A new corticosteroid hormone in the sea lamprey, an eel-like fish and one of the earliest vertebrates dating back 500 million years, may shed light on the evolution of steroid hormones. Principal…

Aww. I cannot bring myself to enter the contest to win a month living in the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The website beckons: "Be the experiment. Eat. Sleep. Science."  But I am…

My last post got me thinking a bit more about uncertainty and decision making. It reminded me of a podcast I had listened to a while back, on uncertainty, storytelling and hedge fund managers. It is…

This weekend marks the launch of the inaugural Open Science Summit conference in Berkeley, CA. The new program intends to be the centralized resource for the continued development in the…

I have been working with scientists and engineers on explaining their research and other work to the general public for almost a decade. I've explained the science of many things and how they connect…

Sometimes eeeevil corporations (aren't they all eeeevil?) give a green light to cool ideas, so let's give it up to Volkswagen for their The Fun Theory award - the idea being that if you make…

Sometimes eeeevil corporations (aren't they all eeeevil?) give a green light to cool ideas, so let's give it up to Volkswagen for their The Fun Theory award - the idea being that if you make…

Skegness is SO bracing said the posters featuring the Jolly Fisherman.  But what is it that makes the seaside air so invigorating?  Not ozone, as your auntie or granny might have told…

In a classic experiment known as the Ultimatum Game, person A is given 10 coins to split between himself and person B. If person B accepts the distribution, they both keep the coins; if not, no one…

... no, better, if only we had an open source, downloadable, multi-scale, virtual catalog of the mouse brain and its cellular constituents. Wait, now we do!

... no, better, if only we had an open source, downloadable, multi-scale, virtual catalog of the mouse brain and its cellular constituents. Wait, now we do!

In 2009, British men made 16.4% more auto accident claims during the Summer than other seasons - and 25% % of men have had a crash or near miss in Summer compared to only 17% of women. The reason?…

In 2009, British men made 16.4% more auto accident claims during the Summer than other seasons - and 25% % of men have had a crash or near miss in Summer compared to only 17% of women. The reason?…

I've recently had two similar, yet very different, experiences in my day job as a science writer. A few months ago I was assigned to write a piece for symmetry Magazine (look for it in August!) about…

Imagine a bullet-proof vest made from a relatively simple protein processed from water - fashionable for those high-risk warzones yet still environmentally terrific. Ancient people knew about…

A new study says that mild H1N1 infection may go undetected using standard diagnostic criteria and concludes that coughing or other respiratory symptoms are more accurate in determining…

Body checking in hockey, intentionally slamming an opponent against the boards, is regarded as violence under the guise of sports, according to hockey detractors, but injury numbers don't agree - at…

Calcium supplements are commonly taken by older people for osteoporosis but have now been associated with an increased risk of a heart attack, according to a study published in BMJ-British Medical…

Well, now there are 7 stages of Mitosis;  Interphase, Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase, Cytokinasis and ... ... Delicious! Kevin Van Aelst art - see more here.

Well, now there are 7 stages of Mitosis;  Interphase, Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase, Cytokinasis and ... ... Delicious! Kevin Van Aelst art - see more here.