And on This Day Let Us Consider…

This is the beginning of a current article in Scientific American…

“From World War II until 2024, the US stood unchallenged as the scientific leader of the free world. Across practically every discipline — physics, materials science, astronomy, chemistry, biology, medicine, geology, etc. — American scientific missions and initiatives, often in collaboration with European, Canadian, Asian, and many other global partners, brought us new advances and breakthroughs, paving the way for generations of scientists to thrive. In a society that values facts, scientific truths, education, and the public good, this recipe led to multiple generations of continued breakthroughs and advances.
Since late January of this year, however, all of that has rapidly changed. Many of the most valuable scientific organizations in the world, including NOAA, NASA, the NSF, the CDC, the EPA, and the FDA, have experienced a set of unprecedented internal attacks.

Funding streams have been terminated.
Grants that have been successfully competed for and won have been pulled.
Fellowships and scholarships have been revoked.
Contracts have been broken.
Thousands upon thousands of employees have been terminated, often in defiance of court orders.

And now, at the start of the second half of 2025, a new budget is on the verge of becoming law, which would largely eliminate science as we know it across universities and colleges, research institutes, and national labs. This isn’t a horror story; this is a real-life nightmare for the most educated and skilled American workers of all: scientists.”

This is a sad thing indeed. And a real betrayal of our country. Hope all that “winning” was worth it Trumpers.

American science to soon face its largest brain drain in history

What’s Up with the Earth’s Inner Core?

Rotational changes to the Earth’s core may be responsible for the “flipping” of the magnetic poles that occurs every few thousand years. It also could explain fluctuations in the Earth’s magnetic field. Which has been weakening for a while. The magnetic field or “Magnetosphere” protects us from cosmic and solar radiation. So this is pretty important.

Strange Transformation of Earth’s Inner Core Revealed in New Findings That ‘Confounded’ Scientists

Youtube “Cliff notes” version…

Lidar

LIDAR, LiDAR or LADAR, an acronym of “light detection and ranging” or “laser imaging, detection, and ranging” is a method for determining ranges by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. (Wikipedia)
When I was at Kent as a Geology major this technology was just coming into play. Field work was rapidly going to disappear. Now using these tools available from USGS (thank you USGS) we can see our own neighborhoods in a new way.

USGS Searchable map of the United States.

This is Why Fighting Climate Change is Good Fiscal Policy

I am always amazed by the lack of logic from those who deny climate change. I have watched friends change their stance from “I don’t believe climate change is occurring” to, “Well maybe, but we can’t be sure it is caused by humans” to the current, “Well China and India aren’t doing anything about it why should we?” This last comment has become popular as China overtook our country on EV (electric vehicle) and Solar Panel production. We now have a 100% tariff on Chinese EV’s because China can make a pretty good EV for about $12,000 U.S.! Can you imagine what a $12,000 car could do to the U.S. car market? Poor folks could almost afford a new car.

My point is that as we delay, the problem grows worse and we lose any ability to offset the cost of fixing it by providing the technology to do so. Soon we will be forced to buy that technology from China. So before Trump tries to abolish all climate research to avoid those pesky facts, please enjoy this latest report from the good people at USGS (United States Geologic Survey).

14 Million Americans May Sink Within 76 Years

BTW, That estimate is $1 trillion in damages by the end of the century, just for the southeastern coast.

Oh, and for those who wonder why I post so many Yahoo links it is because they have less advertising than the websites the stories come from.