scottcgruber

Scott C Gruber is many things: a web producer by trade, as well as a huge science and technology nerd, an aspiring speculative fiction writer, a husband and father, and a proud skeptic.

Among his topics of interest are envronmental science, evolution, astronomy and space exploration, linguistics, and technology. Appalled by the volume of magical thinking, conspiracy theorism, and overall poor logic in much online writing, Scott prefers to tackle his subject matter with a skeptical eye and a fact-based approach.

In the Spotlight

What Was The Cambrian Explosion?

Over the 45 million years making up the Cambrian period, animal life evolved rapidly - from simple bottom-dwelling crawlers and burrowers to very complex life forms with skeletons, shells, eyes, and body plans that appear to have been the Continue »

In the Spotlight

The Domesticated Silver Fox

The animals we have domesticated for our farms and homes are very different from their wild brethren, both physically and genetically. However, the actual process of domestication - how our ancestors tamed the wild species thousands of years ago Continue »

In the Spotlight

How Does Homeopathy Work

Homeopathy was first invented in the late 18th Century by German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Two centuries later, the effectiveness of his homeopathic principles has yet to be proven.

In the Spotlight

The Banana: Proof of Intelligent Design

A staple food of millions of people around the world, the banana and its relative the plantain seem almost too good to be true. The banana is almost tailor-made for human consumption - Continue »

In the Spotlight

Living On Mars Time

One Martian day is 24.62 hours long - about 39 minutes longer than an Earth day. While this small time difference doesn't seem like very much, it can cause some significant difficulties when timing communications with a robotic mission to the Red Planet Continue »

In the Spotlight

Why Do Thunderstorms Form?

The thunderstorm is a fascinating and occasionally frightening display of the power of nature, able to generate torrential rain, damaging wind, and flux-capacitor powering lightning. Over human history, cultures have usually invented deities to Continue »

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  owlcation.com

  What Are Contrails?

  2 years ago

  Since the dawn of the aviation age, a new type of cloud has been appearing in our skies. Contrails, or condensation trails, are clouds that form in the wake of a passing aircraft at high altitude.

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  Social Psychology

  Why Do Bad Things Happen In Threes?

  4 years ago

  From natural disasters to celebrity deaths to household mishaps, it seems like tragedies always happen in sets of three. Why is this? Is it a simple coincidence, or a cosmic conspiracy?

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  Stars & Constellations

  Light Pollution: Our Vanishing Night Skies

  5 years ago

  For hundreds of thousands of years humans have looked to the night sky for navigation, timekeeping, and mythology - tracing out intricate constellations from the night's brightest stars. Today, even the brightest stars in our constellations are washed out by the orange night sky.

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  Evolution

  What Was The Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA)

  6 years ago

  The Theory of Evolution predicts that all life descended from a single common ancestor. In the metaphor of the Tree of Life, this organism represents the trunk from which emerged the three branches of all life on Earth. Scientists studying the origins of life refer to this hypothetical organism as...

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  Evolution

  Examples of Living Fossils

  6 years ago

  The Theory of Evolution predicts that living things will change over time, and the fossil record clearly shows that life on Earth has undergone a long history of gradual change. However, there have been some plants and animals that were so well-adapted to their environments that they have remained...

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  owlcation.com

  When Is the Age of Aquarius?

  13 months ago

  The dawning of Age of Aquarius is more than just a lyric from a 1970s musical. It is a very real astronomical phenomenon that will occur in the not too distant future. To understand when this new age will occur requires a bit of understanding of the constellations of the Zodiac, as well as the...

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  Our Solar System

  What Causes Twilight: The Physics of the Blue Hour

  4 years ago

  Twilight, the period of time just before sunrise and just after sunset, is probably best known for the stunning visual quality it brings to travel guide photos, dramatic movie establishing shots, and romantic walks on the beach. However, there is also some very interesting astrophysical science...

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  The Moon

  Tidal Locking: Why We Never See the Dark Side of the Moon

  7 years ago

  The Earth's moon always shows us the same face, no matter where it lies in its 27.3-day orbit of our planet. This orbital trait can seem mysterious at first, but there is nothing mysterious or even unusual about the Moon's rotation - or apparent lack thereof. This is explained by a process known as...

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  Evolution

  The London Underground Mosquito: Evolution In Action

  6 years ago

  One of the most interesting examples of evolution of a new species in recent history comes from a rather infuriating creature: The London Underground mosquito.