{"id":2089,"date":"2017-12-29T01:39:38","date_gmt":"2017-12-29T01:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/?p=2089"},"modified":"2019-09-21T19:10:09","modified_gmt":"2019-09-21T19:10:09","slug":"science-in-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/science-in-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Science in 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/science-in-2017\/#bbcs\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20171117ff\/20171227-_99298482_p05k3t1s-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" align=\"right\" \/><\/a>It may not be an &#8216;official&#8217; end-of-year custom, but many folks make lists as New Year approaches.<\/p>\n<p>BBC News made a list of eight &#8220;amazing science stories&#8221; of 2017.<\/p>\n<p>I can see how the stories are &#8220;amazing,&#8221; from their viewpoint, and not surprised that they saw a world politics item as scientific. On the other hand, they included one of the &#8216;gravitational wave&#8217; stories, so I won&#8217;t complain.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Being human\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/science-in-2017\/#admiring\">Admiring and Describing God&#8217;s Work<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/science-in-2017\/#change\">Change Happens<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/science-in-2017\/#learning\">Learning<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/science-in-2017\/#little\">&#8220;Little Less than a God&#8221;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/science-in-2017\/#daunting\">Daunting Responsibilities<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>In the news\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/science-in-2017\/#bbcs\">BBC&#8217;s Top Eight &#8216;Science Stories&#8217;<\/a>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/science-in-2017\/#real\">Real Issues<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Knowledge, wisdom, and living among wonders\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/science-in-2017\/#some\">Some Answers, Many Questions.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/science-in-2017\/#few\">A Few More &#8216;Big Deals in Science&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/science-in-2017\/#oops\">Oops<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/science-in-2017\/#grain\">&#8220;&#8230;As a Grain from a Balance&#8230;.&#8221;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h4><a name=\"admiring\"><\/a>Admiring and Describing God&#8217;s Work<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/making-a-universe-why-bother\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20160719ff\/20170127-NGC_3372a-full-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ll be talking about the <s>global cooling<\/s> <s>global warming<\/s> climate change, so I&#8217;d better review why I think it&#8217;s an issue.<\/p>\n<p>Also why I think we should &#8216;do something&#8217; about it \u2014 <strong>after<\/strong> we learn a great deal more.<\/p>\n<p>Some Christians, Catholics included, think Ussher&#8217;s chronology is basically accurate; that this universe is only a few thousand years old. It was pretty good scholarship in the 17th century, given a particular Western worldview. (<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/a-century-of-science\/#nifty\">November 3, 2017<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/exoplanet-frontier\/#God\">June 30, 2017<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ve learned a very great deal since then.<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ve learned that this universe is immense and ancient. Earth is several billion years old. The knowledge doesn&#8217;t bother me a bit. Having an unexpurgated Bible helps, and that&#8217;s another topic. (<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/love-and-science\/#bible\">October 29, 2017<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>I figure God can handle cosmic scale. Even if I didn&#8217;t approve, it wouldn&#8217;t make much difference. God&#8217;s God, I&#8217;m not.<\/p>\n<p>Part of our job is admiring and describing God&#8217;s work. (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/sirach\/17#28017001\">Sirach 17:1<\/a>&#8211;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/sirach\/17#28017014\">14<\/a>; Catechism of the Catholic Church, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/archive\/ccc_css\/archive\/catechism\/p1s2c1p4.htm#283\">283<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/archive\/ccc_css\/archive\/catechism\/p1s2c1p5.htm#341\">341<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Telling the Almighty that it&#8217;s built wrong seems silly, at best.<\/p>\n<h4><a name=\"change\"><\/a>Change Happens<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/climate-change-continues\/#half\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/201508ff\/20150506-Phanerozoic_Climate_Change-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" align=\"right\" \/><\/a>I&#8217;m not particularly worried about the latest &#8216;climate change&#8217; news.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s partly because I&#8217;ve been following that sort of thing for a half-century. After a while, every &#8216;crisis&#8217; starts looking pretty much the same; and as likely as the last to blow over.<\/p>\n<p>That said, think &#8216;climate change&#8217; is real, in the sense that Earth&#8217;s climate is changing. I&#8217;d be astonished if scientists learned that Earth&#8217;s climate <strong>stopped<\/strong> changing.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m interested in what&#8217;s happening on the planet I call home. I also know a bit about what&#8217;s happened before &#8216;now.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ve become accustomed to a &#8220;normal&#8221; climate, with freezing temperatures during temperate zone winters and comparatively low sea levels.