A California Hurricane? – August 23, 2023

A California Hurricane? – August 23, 2023

This past weekend, California was under warning. Not for an earthquake or wildfire, but for an approaching hurricane! It’s been 80 years since a tropical storm has made landfall in California, when a storm called El Cordonazo scored a direct hit on Los Angeles. As...
We Are Not Doomed – August 16, 2023

We Are Not Doomed – August 16, 2023

Summer in the Northern Hemisphere has seen a trail of devastation left behind: wildfires scorching Hawaii, Canada and Portugal; drought plaguing Indonesia for four, long hot months; marine heat waves occurring in 40% of the world’s oceans, the most since satellite...
Air Conditioning – August 9, 2023

Air Conditioning – August 9, 2023

Have you ever walked into a workplace, shopping mall, or movie theater in the heat of summer and find that you need to wear an extra layer, because the air conditioning is too cold? Researchers have calculated that air conditioning is responsible for 2 billion tons of...
The Meg – August 2, 2023

The Meg – August 2, 2023

To accompany Florida’s state highpoint (Britton Hill), here is a new Science Wednesday short video on sharks. A new movie, Meg 2: The Trench, is out in theaters in a couple of days, about the megalodon shark. Get the facts in my new science video! How old is...
Life in Plastic – Not Fantastic! – July 19, 2023

Life in Plastic – Not Fantastic! – July 19, 2023

Millions of people are feeling the heat – literally – from relentless heat waves this summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Smoky skies from wildfires are aggravating certain health conditions. Flooding is damaging communities and people are losing their lives and their...
What Lies Beneath – July 12, 2023

What Lies Beneath – July 12, 2023

Located about 50 miles northwest of Columbus, Ohio, Campbell Hill, at 1,549 feet, is Ohio’s state highpoint. The “hill” is actually a glacial moraine, left behind by the massive Laurentide Ice Sheet that covered millions of square miles of Canada and the Northern...