Scientists at the Vatican support so-called genetically modified crops but the head of the Catholic Church's science advisors has now said that the statement does not represent an official…

Scientists at the Vatican support so-called genetically modified crops but the head of the Catholic Church's science advisors has now said that the statement does not represent an official…

What is the totalitarian solution to young people spending too much time on the Internet?  An Internet 'curfew' forcing them off.    The proposed "Cinderella" ban would make it…

What is the totalitarian solution to young people spending too much time on the Internet?  An Internet 'curfew' forcing them off.    The proposed "Cinderella" ban would make it…

H0 charge "clouds" in |4,3,1> state.         In about 1985, while considering a banal problem of scattering from atoms, I occasionally discovered the positive…

Astrobiology researchers say a new discovery may have expanded the definition of life.   Conducting tests in the harsh environment of Mono Lake in California, they have discovered the first…

"So string theory is certainly among the directions that deserve more investigation. But should it continue to be regarded as the dominant paradigm of theoretical physics ? Should most of the…

Recently, two posts of Lisa Jo Rudy’s at About.com have garnered the disdain of loyal AoA (Age of Autism blog) readers. Anne Dachel felt strongly enough to write a lengthy post about the upcoming…

In light of today's *way* over-hyped reporting of "new alien life" discovered by NASA-funded research (GFAJ-1, the arsenic microbe), I thought this song would be appropriate. By the way, find out the…

Contrary to what many of us would predict most female animals are not monogamous. Not even swans or penguins, those (supposedly) hallmarks of monogamy. Also surprising is the evidence that in most…

The largest fish species in the ocean, the whale shark, is spectacular for lots of reasons, not the least is that their motion is an astonishing feat of mathematics and energy conservation.  In…

Yesterday I finished two novels. One was Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and I have babbled about it here. The other was my own invention. The working title is A Girl and her Squid…

Ah, the good old days, where everyone in the neighborhood had kids named John and Mary (or Juan and Maria, or Jean and Marie, etc). But all of the warm fuzzy melting pot of same-name-ness started to…

The presence of toxic lead in used consumer products is extremely widespread and at levels far beyond safe limits, researchers conclude in a new study.  Research recently found that lead and…

Lactococcus lactis, the workhorse bacterium that helps turn milk into cheese, may also lead to understanding of how microbes turn the organic compound cellulose into biofuels, according to new…

A new study was released today in JAMA which looked at, in part, mitochondrial DNA overreplication in a sample of ten autistic children between the ages of 2 and 5 and ten matched controls. …

A satellite as cute as a pumpkin, they are.  Ran into this neat post at NASAHackSpace about a Forbes report on Pumpkin Inc's pre-made CubeSats.  CubeSat itself is a specification, not a…

Small, dim stars known as red dwarfs have turned out to be much more prolific than previously thought, which means that the total number of stars in the universe is likely three times larger than…

Chronic jet lag alters the brain in ways that cause memory and learning problems long after returning to a regular 24-hour schedule, according to research by Berkeley psychologists. Twice a week for…

Recently, we featured an article on how new federal money -- funneled through the NOAA -- is being directed to citizen science efforts (read more). Now, additional research dollars from the…