NASA’s Opportunity Mars rover, also known as "Oppy", is continuing its traverse southward on the western rim of Endeavour Crater despite computer resets and "amnesia" that have occurred after…

Even though many of us are aware of the higher rates of alcohol-related traffic fatalities on New Year’s Eve, myths about drinking and driving persist. These myths are related to how quickly…

A news release from Heidelberg, In Search of the Origin of Our Brain, treats us to these two pictures: What are these two little critters?  On the left is Nematostella vectensis,…

On Dec. 10th, ESA announced the latest important discovery regarding comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Rosetta spacecraft orbiting the comet has found the water vapor from its target to be…

The advent of open access (OA) publishing has lead to a proliferation of journals which offer a peer reviewed publication venue for a nominal charge.  Some of these journals are associated with…

Not So Smart Money In modern English the term 'smart money'  is most commonly used in reference to money invested in the course of business or gambling by people presumed to be knowledgeable…

Congress provided a historic victory for the legal marijuana industry with the massive government-funding bill passed Saturday night, December 13. The bill will end the federal government’s ban on…

Mars is a very harsh and hostile environment for future human explorers and like any other known planet it has no breathable air. That could change someday, and it may be soon enough for our…

For several years I felt the desire to give readers a positive message around this time of year, as it is the most depressive for many. Alas, as you can tell from my writing ever less, I have little…

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of Congress, which exists to support Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help…

blood from a young mouse--or even just a factor known as GDF11 from young mouse blood--can rejuvenate the muscles and brains of older mice. The findings have led to a clinical trial in which…

Oceanlab Scientists Film Supergiant Amphipod and Deepest Fish Scientists at the University of Aberdeen have set a new record for the world's deepest fish, a species of snailfish, which was filmed in…

It's no secret that universities are left-wing - conservatives have complained about that since the early 1950s, but back then it was mostly in the humanities so only those conservatives who came…

Ah, Cuba. My father’s college roommate’s mother – are you following so far? – was a travel agent, and had gone on one of these agent junkets to Havana. She danced with the dictator Batista at a…

Here is a flower we all (in the northern hemisphere at least) associate with Christmastime, Euphorbia pulcherrima, commonly known as the Poinsettia (or Weihnachtsstern = Christmas Star in Germany…

A decade ago, gas was cheap, the American economy was booming and so was partisan rhetoric about a disconnect on science related to politics. One side was good, one was bad. President George W. Bush…

Many people addicted to prescription medications do not think that they have a problem. These addictions often begin as an injury. Few realize how quickly dependency can spiral out of control. NFL…

With just under 4 years until its planned launch in October 2018, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) project reports it remains on schedule and budget. However, technical challenges with JWST…

Cycling for Science #1 - Tensegrity Velocipedological science Cycling is more than just a pleasant way to keep fit: it is a pleasant way to learn some interesting velocipedological science facts.…

"Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour," could be still an actual description of our ability to predict asteroid threats to Earth. The sentence from the Bible (Matthew 25:13) sound…