One of my friends recently asked for help in designing a giant squid costume to be worn by multiple people. So I sketched this up: In case you can't read my AMAZING handwriting, here's the text: -…

Think you can't live without caffeine?  Some bacteria can live on caffeine.   Previous studies discovered caffeine-degrading bacteria, but new research one goes a step further and…

I don't use auto-correct and you know why?  Because I am never wrong, sure, but also because it is rarely right. damnyouautocorrect.com has their 15 most popular auto-correct errors from last…

I don't use auto-correct and you know why?  Because I am never wrong, sure, but also because it is rarely right. damnyouautocorrect.com has their 15 most popular auto-correct errors from last…

The expansion of the universe should slow as time marches on, some even conjectured it would slow and then collapse again - that's what all that mass and its gravity in the universe should do. But…

Here, for completeness, is the last in this group about the BBC series  All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace A series of films exploring the idea that we have been colonised by the…

Protein folding is where the coiled strings of amino acids that make up proteins in all living things fold into more complex three-dimensional structures. Incorrectly folded proteins in humans result…

The three conditions mentioned in the title, malaria, HIV and tuberculosis, are responsible for about 5 million deaths per year and thus constitute some of the most compelling challenges in…

Most people know that we have tried to judge what may happen during global warming by creating gigantic models of the Earth system, and see how it responds to forcing from different factors. Another…

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. This is true of all science, but especially in palaeontology, where only a handful of exceptional fossils can give a disproportionate amount of…

Undecidability is weird, much weirder than quantum theory, which is benign by comparison. Let me give a simple example for something that may well be undecidable: Take any natural number N. If it is…

There are linear field equations of gravity called gravitomagnetism. It starts from the best starting place we have, general relativity. At the end of my talk last year at the 13th Eastern Gravity…

Does positive psychology explain the happiness of Danes?   Granted, surveys are not perfect, but they can be telling; Denmark enjoys the highest "wellbeing" of the countries surveyed and an…

Does positive psychology explain the happiness of Danes?   Granted, surveys are not perfect, but they can be telling; Denmark enjoys the highest "wellbeing" of the countries surveyed and an…

No one seems to know which organic food has killed 22 people and sickened thousands due to E. coli bacterial contamination.   A day after blaming German sprouts - not a bad guess, sprouts have…

No one seems to know which organic food has killed 22 people and sickened thousands due to E. coli bacterial contamination.   A day after blaming German sprouts - not a bad guess, sprouts have…

A pleasure it is, when Chemistry World drops through my letterbox each month, to read the Historical Profile therein. This month (June 2011) featured the discovery of nitrous oxide, aka laughing gas…

Maybe political correctness can get an autistic student voted prom king?   Only in Hollywood movies.  In real life, high schoolers can be vicious.    But for one socially awkward…

Maybe political correctness can get an autistic student voted prom king?   Only in Hollywood movies.  In real life, high schoolers can be vicious.    But for one socially awkward…

It is generally accepted that pathological violence is a combination of factors, both biological and psychological, but brain studies of violent criminals haven't revealed much. However, a new brain…