Even Mayans say to ignore 2012
In the mid 1800s, European and American explorers found great ruins overrun by vegetation in the rainforests of Central America.

Here’s what to look for in a new telescope
Our Planetarium program in November is “Sky Exploring with Telescopes” shown today, Nov. 8, Nov. 15 and Nov. 29 at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.

How far away, and how big are clouds?
Two weeks ago I wrote a column on the majesty of our clouds that often show a great variety of shapes and forms over a few days.

Here are some tips for beginning star gazers
Our October Planetarium program deals what you can learn about the heavens with your eye alone.

Check out the majesty of the clouds
There are some wonderful books in the libraries and book stores showing fantastic pictures of the natural beauty of our parks, splendors around the world and entrancing pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope

Galileo’s 'scope still good bargain
his year is the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s remarkable telescopic discoveries.

Here are suggestions for U.S. health care
As I write this column, it seems apparent that changes in U.S. health care by the Congress will be small and not make much of an impact to the key problems of increasing cost and the millions of people who can’t afford minimal health care.

Meat eaters waste energy
Each American consumes about 1 million kilocalories or diet calories per year.

How would we look to people out in space?
Most telescope guides describe how the bright planets appear in our skies, both by eye and through a telescope.

FSU’s Starlab to visit schools
The author of this column will be visiting Allegany County schools starting this coming Friday.

What would we do without government?
If any objective observer were to make out a list of things that causes the most aggravation, drives people to write hostile letters, make angry comments to others and raises their blood pressure, what would be near the top?

Here’s how to become at ease with numbers
In my last Sunday’s column, there were some suggestions offered on how students could practice note taking (of television news shows), do more writing on a regular basis and slowly increase the amount of reading they do each day.

It’s time to get your brain ready for school
Through the vacation months, most varsity and want-to-be varsity athletes have been running, lifting and using exercise machines.

Here are the risks and benefits of cell phones
When stopped at a red light in my car, I often look around to see the other drivers

Here’s another view of U.S. health care costs
As I am writing this column, getting some kind of new health care bill through Congress seems uncertain, despite popular support.

U.S. car makers need to take new direction
Here are some stubborn realities that we must accept and work around.

How high will human race’s population go?
This column is a reaction to an article in Scientific American Earth 3.0, a quarterly magazine devoted to the environment and humanity's future prospects.

How high will human race’s population go?
This column is a reaction to an article in Scientific American Earth 3.0, a quarterly magazine devoted to the environment and humanity's future prospects.

Let’s try eating at a different restaurant
Some Americans eat out almost every day while for others it is a rare occurrence. A recent survey reports that Americans spend half of their food money eating away from home.

Dozens of new planets are found every year
Forty years ago, when I was in graduate school, a big goal in astronomy was to discover a planet or a planetary system about another star.

Here’s how to learn about summer skies
The author has prepared a light half hour planetarium program entitled “Everything You Wanted To Know About the Summer Skies: But Were Afraid to Ask.”

There are many ideas of what universe is like
The author of this column is in his 34th year of writing a weekly column for the Cumberland Times-News.

Weight problem spreads around world
A number of fine books on nutrition have appeared in the past few years, several by New York Times Columnist Michael Pollan.

Try problem-solving, not name-calling
In my columns over an array of topics (energy, the environment, education, transportation, food), I always mention something positive that would help to alleviate the problem.

Easing our impact on atmostphere essential
The most precious legacies we can pass on to future generations are good air, clean water and healthy vegetation.

Using moon to keep time is old tradition
This column is in response to a reader’s question about the ways the moon may have been used to tell time by early people

False college outlooks don’t match reality
Most of my semesters, my classes include a good fraction of first-year students.

Environmental woes trump self-sufficiency
Most of us make decisions about major purchases (cars, furniture, appliances) for convenience, style or to please ourselves.

We are blessed in both place and time
Today, Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Christ, an event that reminds them of the desired ascent of their souls (following death) into heaven.

