Web sites that foster online communication and interaction are not merely vapid echo chambers of self-promotion, according to a new study in American Behavioral Scientist. In fact, just the opposite…

Some solar physicists have suggested that prolonged low solar activity could offset the effects of anthropogenic global warming. But a new Grand Minimum of solar activity would decrease the rise of…

A new review in the Agronomy Journal suggests that crop residue removal from corn, wheat, and grain sorghum may not be the most earth-friendly source of biomass for cellulosic ethanol production.…

We've had our first missing link of 2010.  What, you ask?  Was the missing link not discovered twice even last year?  Well, yes, if you read the mainstream media it happens quite often…

Out in the woods of North America and wondering what the temperature is? Slip down to the nearest stand of deciduous trees and bushes to search for the wee Snowy Tree Cricket, Oecanthus Fultoni.…

About two dozen families of eurypterids “sea scorpions” are known from the fossil record. Although these ancient predators have a superficial similarity, including a defensive needle-like spike or…

Not long ago, I read J.R.R. Tolkien's mythopoeia masterpiece, The Silmarillion (his creation myth for the world of The Lord of the Rings). Upon finishing it, I immediately picked up Sparks of Life, a…

In my article on brain waves and consciousness I looked at some research associating gamma wave activity with consciousness. This is, however, a controversial area in that other researchers have…

I was working on a paper recently, and my boss included a editing note that got me thinking.  The topic dealt with certain circuits in the limbic network of the brain.  The note included…

Freedom Of Information And UK Law The UK's Freedom Of Information Act 2000 - FOIA - has been much in the news and public debate of late, mainly in connection with allegations that the University Of…

You probably think that because I started a hybrid social media/science media darling like Scientific Blogging, adored by many, I must know a lot of people.   Just the opposite is true.  I…

When I was the president of an international private coeducational boarding school for teenagers with dyslexia and other kinds of learning disorders, I was frequently asked by parents to curtail…

When men starting eating meat it might have been necessity because human body cant make proteins from amino acids directly. Plants can utilize inorganic nitrogen and organic nitrogen sources to make…

The botanical garden of Justus Liebig Universitat where I visited with my daughter when she was less than two years old in 1976 for the first time has attracted me again and again. Some of the…

During course of evolution (  if you believe in theory of evolution ) cycads were once called as living fossil . Most of the plants of this group became extinct and fossil. However when Cycas…

Birds in general are impressive creatures, but the Supurb lyrebird takes the cake for its ability to mimic sounds. Here's a video demonstrating its ability to mimic construction sounds. You can…

"I love work, it fascinates me; I can sit and watch it for hours". J. K. Jerome

I just read a very nice article by Nature's Zeeya Merali, and I thought I would link it from this blog. It discusses in detail several aspects of the sociology of the very large communities of…

Faint Young Sun - No Paradox The faint young sun paradox is no paradox, according to a recent paper in Nature. The faint young sun paradox is that the earth didn't freeze over when the sun was weaker…

We defied expectations in last week's Pepsi Throwback Challenge. We found the unusual result that our bodies, against our wills, preferred high fructose corn syrup to ordinary sugar.  Our…