67
POPSHow to Talk to a Global Warming Skeptic (FAQ) More common questions and myths answered at the source, thoroughly cross-referenced and conveniently categorized and sub-categorized by type of argument: Stages of Denial Scientific Topics Types of Argument Levels of Sophistication A nice reference that's updated with fresh comments. Many "skeptics" often are unaware (by choice or by circumstance) that their common questions have already been addressed by scientists long ago.
28
POPSBBC opens world's biggest online zoo more: Starting with 370 animals, including four octopuses and a solitary starfish, the databank of clips and still pictures will be reinforced on a daily basis. BBC staff are combing through hundreds of wildlife programmes, from spectaculars such as Planet Earth to regional TV news items, to create an unprecedented collection. Early stars in terms of hits online include Darwin's frog, a tiny resident of forests in Chile, which gives birth through the mouth of the male. The process is repeated in slow motion – another feature of the archive's ability to spy on Earth's wild creatures to an unprecedented extent.
28
POPSThe Earth Will Be Just Fine, Thank You Despite its many flaws, I’m a big fan of human civilization. I marvel at our capacity to organize matter and information, at our ability to learn from mistakes and pass that learning down to subsequent generations. Civilization—writing, cities, trade, the whole lot of it—makes us unique on this planet and, as far as we can tell so far, in our part of the universe.
25
POPSOur Earth as Art Welcome to the Earth as Art Gallery.Here you can view our planet through the beautiful images taken by the Landsat-7 satellite - and most recently, the Terra Satellite's Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER). This gallery of images uses the visceral avenue of art to convey the thrilling perspective of the Earth that satellites provide to the viewer.
21
POPSSurprising Activity Discovered at Yellowstone Supervolcano What the researchers think is happening, on a short-term basis at least, is that the bulging Yellowstone hotspot north of the Tetons is pushing against the north edge of Jackson Hole and jamming it against the mountains. (This is also causing the southwest part of the Yellowstone plateau, under the hotspot, to slide downhill at a rate of one-sixth of an inch each year.).
18
POPS"Drained" oceans reveal epic landscapes ...Big Island of Hawaii is practically little when seen with its underwater flanks exposed. Measured from the seabed, the island's active volcano Mauna Loa is the world's tallest mountain--some 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) taller than Mount Everest. The Big Island was gradually thrust upward out of the Pacific, likely by a plume of lava deep beneath the seafloor. Those same slow forces look to be at work beneath a new volcano off the southeastern end of the Big Island, Loihi. Ten thousand or a hundred thousand years into the future, Loihi should emerge as the latest and hottest new Hawaiian island.
15
POPSChapel built on top of lava plug more: In prehistoric times, a dolmen was built on top of the rock, a single-chamber tomb made of three upright stones and a large, flat, horizontal one on top. The Romans dedicated the rock to Mercury, the messenger god with the winged shoes. When the area was Christianised, the rock needle was consecrated to the archangel Saint Michael (Saint Michel).