This Engine Earth

The physical world is a fascinating place open to study through science and scientific methodology. What science reveals is rarely an answer and never an absolute. Rather, it is a journey of accumulated knowledge that often asks more questions than it can possibly answer. I think that's the joy of science, very much akin to the freedom and curiosity of the open road and no destination. That bring me to our home planet and its enormous complexity that we are only beginning to understand. It also brings me to the study of climatology, to climate change, and to some very good lessons about truth, a value that is beyond the scope of science but an essential ingredient in scientific understanding.

A good illustration of the contents of the paragraph above appeared in a recent NASA news release. The story explores a totally unexpected observation in the earth's thermosphere, the largest layer - a very active one - of our atmosphere. Like everything in our world, the thermosphere has its cycles. Historically, low solar cycles coincide with a shrinkage of the thermosphere, but something happened during this last low cycle. The thermosphere collapsed to its lowest point in 43 years of observation. Obviously, there is a new variable at work. Scientists may have part of the answer, but the rest of the story is a bigger question. Read more about it here.

Thanks to spaceweather.com for the tip.