The first observatory experiment to study the dynamic microbial life inside Earth's crust has just been completed.  During the four-year subsurface experiment, the research team deployed the…

All media, bloggers and so on, do take note! Do not disregard the following, only in rather rational societies completely inconsequential bit of news: After being sought for a decade, one religious…

Thanks to all that read my previous post, “Sexy Standard Model Symmetries”. Most probably did not notice quite a few technical exchanges between David Halliday and myself. I was pretty darn sure I…

With Osama Bin Laden dead, conspiracy theorists will find a way to say it isn't him at all.   Sure, a 6'4" thin guy can be replaced by decoys rather easily but science has come a long way since…

"There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it's only a hundred billion. It's less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should…

Lou Gehrig, "The Iron Horse" first baseman for the New York Yankees, had played for 2,130 consecutive games and endured any number of sprains, bumps, bruises and illness.  It was a shock when it…

Lou Gehrig, "The Iron Horse" first baseman for the New York Yankees, had played for 2,130 consecutive games and endured any number of sprains, bumps, bruises and illness.  It was a shock when it…

Welcome to the month of May! The time of Beltane and Walpurgis Night, flowers and maypoles and springtime dancing. Want a May Basket? Well, um, how about a nice gall instead? Dave Hubble zooms in…

Scientists have identified a biochemical abnormality behind the potentially fatal neurodegenerative Machado-Joseph disease (MJD) and, using several models of the disease, were able to reverse the…

John Hunter had a gift for dissection. As a child he was an unexceptional student. At age 20, he journeyed to London in the midst of Britain's rise as a scientific power to assist at his brother's…

Schrödinger’s cat is in a quantum superposition of two states, namely |Dead> and |Alive>. If we open the box and find the cat dead, where is the living one? You all know the answer: In the ‘…

The big bang was given it's name by Fred Hoyle, in order to make the theory sound absurd.  He metaphorically called it an explosion.   In the mist of time most people even some scientist…

Arctic Ice May 2011 The great thing about the scientific method is that we can figure out what will happen if we do something before we do it.  Scientists figured out long ago that burning…

In 2008, when concerns about the birth place of future nominee and then campaign winner Barack Obama first surfaced, most felt like he should just show a birth certificate.   He didn't want to '…

It may seem silly to have to say this, but in a culture where science and politics are often mish-mashed, climatologists and meteorologists are noting that the recent devastating tornadoes were not…

It may seem silly to have to say this, but in a culture where science and politics are often mish-mashed, climatologists and meteorologists are noting that the recent devastating tornadoes were not…

Politicians want to control their image - and that means controlling the media when they can.   And when they can't, that means removing a highly respected journalist in one of the most liberal…

Politicians want to control their image - and that means controlling the media when they can.   And when they can't, that means removing a highly respected journalist in one of the most liberal…

Too many older adults are taking "excessive" doses of drugs for thyroid problems and that has been linked to an increased risk of fractures, according to a new study.   The study raises concern…