Science, Religion, Butterflies, and Lake Effect Snow

I once read somewhere that scientific theories are seldom totally overturned. The more common thing is that they are amended as new information becomes available. Darwin didn't know anything about DNA in his time so, when later scientists started learning about it, they just plugged the new information into Darwin's theory, and it fit in nicely. If it hadn't fit in so nicely, they would have likely tweaked Darwin's stuff until there was room for it. The only way Darwin would be completely overthrown is if somebody came up with a totally different theory about the origin of species and it worked way better. I also read somewhere that, in order for something to be called science, it must be capable of being disproven. That sounds a little strange until you compare science to religion.

Religion can't be disproven, you either believe it or you don't. Religious theories do indeed come and go. Occasionally a new prophet arises who puts a whole new spin on things, but it's more common for these theories to evolve over time. Church leaders sit around discussing ideas and gradually persuade each other that some small changes need to be made in church doctrine. Sometimes the rank and file aren't happy about these changes but they are grudgingly accepted eventually. When Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of his church, he didn't consider it to be an act of rebellion. It was common in those days to post something like that on a church door, intending it to be the subject of discussion at the next meeting, kind of like putting it on the agenda. When Luther was summoned to the city of Worms, he figured that those guys were interested in his theses and wanted to discuss them with him. He was surprised to discover that they were mad at him and wanted him to recant the whole package. About a hundred years previous, John Huss had found himself in a similar situation and ended up being burned at the stake. Luther was probably more successful because he had friends in high places who were prepared to back him up. I read somewhere that Galileo got into trouble with church authorities, not so much because he insisted that the Earth revolved around the Sun, but because the Pope, or somebody else in authority, just didn't like him and was looking for a way to shut him up. Politics, politics, all is politics!

I still don't completely understand that Coriolis thing. I know it has something to do with the rotation of the Earth, but I'm not sure exactly how it works. I guess I should look it up on Wiki, and maybe I will one of these days. I have heard of that butterfly thing too, but I think it's overstated. With all the other stuff going on, I find it hard to believe that one little butterfly could have a significant impact, but, of course, I could be wrong about that. You know that the monarch butterflies all go south to Mexico for the winter. Well one year they ran into some bad weather down there and there were more monarchs laying around dead than there was believed to be monarchs in existence, yet we still have monarch butterflies. Go figure!

We had some system snow pass through last night, but it didn't amount to much. They probably got more in the U.P. because they usually do. The system had moved out by this morning but, shortly after that, the blowing started, and now we're getting a ton of lake effect. We must have a foot or so on the ground by now, and it's supposed to go on all week. With lake effect you never know how much you're going to get because it forms these bands that come and go. It can be snowing like crazy, then the sun comes out for awhile, and then the snow starts up again. What we've gotten so far has been that light fluffy stuff, which isn't nearly as troublesome as the heavy wet stuff that we sometimes get this early in the season. The ground is frozen already, so at least I'm not tearing up the driveway while I'm snowplowing with my tractor. All things considered, it could be worse, and probably will be before spring rolls around. Come on global warming!