I’ve written about network neutrality before. It’s a difficult topic because of its different aspects, and because there are vehement opinions on all sides of it. Before I left the Internet…

When Things Smell A Funny Color I have often heard people in Britain say in jest something like: "I don't like that, it smells a funny color." From time to time our senses play tricks with our brains…

Swine flu is a hot topic for many health care related professionals. However, the receptors specific for human, swine or avian influenza viruses are still unclear, because that conflicting…

Random Noise #14 : Colorless Green Syntax Formal grammar is heavily based in syntax.  It is possible to generate sentences by using word lists and rules in a computer program, but the output…

An indignant letter in this month's Chemistry World has drawn my attention to a forthcoming ban on the use of dichloromethane, except by the most professional of professionals. EU sidesteps Reach to…

The Real Ira Hayes The world's largest statue is a bronze sculpture 110 feet high.It depicts six Marines.  Each figure is about 32 feet tall.They are hoisting an American flag on the island of…

The following position arose from a blitz chess game played on the Internet Chess Club this afternoon. I am white, and black is to move. As you can see, material is even; white has all his pieces but…

As elections to renew the european parliaments get closer, the political arena in Italy fails to deal with the matters that should interest voters, and instead concentrates on the behavior of Italy's…

    What follows is a sociobiological rebuttal of white supremacy.  It purports to be a proof that no race can lay the claim to outright superiority as the best evolved example…

Just heading out to Princeton to collect in some of the Eocene lakebed sites. Aside from Ginko, pine and alder, one of the most common finds here are March flies, also known as love bugs or…

The Buzzword Blog #4 : Irrational What does 'irrational' mean?The term 'irrational' is too often just another  buzzword.  It is used very loosely, even by scientists, to imply that somebody…

The catholic church has long lost its race against islamism for the religious institution with more adepts. And they ache for it: you can tell from their resentful remarks on the matter. Bishops and…

Random Noise #12.5 : Irrational  Numbers I'm far too rational to blog about other people's irrationality. I'll just get on with writing my next article and leave writing about silly…

Random Noise #12 : Freedom of Speech and of the Press Freedom of speech is a right and a duty. Faced with injustice, we have both a right and a duty - a duty-right - to speak out against it.…

Nanobots seem to be well on their way to drastically expanding human life. Clusters of them are already regenerating the spinal cords of mice (Project, 2007), and soon it should be possible to…

I believe that a scientist looking at nonscientific problems is just as dumb as the next guy.  - Richard Feynman I just read a neat HST result on dark matter on slashdot.org. I also enjoy…

Stick It In Your Ear!People's reports of inner mental processes are not considered to be reliable enough to validate theories.  (Some would say formulate, even.)  Such reports are only…

SINCE WE INHERITED SCIENCE AND WE ARE PRETTY SURE NO ONE WHO STARTED IT IS STILL ALIVE, WHY KNOT BELIEVE ITS CREATORS KNEW THIS AND ADDED EXTRAS TO SCIENCE FOR THIS SOLE PURPOSE TOO!

The Art Of Torture More than 28 million Americans, and many more people throughout the world, suffer from migraine headaches, one of the most debilitating of pain disorders. Symptoms like…

A study published in the Lancet suggests that the number of children under 15 years of age with type 1 diabetes will rise to 160,000 in Europe by 2020, a relative increase of 70 percent from…