Science Heathen

What Is A Meteor Shower? Why Do Meteor Showers Occur? — Causes, Mechanisms, Naming, & History

January 14, 2015 in Space

What is a meteor shower exactly? Why do meteor showers occur? What are the best dates, times, and places to watch them? How are they named?

All good questions — and ones that this article will address. With an overview to be given to the modern history of the science that’s behind our current understanding of the phenomena, the mechanisms and causes behind the appearance of meteor showers in the skies, and the system of naming that the modern names are determined by.

As well as, perhaps most importantly, an overview of the (generally) best times, dates, and places to observe them at/from. Enjoy.

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Tags: constellations, Draconids, Leonids, meteor shower, Meteor shower science, meteor showers dates and times, Meteor showers names, meteors, meteors showers, perseids, what causes meteor showers, what is a meteor showers
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Bili Apes — Giant Lion-Eating Chimp (Chimpanzee) Subspecies

January 11, 2015 in Animals & Insects, Humans

Off in one of the few remaining relatively primeval natural environments of the world — the Bili Forest of the far-northern portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo — lives a band of very large chimpanzees that possess a number of very strange qualities and behaviors.

The local folk-stories of the surrounding region make note of massive ape-like creatures that kill and hunt lions, catch fish, and — the stories go — howl at the moon. With many local hunters mentioning an animal that looks something like a cross between a chimpanzee and a gorilla — an animal that apparently, according to the stories, is unaffected by poison darts, as the other apes are.

While you may be now making the assumption that such stories can’t possibly be true, you’d actually be wrong — a fair amount of research has gone into this subspecies of chimpanzee over the last few decades, and there is apparently quite a lot of truth to the stories.

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Tags: apes, Bili Apes, Bili Forest, bush-meat, bushmeat, camera traps, chimpanzees, chimps, Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC, giant chimpanzees, giant chimps, lion-eating chimpanzees, lion-eating chimps, Lukuru Foundation, poaching
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Desertification Effects, Causes, And Examples : Top 10 List

January 5, 2015 in Animals & Insects, Geology & Climate, Humans, Plants

Desertification is a process of land-degradation by which a region becomes progressively drier and drier — eventually becoming desert. Or, to put it another way — desertification is the process by which previously biologically productive land is transformed into wasteland.

There’s actually currently something of a debate over the use of the term though. As it stands, the most widely accepted definition is probably the one that’s now printed in the Princeton University Dictionary — which defines it this way: “The process of fertile land transforming into desert typically as a result of deforestation, drought, or improper/inappropriate agriculture”

There are a number of different causes/mechanisms behind the process, such as deflation (the loss of stabilizing vegetation, and of top soil); erosion; and soil-salinity-rise (via irrigation mostly). Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Afri tribe, Agriculture, Carthage, Crete, deflation, deforestation, Desertification, desertification causes, desertification civilizational collapse, desertification deforestation, desertification effects, desertification examples, Egypt, Extinction, famine, Greek Dark Ages, Harappan civilization, Horqin Sandy Land China, Indus Valley civilization, late Bronze Age Collapse, Lesvos Greece, Mycenaean palatial civilization, Overgrazing, Ozymandias, Roman Empire, Sea Peoples, Soil erosion, Völkerwanderung
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What Is The Scientific Method? Definition, Criticisms, And Steps

May 21, 2014 in Humans

What is the scientific method? Why do people believe in the ideas that “science” puts forward?

The scientific method is a system that attempts to separate the bias of being an observer from the observation — letting ‘reality’ show itself in the simplest possible way. The primary steps of which are: systematic and repeatable observation, exact measurements, experiments, and the invention of and repeated (ideally, nearly endless) testing of theories.

It’s a method of investigation based on what’s termed empirical and measurable evidence. Empirical essentially meaning what can be observed with the senses; and measurable meaning what can be repeatedly quantified in a standardized way.

The essential purpose of science is the creation of theories or ‘hypotheses’ that can consistently and reliably explain or reproduce observed phenomena. The scientific method is the method of creating these reliable and reproducible theories.
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Tags: criticisms of science, Science, scientific method, scientific method criticisms, scientific method definition, scientific method steps, what is the scientific method?
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Deep Sea Fish — Black Dragonfish, Long-Nosed Chimaera, Blobfish, Hatchet Fish, Giant Oarfish, Barreleye Fish, Sloane’s Viperfish, Etc

May 18, 2014 in Animals & Insects

Deep-sea fish are some of the most interesting types of animals on the planet, and yet there isn’t really all that much known about many of them. And, for that matter, they haven’t really worked their way into the public imagination in the same way that most land animals, and large sea-surface-living species have. This article seeks to remedy that — detailing some of the most interesting species, as well as providing beautiful(!?) images of these species.

For more information and images, see: Deep Sea Animals & Life — Fundamental Patterns, Convergent Evolution, & Other Worlds

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Tags: barreleye fish, black dragonfish, blobfish, deep sea, deep sea fish pictures, Deep-sea fish, frilled shark, Giant oarfish, hatchet fish, long- nosed chimaera, oarfish, Sloane's viperfish, weird fish
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