Author: Steve

It’s crazy how many fulvous whistling-ducks we’ve seen this year!

It’s a coastal bird from here south, except when it winters in South America.

We watched every episode of Survivor 46.

It was good all the way down to the end.  The final three.  Then the jury picked the winner at the final tribal council.  That’s where it went wrong.  They picked the winner based on something that wasn’t even part of the game.  The “jury” awarded the title of Sole Survivor to the player that needed the money most, not the one that played the best game.  Outwit, outplay, outlast.  That’s what Survivor is purported to be about.  It doesn’t say anything about who needs the money for a fresh start.

I think Survivor needs to add a new feature: jury instructions before final tribal council.  Remind the people who just played and lost what the contest is supposed to be about.

Tiny little bird, as the name implies.  Seen here hovering in preparation for a crash dive after a minnow.

A summer visitor to our southern coasts and up the east side.  Lives in Cuba and the Caribbean in the winter.

All these little dots out on the water.

They’re least grebes.

It’s a really southern bird, only touching the southern tip of Texas.  From there it ranges down through Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and a lot of South America.

…about science.

I like how scientists approach knowledge.  The scientific method:

Observe what’s going on.

Ask questions.

Think up an explanation.

Use that explanation to make a prediction.

Test the prediction with an experiment.

Use what you learn to guide further investigation.

The first guess about why something is like it is, isn’t always right.  The guess might look right but keep trying to disprove it.  Share what you think you’ve learned.  Let everyone else try to prove or disprove it.  It has to stand up to challenge.  It has to be reproducible.  If no one can disprove it, it might really be true!  If something has seemed right for a long time, but new information comes into play that challenges what we’ve always thought, determine if the old idea needs to be adjusted or replaced.  The results of your effort don’t have to fit your preference.  The answer might inflame emotions or might be boring.  It doesn’t matter.  All that matters is that the results hold up to scrutiny and be open to modification if appropriate, so that the entire catalog of knowledge on which we base our decisions, and further explanations, is as true as possible.  Not perfection, but our best honest continuing effort.