I have just returned from over a week working at DESY (das Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron) at Hamburg, and when I am not so tired I hope to write up some more synchrotron stuff for you all. …

If you live in London, then you could do worse than join a Westminster Skeptics night out getting paralytic about science. Westminster Skeptics promote an evidence-based approach and critical…

Decisive Advantage by Chris Potter in the Pittsburgh City Paper. If I had a kid who might want to go into research for a living, I'd want them to read this story. It gives some insight into what is…

In two years the Higgs boson will be close to discovery, and its mass already known, or the particle will be already in the trash bin. That is the single line which best summarizes the scenarios I…

"Airplanes do not "fly"! They are held aloft through the divine intervention of heavenly angels!""I'll notify the Texas Board of Education at once!" I wonder whether such dark levity is the last…

New Missing Link - Or Maybe Not The recent suggestion that Australopithecus Sediba is an intermediate species has aroused controversy. The following extracts are from naturenews. Claim over 'human…

As I start to write this I can hear two helicopters passing overhead. I live in a small road just 5 minutes walk from one of Bangkok's major traffic clots, Victory Monument. Sometimes, writing about…

For science-fiction loving people there's a site :                                        …

Arctic Ice 2010 #3 - The State Of The Ice Arctic Ice 2010 - a short series of articles. The first part - Arctic Ice 2010 #1 - The Nature Of Sea Ice was an introduction to the behaviour of Arctic sea…

The Military laboratories are constantly seeking new poisons with special attention to the world's animal and plant, biological toxins.Examples: Snakes as the cobra, the fish Arothron hispidus…

The PBSKids show "Arthur" ran an episode featuring a new character, Carl, who has Aspergers Syndrome.  Aspergers is either an autism-like condition or a form of high-functioning autism,…

Autism is an elusive disorder in all respects. Symptoms and behaviors vary greatly between individuals, and even within individuals day-to-day. Theories regarding causes and cures for autism ebb and…

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that the Levant Basin Province, in the Eastern Mediterranean region, holds 122 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of undiscovered, technically recoverable…

Researchers writing in Science have discovered a remarkable amount of plasticity in how transcription factors, the proteins that bind to DNA to control the activation of genes, maintained their…

Inexpensive wireless sensors based on nanotechnology could be used to alert engineers to problematic damage to buildings, bridges, and other structures before they become critical, according to a…

Supervolcanoes have been blamed for multiple mass extinctions in Earth's history. But despite their global impact, their origin and triggering mechanisms have remained unexplained. New data obtained…

Governments of developing countries have done a fantastic job managing international aid money. Today, 44% of international health aid money cannot be traced in the budgets of the receiving countries…

A recent LiveScience article entitled "Ancestry Search Can Annoy Living Relatives" expressed the point that all the interest displayed in researching one's family tree could annoy relatives. …

(I recently discovered this series of entries about fixing science journalism, begun in February.  Because I just joined up, I wasn't able to add my two cents.  So I thought I'd add it now,…

Arctic Ice 2010 #2 - What People Are Saying Arctic Ice 2010 - a short series of articles. The first part - Arctic Ice 2010 #1 - The Nature Of Sea Ice was an introduction to the behaviour of Arctic…