Yesterday I had to explain what a light bulb joke is - to somebody from Mongolia – they seem to not have discovered that joke yet or don’t find it funny. The joke in question was already highly on…

How The Media Has Hurt The Japanese People First and foremost I have a personal message for the 180 or so heroes who have been working in shifts around the clock to save their nation from a worse…

Portuguese researchers have discovered a "broad spectrum" cancer suppressor gene called LRP1B which acts by removing proteins crucial for cancer development from the tumor environment. The fact that…

Friday night a storm moves in. Raindrops start to lazily fall. Lightning lights the night sky (but eludes the camera). The clouds reveal their power. They loom overhead. The clouds remain on…

For decades we have been told that with the lessons learned from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, nuclear energy is safe. As the still unfolding mayhem at the Dai-Ichi plant in Fukushima, Japan, proves,…

I'm not sure which is worse;  the arrogance of these people actually thinking that they speaking for God or their belief in a God that can only bully people into submission. “Because the…

With the world gripped by fear that the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants may turn into “another Chernobyl,” perhaps it’s worth examining just how bad Chernobyl actually was. Putting…

With the world gripped by fear that the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants may turn into “another Chernobyl,” perhaps it’s worth examining just how bad Chernobyl actually was. Putting…

Happy holi is celebrated across India . In the evening of purnima holika (made from wood logs ) symbolizing evil is burnt and prahlad (made of green twig) is taken out from the burning Holika just…

Some Thoughts On Priorities It occurs to me that in this modern age of demands for instant satisfaction of our wants and needs, the instructions to supervisors of refineries, explosives factories and…

Infants and toddlers can suffer serious mental health disorders, yet are unlikely to receive treatment that could prevent lasting developmental problems, according to an analysis in  American…

For years now the generic PC was getting somewhat cheaper and that was generally good for science. Lots of PCs are running or assisting in many different ways experiments and measurements in…

In the category of "Duh?" for the week, we have a new article from France looking at how parental beliefs regarding autism dictate treatment choices. Dardennes et al. (2011) put 78 parents through a…

This is a short note to draw your attention to Jim Kaler’s recent page covering ADVANCES IN ASTRONOMY for 2009 – 2010. It’s not very long, but the latest in everything from the Moon to the whole…

Sea beaches and their vegetation have disappeared as most of beaches are encroached upon for hotels industry, housing , and industries in India . Mangroves and sunder bans have also being lost to the…

This is the best song I have heard all year. (Thanks to i'm a chordata! for the shout out.) I might even go so far as to say it's the best song I will hear all year. What could possibly be more…

In Nanjing, that is close to Shanghai, and I suppose also in other places around here*, you cannot buy salt anymore. Every last grain has been bought up. Why? Apparently, some evil guy started the…

Language may have an undervalued role in learning the meanings of numbers.   A study based on research using deaf people in Nicaragua who never learned formal sign language showed that people…

Every friday from now on I'm going to pick out a cool fossil and stick it here. It's not necessarily going to be from the recent literature, and I'm an invertebrate paleontologist, so don't expect…

Really?  Seriously  according to OK Cupid's analysis of their data from asking 642533 people the question  5% of men (gay and straight) and 10% of women (gay and straight) think the…