How reliable is science? (Assumption 6/7) (The limitations of science)

by xeno6696 , Sonoran Desert, Monday, April 16, 2012, 01:23 (4603 days ago) @ dhw

(6) The Van Allen radiation belt encircles the globe. It is about 450 miles [724 km] above us and is intensely radioactive. According to *Van Allen, high-altitude tests revealed that it emits 3000-4000 times as much radiation as the cosmic rays that continually bombard the earth.-Any change in the Van Allen belt would powerfully affect the transformation time of radioactive minerals. But we know next to nothing about this belt—what it is, why it is there, or whether it has changed in the past. In fact, the belt was only discovered in 1959. Even small amounts of variation or change in the Van Allen belt would significantly affect radioactive substances.-This one is interesting, but I simply point out that the author hasn't provided us with more information than his own authority here. No citations. No discussions about how variations in the van allen belt would affect radioactive isotopes below, and really just tries to undermine the assumption that "the van allen belt has remained the same throughout time." -It's great that he wants to be skeptical, but I'd like more than a simple statement. "The sun will not rise tomorrow."

--
\"Why is it, Master, that ascetics fight with ascetics?\"

\"It is, brahmin, because of attachment to views, adherence to views, fixation on views, addiction to views, obsession with views, holding firmly to views that ascetics fight with ascetics.\"