The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – Hey, I’m as big a science geek and science fiction fan as anyone else. The announcement by NASA of a plan to go back to the moon and on to Mars should be a moment for excitement and an occasion for national and human pride. So why…
If you suffer from the phobia of arachnophobia, the a fear of spiders, you might not want to see this. In a shocking bit of science that appears to be right out of a futuristic science fiction horror movie, Michigan researchers studying in the Amazon rainforest came across a large tarantula making a meal out…
By Glynn Wilson – One day before U.S. President Donald J. Trump blinked and caved into demands by Democrats in Congress to reopen the federal government with no agreement on funding for his ill-conceived border wall, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists board met in Chicago and kept the hands on the Doomsday Clock set…
Editor’s Note by Glynn Wilson: Just this week I had time and thought to log back on to my account at Ancestry.com, to check on a report I received by email about six months ago. I had taken the $69 plunge to try Ancestry.com in an effort to confirm or deny my own suspicions about…
By Glynn Wilson – DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. — The spring bird migration is in full swing along the Gulf Coast, an annual event when thousands of species of birds make their annual trans-Gulf flight from South and Central America back to North America for the summer and hundreds of birders make it here for one…
By Glynn Wilson – DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. — Thousands of bird watchers are flocking to the Alabama Gulf Coast this spring for the annual bird migration, but it’s also mating season for other species, including this fairly large American alligator [Alligator mississippiensis] that has become a tourist attraction in its own right as people come…
By Glynn Wilson – DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. – The annual spring bird migration is in full swing along the Alabama Gulf Coast, as well as the spring mating season for North American raptors like this osprey [Pandion haliaetus], unique for its diet of live fish and ability to dive into water to catch them. These…
By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — As we wait for a massive storm that could dump seven inches of rain here to make it over from New Orleans, this is a good time to talk about the upcoming hurricane season of 2018 and the latest science news about global warming and climate change. Climate…
By Glynn Wilson – One of the most disheartening facts about the Trump administration’s policies to the millions of Americans who care deeply about the Earth’s natural environment is the outright war on the planet being waged by President Donald Trump and his cabinet. A couple of new stories just out demonstrate the problem, and…
By Patrick Lynch – In spite of restrictions by the Trump administration not to talk about global warming or using the terminology of “climate change,” the scientists and public relations folks at NASA have come up with a way to continue the research and show us the results. NASA research shows that permafrost — permanently frozen…
By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. – As the spring bird migration approaches along the Gulf Coast my mind turns to birds. Soon millions of migratory species will make their way back across the Gulf of Mexico and grace our shores and marshes for a few weeks after their trans-Gulf flight on their way north…
By Glynn Wilson – Why is the Arctic warming faster than the rest of the planet? Does mineral dust warm or cool the atmosphere? These are actual questions just out from NASA about an ongoing research program. While the Trump administration has banished the use of the term climate change or global warming from the…
By Glynn Wilson — WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s hard to get any official sources in the nation’s capital to talk openly about the reality of climate change due to global warming from the burning of fossil fuels. With the climate change denier in chief in the Oval Office ordering federal agencies to wipe science information…
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nothing is more American than the iconic National Park Ranger hat. The idea of protecting nature and providing public access to natural beauty began in the United States and has spread across the world, but now it’s at risk. While the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest…
WASHINGTON, D.C. — NASA’s Cassini spacecraft made its final plunge into the atmosphere of Saturn on Friday, ending its 13-year tour of the ringed planet. “This is the final chapter of an amazing mission, but it’s also a new beginning,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.…
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft is on final approach to Saturn, following confirmation by mission navigators that it is on course to dive into the planet’s atmosphere on Friday, Sept. 15. Cassini is ending its 13-year tour of the Saturn system with an intentional plunge into the planet to ensure Saturn’s moons – in particular Enceladus, with…
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, in orbit around Saturn since 2004, is about to begin the final chapter of its remarkable journey through space. On Wednesday, April 26, the spacecraft will make the first in a series of dives through the 1,500-mile-wide (2,400-kilometer) gap between Saturn and its rings as part of the mission’s grand finale. “No…
By Glynn Wilson – In spite of false rhetoric from Republican politicians in the United States and fake news claiming there is no such thing as global warming, a record number of Americans are concerned about climate change due to global warming, they believe it is occurring now and consider it a serious threat, and…
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the latest move by the Trump administration and the Republicans in Congress to weaken federal regulations and conduct a war on science and the environment, Congressman Paul Gosar, a Republican from Arizona, introduced a bill on Tuesday that would pave the way for more oil and gas…
Full Scale War on Science Begins – By Lauren McCauley – Though the majority of President Donald Trump’s controversial cabinet nominations have not yet been confirmed, his so-called “beachhead” teams have arrived at their respective agencies, carrying out orders that make clear that the “War on Science” has begun. On Tuesday, the news broke that…
