Modern science may seem slow and incremental but, as has always happened, small steps lead to awkward leaps and bounds - and revolutions.  It's why we make goat noises at people who claim their…

Modern science may seem slow and incremental but, as has always happened, small steps lead to awkward leaps and bounds - and revolutions.  It's why we make goat noises at people who claim their…

If you discovered water that could be millions or billions of years old, what would you do with it? Drink it, of course. A researcher who analyzed water found in a Canadian mine in Timmins, Ontario,…

If you discovered water that could be millions or billions of years old, what would you do with it? Drink it, of course. A researcher who analyzed water found in a Canadian mine in Timmins, Ontario,…

The Science of Law   Scattered throughout the pages of the history of the common law are many references to it being a science.  Science may be called the pursuit of fact by means of well…

Attention, activist groups: Open-minded people don't change their view when you control what they learn and they only get one side of the issue, according to a new paper, so framing can only take you…

While there's no question there is biology in taste buds, actual wine testing has proven to be in the astrology and psychological assessment range of accuracy. Most people are not able to discern…

While there's no question there is biology in taste buds, actual wine testing has proven to be in the astrology and psychological assessment range of accuracy. Most people are not able to discern…

Nuclear power is not an environmental issue. There is just no way to spin that it is.  What started off with activists being anti-nuclear weapon has morphed into irrational, anti-science stances…

Dopamine, the neurotransmitter celebrity chemical du jour in brain stories, gets invoked a lot because it can make a lot of correlations possible - and that means fun for journalists who either want…

A promising anti-cancer therapy - suppression of the protein mammalian target Of Rapamycin  (mTOR) - has failed to achieve hoped-for success in killing tumor cells. mTOR plays an important role…

Interacting with a therapeutic robot companion made people with mid- to late-stage dementia less anxious and also had a positive influence on their quality of life, according to a pilot study PARO, a…

How lifeless materials became organic molecules that are the bricks of animals and plants is a science question for the ages. The secret of a reaction that has to do with the synthesis of complex…

The world's first known odd couple: 250 million years ago, a mammal forerunner and an amphibian shared a burrow in South Africa. Scientists scanning a 250 million-year-old fossilized burrow from the…

As expected, a coalition of subscription-based journal publishers has responded to the White House’s mandate that federal agencies develop systems to make the research they fund available to public…

I have been doing public outreach for science since I originally moved to Tennessee in 1996. It has been a fun ride, and I’m sure it will continue to be that way for many years to come. But two of…

A 'Super Moon' - a new or full moon at 90% of its closest perigee - hasn't happened since...well, last year. But it's still cause for concern, according to people who need things to be concerned…

Jolts from Volts I have almost finished my translation of Volta's original article on his pile and his crown of cups. Most of the article is a straightforward description of his experiments, but I…

It's mind over mechanics. A group in the University of Minnesota's College of Science and Engineering have developed a new noninvasive system that allows people to control a flying robot using only…

In the more urbane sectors of New York and Los Angeles and Austin or wherever you find Whole Foods–levels of gastronomic consciousness and sufficient disposable income (rich, liberal, anti-science)…