Snowball Earth may hide a far stranger climate cycle than anyone expected

During the Sturtian glacial period during the Neoproterozoic Era, Earth underwent periods of global glaciation, which have been described as either "Snowball" and "Slushball" Earth scenarios. In Snowball Earth models, the planet was completely covered in ice for around 56 million years. In the Slushball models, portions of thin or patchy ice or even open water still existed in the tropics. However, there are some inconsistencies between these models and geological and biological evidence.

We still don't have a more precise value for "Big G"

Such experiments bring "order to the universe, whether or not the number agrees with the expected value.”...

Endangered Mexican axolotl discovered by girl, 10, under a bridge in Wales

Evie and her mother were enjoying a day trip to south Wales when they came across the amphibian.

The Cheese Map — Charting the Combinatorial Space of Cheesemaking

An interactive reference mapping every intersection of milk, texture, rind, aging, and technique in cheesemaking — revealing where cheeses exist, where they're rare, and where the gaps are.

What have been the greatest intellectual achievements?

In yesterday's post I briefly mentioned Claude Shannon, founder of information theory. It occurred to me that even most Oxford students wou...

Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies Timelapse

Death is not the end: What physics says about dying

Physics shows death is not disappearance but reorganization of matter and energy. Here’s what actually ends.