Try pencil and paper, forget the calculator
One of my biggest concerns about our society is the growing alienation from numbers. With few exceptions, most of us rarely focus on numbers.

Performance anxiety on tests can be handled
A different view of tests

Public transit could carry many more
In recent decades, riders on city and county buses have dropped to where a typical load factor or fraction of occupied seats is about 20 percent.

Human power could help us to get around
All three of our U.S. car manufacturers are facing dropping car sales and the crushing burden of their many retirees, pensions and health care

There are far better ways to handle tests
At this time in most U.S. colleges, students have had their first tests in most of their courses.

Of lice and men: How we track our ancestors
With the decoding of the human genome in 2003, scientists are now using special genetic analysis to determine the approximate times of key events and developments in human prehistory (prior to 3,000 BCE).

Raising livestock poor use of food and energy
Among the many diet books published each year, there are a few nutrition books that step back and offer an explanation of the tangled web between Americans and their eating habits.

Humans endangering ancient Appalachians
Twofold rise and fall of the Appalachians

Must birds, bats be hurt by wind farms?
As an example, consider the Dan’s Mountain Wind Farm Project where likely 25 large wind turbines will be erected to convert wind energy into electrical energy for the electrical grid.

Here’s how to measure things
In looking at the night sky, sky gazers become acquainted with angles to describe the width of star groups, apparent distance between two bright stars, how far the moon appears above the horizon, how far Venus moves lower each hour.

For learning and fun, try FSU science Sunday
During the colder months, our Sunday attendance drops so I would like to reacquaint our readers about the opportunities at our Planetarium (Tawes Hall) and Science Discovery Center (Compton Building) each Sunday

Wind can help fill our energy demands
The United States in 2007 (last year for which figures available) used 102 quadrillion British Thermal Units of energy (source: World Almanac 2009). A quadrillion is 1 followed by 15 zeroes.

Earth's creatures use many methods to see
Despite many years of research, human vision is still not completely understood. For a broad look at the intriguing history of eye research, the British writer Simon Ings has written “A Natural History of Seeing,” published by W.W. Norton in 2007.

Top 2009 sky sights
For those readers who have recently obtained binoculars or a telescope, here are some suggested sky sights for the coming year. I will code these sights as E (seen well by eye), B (seen best with binoculars) and T (seen only with optical aid, particularly with a low power telescope).
Each month, I mention the half full evening (shaped like a “D”), the best moon shape to view the craters and lunar mountains through binoculars or telescope.

Telescopes have been around four centuries
Telescopes go back 400 years. In the first two centuries, most of the major types of telescopes were developed.

Solar system grows, now has 13 planets
The number of dwarf planets orbiting our sun recently increased from three to five.

Don’t worry; it’s not likely to happen soon
Threats to our existence with humor

Some gift hints for budding astronomers
I have received several requests recently for advice on buying a modestly priced telescope for a young student or an adult beginner.

Water, not oil, will be subject of next crisis
Precious, yet taken for granted

Science to share with the new president
Primer for the new president

There can be no quick fixes to our problems
Through my Frostburg State University classes (Energy, Future Dilemmas) and preparing several new classes for next year (Global Environment, Sustainability), I think I can offer some perspectives different from the partisan pundits and columnists prominent in the media.

Voluntary changes may help save energy
In about 10 days, we will select our next president and the 2009 Congress. There will be some changes in our laws and new programs to confront our energy and financial situations and difficulties overseas.

Trees would help to absorb carbon dioxide
Gently offsetting carbon from cars

When it comes to new energy sources, NIMR better suited than NIMBY
In most developed countries, particularly the U.S. and China, fossil fuels are being consumed at a rapid rate.

Starlab visits classroom at Parkside Elementary
Your space or sky unit

There are remedies for a fear of mathematics
Math helpful, not a hindrance
As an educator and a consumer, I notice that a shrinking percentage of Americans can handle numbers, money and reason quantitatively (using numerical information).

How many humans can live on Earth?
Are we close to the limit?

