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19 January 2011
Is The Sun White or Yellow?
Ask a meteorologist “why is the sky blue?” and they will (at least they should) quickly give you the proper answer. The basics are this: shorter wavelengths of blue light are scattered by the air molecules much more than longer wavelengths of red light. The blue light gets scattered across the sky and makes the sky look blue. The technical term is Rayleigh scattering.
12 January 2011
How Nuclear Weapon Treaties Led To The Discovery That Thunderstorms Produce Antimatter!
NASA released a really cool piece of science this week. The story starts with the nuclear arms reduction treaties signed in the 1960’s between the U.S. and Russia. This was back in the middle of the cold war, and neither side trusted the other. Probably for good reason. So how could we be sure the Russians were not testing nuclear weapons without us knowing about it? Easy. Nuclear fission produces …
2 January 2011
Let’s Hope 2011 is a Brighter Year for Science than 2010 Turned Out To Be
I write this blog because the natural world is amazing and I want to share what I find out with others. My background is in atmospheric science but I try to post frequently on any aspect of science that meets my definition of wild. It’s sad that so many people get caught up in these end of world myths like 2012. Even more are seduced by such laughable myths like …
22 December 2010
The Strangest Telescope On Earth is Complete!
It’s called ICE CUBE and it’s at the bottom of the World. Actually it’s IN the bottom of the World, and without doubt it’s the strangest telescope on Earth. Ice Cube is a neutrino observatory. It’s made up of hundreds of detectors embedded in the ice 1 km beneath the South Pole. My name is on one of those detectors, and it something I am very proud of! The NSF …
20 December 2010
Carl Sagan Passed 14 Years Ago Today. His Legacy Endures
Sagan may be gone, but he is now inspiring a whole new generation. His Pale Blue Dot has now been seen by millions who were not even alive when he died 14 years ago today. There are literally thousands of scientists who were inspired by Sagan. After watching COSMOS, his amazing PBS series, I knew I wanted to study science. The fantastic discoveries being made in astrophysics and Astronomy today …
4 December 2010
Conversation with Neil deGrasse Tyson-Was Pluto Worth It?
Neil deGrasse Tyson gets LOTS of questions on Pluto. When I sat down with Tyson on Friday, I considered asking nothing about it. Instead I asked just one: You used the demotion of Pluto as a way of teaching science and scientific method to millions of people. Was it worth it???
30 November 2010
Warming Lakes and Giant Bubbles To Round Out November
There has been a lot of interesting science over the past few days. Every time I think about writing a post about one thing, I see something new! So here is a little about a bunch of things that caught my eye. The New York Times did an excellent piece on sea level rise and Greenland’s ice melt. Having spent two weeks in Greenland at NEEM in July, this caught …
18 November 2010
Did The Media Miss The Boat on the Youngest Black Hole?
You likely heard about it a few days ago. NASA announced the detection of a supernova turning into a black hole. It was big news and justifiably so. The story starts back in 1979 when an amateur astronomer observed a supernova. It was the third one seen in 1979 and thus named 1979C. Yes all that astronomical numbering is real complicated you know;). You probably know that a supernova marks …
6 November 2010
Brian Cox and the Large Hadron Collider
Can particle physics and the Universe be explained in 15 minutes? If you’re Brian Cox it can. Meet the new Carl Sagan.
3 November 2010
Would you survive an asteroid hit? Find out here.
I’ve often wondered about something. Suppose a 1000 meter wide space rock were to hit Nashville, TN. Would I survive here in Huntsville in North Alabama? It would depend on many factors of course. Nashville is about 165 km to my north. That’s a BIG factor. The size of the asteroid, and the angle of impact, are others. Let’s say that it hit at a 60 degree angle and …
Dan Satterfield has worked as an on air meteorologist for 32 years in Oklahoma, Florida and Alabama. Forecasting weather is Dan's job, but all of Earth Science is his passion. This journal is where Dan writes about things he has too little time for on air. Dan blogs about peer-reviewed Earth science for Junior High level audiences and up.