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s understandable, since the first of us showed up around the start of Earth&#8217;s current ice age. Which reminds me: I&#8217;m quite sure that Adam and Eve aren&#8217;t German. (<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/the-minden-monster-what-killed-lucy\/#adam\">September 23, 2016<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>The last I checked, most scientists figure we&#8217;re in an interglacial period, a temporary &#8216;warm spell&#8217; before the glaciers return. (<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/antarctic-hot-spots\/#greenhouse\">November 17, 2017<\/a>)<\/p>\n<h4><a name=\"learning\"><\/a>Learning<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/climate-change-whirligig-icebergs\/#once\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20160719ff\/20170116-new-york-city-15000-years-after-people-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" align=\"right\" \/><\/a>Letting that happen would be awkward, since New York and other major cities would be in the way of growing ice sheets.<\/p>\n<p>The good news, I think, is that we probably have centuries \u2014 maybe millennia \u2014 to do something.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m pretty sure we can, particularly since there&#8217;s evidence that we&#8217;ve already inadvertently tweaked Earth&#8217;s thermostat.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;d be more comfortable with any &#8216;climate change&#8217; proposal, if we weren&#8217;t looking at a branch of science that&#8217;s barely a century old.<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ve learned quite a bit: and are learning that there&#8217;s a very great deal left to learn.<\/p>\n<p>Considering the power we wield, knowing what we&#8217;re doing <strong>before<\/strong> making major changes seems prudent.<\/p>\n<h4><a name=\"little\"><\/a>&#8220;Little Less than a God&#8221;<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/trappist-1-water-life\/#belgian\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20160719ff\/20170224-eso1023a-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Even if I hadn&#8217;t been following &#8216;science news&#8217; since my youth, I&#8217;d think we have great power over this world.<\/p>\n<p>Given recent &#8216;lords of creation&#8217; nonsense, I&#8217;d better explain.<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ve known that we&#8217;re hot stuff for a very long time.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;What are humans that you are mindful of them, mere mortals that you care for them?<br \/>\n\u201cYet you have made them little less than a god, crowned them with glory and honor.&#8221;<br \/>\n(<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/psalms\/8#23008005\">Psalms 8:5<\/a>\u2013<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/psalms\/8#23008006\">6<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>We&#8217;re made &#8220;in the image of God&#8221; \u2014 with authority over this world. (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/1#01001026\">Genesis 1:26<\/a>&#8211;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/1#01001028\">28<\/a>; Catechism, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/archive\/ccc_css\/archive\/catechism\/prologue.htm#16\">16<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Limited authority. We don&#8217;t own the place. Our job, part of it, is looking after this world: for our reasoned use and for future generations. (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/2#01002005\">Genesis 2:5<\/a>&#8211;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/2#01002008\">8<\/a>; Catechism, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/archive\/ccc_css\/archive\/catechism\/p1s2c1p5.htm#339\">339<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/archive\/ccc_css\/archive\/catechism\/p1s2c1p6.htm#356\">356<\/a>&#8211;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/archive\/ccc_css\/archive\/catechism\/p1s2c1p6.htm#358\">358<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/archive\/ccc_css\/archive\/catechism\/p3s2c2a7.htm#2402\">2402<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/archive\/ccc_css\/archive\/catechism\/p3s2c2a7.htm#2415\">2415<\/a>&#8211;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/archive\/ccc_css\/archive\/catechism\/p3s2c2a7.htm#2418\">2418<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/archive\/ccc_css\/archive\/catechism\/p3s2c2a7.htm#2456\">2456<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Our position is like a steward&#8217;s or foreman&#8217;s: responsible for maintenance and operation, with authority needed to do the job. God is the owner.<\/p>\n<p>Under the circumstances, our power and responsibility most definitely does not encourage complacent smugness.<\/p>\n<h4><a name=\"daunting\"><\/a>Daunting Responsibilities<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/taking-god-seriously\/#dominion\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20170501ff\/20170525-WeatherControlAnalog-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" align=\"right\" \/><\/a>I&#8217;ve suspected that a sense of our power may be behind the enduring fear that God will smite us if we use the brains God gave us. Or that we&#8217;ll incur the wrath of Mother Nature. (<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/antarctic-hot-spots\/#big\">November 17, 2017<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/polio-zika-and-using-our-brains\/#fear\">August 21, 2016<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/humility-isnt-being-delusional\/#hubris\">July 31, 2016<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Being &#8220;little less than a god&#8221; is scary, at least for those who appreciate what can happen when we misuse our power.