In the latest issue of Science, one of the outstanding contemporary philosophers of science, Philip Kitcher, in a review of books on global warming, offers this excellent bit of wisdom on science and…

After two years spent saying that Italy has a strong economy and is doing better than the rest of Europe, and strongly criticizing whomever tried to warn that the economical crisis was not over yet,…

I just received by Matin Durrani, editor of Physics World, a link to a fun game, and thought I'd give it a try. The game consists in guessing which among two titles of physics papers is right, and…

Moncktonian ClimatologyChristopher Monckton presents himself as an expert on climate. Since he is an expert on climate, it follows that we should all trust and believe him when he says that there is…

It was a hot sultry afternoon when, I was assigned a work to deliver a presentation on groundbreaking science in chromatographic field. Being in the field for five years, I have yet to…

Portuguese scientists have just published a revolutionary new approach to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) which, if translated to humans, can change the way we treat autoimmunity (and so diseases…

Blogs by physicists working in large scientific collaborations are looked with suspicion by the management, because they are considered -wrongly so- a potential source of leaks. Large experiments…

Scientists from Tübingen say they have revealed an evolutionary dilemma - plants that are more resistant to disease grow more slowly and are less competitive than susceptible relatives when enemies…

The Yangtze River in China is 40 million years older than was previously thought, according to new research. A study of minerals reveals that the Yangtze River began to cut the Three Gorges area…

Researchers in China have created an electromagnetic absorbing device for microwave frequencies. The device, called an “omnidirectional electromagnetic absorber”, is made of a thin cylinder…

The End of the World as Farce Our road to The Road begins in 1947, with Ward Moore's Greener Than You Think, an apocalyptic comic satire that just cries out for a movie adaptation by Trey Parker and…

Hummingbirds require an enormous amount of energy to beat their wings fast enough to hover and maneuver. In many ways they appear to retain  some of the flight patters of insects, but they have…

Before he was House on the TV series named ... "House" ... Hugh Laurie was a comedian; you know, one of those smug types UK people love, except he was actually funny.    In this clip, he…

Arctic Ice June 2010 This article describes the current state of the Arctic sea ice and makes some predictions for the month ahead.  The predictions are based on my visual analysis of hundreds…

3 Quarks Daily is a 'filter blog' that compiles stuff from around the web on a daily basis, in science, design, literature, current affairs, art, and anything else they deem inherently fascinating.…

The pheromone that attracts female mice to the odor of a particular male has been identified and named ‘darcin’ by researchers writing in BMC Biology (they say they named it after Darcy from Jane…

I recently finished the draft for my upcoming book, Harnessed: How Language and Music Mimicked Nature and Transformed Ape to Man (Benbella, 2011). To give you a better idea of it’s aim, here is the…

Occasionally, as a mother of three on the spectrum and an active autism-related blogger, I need a break from all things autism. Just as the psychology of religion is one of my areas of interest, so…

Given that the brain is something of a mystery, almost anything that works is worth doing, even if it ends up being the same as a placebo. Meditation is often linked to beneficial effects, though no…

Getting Steamed Up About Nostalgia The term nostalgia describes a yearning for the past. As a child, I would travel to school on a steam train.  I have always loved the power and the beauty of…