America has been a global powerhouse more due to individual and small group initiative than the large, government projects currently popular.     But the U.S. seems to have a widening '…

Wanna go to Mars?  It's a one-way trip, and over 500 people have volunteered already. The Journal of Cosomology-- yes, them again-- became the accidental sign-up agency for us ordinary folk who…

If you are reading this article, there is a pretty good chance you do not believe the alignment of the stars when you were born determined your personality.   Especially if, like me, your sign…

As Where on Google Earth #252 was somewhere I know well, having studied a course that was almost entirely dedicated to the tectonics of the region (which included a fieldtrip), I'm quite glad I…

At isn't just people that have gotten fatter as society has converged on the Utopian ideal of enough food for everyone at low cost.   Over 20 percent of horses are overweight or obese too.…

At PhyStat 2011, currently being held at CERN, talks are informal and the atmosphere is friendly, but I have heard very few jokes from the participants so far. Just a minute ago I witnessed what…

Lilium polyphyllum D. Don Family Liliaceae Used Part Tuberous roots. Western temperate Himalayas upto 3,600 m. Common Uses . The bulbs are sweet, bitter, refrigerant, galactagogue, expectorant…

Inflorescence of Sphaeranthus indicus Linn. belonging to family Asteraceae has medicinal properties. Distribution Area An aromatic herb, found abundantly in damp situations in the plains all…

Cephalopod Tea Party is having a cephalopod pin give-away. To be entered in the drawing you must write a cephalopod-themed haiku! Although I probably have more than enough cephalopod tchotchkes, I…

Today our chambers of representation and government are filled with politicians and bureaucrats, who are largely careerists who cling to power, but very few statesmen who seek to secure the future…

Obsession with duality     In the west we like to think in terms of dualities. Well known examples from diverse fields ranging from philosophy to physics included the physical/…

Talk about a quandary; science writers across the board have been critical of Andrew Wakefield and his linking of vaccines and autism, which set off a decade of concern before being laid to rest.…

Talk about a quandary; science writers across the board have been critical of Andrew Wakefield and his linking of vaccines and autism, which set off a decade of concern before being laid to rest.…

Among the more zealous atheists in the science community, religious people are one big jumble of intellectual immaturity, if not outright stupidity, bent on replacing science classes with the New…

In every study done over the last 70 years, since weight loss research began, the one solution guaranteed to work was ingesting fewer calories than you burn.   Nevertheless, any number of…

A U.K. study showed that wetter, cooler summers have a detrimental effect on the milk we drink. Newcastle researchers found that milk collected during a cooler summer and the following winter had…

Looks like particle physicists have finally digested the food of Christmas break by now. Just as I was reviewing a new paper on the arxiv on the Tevatron Higgs limits, I ran into another hot preprint…

While listening to highly interesting talks on cutting-edge statistical issues at PHYSTAT 2011, I have casually been reading this morning a paper recently posted on the arxiv, which was pointed out…

Persea odorantissima (Nees) Kostem. ( =syn Machilus odorantissima (Nees) Kostem.) Lauraceae Bark Throughout the outer Himalayas and Khashi hills up to an altitude of 2.100 m., chiefly in moist…

Why I believe in marriage equality or no marriage at all.   I have to admit that gay marriage was once an issue I was against, for the reason that I felt it was an issue which unnecessarily…