<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t see a problem with science, since I think noticing beauty and order in the universe is a good idea. So is learning its natural laws, and using that knowledge: wisely. (Catechism, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/archive\/ccc_css\/archive\/catechism\/prologue.htm#16\">16<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/archive\/ccc_css\/archive\/catechism\/p1s2c1p5.htm#341\">341<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/archive\/ccc_css\/archive\/catechism\/p1s2c1p6.htm#373\">373<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/archive\/ccc_css\/archive\/catechism\/p3s1c1a1.htm#1704\">1704<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/archive\/ccc_css\/archive\/catechism\/p3s1c1a3.htm#1730\">1730<\/a>&#8211;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/archive\/ccc_css\/archive\/catechism\/p3s1c1a3.htm#1731\">1731<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/archive\/ccc_css\/archive\/catechism\/p3s2c2a5.htm#2293\">2293<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Fearing new ideas seems like a bad idea.<\/p>\n<p>So does rushing into overly-enthusiastic experiments. Ideally, Richmann&#8217;s lethal encounter with lightning would have taught scientists, in his generation and all that followed, that following reasonable safety protocols makes sense.<\/p>\n<p>We don&#8217;t live in an ideal world, so two scientists died a few decades back \u2014 after working with a mass of plutonium. (<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/alchemy-science-life-and-health\/#metalline\">October 16, 2016<\/a>)<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h4><a name=\"bbcs\"><\/a>BBC&#8217;s Top Eight &#8216;Science Stories&#8217;<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/science-environment-41972289\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20171117ff\/20171227-_99298482_p05k3t1s-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\">(From PA, via BBC News, used w\/o permission.)<\/span><br \/>\n(&#8220;Artist&#8217;s impression of two neutron stars colliding&#8221;<br \/>\n(BBC News))<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/science-environment-41972289\">Eight amazing science stories of 2017<\/a>&#8221;<br \/>\n(December 25, 2017)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>It was a year of endings and beginnings: the plucky Cassini spacecraft&#8217;s 13-year-long mission reached its finale, while the fledgling field of gravitational wave astronomy bagged the catastrophic collision of two dead stars.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;BBC News looks back on eight of the biggest science and environment stories of 2017&#8230;.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>One of the &#8220;environment&#8221; stories is more political than scientific.<\/p>\n<p>Inevitable, I suppose, given the remarkable devotion to a particular view that most traditional media exhibits.<\/p>\n<p>America withdrawing from the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Paris_Agreement\">Paris climate agreement<\/a> is significant, particularly for folks following United Nations news. There is a &#8216;science&#8217; angle to the story, since the Paris agreement depends on belief in a particular analysis of some climate data.<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s been other interesting &#8216;environment&#8217; news, too. Some may be significant. A few items involve the Paris agreement, but don&#8217;t encourage blind faith in it. (<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/sane-environmentalism\/#trustworthy\">August 11, 2017<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/antarctic-hot-spots\/#global\">November 17, 2017<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/pollution-still-learning\/\">February 17, 2017<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Other than including a piece that&#8217;s much more politics than science, I think the BBC News editors did a pretty good job with their &#8216;top eight&#8217; list:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Star crash<\/li>\n<li>Cassini&#8217;s final bow<\/li>\n<li>Paris pull-out<\/li>\n<li>Multiple &#8220;Earths&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Recent relative<\/li>\n<li>Dark skies<\/li>\n<li>Visitor from beyond<\/li>\n<li>Giant iceberg<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>I generally don&#8217;t make lists: mostly because it&#8217;s hard to see what will be most important as time passes, or pick one or two categories. Besides, it would take time. I&#8217;m almost always looking at what&#8217;s happening &#8216;now&#8217; and what may be coming.<\/p>\n<p>But since I see one of the BBC News &#8216;science&#8217; stories was mostly political, I figured I should suggest a few alternatives. That comes later.<\/p>\n<h4><a name=\"real\"><\/a>Real Issues<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/climate-change-attitudes\/#lords\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/201508ff\/20151202-151129150139-13-global-climate-march-gettyimages-penguins-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" align=\"right\" \/><\/a>About items 3 and 8, &#8220;Paris pull-out&#8221; and &#8220;Giant iceberg,&#8221; I&#8217;m as concerned about environmental issues as I was in the 1960s.<\/p>\n<p>I thought fouling the air and water we need was a bad idea then, and still do. My opinion of activism&#8217;s lunatic fringe hasn&#8217;t changed much either.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve become interested in what&#8217;s currently called &#8220;climate change.&#8221; The coming ice age was more of a science geek thing in my youth: fun, but not significant. (<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/climate-change-continues\/#coming\">January 20, 2017<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>I see collecting and analyzing data about Earth&#8217;s climate as a good idea. Acting on part of what we&#8217;re learning, not so much.