In the sky
Taking a long pause to look up is never time wasted.
Category Archives: Science and Nature
The present and future of the Eastern Cougar
Are mountain lions here in the eastern US? The answer is complicated. More critical is the question, “Should we actively bring them back?”
Study underway regarding Seneca Lake sounds
Research is underway to examine methane bubbles as an explanation for the Seneca Lake booms.
Pop cryptid in the News: Jackalope
An outbreak of Shope papillomavirus in Colorado is in the news and the internet is exploding with exaggerated ideas about Frankenbunnies and Jackalopes.
Eternal Flames
New Spooky Geology content: Areas around the world perpetually burn at the surface as a result of natural gas springs.
Unfortunate media trend to make oarfish the doomsday fish
Oarfish have an unfortunate and false association with earthquakes. Oarfish are seen several times around the world each year, with no connection to earth hazards.
Fake California Coelacanth
A recent story on the website “Animals Around the Globe” revealing the finding of a coelacanth off the California coast is fake.
Flat earthers go to Antarctica
What happened when a pastor from Colorado, Will Duffy, takes flat earthers to Antarctica in what is called “The FInal Experiment”?
Modern problems with scientific naming: Example – Bigfoot
A new article in the Journal of Mammalogy calls out the problem with poor naming practices of new species in our internet age. “Bigfoot” is the perfect bad example.
The Ketchum Project: What to Believe about Bigfoot DNA ‘Science’ (2013)
Reprint of 2013 article detailing the proposed but illegitimate publication of Bigfoot DNA results by Melba Ketchum, and her circus of pseudoscience.
Purple heart amethyst geode
Geodes are cool natural clusters of crystals inside rock bodies. One example of an amethyst geode from Uruguay formed in a heart shape.
The many degrees of freedom of the griffin
The popular origin of the griffin as inspired by Protoceratops dinosaur fossils is questioned. Can we ever really know for sure if there is a connection?
Listen: In Research Of… San Andreas
Musing on the 1979 episode of In Search Of episode about the San Andreas fault and earthquake movies.
Zoological melodrama – Hutton on dragons
Professor Ronald Hutton gives a fantastic and entertaining lecture on why we have dragons worldwide.
Pop cryptid chatter: Beards and encryptids
Pop cryptids items: Representation at cryptozoology conferences, the EFF incorporates cryptids into their promotional drive and the passing of a well-loved author and artist.
News blips: Not trying to scare you
Not trying to scare you or anything but three news stories this week are slightly unsettling – giant waves, hailstorms and killer pythons.
Suspicious photos of alleged thylacine revealed by pop wildlife biologist
New photos claim to show a thylacine in Tasmania. Distributed by a popular television personality who popularizes mysterious animal sightings, the photos and the backstory appear bogus.
Fantasy metals – not all Bolognium
Exploring fantasy metals in media highlights their ubiquitous role as story elements with qualities such as rarity, strength, and magical powers. Used in education, they exemplify impossible chemistries to contrast with real-world elements. Unobtainium, Adamantium, Vibranium, and Mithril serve as plot devices while Orichalcum, Dilithium, and Red Mercury exist as quasi-real earth materials clouded by extraordinary myths.
News blips: Havana syndrome evaporates and headlines burn up about plate tectonics
A new study further dispels concerns that Havana syndrome was caused by a secret weapon. And new research about plate tectonics in the Atlantic is wildly exaggerated.
Wrath of Pele
The legend of Pele is relatively well known even outside of Hawaii. Her wrath, tears, hair, curses and legends are explored here.