Why is there anything? It is kind of conceivable that there could be no thing 'existing' at all – no world, no universes, no consciousness. However, there is at least something. The opposite of “…

Almost nothing in the ocean can resist eating squid. That includes the macaroni penguin, which "live almost entirely on krill" but "do supplement their krill diet with up to five percent squid." I…

The semester is all over except for finals week, so this weekend and next week will have me busy grading all the papers I assigned. It's good work, busy work, and nice to see how much stronger…

Our body is a constant reminder of the fact that we share our origins with many other species, as Neil Shubin describes it so well in his book “Your inner fish”. The basic plan for members has…

DNA computing and storage has been on the horizon for most of this decade but never gone beyond the intellectual exercise stage.   Storage limitations were far too small to merit applied science…

Researchers have created the first brain-wide wiring map of a fruit fly, a breakthrough that is being compared to the genome for geneticists, and they say it paves the way for a comprehensive…

It was hard to miss the arsenic microbe news last week.  Heck, I was in the woods of Pennsylvania with no cell phone access much less Internet and I knew about it.    The NASA hype…

Some people might suggest the nautilus as the ancestor of modern squid, since they're the only "ancient-looking" cephalopods most of us have seen. But the lineage that led to modern nautiluses and…

In another chapter in the War on Science, Wikileaks documents show that the US government was less interested in science accuracy and more interested in pushing its climate agenda during the 2009 run…

In another chapter in the War on Science, Wikileaks documents show that the US government was less interested in science accuracy and more interested in pushing its climate agenda during the 2009 run…

The three problems of humanity were outlined in a talk by Nick Bostrom (of Oxford University, UK) at TED in April 2009.  While I'm sure there are some that will consider these points to be quite…

The Humanity + @ Caltech conference kicked off this morning in Pasadena with a dynamic group of speakers, discussing how humanity is being defined by technology, media, and by us, the active…

I can't make sense of the point behind this video but that's why I have a science site and not a chat show like "Gylne Tider". They made a promotional video of people lip syncing a remake (1987) of…

I can't make sense of the point behind this video but that's why I have a science site and not a chat show like "Gylne Tider". They made a promotional video of people lip syncing a remake (1987) of…

Botulinum Toxin A is a commonly used cosmetic treatment, where the drug paralyzes small muscles in the face to reduce the appearance of wrinkles.   If you have ever seen someone who looks normal…

Who would you think is the most read person in the world;  Shakespeare, God, that lady who wrote the Harry Potter books? Nope, it turns out to be Matthew Carter of Cambridge, Massachusetts.…

Who would you think is the most read person in the world;  Shakespeare, God, that lady who wrote the Harry Potter books? Nope, it turns out to be Matthew Carter of Cambridge, Massachusetts.…

What happens when you die? What's right and wrong? What's the purpose of life? Aaaaarrghhh! Chill out, God has the answers. And the religious part of your brain knows it. The anterior cingulated…

More cephalopods in pop culture: not anime this time, but games! Mobile phone games, to be specific. "Squibble" sounds like a lot of fun: A mad scientist has captured your cutesy, albeit deranged-…

If you are unaware, a supernova is an exploding star. In certain types of supernovae, the detonation starts with a flame ball buried deep inside a white dwarf and the flame ball is much lighter…