<\/p>\n<p>Thinking we should take good care of this world isn&#8217;t even even close to being in a blind panic over the crisis du jour, or denying that problems exist.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/sane-environmentalism\/#dead\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20170721ff\/20170807-_88562939_bertacaceres-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" align=\"right\" \/><\/a>I have some respect for folks who take a deep breath and <strong>think<\/strong> before acting, or whose &#8216;environmental activism&#8217; includes other concerns.<\/p>\n<p>Berta Caceres&#8217;s main concern was defending the culture and rights of Lenca.<\/p>\n<p>She insisted that folks who owned and lived on land should be consulted before it was used as a site for power plants. That resulted in her being called an environmental activist, and got her killed. (<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/sane-environmentalism\/#dead\">August 11, 2017<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Any &#8216;top&#8217; list tends to be subjective. Even those involving strictly quantifiable information. Someone decides the subject and criteria.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h4><a name=\"some\"><\/a>Some Answers, Many Questions<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/ligovirgo-another-first\/#gw170817\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20171019ff\/20171019-_98347444_1-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" align=\"right\" \/><\/a>I&#8217;d have picked the whole gravitational astronomy field as a &#8216;top&#8217; item.<\/p>\n<p>Three scientists won the year&#8217;s Nobel prize in physics for the first solid detection. That&#8217;s huge news for folks interested in astronomy and physics.<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ve detected more gravitational wave events since then, including a set from colliding neutron stars.<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;re learning that some models for colliding objects were a pretty good fit with observations. We&#8217;re also collecting an intriguing number of new questions, which is just as satisfying. Maybe more.<\/p>\n<p>Quite a few folks, scientists included, realize that we don&#8217;t know everything. I think finding new questions is at least as important as answering old ones.<\/p>\n<p>We won&#8217;t learn what the rest of what this wonder-filled universe holds, if we don&#8217;t know what we&#8217;re looking for. Or at least have a clue.<\/p>\n<p>I think our first &#8216;look&#8217; at the gravitational wave spectrum is on a par with Galileo&#8217;s telescope. (<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/ligovirgo-another-first\/#gw170817\">October 20, 2017<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/einsteins-waves-new-views\/#nobel\">October 3, 2017<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/new-worlds-the-search-continues\/#galileo\">June 2, 2017<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/new-worlds-the-search-continues\/#galileo\">June 2, 2017<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>In importance, anyway. We still can&#8217;t get gravitational wave &#8216;images.&#8217; I&#8217;m mildly surprised that I haven&#8217;t found any discussion of how to make that work. Not informed ones, at any rate. I suppose it&#8217;s early days. Just detecting gravitational waves has been a challenge.<\/p>\n<h4><a name=\"few\"><\/a>A Few More &#8216;Big Deals in Science&#8217;<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/a-century-of-science\/#living\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20171019ff\/100YearsOfScience-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" align=\"right\" \/><\/a>There&#8217;s no shortage of candidates for &#8216;top science stories&#8217; lists. Quite a bit has happened in the last year.<\/p>\n<p>In the last century, for that matter. (<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/a-century-of-science\/\">November 3, 2017<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Some developments will be more significant that others. Folks living a few centuries from now will almost certainly put the first gravitational wave observatories in their &#8216;top&#8217; lists.<\/p>\n<p>Recent <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Quantum_entanglement\">quantum entanglement<\/a> research may or may not be as important as efforts to detect luminiferous aether with Michelson-Morley interferometers. (<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/einsteins-waves-new-views\/#michelson\">October 6, 2017<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>What we&#8217;ve learned by December 31, 2517 will help sort out what&#8217;s significant and what&#8217;s not so much in my &#8216;big deals in science, 2017&#8217; list:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Antarctic hotspots<br \/>\n(<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/antarctic-hot-spots\/\">November 17, 2017<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Earliest life found: twice, maybe<br \/>\n(PNAS <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/early\/2017\/12\/12\/1718063115.abstract\">November 17, 2017<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/earliest-life-maybe\/#oldest\">March 10, 2017<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Eight planets found circling another star<br \/>\n(<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/science-environment-42356305\">Kepler 90<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Fast radio bursts: artificial origin suggested<br \/>\n(<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/fast-radio-bursts\/\">March 17, 2017<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Odd variability of Tabby&#8217;s star: Dyson swarm suggested as an explanation<br \/>\n(<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/new-worlds-the-search-continues\/#maybe\">June 2, 2017<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/kic-8462852-and-strange-stars\/\">December 2, 2016<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><a name=\"oops\"><\/a>Oops<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/1947_Cape_Sable_hurricane\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20171117ff\/20171228-1947_Atlantic_hurricane_8_track-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" align=\"right\" \/><\/a>Weather modification was a very promising field from the 1940s to early 1970s. Expecting an end of droughts and destructive storms wasn&#8217;t unreasonable.