Japan on alert after volcano’s biggest eruption in 50 years
Japan is on alert today after the biggest volcanic eruption in 50 years took place on the nation’s southernmost main island, Kyushu. The pictures at the link are truly incredible!
Tag: science
A Fizzy Ocean on Enceladus
A fizzy ocean on Enceladus? Key quote:
[Scientists believe] that gasses dissolved in water deep below the surface [of Enceladus] form bubbles. Since the density of the resulting “sparkling water” is less than that of the ice, the liquid ascends quickly up through the ice to the surface. “Most of the water spreads out sideways and ‘warms’ a thin surface ice lid, which is about 300 feet thick,” explains Matson. “But some of it collects in subsurface chambers, builds up pressure, and then blasts out through small holes in the ground, like soda spewing out of that can you opened.”
Night-Shining Clouds are Getting Brighter
For reasons unknown, for the past thirty years high altitude noctilucent clouds have been getting brighter.
New research finds that the Himalayan glaciers are not melting
New research finds that the Himalayan glaciers are not melting. Key quote:
The new study by scientists at the Universities of California and Potsdam has found that half of the glaciers in the Karakoram range, in the northwestern Himlaya, are in fact advancing and that global warming is not the deciding factor in whether a glacier survives or melts.
The last part of the above quote, on global warming, is almost certainly an overstatement of what we do or don’t know. Warming will cause glaciers to melt, but how much and when are factors that are still not understood. Moreover, we are still not sure how much warming has even occurred.
Hubble detects what may be oldest, most distant object ever seen
Hubble detects what may be oldest, most distant object ever seen.
How Giants Conquered the Earth
How giants conquered the Earth.
Mars Express Buzzes Martian Moon Phobos
The ESA probe Mars Express flew past the Martian moon Phobos today. Great image!
NASA offers cash prizes for amateur pictures of NanoSail-D
Want to do some space science and make money? Take pictures of NASA’s solar sail, NanoSail-D.
Flooding in Australia
An evening pause:
Journalistic spin for the sake of disaster
The headline from this National Geographic story reads “Yellowstone Has Bulged as Magma Pocket Swells,” while the first sentence is designed to send chills up your spine:
Yellowstone National Park’s supervolcano just took a deep “breath,” causing miles of ground to rise dramatically, scientists report.
From here, the next few paragraphs go on to talk about the wild rise of the giant caldara under Yellowstone National Park in recent years, and how past eruptions there were were among the most powerful volcanic explosions ever to occur. Obviously, from this introduction, the thing is about to blow and we better run for cover!
This story is unfortunately typical for much of today’s modern media: find a story with a hint of disaster in it and play up that disaster as much as possible, regardless of the facts. For example, the opening of this article completely misreports the substance of the Yellowstone geology research. Back on December 4, I read the paper and headlined its results as follows: “Yellowstone caldara rise has slowed.” What the scientists had actually found was that after a period of significant growth beginning in 2004, the rise of Yellowstone’s giant volcanic caldara had slowed significantly since 2006, and since 2008 had actually subsided somewhat.
While the significant rise from 2004 to 2006 was then news, suggesting the worrisome possibility that an eruption was imminent, the story now, revealed by this scientific research, was how that rise has stopped, and why.
Now, if you spend the time to read the rest of the National Geographic article above, you will find that the reporter does dig a bit deeper, and notes these facts in better detail. The trouble is that a quick scan of the headline and opening paragraphs will instead leave you with an entirely incorrect impression of the facts.
That this kind of fear-mongering by modern reporters is not unusual, especially when it comes to climate research and extreme weather events, illustrates the vital importance of maintaining as skeptical an eye to what we read as possible. Don’t assume what you read is true. Read it as carefully as possible. Try to check its sources. And compare every article’s conclusions with other reports to see if you can get a feel for the truth, hidden behind the different reports.
And that, by the way, applies as much to what you read here at behindtheblack as anywhere else!
Ham radio amateurs hear NanoSail-D’s signal
Ham radio operators were the ones to detect NanoSail-D’s signal. The deployment of the solar sail is soon to follow.
Frogs across Australia and the US may be recovering from a fungal disease
Frogs across Australia and the US appear to be recovering from a fungal disease that had devastated populations.