science Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Mark Marchand blog

Joining Bob Dylan in his famous movement to "go electric."

Following Bob Dylan to go electric: Our one year of driving an EV

Post published:February 18, 2024

Bob Dylan famously went electric, so we decided to try it too. So off we went last year to shirk off the yoke of an internal combustion, fossil-fuel-burning, pollution-emitting car. We joined the legions of drivers who chose a new electric vehicle, or EV. It wasn’t a huge leap for our family, since I was among the first New Yorkers to buy a hybrid Toyota Prius in 2000. We drove it for years, reveling in over 50 mpg and answering questions from curious strangers who waited in parking lots to talk with…

A coral reef off the shores of Hawai'i

Mapping the Ocean Floor – Hawaii Sea Grant College Article

Post published:October 13, 2023

The University of Hawaii Sea Grant College assigned me to research and write this article on the process of digitally mapping the ocean floor. Published in August, 2023. Here's a direct link to where my article appears in the Sea Grant College Ka Pili Kai magazine. My article appears on pages 41 and 42. While you're there, feel free to browse the rest of the magazine. Lots of great information and great writing!

Street flooding north of New York City, Sept. 29, 2023. (Credit: New York Times)

Posing the ‘why’ behind the streak of bad weather

Post published:September 29, 2023

Should broadcast news organizations and their weather teams help us better understand the role of human-caused climate change in ongoing weather disasters? The deadly Maui wildfire, widespread New York City flooding, crop-wilting heatwaves, our breathing air fouled by Canadian wildfires, and so many other weather calamities are coming at us in head-spinning waves. Maybe it’s time to elevate the topic to the same painstaking investigation and reporting that take place after other disasters. All it would take is journalists and forecasters asking experts “why” this global bad weather avalanche accelerates. The…

Cover of the new book on Albert Einstein's life: "Einstein - The Man And HIs Mind."

Book Review: A photographic tour of one of the world’s greatest minds

Post published:March 3, 2023

By Mark Marchand If you stare long enough into his eyes in the many photographs of the man, you might begin to see faint images of atoms splitting … light waves being bent by the sun’s gravity … equations rolling by … a man descending in an elevator … or even musical notes dancing across a staff. This man is Albert Einstein, who peers at us from a new collection of photographs taken over a lifetime during which his “thought experiments” and other work shook the foundations of physics and…

Melting in the waters around Antarctica

Climate change in social media: One man’s pursuit of truth

Post published:July 3, 2021

Each crisis of our 21st century world gives birth to new “warriors” who use truth and science to help us safely navigate calamities. Our ongoing pandemic is a prime example. Out of the chaos of a muddled anti-science leadership effort in 2020 emerged dedicated scientists, researchers, and companies who swiftly developed vaccines that are saving millions of lives and slowing COVID-19’s spread. And of course, there are our doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers who fought valiantly against the rising tide of infections. Where would we be without them? As the pandemic…