Is there a 'Singularity', an ascension of man being able to become machines or machines becoming sentient, coming in 2045? Given the current state of artificial intelligence and robotics, that would…

An activist website called Negotiation Is Over is urging its followers to attack scientists.   Left-wing kooks are no different than the right wing kind, just their issues are different.  …

An activist website called Negotiation Is Over is urging its followers to attack scientists.   Left-wing kooks are no different than the right wing kind, just their issues are different.  …

Check out this photo, taken a few weeks ago in La Jolla, Southern California. What do you think is most striking about it? Some people might be surprised by the sheer number of squid in the photo--…

I just finished watching the Women's World Cup semifinal football match, USA versus France, and am currently preparing to watch Japan versus Sweden and an important difference is immediately…

Arctic Ice July 2011 For much of the written history of the Arctic, exceptional extents of open water were reported in terms of what the explorer, fisherman, whaler or sealer had previously…

Metasequoia, a deciduous conifer, and one of the common fossils found in many of the Eocene sites of the Pacific northwest, flourished in Oregon's forests for millions of years. In honor of this long…

Recently, all species of scombrids and billfish have been assessed by the IUCN to determine their ranking on the Red List of Threatened Species. And for tuna specifically, the results weren't good at…

I was waiting for the announcement in the Fermilab seminar of next Friday, but apparently despite I am still a member I am not well enough informed of what happens inside CDF, the experiment at the…

There were concerns among people who don't understand physics that the LHC might create a black hole and swallow the Earth.    Obviously in an infinite Universe anything can happen but the…

Niko Alm has after a three year wait finally gotten permission to wear his religious head covering in his driver license photo - progress for religious freedom everywhere. In Austria, a license or…

Must be a zeitgeist thing.  Our own Ground Station Calliope kickstarter fundraiser succeeded, to help fund our Science 2.0 Project Calliope.  Now the NY Times is reporting that other…

New neurological research, using, of course, the ever-popular giant axon of squid, shows that neurons are pretty darn clever at picking signal out of noise. And what's more, they're sensitive to…

In 2007, with the economy chugging along, environmentalists believed light bulbs were killing the world.   Companies like General Electric (GE) and Royal Philips Electronics (PHG), two of the…

In 2007, with the economy chugging along, environmentalists believed light bulbs were killing the world.   Companies like General Electric (GE) and Royal Philips Electronics (PHG), two of the…

Good morning/afternoon/evening, and welcome to the Spider News. Today, we have two arachnid novelties for you. Firstly, old age affects us all, even spiders. Researchers have found that, as spiders…

Julian Barbour is an independent theoretical physicist who has gained some attention of late. Minkowski is dead. From my soapbox here, I will channel Minkowski in this gentlemen’s disagreement. Links…

Many of my clients are expressing deep fears about the future. They are concerned quite naturally about their families, personal finances, and so forth, but also about global affairs. I am…

I don’t care how long (or short) of a time you’ve spent lounging in the Stanford bubble. If you haven’t popped out yet to see a sea otter, I have an assignment for you: Drop everything and get to the…