Author Archives: Ron Miksha

About Ron Miksha

Ron Miksha is a bee ecologist working at the University of Calgary. He is also a geophysicist and does a bit of science writing and blogging. Ron has worked as a radio broadcaster, a beekeeper, and Earth scientist. (Ask him about seismic waves.) He's based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Going on Four (Billion)

Posted on September 4, 2016 by Ron Miksha

A paper published last week in Nature, claims that life began at 3.7 (billion years ago). This is the latest in a rather faltering progression of our best guesses of the date life started on Earth. Biblical literalists are still … Continue reading →

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Tunguska’s Kulik

Posted on August 19, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Leonid Kulik is probably another geologist you’ve never heard of. Well, it’s his birthday anyway, and here’s your chance to add a new name to your fact file, just in case you get that call from Jeopardy and the Remarkable … Continue reading →

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Oceans of magma, Moon formation and Earth’s ‘Year Zero’

Posted on August 12, 2016 by Ron Miksha

That the Moon formed and Earth’s geochemistry was reset by our planet’s collision with another, now vanished world, has become pretty much part of the geoscientific canon. It was but one of some unimaginably catastrophic events that possibly characterised the…

Posted in How Geophysics Works, Reblogs | Leave a comment

Into Big Valley

Posted on August 10, 2016 by Ron Miksha

A few days ago, I lamented that the lovely town of Big Valley is blessed with a Creation Science Museum. The museum is a single-room curio shop with a fossilized Teddy Bear and not much more. It’s a disappointing destination … Continue reading →

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Creation Science Museum, Part 2

Posted on August 5, 2016 by Ron Miksha

If you ever wanted to visit a museum unencumbered by crowds and undistracted by children’s laughter, come to the Canadian Creation Science Museum in Big Valley, Alberta, Canada. It’s as quiet as a tomb.  I thoroughly enjoyed the solitude and … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Religion | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Creation Science Museum, Part 1

Posted on August 4, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Ken Ham’s latest monument to his beliefs has opened in Kentucky. The Ark Encounter is about an hour from his Creation Museum. Both are operated by Answers in Genesis, which is operated by the Australian immigrant. They both seek to … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Religion | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

The Bees’ Sixth Sense

Posted on July 28, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Originally posted on Bad Beekeeping Blog:
Bees sense the environment differently than humans. For example,  bees can see ultra-violet colour and distinguish it from violet and white, yet they see red as if it were black. They sense the orientation…

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Tectonic Plates at 913,000 Kilometres per Hour

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Ron Miksha

The Earth’s plates move at the same blazing speed as fingernails grow. On average, 2 centimetres in a year. Blink and you won’t miss much. The ox may be slow, but the Earth is patient. In 650 million years, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Plate Tectonics | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Rocks within rocks, and rocks within rocks within rocks

Posted on June 19, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Originally posted on Primate's Progress:
Benalmadena, Costa del Sol, Spain, some 20 miles West of Malaga, and perhaps readers can enlighten me about what I’m seeing: Rocks within rocks within rocks; red sandstone matrix (no stratification or bedding apparent),…

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The Mountain Mystery (Book Review)

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Originally posted on The Grumpy Geophysicist:
Many months ago, Ron Miksha was kind enough to send a copy of his book, The Mountain Mystery, to GG (Ron writes a blog under the book’s name).  Although the book was mostly read long…

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