Where would we be without fungi and microbes to break down dead trees and leaf litter in nature? Up to our eyeballs in arborial garbage, that's where. But such biomass destruction goes on every day…

Christopher Sommerfield, associate professor of oceanography at the University of Delaware, has found a new way to study local waterways: radioactive iodine.   That's bad, right? Maybe not.…

When Energy Secretary Steven Chu was appointed, it was a bit of a policy worry.  Yes, he has a Nobel prize in physics but being a scientist has never shown to be any great benefit for policy.…

Some schools, and some psychologists, are concerned about the emotional trauma kids might endure if they have a falling out with a close friend. Solution: Ban kids from having best friends. Kids have…

Some schools, and some psychologists, are concerned about the emotional trauma kids might endure if they have a falling out with a close friend. Solution: Ban kids from having best friends. Kids have…

LONDON, March 22, 2012 - Two new surveys conducted among 2,500 adults and 400 teachers show what is really on the minds of those concerned about education; the need to teach about pets in schools.…

What trans fatty acids were to 2007 and global warming was to 2006 and cigarette smoking was to...well, every year since 1960...fracking was to 2011.  That is, to say, the blame-all for…

What trans fatty acids were to 2007 and global warming was to 2006 and cigarette smoking was to...well, every year since 1960...fracking was to 2011.  That is, to say, the blame-all for…

“In this paper, we consider musical cell-phone ringtones as virtual, communicative and cultural performances.”   - say the authors of a paper entitled ‘The Musical Madeleine: Communication,…

Most of the time, we do not think of plants as having the ability to plan, move, and attack. Certain behaviors of plants have been known for many years, such as the ability to turn to face sunlight,…

Climate change is a polarizing science policy debate the likes of which humankind has never witnessed before. Even President Obama's science advisor John Holdren never dreamed up this kind of…

The notion of gun-propelled launch goes back to Jules Verne. Such Mass Drivers have been envisioned in numerous Sci Fi tales, including "Earthlight", by Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein's "The…

A light-emitting diode (LED) that emits more energy than it consumes has been published by researchers from MIT. That violates the second law of thermodynamics, right? Isn't that specifically…

A light-emitting diode (LED) that emits more energy than it consumes has been published by researchers from MIT. That violates the second law of thermodynamics, right? Isn't that specifically…

I just saw the most annoying video about an interesting physics question. Apart from the over the top stereotypical German (supposed to be funny or is he for real?) and arrogant “look how clever we…

Artist Laura Hines has done a couple of gorgeous illustrations of Humboldt squid. Humboldt Squid #1 (above) is a rendering of this photograph from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute: It's a…

The building blocks of matter: Molecules: /> Many of the ancient Greek philosophers believed that allsubstances were composed of tiny particles or atoms; but it was not until the nineteenth…

Supersonic passenger jets are so 1970s. The Concorde has been gone for almost 10 years and most people don't miss it.  But its fundamental concept - people want to get places faster - has not…

A new imaging system uses walls, doors or floors as 'mirrors' to gather information about scenes that it can't see, even though those objects are not reflective. Yes, it could ultimately lead to…

Time is relative, of course, but we still hate to be late for appointments.  So there has always been research on making our keeping of time a little more accurate. A new clock tied to the…