Find the best stars to watch all year long
Starry programs for September

First class meeting key to starting term well
The bottom line

Let’s back primary, secondary learning
Tips for parents and guardians

How could Detroit fix it?
Energy is arguably the biggest problem facing our country.

Why can’t we have hybrid towers, too?
Advantages of height

Should we consider future generations?
Changes ahead

Here are some more energy numbers to use
My last column mentioned the energy of our bodies, gasoline and coal burning power plants.

Try ‘back of envelope’ energy calculations
Your body, gasoline, coal and sun

Mixing science, religion like mixing oil, water
Judging from recent letters to the editor, some writers feel that science studies are similar to religious beliefs that one can either believe or reject. In particular, if one finds a scientist or group who doesn’t hold to a particular scientific consensus, then that scientific explanation is open to question.

Here’s what the bears know, but won’t tell
Of all our native mammals, we (humans) have the most in common with bears. While our human population is surging towards 7 billion, the global bear population may be only a million and falling.

Familiar things often connect to learning
Strategies to ensure learning

Why are gas prices unlikely to go down?
Understanding and adapting to gasoline prices

Sampling is key to big number estimating
Grass blades and raindrops

How much sunlight do we actually get?
Every day you can read when the sun rises and sets in the Cumberland Times-News weather page. For example, if the local sunrise is at 6 a.m. and sunset is 8:22 p.m., then the sun is above the horizon for 14 hours and 22 minutes.

Writing and numbers key students’ interest
This is the time that I think about what new ideas I have tried in my classes this spring term. Which ones have failed or fizzled? Which ones have shown some promise? The latter will be continued in my summer and fall classes.

How well do you know our planet?
Our new public planetarium for May at Frostburg State Planetarium is “Report on Planet Earth,” starting today at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.. Lately, there have been a number of documentaries on the future of our Earth’s environment, especially in regard to our consumption of energy and resources.

How can we handle these skyrocketing fuel costs?
More so than any other country, Americans love to travel in their personal vehicles. We own 30 percent of the world’s vehicles while we have 4.5 percent of the world’s population. Our country uses 25 percent of the world’s petroleum, of which two-thirds is imported.

Understanding the seasons, Earth’s tilt
We are now a month into spring with much nicer conditions for walking and being outside. What causes our seasons? Two things are key, our orbiting the sun and the tilt of Earth’s axis.

We’re just one of 5,000 mammals
Humans are among nearly 5,000 species of mammals, the class of the animal kingdom whose members have a remarkable ability to adapt to their environment. Mammals are warm blooded, enabling them to live over a greater variety of habitats than the other classes.

Being plugged in can hurt listening ability
A decade ago, the people you saw with headphones were primarily runners or joggers, listening to their favorite music.

With gas prices rising, why push gas guzzlers?
With the price of a barrel of crude petroleum higher than ever and retail gas prices near an all time, it seems strange that most of new vehicles being reviewed are ‘muscle cars or power SUVs’ that get less miles per gallon than the average car or truck on the road.

Here are reasons why students fail to learn
Earlier in the year, I presented the factors that ensure learning in a class or course; now it’s time to face the other side, why some students learn far below their capabilities

Don’t eat too much, and mostly plants
There is another interesting book on eating called “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto” by Michael Pollan.

Here’s update on solar system and the galaxy
Mercury has new close up images from the Messenger space probe early this year. In 2011, Messenger will begin to orbit Mercury, allowing a complete mapping of this sun baked world for the first time. (Space probes have completely mapped the surfaces of Venus, Earth, Mars, our moon and the big moons of Jupiter and Saturn.)

Finding shadow length
The crispest shadows are those made by the sun. The higher the sun is in the sky, the shorter are the shadows produced.

The sky offers an unrivaled tapestry
Dawn and dusk, the hour of twilight that begin and end the day are the great times to see sky beauty. It’s then that the sunlight is striking the air and clouds high over our heads, resulting in some delicate tints that you are not likely to see any other time.