I won't bore you with an introduction but I'll just say "Ghostbusters" is one of the funniest movies of all time. So I decided to live blog it, but just the science parts. Let me know how I did.…

Just a quick link today, to acknowledge an interesting report on the life of physics students in Greece and the present situation with Universities there. And of course, if you wish to practice your…

"The question is not whether these boards will catch fire or not. The question is when they will". (Said by Fermilab electronics experts who were members of a review panel that provided advice on the…

With 365 days in a year and a whole lot of causes and events and gimmicks, it is no surprise that there are sometimes lots and lots of 'National XYZ' Days on the same day. The National Months get…

A Republican-controlled House of Representatives has passed legislation that includes cuts to sponsorship of...NASCAR. You didn't know the federal government advertises  Well, why would they do…

To many the label "scientist" has a residue of meaning a certain kind of white male.  Western society in particular loves labels and loves to put people in tiny boxes.  This story is about…

Tropical Cyclone Phailin is closing on northeastern India and by morning will bring winds exceeding 100 miles per hour and a storm surge up to 20 feet.  Windgusts near landfall could be 150 MPH.…

In case you missed the memo (HOW COULD YOU), we're in the middle of International Cephalopod Awareness Days. Over the years the celebration has grown to encompass five full days of merriment (you can…

Discovery ‘could hold key to Alzheimer’s treatment’ New on the BBC web site today (10th October 2013).  The discovery of the first chemical to prevent the death of brain tissue in a…

This special edition of the Space Show may be of special interest if you read my recent science20.com articles about Mars and space colonization. I was asked great questions by David Livingston, and…

This page is a rewrite of the page that was here a few days ago, I had some issues with getting the sign of the data right. The values are the same, only the direction of the change in minimum…

In an article I did for USA Today's Friday/weekend edition, I noted the recurring meme that American education is 'abysmal.'  It used to be that the criticism of education was primarily coming…

This is part 5 of my series on Mars, planet of surprises, great to explore, not so great to colonize. It seems that a human mission to the surface of Mars significantly increases the risk of…

Supposing we do eventually decide to terraform Mars, and know how to do it, will it be possible at all if humans visit the surface of Mars first? Could aerobes and other microbes introduced by…

This is part 3 of my series on Mars, planet of surprises, great to explore, not so great to colonize. In "Is it as good a place to live as a desert? we saw that Mars is a more inhospitable place…

This is part 3 of my series on Mars, planet of surprises, great to explore, not so great to colonize. In "Is it as good a place to live as a desert? we saw that Mars is a more inhospitable place…

Just a small post to mention the recent activity in my Greek blog, where with the help of a very kind Greek student we are offering a selection of articles translated in Greek language. Here are the…

I can remember a time when I thought of dirt as something that only seemed to change about it was the color. I had noticed it when my family took vacations and even in looking at the soils in my…

This is part 2 of my series on Mars, planet of surprises, great to explore, not so great to colonize  We saw so far that Mars is less hospitable than the coldest driest deserts on Earth.…

Most stories on the so called "accelerator on a chip" either fail to mention or deeply bury an important detail.     This device needs to be primed by a conventional accelerator.  …