend of mine (and neighbor) works on the Chandra project, so I’m always keen to hear about new images and research. The Hubble …

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27 July 2011

Will Tropical Storm Don Bust Texas Drought?

Tropical storm Don formed late this afternoon in the southeast Gulf and it looks likely that it will bring some much-needed rain to Texas in about 3 days. While the waters are very warm in the Gulf, the risk of Don becoming a major hurricane do not look high, and it will likely do more good than harm. This is especially true if it stays below hurricane strength. Wind shear …

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Should TV Weathercasters Lie About Ozone??

Last year the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Comm. unanimously recommended the EPA set the level for safe ozone exposure at between 60-70 parts per billion. The current level set under the Bush administration is 75 parts per billion. When the ozone level is above this (for a specified period) the air pollution index goes above 100 and the air is considered unhealthy on the EPA Air Quality Index chart. You …

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26 July 2011

Trouble Brewing In The Tropics?

  The tropics have been quiet lately with only some minor tropical storms in the Atlantic that were a threat only to ships and even then a minimal one. That may be about to change though with a tropical wave approaching the Gulf that seems to be holding together. As it moves into the bath tub warm waters of the Gulf, there is a chance for it to begin to …

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25 July 2011

Neil de Grasse Tyson- “How much would you pay for the Universe”

Famed astrophysicist Neil de Grasse Tyson knows how to put things into perspective and is one of the world’s best champions of science. This video is a must watch. Hat tip to Steve Cowing at NASA Watch for this. (Note: I changed the name of this post- sorry for any confusion)

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24 July 2011

Pool Fun & Supernovas

My wife grabbed a video of some students having fun at a nearby pool today, and it immediately struck me as a good illustration of what happens in a supernova. You might remember that I have several times HIGHLY recommended the online lectures from Alex Filippenko’s Introduction to Astronomy course at U.C.  Berkeley (sadly no longer available online*). I think learned more astronomy from those lectures than the two college …

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22 July 2011

Friday Science Digest

My daughter suggested I start doing a once a week digest of interesting science news/blog posts from the previous week. So welcome to the first edition! The Guardian has a great piece today about a study the BBC commissioned on its science coverage, and the results come as no surprise to the science community. That said, I still rate the Beeb as one of the more reliable sources of science …

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21 July 2011

Heat Wave At The North Pole Speeds Up The Big Melt

  There was update from the National Snow and Ice Data Center this week regarding the summer melt of Arctic Ocean sea-ice. It’s beginning to look as if a new record low in ice extent is possible by the time the melting ends in early September, passing the all time low set in 2007. Here is the update from NSIDC: Overview of conditions As of July 17, 2011, Arctic sea …

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