This is part 3 of my series on Mars, planet of surprises, great to explore, not so great to colonize. So this might be a good time to take a breather and review what we've found out so far. Mars…

Mars looks quite hospitable in the photos, but all is not quite as it seems. Our Earth based intuitions lead us astray, and the planet is full of surprises. Though great to explore, it might not be…

This paper reviews recent studies and particularly the effects of Climate Change in the North Tropical Atlantic by studying atmospheric conditions that prevailed in 2005 ; Coral Bleaching HotSpot and…

In my last article, "Does Earth Share Microbes With Mars Via Meteorites - Or Are They Interestingly Different For Life?" I talked about the NRC study, which looked at the same meteorite data as…

Robert Zubrin says that there are no contamination issues involved in colonizing Mars, because microbes get transferred between the planets all the time on meteorites. His ideas get a lot of…

Hi all, I'll be at the NYC MakerFaire this weekend (Sept 21-22), in case anyone wishes to join up.  CubeSat culture has metaphorically exploded over the past 8 months.  As a result, I've…

What's the difference between Rye and Bourbon? Is it the grains? (Rye vs corn). According to chemist Thomas Collins at the University of California at Davis the answer is no.  The answer is in…

"For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat and wrong" H.L. Mencken

I'm selling two of my guitars and an anecdote about one of them typifies the difference between a sane hippie and the anti-science kind. In 2002 I bought a 1968 D-35 12 string guitar (D-12-35 is…

Moore's Law, originating in 1965 [1], is an observation of transistor density on a single CPU core increasing exponentially with time. Futurists such as Ray Kurzweil [2] extend this to the claim that…

Moore's Law, originating in 1965 [1], is an observation of transistor density on a single CPU core increasing exponentially with time. Futurists such as Ray Kurzweil [2] extend this to the claim that…

As a guy who has never worked in a large company, but has seen start-ups I've been involved with turn out both wonderfully successful and less so, I can tell you that creating a 'culture fit'…

Every once in a while I feel compelled to write in clear what should be self-evident to anybody with a working brain; to give a sort of "advice to surfers". I don't expect that such an advice be…

When I first saw a new article about cow tipping, I bristled just a little. The last thing American culture needs is another flatlander telling real farmers whether or not cows fall over. But Jake…

Bruce Schneier needs to watch the movie "Battleship" more desperately than any moron in history.  He may know a lot about security systems in technology but his efforts to undermine the US…

Human identity revolves around names and making a name for oneself is a lifetime goal for many. Chemicals are no different - many have become an integral part of human culture and some are upcoming…

As few of my readers know, I have run a blog written in Greek language in parallel with this one for a couple of years. The idea of that endeavour was twofold: to offer some particle physics outreach…

Okay Daredevil, this will take some time and some work, but so does playing a guitar - a group of biologists have determined that humans can learn to echolocate the way bats do. It's well known that…

I do not care for Bashar Al-Assad and, given his actions, he deserves to be hung by the rebels.  The question must be asked of you Mr President, if rebellion broke out in the USA would you…

It's time to stop oppressing breasts, according to a massive 15-year investigation by professor Jean-Denis Rouillon, from the University of Besançon in eastern France. Bras are a false necessity, he…