When we discuss Foucault on a science site, we mean French physicist Léon Foucault and not that annoying prat of a post-modernist, Michel Foucault.    You know who Léon Foucault…

Sure, Google is a multi-billion company that got there selling ads - and its contextual engine is smart but at heart it's still based on keywords and content.  So when it goofs, it goofs to…

Sure, Google is a multi-billion company that got there selling ads - and its contextual engine is smart but at heart it's still based on keywords and content.  So when it goofs, it goofs to…

I like Nicholas Wade, and think that his latest NY Times piece on basic research is worth reading. However, I take issue with his overly simplistic characterization of how research works: Basic…

It may not be healthy, but Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, was making a point; namely, that when it comes to weight loss, despite what people selling things want…

It may not be healthy, but Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, was making a point; namely, that when it comes to weight loss, despite what people selling things want…

The most recent issue of symmetry magazine has a feature titled, "When Muons Collide," by Leah Hesla. [Full disclosure: I have also written for symmetry.] The article lays out the need for a muon…

Having read the biography of Oliver Heaviside, I remain aware that I am not really au fait with inductance as I am with resistance and capacitance.  Searching without much success for a textbook…

A Disclaimer: I am not spreading any social gospel of minimalism or primitivism; nor am I making any moral statement about the merit of culture with my blog's title. Tis a dramatic catch phrase…

How To Get Well And Truly Shellacked Now I'm not recommending for every future president that they take a shellacking like they, like I did last night.Barack Obama,November 07 2010,as reported…

Is obesity contagious?   A Harvard groups says it is and that it is spreading via social networks.   If so, America's obesity epidemic won't plateau until at least 42 percent of adults…

Wish that, like fantasy baseball players or civilization builders, you could have your own planet to kill with greenhouse gases?  Good news!  "Fate of the World" lets you run a UN…

Wish that, like fantasy baseball players or civilization builders, you could have your own planet to kill with greenhouse gases?  Good news!  "Fate of the World" lets you run a UN…

Bill Nye "the Science Guy" and Emmy award winner,  is opening a 'climate lab' at the Chabot Space&Science Center in Oakland.  It is designed for 10-year-olds but, really, isn't all…

Burt Rutan, who designed the first private manned rocket to reach space, has announced he will retire next year.    Though everyone in aviation knew him well (including this blogger's…

You've all heard of global warming but global dimming has gotten less attention - because it can be confusing that cooling would be bad when warming is bad. Global dimming is when fossil fuel burning…

Bill Nye "the Science Guy" and Emmy award winner,  is opening a 'climate lab' at the Chabot Space&Science Center in Oakland.  It is designed for 10-year-olds but, really, isn't all…

Burt Rutan, who designed the first private manned rocket to reach space, has announced he will retire next year.    Though everyone in aviation knew him well (including this blogger's…

You've all heard of global warming but global dimming has gotten less attention - because it can be confusing that cooling would be bad when warming is bad. Global dimming is when fossil fuel burning…

Concerned about rising political attacks regarding climate change research, 700 members of the American Geophysical Union are going to wade further into the political muck and campaign against…