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Headlines about an "eyeball planet" got my attention last month. Then I got distracted by what I thought were more time-sensitive topics — and remembered what two scientists learned when they simulated ocean currents and winds on a tidally-locked exoplanet. That last item was from 2013. It's still the best discussion I've seen of what an "eyeball planet" might actually look like. Turns out that a patch of open ocean on a tidally locked exoplanet's ocean wouldn't necessarily be circular. But I'll admit that "eyeball planet" is a cool description. And may be easier to remember than terms like "lobster-like spatial pattern". So this week I'll be talking about LHS 1140 b, which may not be an "eyeball planet" after all, ocean planet simulations; and — briefly, for me — how I see extraterrestrial life. LHS 1140 b: Water, With Nitrogen in the Atmosphere — Maybe Tidally Locked Ocean Planets: Simple, and Not-So-Si...

Folks living in the Caribbean, Yucatan Peninsula, and south Texas are cleaning up after Hurricane Beryl. Some are also mourning those who didn't survive the storm. I haven't been personally affected by Beryl, although my in-laws are in Louisiana, next state over. They seem to have been away from the worst weather, for which I'm grateful. This week I'll take a quick look at what happened, what the storm doesn't mean, and — as usual — whatever else comes to mind. Death, Destruction, and a Power Outage Disasters and Focused Wrath: No Noticeable Correlation The Siloam Reminder Perspectives It's a Changing World Days, Millennia, and Planning Ahead More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Beryl stopped being a hurricane July 8, 2024. By then it had broken several records. I look at Beryl, and what we are learning about tropical cyclones.)

When I saw "epic importance" and "fossils" in the same headline, I figured whatever'd been found would be at least somewhat out of the ordinary. I've learned to take journalistic puffery with at least a few grains of salt. But this time, the fossils really were something important: exceptionally well-preserved samples from a 470,000,000 year old biome. "Epic Importance", Fabulous Fossils, and a Calamitous Crisis Down a Rabbit Hole — — And Out again Welcome to the Cabrières Biota Lobsters Do It, Maybe Trilobites Did It Lobopodians and Other Seriously Weird Critters Cabrières Biota Fossils: What's the Big Deal? Heraclitus and Life in a Changing World Ordovician Climate and Getting a Grip Two Biota and Increasing Diversity Gradual Cooling, Occasional Meteor Showers, and an Ice Age Living in a Vast and Ancient Universe ... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Almost 400 fossils will show how life worked in a polar bio...

Monday, I wondered what I was going to write about this week. Then I read that scientists found methane and carbon dioxide in a not-really-Earth-like planet's atmosphere — and saw a silly headline or two.... ...Anyway, K2-18's atmosphere is mostly on hold for now. Instead, I'll talk about (alleged) space alien bodies, Nazca Lines and (human) mummies. And I'll take a look at NASA's UAP report. A quick look. It's been one of those weeks. Nice Weather, a Drought, and Me "Two mummified alien corpses..." ??? "Experts", Extraterrestrials, and Exclamation Marks "Nazca Mummies" and — — The Skull of Doom Speculation and the Nazca Lines K2-18b: Carbon Dioxide, Methane, and — Plankton?! Existing UAP Reports: Acknowledging Possibilities Attitudes Questions More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (My take on science news this week: allegedly alien mummies, K2-18b and organic gasses, a NASA UAP report. Unwarranted ass...

Folks living in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, are not having a good time. The last I checked, the Northwest Territories capital was being evacuated. Understandably, since there’s less than a mile of open water between Yellowknife and one of Canada’s wildfires. Since Yellowknife has been in the news, and I knew next to nothing about the place, I did a little checking and took a quick virtual trip to the Northwest Territories’ capital. I'll be talking about something else for next week's post, so what I found gets a once-over-lightly treatment.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Canadian wildfires and folks living in Yellowknife, capital of Northwest Territories: and a remarkable house. Also a cursory glance at crazy rumors.)

It's been a year since I wrote about the Mars 2020 mission. This seemed like a good time to catch up on what the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter have been up to in Jezero Crater. The Ingenuity helicopter has been scouting ahead, giving folks back on Earth up-close aerial views of places the Perseverance rover will be visiting. It was a test vehicle for powered flight on Mars, so it wasn't loaded with a great many sensors.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . Studying Mars: Ancient Egypt, Schiaparelli and Lowell. Perseverance in Jezero Crater. Martian weather and climate: and maybe ice ages.

Glancing at my news feed this month, I've noticed that Europe is burning, California is ablaze, and Alaska has caught fire. All because of climate change.... ...Blazing California suburbs have been routine summer news for decades. European and Alaskan wildfires, not so much. I'll grant that this has been an unusually fire-prone year. On the other hand, I won't "trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries" over the doom and gloom presumably facing us all. Trying to pretend that Earth’s climate doesn't change — or shouldn't, at any rate — doesn't make any more sense than jumping on the gloom wagon. Not to me. Neither does believing that we're in the secular equivalent of End Times. More at A Catholic Citizen in America . Climate change happens. So does sound and fury. Headlines, a good idea or two, the Little Ice Age and a crisis at the dawn of civilization: maybe.

(Drought conditions in Minnesota. (July 6, 2021)) My part of Stearns County, Minnesota, had moderate drought back in mid-June. This week's map promoted us to severe drought. Maybe the map's drought data included the 38 hundredths of an inch we got on Tuesday. But I doubt it. More at A Catholic Citizen in America — Annual average temperatures, 1895-2016; trends — and a silly suggestion: linking Starbucks and global warming. (Nota bene — It's a joke!)

I've been enjoying this week's bright blue skies and sunshine. I'd have been enjoying them more, if I hadn't been recovering from my second COVID-19 shot. And if our skies hadn't been quite so consistently clear. Sunshine's fine, but we need rain. On the 'up' side, my body's response to the mRNA vaccine could have been much worse. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

This week hasn't been a good time for India. Statistics say Tuesday was their worst day yet for COVID-19 pandemic deaths. It's also when the worst cyclone of recorded so far hit India's west coast. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Finding stone tools isn't remarkable. Folks have been making, and occasionally losing, tools for a long time. Scientists think folks upgraded their tech to deal with a changing climate. Or maybe someone else who had done so moved in.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Scientists figure a comet started breaking up about 12,800 years back. Nothing unusual there. Many comets break up while they're this close to our sun. This time Earth got in the way before the fragments spread out much. Fire rained from the sky, consuming forest and meadow alike. Sounds a bit like Genesis 19:1 , now that I think of it. Except we didn't start building cities until a few millennia later. Or maybe we haven't found our first cities yet. And that's another topic or two.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

It may not be an 'official' end-of-year custom, but many folks make lists as New Year approaches. BBC News made a list of eight "amazing science stories" of 2017. I can see how the stories are "amazing," from their viewpoint, and not surprised that they saw a world politics item as scientific. On the other hand, they included one of the 'gravitational wave' stories, so I won't complain. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Some scientists say there'll be more carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere this year. They may be right. I think the information's interesting, and may be meaningful. But I'm pretty sure this isn't a portent of doom. Neither is a new and more detailed map of Antarctica's bedrock temperatures. I'll be talking about that, the Halley VI base getting back in operation: and why I think we should keep learning about how Earth's climate works. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .