Ash clouds from volcanic eruptions contain a lot of static electricity that produces lightning. Return to The-Ave.US Home Page[...]
Archive for the ‘Science’ Category
The greatest threats to humanity
Covid-19 is a (relatively) gentle reminder that we can’t take “normal” life for granted; things could change (for the worse) tomorrow. Just as some people study stock market risks, there are others (mostly academics) who study civilizational risks. These are divided into two broad [...]
The Frost ornithopter
This is one of my all-time favorite photographs. I use it to illustrate the principle, “Just because something looks good on paper doesn’t mean it will fly.” It’s easy to laugh, but remember, when this contraption was built in 1902, nobody knew how to design an airplane; the [...]
October 22nd, 2020 - 10:21 pm § in Science
Zoo crime
This article contains news with science commentary. A gay penguin couple kidnapped eggs from a lesbian penguin couple at a Dutch zoo and are trying to hatch them, Huffington Post reported on Thursday, October 22, 2020. “Penguins typically share parenting responsibilities equally, so the work s[...]
Photography: Tree hugger
Read story here. Shop the book here (it’s a fun, blood-curdling, read). Return to The-Ave.US Home Page[...]
October 12th, 2020 - 2:27 pm § in America, Donald Trump, Environment, Health, Humor, Misc., News Media, Science
FAKE NEWS: Man did NOT cheat on his wife with a goat!
“Beatrice, AL | An Alabama woman had the surprise of her life when, while surfing the web, she fell on videos involving her husband and a goat in sexual foreplay,” the headline screamed in World News Daily Report, a satirical fake news website whose motto is, “Where Facts Don[...]
October 8th, 2020 - 9:24 pm § in Science
The average American doesn’t give a damn about singularities
The average American doesn’t win a Nobel Prize, either. Singularities are the beating hearts of black holes. Well, okay, I’m being literary. They’re at the heart of black holes. They are the black hole. A black hole is sort of like a car that’s gone through a crusher, except [...]
Top medical journal calls for ousting “dangerously incompetent politicians”
The New England Journal of Medicine, one of the world’s most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals with roots stretching back to 1811, broke a 209-year tradition of staying out of politics, is calling “for Americans to vote out leaders who have not done enough to address the[...]
Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded to Hepatitis C discoverers
Two Americans and a Briton won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their discovery of the hepatitis C virus. The award to Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton, and Charles M. Rice was announced on Monday, October 5, 2020. Read story here. Hepatitis C is a slow-acting viral infection spread by blood t[...]
October 4th, 2020 - 8:35 am § in Environment, Science
Using whale songs to warn ships
The Santa Barbara Channel serves the Long Beach and Los Angeles ports, making it a busy shipping lane. Several whale species, including giant blue whales, use it as a migration route. Because of that, ships collide with whales in the Channel about half a dozen times a year, usually with fatal conseq[...]