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A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be. —Albert EinsteinIn 1912, amateur archaeologist Charles Dawson claimed to have discovered the "missing link" between ape and man, known as "The Piltdown Man." He had found part of a human-like skull in Pleistocene gravel beds near Piltdown village in Sussex, England. Dawson submitted the find to Arthur Smith Woodward, keeper of geology at the Natural History Museum. Smith Woodward made a reconstruction of skull fragments, and the archaeologists hypothesized that the find indicated evidence of a human ancestor living 500,000 years ago. They announced their...

The only way to keep young people from inheriting a world reeling from catastrophic climate change is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions dramatically and immediately, according to a new paper. Not only that, but it's also necessary to aggressively remove greenhouse gas that's already accumulated. "If rapid emission reductions are initiated soon, it is still possible that at least a large fraction of required CO2 extraction can be achieved via relatively natural agricultural and forestry practices with other benefits," the authors wrote. "On the other hand, if large fossil fuel emissions are allowed to continue, the scale and cost of...

'Right Kinds of Behavior' Needed for 'Clean Energy Future,' Says Interior Secretary August 14, 2013 - 11:13 AM By Susan Jones (CNSNews.com) - The "new energy future" will require the federal government to encourage "the right kinds of behavior," Interior Secretary Sally Jewell told a clean energy summit in Nevada on Tuesday. "When you are getting into a new energy future, you really benefit from having the support of states -- and the federal government encouraging the right kinds of behavior and encouraging those incentives (for solar panel installation), she said. Jewell mentioned the "right" kind of behavior twice in...

There are two problems with Al Gore.  First, he's a demagogue who lacks an appreciation for the ethics and methods of science.  Second, he's a not a scientist, but a celebrity and politician who does not understand the technical aspects of science.  Put succinctly, the man simply doesn't know what he's talking about.  But Gore is now advising the world on complex technical issues related to energy and climate.  That's a problem for the human race. As described in my book, Science and Technology in World History, Vol. 1, what we know as modern science began in ancient Greece in...

Last weekend, some 62 cm of the white stuff fell in the eastern resort of Davos, while St Antonien received 64 cm and Braunwald got 72 cm of snow on Sunday, states national weather service MeteoSwiss. According to the report, Switzerland has not received such a strong start to its winter ski season since 1952, with the amount of snow being swept to the southern areas by the wind cited as a particularly interesting feature of the weather.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate bill that would attempt to slow global climate change by limiting greenhouse gas emissions has a better chance of becoming law now that the Kyoto protocol has been ratified by Russia, one of bill's authors said on Monday. U.S. Senators Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut Democrat, and John McCain, an Arizona Republican, wrote the Climate Stewardship Act, which seeks to cut greenhouse emissions and create a carbon dioxide market. It was defeated in the U.S. Senate last fall. The Kyoto pact will go into effect in February after Russia ratified it this fall. It...