Written by Samuel Osborne
A team of divers have discovered what is believed to be the biggest flooded cave on the planet in eastern Mexico.
By connecting two underwater caverns, the Gran Acuifero Maya (GAM) project identified the 216 mile (347km) cave after months of exploring a maze of underwater channels.
The project, which is dedicated to the study and preservation of the subterranean waters of the Yucatan peninsula, said the discovery could shine new light on the ancient Mayan civilisation.
Written by Raymond HV Gallucci, PhD, PE
The concept of a “Galiliean” Doppler redshift, vs. the expanding space-time redshift, is introduced as an alternative for why redshift appears to increase with distance.
Encouraged by my presentation in 2013, I was inspired to delve further into my speculation regarding non-constant light speed.
While the Natural Philosophy Alliance collapsed in 2014, prominent members started the current organization, the John Chappell Natural Philosophy Society, which held its first annual conference in 2015.
Written by Dr Benny Peiser
The solar variability is not negligible in comparison with the energy imbalance that drives global temperature change.
Therefore, because of the combination of the strong 2016 El Niño and the phase of the solar cycle, it is plausible, if not likely, that the next 10 years of global temperature change will leave an impression of a ‘global warming hiatus.’ —James Hansen et al, 18 January 2018
Written by Ron Clutz
The issue of global warming/climate change has been used to polarize populations for political leverage. People like myself who are skeptical of alarmist claims find it difficult to engage with others whose minds are made up with or without a factual basis.
In a recent email, Alex Epstein gives some good advice how to talk about energy and climate. At the end, I provide links to other material from Alex supporting his principle message regarding human benefits from using fossil fuels.
Written by John O'Sullivan & Norm Kalmanovich
Professor Michael Mann famously rushed to file a libel suit against Dr Tim Ball over six years ago because Ball said Mann “belongs in the state pen, not Penn. State.”
Mann has since stalled in bringing the case to trial. Below we provide an insight into why Mann doesn’t want his dirty data washed in public.
Written by Dr Jerry L Klause
In my previous essay John O’Sullivan, the PSI editor, had changed the title (How Stupid Am I) of this essay when he published it. It is a fact that I earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in chemistry nearly fifty years ago (1969).
But I have never taken a philosophy course. So, for a long time I had never considered that I was a philosopher. Now, I am not so certain about this.
Written by Aarhus University
Greenland’s ice sheet is becoming smaller and smaller. The melting taking place is at an increased strength and speed that no models have previously predicted.
Today, in the esteemed journal Scientific Reports, researchers from the Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University, and the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources present results that, for the first time, show that the deep bottom water of the north-eastern Greenland fjords is being warmed up by heat gradually lost from the Earth’s interior.
And the researchers point out that this heat loss triggers the sliding of glaciers from the ice sheet towards the sea.
Written by James Gallagher
Scientists have taken a step towards one of the biggest goals in medicine – a universal blood test for cancer. A team at Johns Hopkins University has trialled a method that detects eight common forms of the disease.
Their vision is an annual test designed to catch cancer early and save lives. UK experts said it was “enormously exciting”. However, one said more work was needed to assess the test’s effectiveness at detecting early-stage cancers.
Tumours release tiny traces of their mutated DNA and proteins they make into the bloodstream. The CancerSEEK test looks for mutations in 16 genes that regularly arise in cancer and eight proteins that are often released.
Written by India Ashok
Saturn’s largest moon Titan is the only known planetary object in the solar system that has, like Earth, stable liquid on its surface. A new study, based on data gathered by Nasa’s Cassini spacecraft, reveals that Titan has Earth-like sea levels. The new findings showcase how “eerily similar” the two worlds are, despite being located nearly a billion miles away from each other.
Written by John Entine
Are bees endangered because of the use of insecticides, and in particular the class of chemicals known as neonicotinoids, which are used on many crops?
It’s a debate that’s played out in research laboratories and in the media over the past decade since the phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder roiled the bee industry in California and elsewhere in North American and Europe beginning in 2006-7.
Written by Dr Klaus L E Kaiser
Nagoya, Japan, is the place where the international “Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity” was negotiated (in 2010) and signed onto by many countries.
It became a binding international treaty (to the countries which ratified it) in 2015. Let’s just call the arrangement the Nagoya Protocol, or NP for short.
Written by PSI contributor
New study by Australian geophysicist shows astonishing tie-in between official UN global climate data and planetary alignments. Climate scientists have never before noticed this undeniable link.
Official measurements of global levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide and temperatures show a first order correlation with movements of the Sun, Earth and Moon over a 42-month planetary cycle (synodic period), suggesting a new and previously overlooked (non-human) driver of climate change.
Written by James Delingpole
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Paul Ehrlich’s eco-doom bestseller The Population Bomb. Maybe we should all stage a mass die-in to spare the distinguished Stanford biology professor his embarrassment.
Well if Ehrlich is not embarrassed, he should be. His book sold over three million copies – presumably making him a very decent amount of money.
Written by Anne M Stark
When Lawrence Livermore scientist Tadashi Ogitsu leased a hydrogen fuel-cell car in 2017, he knew that his daily commute would change forever. There are no greenhouse gases that come out of the tailpipe, just a bit of water vapor.
Written by James Barrett
A new study by a team of climatologists “all but rules out” the worst-case “doomsday” U.N. climate change scenarios, significantly narrowing the range of the possible temperature increases, while also eliminating the low-end predictions.
Written by Dr Jerry L Krause (Chemistry)
Given the title, this obviously is a personal essay. Although, if the shoe fits, put it on. I have had a lot of stupidities, but this one started when I began to teach general chemistry at Hibbing Community College, Hibbing, MN in 1973.
For a topic that quickly became apparent was that I needed to teach the greenhouse effect of carbon dioxide. Which obviously could have something to do with the physical properties of carbon dioxide, but this was a topic which I had never studied during my formal education to become a physical chemist.