Here's a picture: You work at the EPA. You just finished a four-year long, incredibly detailed analysis of Product X. The work is comprehensive, thorough, world-class - and no one is actually going…

Genetically modified foods are so common that it seems a little strange to put a label on, basically, everything. But some states are trying. Vermont just did. The governor says he is signing it…

Philadelphia was under attack through the winter and spring of 1991. The name of the enemy? Measles. The Philadelphia outbreak – the city’s first since 1954 - began in October 1990, and quickly…

With the legalization of recreational marijuana in Washington and Colorado, questions about cannabis have vaulted into the public consciousness. For a couple minutes, let’s put aside policy…

The 35th international chess tournament in Mogliano Veneto this year did not feature strong grandmasters or international masters, but a pack of 24 local players of average strength around 2150.…

Debris Find - Likely Came From A Caravan Yet another mystery object turns out to be unrelated to missing flight MH370. FAIRFAX Media has received photos of the debris found near Augusta which…

If some drug-addled sociopath shoots up a movie theater or an elementary school, there is lots of speculation about the cause. In frustration and helplessness, people search for a magic bullet -…

Where science and religion conflict most Americans choose religion. According to the AP-GFK poll most  Americans lack confidence in the greenhouse effect, the 4.5 billion year age of the…

Alcoholism and depression are the right and left hands of a heartbreaking condition that often includes both. Nearly half of people in treatment for alcohol addiction exhibit co-occurring depression.…

Actually physically getting humans and their life support to Mars is likely to be feasible. But there is much more to it than that.  LANDING SAFELY First - they have to land there safely.…

SETI Live's data on Kepler-186's solar system could be revealing evidence of extraterrestrial life. SETI may have seen ET's satellite signals already. Here is the data and my analysis.   From my…

When Elise Andrew, the creator of the phenomenally popular social media site I F***ing Love Science, shared her personal Twitter account in 2013 with the site's fans, she said the Internet “lost its…

A decade ago, science academic was worked into a holy war by the belief that President Bush hated science. What were the reasons? They are hard to remember now. He federally funded human embryonic…

Do BICEP2 data provide a proof of cosmic inflation? As early as March 17, a Stanford report asserted « New evidence from space supports Stanford physicist's theory of how universe began ». A…

Long-time readers of this blog (are there any left ?) know me well since I often used to  write posts about personal matters here and in my previous sites. However, I am aware that readers come…

The habitable zone planet announced by NASA today is most probably Mars Like...at best a frozen snowball or slushball.  I make this determination based on a sober reading of NASA'S press release…

Most of us don't give much thought to the idea of escaping our problems on Earth by going into space. But those who want to colonize Mars often see it as an urgent need for humanity, to have a…

Idioscenic Conjecture I am posting some ideas here to promote discussion of the psychology of conspiracism. I suggest that the mere fact of knowing that some events have been caused by C may overly…

Professional forester and writer Norm Benson recently got a healthy dose of anti-science environmentalism, because he wrote an article endorsing a vitamin-enriched bowl of rice that, nonetheless, is…

A cosmetic surgical procedure to alter women's genitals is rising in popularity thanks in part to the porn industry, even as many questions loom about unknown medical and social consequences.…