That relativity theory or quantum mechanics are only important at huge velocities or incredibly small distances and so on is a common misconception. In fact, the yellow color of gold and the…

At one time,  J. Craig Venter, Ph.D.,  was a maverick outsider, determined to beat Big Science to the human genome and at a lot less cost.  Now he is the ultimate insider, giving…

India and China rank 123rd and 121st in pollution control respectively, reflecting the strain rapid economic growth imposes on the environment, according to the 2010 Environmental Performance Index…

Primary Immune Deficiencies (PIDs) can be defined as defects in the immune system.  No, that can’t be enough. PIDs are defined as inherent defects in the immune system? Nope. Still not good…

The Being Human conference was held yesterday, March 24th, at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. Part of its description is " insights from science and philosophy shed new light on the…

The sounds of mowers (ours among the others) can be heard from where I sit inside in my recliner, hiding behind my laptop, trying to ignore the chaos that surrounds me. The kids have gone quiet in…

Paul Callaghan, a top New Zealand scientist who gained international recognition for his work in molecular physics, has died after a long battle with bowel cancer. He was 64. In a time of increasing…

Paul Callaghan, a top New Zealand scientist who gained international recognition for his work in molecular physics, has died after a long battle with bowel cancer. He was 64. In a time of increasing…

An expedition to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi has led to discovery of a new 'King of Wasps' - 80 years after it was first collected. Megalara garuda is pitch-black, has an enormous body size,…

ECONOMICS   Many observers of human history have recognized cycles of behavior. Most of them have attempted to quantify these wave patterns of behavior hoping to be able to use them to…

Here is a precautionary principle two-for-one special.   Though we have been momentarily sidetracked in recent years by the LHC Ragnarok Supermoons Biblical numerology dead Mayan astrologers…

Imagine, if you will, that your computer screen (or iThingie, or DroidDevice) were to suddenly explode, driving a shard of shrapnel deep into your shoulder.  Very quickly, your white blood cells…

The world's biggest squids (accurately named "giant" and "colossal") have the world's biggest eyes, which may seem like a no-brainer until you consider that they are by no means the world's…

The Objective The aim of this paper is to investigate the ways in which humans go about “mastering” a task. Mastery is characterized by comprehensive knowledge or skill in a subject. To be a master…

Plants, while not generally thought of as being intelligent, do exhibit problem solving, planning, communication, and defensive behavior.  Plants actively search for nutrients and for sunlight.…

Composition of radiant heat   Both conduction and convection are ways of carrying heat from one place to another which require the presence of a material substance, either solid, liquid or…

After fixing the Higgs boson mass to the best fit value mh = 125 GeV, the SM does not have any free parameter left to vary. Therefore all the anomalies in the present data must be statistical…

You've heard of Egypt; they were in the news last year for riots and for making Twitter relevant. But dictatorships, oppression of women, sexual discrimination and religious intolerance are…

This is interesting, on the BBC website: In pictures: Russian Empire in colour photos The first picture is captioned: This vivid colour photograph is 100 years old, a self-portrait by the Russian…

How a society treats the disabled, especially those in need of specialized care due to aggressive behaviors and self-injurious behaviors, says a lot about the morality and compassion of that society.…