In the 1940s and 50s, a few scientists (George Gamow, Ralph Alpher and Robert Herman among others) predicted the continued existence of the photons that last scattered in the very early universe. Theoretically, those photons had continued to travel through the universe, cooling as the universe expanded. The early theorists tried to predict what the temperature of these photons would now be (with varying degrees of success). These photons should be all over the place and hence providing a constant “background” to any antenna on earth. In addition, they should …

Hello and welcome to my first post as a Talking Science contributor! I’m excited to join this roster of fine bloggers. To help introduce myself, I would like to share my experience as a volunteer scientist on a research cruise with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This is to be the first of a multiple-post series about NOAA’s survey cruises, and the research that these surveys support. I’ve also included a few photos from the trip to help tell my story – enjoy!
Until April 2009, most of my …

Greetings, Dear Readers.
If you are lucky enough to catch this post, then you will have stumbled upon the first of many entries in my new weekly blog: Jesse Battles Ridiculousness. Herein will lie one of the few places left in this vast world of ours where TalkingScience and Science Friday lovers alike can seek refuge and enjoy the sanctuary of a land (or Web page) where only facts, evidence and logic reign supreme and are the necessary cornerstones to every argument presented.
That is not to say that this is an …

Earlier this year I received an award from the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS). AIBS is a scientific society of life science educators and researchers, K-12 teachers and college professors, dedicated to sharing biological discovery and knowledge. AIBS recognized and promoted the achievements of underrepresented minorities, including persons with disabilities, in the biological sciences. The students are competitively selected to be part of the AIBS Diversity Scholars program. This year, I was selected as the 2009 Diversity Scholar, the last one it seems.
Though the Diversity Scholars Award has ended, …

Carnivals are like online Zines, you know, those independent creative publications you created in high school or college. Carnivals are a collection of blog articles about a topic. Like a magazine, there is a publication date – some are published quarterly, monthly, or weekly ; an editor – which usually rotates among interested parties; and a theme.
I participate in a few Carnivals (see my bottom side bar). It helps me share my work with larger audiences. It’s also a great way for non-bloggers to get into blogs and see how …

My mom writes in a comment:
I think I would like to know what the consequences are of discovering or measuring dark matter. Also, does what you are doing have any relation whatsoever to things like the Hubble telescope or general space travel that people seem to be doing more and more of? Might your discoveries, for instance, give us an idea of the future of the universe as we know it?
xox MOM
These are good questions. What would be the consequences of discovering dark matter? When people ask me this question, …

Asparagus-induced aromatic pee is an event that has always amazed me because it happens so quickly. When you eat asparagus, it goes into the stomach to be broken down by acids in the stomach, just like any other food. The nourishing elements of the meal are absorbed into the blood stream and the food molecules travel through the bloodstream to the liver and kidneys for purification. This is all normal and good. Waste that is collected in the kidneys is excreted in urine. Asparagus, unlike other vegetables, contains asparagusic acid. …

Also see Rosalee’s review of The Age of Stupid.
With ice caps melting in the Arctic and the rising of global temperatures, how many more years do we really have on Earth? The Age of Stupid is a documentary which combines fiction, personal accounts from real people, and animation to illustrate how our ignorance will lead to our demise. The Age of Stupid opens in the United States on September 21, 2009, as part of the United Nations’ Climate Week. The producers want us all to take action against climate change …

Our own video producer Jesse Strauss had the opportunity to ask astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson of NOVA a question about the potential benefits of space flight for the human race. The video is below:

If you have not seen the 1997 film Titanic, then put it first on your list. If you want to relive the film, see Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition. The film is based on the 1912 tragedy when the biggest passenger ship ever built sank en route to New York. Titanic was a beauty stretching 882 feet and nine inches in length, weighing 46,328 tons, and carrying 2,207 passengers. The ship’s architects and many other people believed the ship was unsinkable because of its structure. There were 16 water-tight compartments …