Jul 31, 2017 Electricity moves the Universe. “To try to write a grand cosmical drama leads necessarily to myth. To try to let knowledge substitute ignorance in increasingly larger regions of space and time is science.” — Hannes Alfvén The movement of electric charge through plasma-state material generates electromagnetic…
Jul 28, 2017 Titan could be a youthful object. The wine of youth does not always clear with advancing years; sometimes it grows turbid. — Carl Jung Planetary scientists maintain that Titan’s nitrogen and methane atmosphere must be constantly replenished, because ultraviolet light from the distant Sun dissociates gas molecules….
July 27, 2017 Since 1962, 22 different space missions have visited the planet Venus. On December 14, 1962 Mariner 2 flew by the planet, using a pair of radiometers to find that Venus is cool at the cloud tops and hot at the surface. Venus has had the largest…
Jul 26, 2017 Where do comets come from? The Nebular Hypothesis proposes that the Solar System was born when a cloud of gases and dust shrank to the point where compression started a nuclear chain reaction, giving birth to the Sun, along with an accretion disc circling its equatorial plane….
Aug 25, 2017 Picture of the Day articles argue for electrical interpretations. Every science journal describes the formation of nebulae like NGC 6960, the Veil Nebula, as due to “blowing winds” created by shock waves from exploding stars. Nebulae are often described as “star factories”, because consensus astronomers think…
Jul 24, 2017 Electric Universe theory does not depend on something undetectable. “Space is filled with a network of currents which transfer energy and momentum over large or very large distances. The currents often pinch to filamentary or surface currents. The latter are likely to give space, as also…
Jul 21, 2017 Birkeland current filaments carry electric charge through space. When matter in the plasma state moves through clouds of dust and gas, they become ionized, creating electric fields and movement of electric charge. Electricity forms magnetic fields that tend to align and constrict the charge flow. Those…
Jul 20, 2017 Impact features are probably something else. Mare Orientale is located on the Moon’s rim, as seen from Earth, making it difficult to see with Earth-based telescopes. The Mare is almost a complete concentric ring structure with a surrounding basin of regolith. It is bounded inwardly by…
Jul 18, 2017 Think of the scientific method as the methodical application of human cognitive abilities. Everyone uses cognition to some extent; scientists use it methodically. It works through the interplay of three activities: observing or experiencing or paying close attention to some particularly interesting thing or event; thinking…
Jul 17, 2017 Electricity influences Saturn’s environment. The picture at the top of the page could be mistaken for recent images of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot. However, the swirling vortex is actually located in the center of Saturn’s vast, hexagonal north polar formation. Hexagons and other polygons can sometimes occur…
