Facebook’s Manipulation Studies – A Critical Look
“…the effect sizes of their manipulations are extremely small, indicating a very weak effect.” Continue reading Facebook’s Manipulation Studies – A Critical Look
The Climate Challenges of Developing Nations
Imagine you have a stream running through your property where your family regularly swims and fishes, but one day the fish and plants begin dying because of toxic waste dumping upstream. Even if the power plant eventually pays reparation costs, the damage will have been done to the stream’s ecosystem, at least in the short-term, and your family and neighbors may be faced with serious … Continue reading The Climate Challenges of Developing Nations
Pausing to Talk About Climate Change
You might have heard something in the news recently about climate change ‘pausing’, ‘stopping’ or ‘slowing down’. While there is some truth to the phrase ‘global warming hiatus’, the issue is in fact a complex one. The hiatus represents an interesting example of an unexpected event which science cannot yet fully explain, despite taking place during a time in which our knowledge about the climate … Continue reading Pausing to Talk About Climate Change
Warmer Climates Not Cool For Migratory Birds
Global warming is certainly one of the hottest issues in today’s world, and it is a phenomenon that shows no signs of cooling down. According to NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, average temperatures around the world have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius) since 1880, with most of this increase only occurring in recent decades due to excessive carbon pollution [1]. Our planet’s … Continue reading Warmer Climates Not Cool For Migratory Birds
Is Global Warming Over?
In the typical story of climate change, greenhouse gases – predominantly from emissions associated with burning fossil fuels – are released into the atmosphere and warm the earth. As we continue to emit more greenhouse gases, Earth’s average surface temperature should increase. But over the past decade, global surface temperatures have plateaued even as greenhouse gases have continued to increase [1]. How should we interpret … Continue reading Is Global Warming Over?
Earth’s Climate: Stable up to a (Tipping) Point
On the scale of a human lifetime the Earth’s climate appears to be relatively stable and predictable: we plant in the spring, we harvest in the fall, and if we are fortunate, we might vacation in the winter someplace warm. We understand that Earth’s climate does change over time, but think that these changes will be noticeable only over many generations. The Earth has warmed, … Continue reading Earth’s Climate: Stable up to a (Tipping) Point
Beyond the Ivory Tower: How Scientists Talk About Climate Change
Scientific conclusions about climate change have moved beyond the realm of pure science and begun to percolate into social policy and political decisions. As a result, many non-scientists are interested in the latest news about climate change, from companies in the energy sector to government officials across the globe. Interest groups and policymakers participate in matters ranging from validating scientific data to interpreting the impact … Continue reading Beyond the Ivory Tower: How Scientists Talk About Climate Change
Ecosystem Shift: How Global Climate Change is Reshaping the Biosphere
An overwhelming scientific consensus agrees that global climate change is real and humans are causing it. The 2014 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a publication that aggregates current climate-science knowledge, concluded that recent global climate change has affected both human and natural systems on every continent and in the oceans [1]. Global shifts in temperature, precipitation patterns, ocean levels, and the … Continue reading Ecosystem Shift: How Global Climate Change is Reshaping the Biosphere
Help from the Hydra: Can Cancer Ever Be Truly Eliminated?
Cancer research laboratories have historically studied tumors in vertebrate models, such as monkeys and mice, and in a few invertebrate species, like fruit flies. Only recently have scientists chosen to pursue cancer from a completely new perspective. Dr. Thomas Bosch and his colleagues at Germany’s Kiel University found that primitive multicellular organisms, called Hydra, also spontaneously develop tumor-like growths. Dr. Bosch boldly concluded that because … Continue reading Help from the Hydra: Can Cancer Ever Be Truly Eliminated?
Earth-sized and in its habitable zone
A recent story that’s stillplanet scape – space art making waves is the detection of Kepler 186f, a planet the size of Earth and in the so called “habitable zone” of its host star. It would seem K186f is then very much like Earth but that’s not exactly true. The “habitable zone” is defined as the region around a star where liquid water can exist (the bedrock of life as we know it). For a star like our sun, the Earth is in this “goldilocks region,” not too hot, not too cold. But K186f’s sun is a lot cooler than ours, so it’s much closer in! The host star, Kepler 186 is an M1 star, a cool star around 3800 Kelvin, compared to our sun’s 6000 Kelvin temperature. Continue reading Earth-sized and in its habitable zone