I just watched a lecture that Neil deGrasse Tyson did at the University of Washington back in May entitled “Adventures of an Astrophysicist”. It was so good. Neil deGrasse Tyson is so good at explaining science and making it exciting. I try to watch and read everything he does. It’s all so great.

From time to time I ask people when they think Earth is closest to the Sun. They almost always say in the summer. That isn’t true. We are furthest from the Sun in the summer (in the northern hemisphere), and closest in January. I never really knew when we were the furthest, but thanks to Phil Plait, I know that day is today, and it’s called aphelion. Perihelion is when the Earth is closest to the Sun, and it’s in early January with aphelion happening six months later.

Many people don’t realize that our seasons are caused by the tilt of the earth, not by the distance from the sun. That is why the southern hemisphere has just the opposite seasons. It’s a pretty basic fact that if a person just stops and thinks about it for a bit, make perfect sense, yet people often miss it. And now you shouldn’t.

So the nonsense that cellphones can cause cancer is all over the news again. Headline writers drive me crazy. They sensationalize everything so much that often times the headlines say the exact opposite of what the the articles say.

The WHO didn’t say cellphones can cause cancer. They just categorized them in the “possibly” category, which just means more research is needed. There really isn’t any evidence that shows any dangers, but more studies are always good and maybe someday this can be put to rest. Other things that are in the same category are gasoline, pickled vegetables, and coffee, so I wouldn’t be too worried. Here is a great article about the categories and what they really mean.

Cellphone use microwaves, which are non-ionizing and cannot cause biological damage. They can cause heat though, but really can’t cook your brain. Your microwave oven probably puts out 1000 watts of energy to heat up your food. Your cell phone puts out about 1 watt. It would be like cooking a turkey by blowing on it. I’ve also heard that hats heat up your brain more than a cellphone would.

I’m sure it will come up this weekend when I am with my Mom. She swears that I am putting my life at risk by carrying my phone in my pocket. I’m sure she thinks smoking is safer than cellphones.

If you are reading this, SURPRISE!, the Earth didn’t end yesterday. When are people going to stop getting their science from the Bible? Probably not in my lifetime I am guessing.

In reality the Earth probably has 5 billion or so years left. It’s demise will more than likely occur when the Sun reaches it’s red giant phase, and it’s radius will be extend into Earth’s orbit. Humans will be long gone way before that though. As the Earth gradually heats we will probably evolve into other life forms that can deal with the elements until eventually all the water evaporates and the elements become to harsh for any life forms to live.

Personally I’m not too worried. If lucky I only got 50 or so years left, and in 150 years everyone I ever knew will be gone too. The atoms that make up my body will probably make up many more things before they go back to where they came from, a star.

That reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Lawrence Krauss.

“Every atom in your body came from a star that exploded. And, the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. It really is the most poetic thing I know about physics: You are all stardust. You couldn’t be here if stars hadn’t exploded, because the elements – the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron, all the things that matter for evolution and for life – weren’t created at the beginning of time. They were created in the nuclear furnaces of stars, and the only way for them to get into your body is if those stars were kind enough to explode. So, forget Jesus. The stars died so that you could be here today.” – Lawrence Krauss

Since the horrible disaster in Japan I have been reading and learning a lot about nuclear power plants. I am a big fan of nuclear power. It is much cleaner, safer, and even releases less radiation than coal plants. Sadly there seems to be a fear of nuclear power, probably due to the lack of knowledge about them.

While the Fukushima nuclear power plant is in tough shape, we are in no threat of a nuclear explosion, and minimal nuclear material has been released. There have been three explosions so far, but they were hydrogen explosion, NOT nuclear. Instead of rehashing all the details, here are a few articles that I found great and informative.

For more information about nuclear plants boingboing has a great article.

Phil Plait has a great article about the disaster on his Bad Astronomy blog.

Evelyn Mervine of Skepchick.org has a great three part, so far, interview with her Dad, who is a nuclear engineer. It’s a great listen to get some real facts from someone who actually knows what they are talking about.

It would be nice if people would look at how well this plant, which is 40 years old, is handling this disaster. Sure things aren’t good, but for the most part the built in safety features are working despite the tsunami knocking out their backup generators. In reality this will probably spread more fear about nuclear power. There is already a fraudulent map going around that clams fallout from this disaster will make it to the US. It’s always annoying how fast the fearful alarmist information that isn’t based on facts or reality spreads, while the real facts are often hard to find.