Editor’s selections: Volcanoes and evolution, fine-grained space, and Earth’s CO2 sensitivity
January 11th, 2010 Editor's Selections No Comments
“Dr. SkySkull” selects several notable posts each week from a miscellany of ResearchBlogging.org categories. He blogs at Skulls in the Stars.
- Nyamulagira Volcano and Human Evolution. Greg Laden of Greg Laden’s Blog describes some of his own published research speculating that humans may have split from chimps on the slopes of volcanoes! It is a fascinating post with great personal anecdotes that illustrate how research is done in the field.
- Space is very fine-grained. Theories that attempt to connect gravity to quantum mechanics rely on the idea that space is “rough” on a very, very small scale. But how can one measure such roughness? Charles Daney at Science and Reason describes experimental efforts involving supernovas and high-energy gamma rays.
- Is the Earth even more sensitive to CO2 levels than we thought? A puzzling aspect of climate science related to warming is that CO2 levels were thought to have been much, much higher in prehistoric eras. In a very thoughtful and well balanced post, James Hrynyshyn of The Island of Doubt discusses recent research that suggests that the CO2 levels may have been much lower than previously thought — and the Earth much more sensitive to CO2 levels.
Check back next Monday for more “miscellaneous” suggestions!
