6 Billion & Thriving?

Devastation. Destruction. Extinction. Oblivious to the end the human plague marches boldly forward covering the planet and consuming all that stands before it. Rising from near extermination it's a powerful epic struggle for survival whose heroic success has unfortunately sown the seeds of our own demise. As Pogo has astutely observed, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

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Abortion, Contraception, Morals & Rights

Rancor, character assignations, and selfishness that, unfortunately, is what I all too often find in trying to research these contentious issues and the situation saddens me. For some time now these issues have bothered me. I couldn't (still can't fully) sort out the various issues from the sound bites and PR slogans. Hoping to gain enough insight (more...)

Does GOD Exist?

Does GOD exist and are we unique? Interesting questions, both of them. I don't know of any scientific proof of GOD's existence but there is an intriguing hypothesis on life's origins that may bear on these questions. (more...)

Backwards Mirror Image

Why do words appear backwards in a mirror?

A very interesting question. I think you also noticed that the words and letters in a mirror's reflection while backwards are not upside down. Looks like very strange behavior, so why does this happen?

Very profound questions you're asking and the answer illustrates a very advanced concept variously called mirror-symmetry, inversion symmetry or P-symmetry (the P stands for the word parity). Understanding symmetries turns out to be one of the key or fundamental ingredients needed to understand the Universe we live in.

Can a human survive in a space suit on Mars?

The following question was emailed to me by my grandson, "Can a humun sirviev in a space suet on mars?" This is my answer.

Yes, humans can survive in a space suit on Mars but only for short periods of time as long as the space suit has enough air and batteries (or power). The suit also needs a few other qualities too

Rampin’ Hotwheels

Since I was in the hospital this week's post will be shortened. My grandson recently devised a science experiment for school. It consisted of studing how hotwheels behaved while rolling down a ramp under different weights. This was my impression of his experiment.

Are there aliens in space?

That's a very good question and I had to think about it a bit before answering.

The quick answer is that nobody knows for sure. By aliens I am assuming you mean extraterrrestial intelligent (or sentient) beings. Not only are we not sure if aliens exist but nobody can even be sure that extraterrestial life exists elsewhere in the universe. We know that no higher forms of life exist in our solar system and, so far, we haven't found any other forms of life anywhere but here on Earth.

Is outer space empty?

This turns out to be a very profound question. And the answer has two parts. You might have to ask your mom or dad to help you with some of the videos.

Let's start with trying to figure out what "empty" means. Imagine you have a box of some kind. For example like this

It’s just a theory

"It's just a theory," dismissively, even derisively uttered often accompanied with the phrase "not a law". How often have you heard that remark and why does it frequently evoke such strong emotional responses? In fact, just what is a theory and what is a law?

What is gravity?

Good question! Both interesting and intriguing! Some of history's greatest scientists have struggled to answer this question. The history alone is facinating. Well, enough preliminaries, let's get right to the answer. If you don't understand any of the words I am using ask your mom or dad to explain them. In science words are important and we have to use the right words so we can convey our meaning properly to others.