<\/p>\n<p>There were setbacks, of course, including a modified hurricane making a U-turn.<\/p>\n<p>Scientists were allowed to issue warnings, so only one person died. It&#8217;s one too many, but the death toll could have been much higher. That was in 1947. (<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/veterans-day-2017\/#like\">November 10, 2017<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Learning that commoners won&#8217;t panic if told there&#8217;s danger coming didn&#8217;t quite sink in, though. It took a remarkably lethal tornado outbreak in 1953 for the Weather Service to get reorganized \u2014 with new rules. We do learn. Slowly. (<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/sane-environmentalism\/#stormy\">August 11, 2017<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>The 1947 hurricane test may not have made the storm turn around. A recent analysis suggests that the altered parts of the storm may not have stayed altered long enough to make a difference. As I keep saying, we&#8217;re still learning.<\/p>\n<p>I haven&#8217;t heard of any weather modification experiments on more than a very small scale, or in remote locations, since 1972. That&#8217;s when the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences tested a newish technique on a storm in the Upper Midwest.<\/p>\n<p>The storm then destroyed part of a Rapid City, South Dakota, suburb. About 238 folks were killed. Some bodies were never recovered.<\/p>\n<p>American courts eventually decided that there wasn&#8217;t enough evidence to prove legal responsibility, but scientists got <strong>very<\/strong> careful after that. (<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/climate-change-whirligig-icebergs\/#weather\">May 26, 2017<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>I think we will, eventually, learn to control weather on a regional and global scale. We&#8217;ll also be deciding what we think Earth&#8217;s &#8216;normal&#8217; climates should be.<\/p>\n<p>But since we&#8217;re living in the only currently available place for field experiments, I think we should learn a great deal more before the first test.<\/p>\n<h4><a name=\"grain\"><\/a>&#8220;&#8230;As a Grain from a Balance&#8230;.&#8221;<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/making-a-universe-why-bother\/#developing\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20130220ff\/20150725-hs-2007-04-a-full_jpg-AsAGrain-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/swatting-fast-flies\/#science\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20130220ff\/ggmain20140113-detail-w-cprt.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" align=\"right\" \/><\/a>The lesson from weather modification experiments and taking shortcuts while handling plutonium is not, I think, that we must shun tampering with &#8216;things man was not supposed to know.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>No matter how much we learn, I&#8217;m certain that we won&#8217;t learn &#8216;too much.&#8217; I don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s possible, or that we&#8217;ll run out of new puzzles.<\/p>\n<p>God&#8217;s universe is vast and ancient, and keeps looking bigger and older as we learn more.<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;re born with a thirst for knowledge, and live in a wonder-filled universe. Using what we learn wisely is important. So is seeking knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>More science in 2017:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/science-faith-and-me\/\">Visitor from the Stars<\/a>&#8221;<br \/>\n(November 5, 2017)<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/ligovirgo-another-first\/\">LIGO\/Virgo: Another First<\/a>&#8221;<br \/>\n(October 20, 2017)<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/editing-genes-ethically\/\">Editing Genes, Ethically<\/a>&#8221;<br \/>\n(August 18, 2017)<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/climate-change-attitudes\/\">Climate Change, Attitudes<\/a>&#8221;<br \/>\n(July 14, 2017)<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/earliest-life-maybe\/\">Earliest Life: Maybe<\/a>&#8221;<br \/>\n(March 10, 2017)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It may not be an &#8216;official&#8217; end-of-year custom, but many folks make lists as New Year approaches. BBC News made a list of eight &#8220;amazing science stories&#8221; of 2017. I can see how the stories are &#8220;amazing,&#8221; from their viewpoint, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/science-in-2017\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[38,133,50,189,22,51],"class_list":["post-2089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science-news","tag-astronomy","tag-climate","tag-environmental-issues","tag-knowledge","tag-science","tag-stewardship"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Dwtw-xH","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2089"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2744,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2089\/revisions\/2744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}