Context Is Vital The meaning of a string of words can seem to be entirely opposite in intent if it is placed in the wrong context.  The device of spreading false ideas by quoting people out of…

It's often the case that attending a conference like AAAS means you have to choose between competing programs, like the good stuff, the fun stuff and the stuff you will make fun of.  This…

Did you ever wonder why some people become astronomers?  I asked random astronomers at last month's AAS meeting, and in my latest 365DOA podcast, you can find out what each said-- and how each…

The British government has just published a whole batch of reports on science communication. The Science&Media Report was published on 20th January 2010, including a variety of supporting…

It has become a pleasant habit for me to visit Bassano del Grappa every February for a conference on particle physics aimed at high-school students. Thanks to the efforts and the skill of dr. Sergio…

In many parts of the country there is a recession but some segments are immune to the ups and downs of economic cycles.  Three are obvious; your lawyer, your accountant and hotels in towns where…

No, this isn’t a close-up of the surface of a golf ball. It’s a new type of material, one that is porous and elastic, lighter than solid aluminum yet stronger than steel, one that its creators are…

The enzyme calcineurin is critical to normal development and function of heart cells, and loss of the protein leads to heart problems and death in genetically modified mice, according to researchers…

People who live in areas with lower household incomes are much more likely to die because of their personal and household characteristics and their community surroundings, according to research…

Plants and algae, as well as cyanobacteria, use photosynthesis to produce oxygen and "fuels," the latter being oxidizable substances like carbohydrates and hydrogen. There are two pigment-protein…

Physicist and sci-fi author David Brin on healthy versus pathological skepticism w.r.t. climate science: What factors would distinguish a rational, pro-science "skeptic" - who has honest questions…

Pushing The Moon Away With Victorian Machinery This is a further article in my occasional series about coal, engines and energy, heat and thermodynamics.  In this article I am going to show you…

Millions Fed : A Recommended Read Millions Fed: Proven Successes in Agricultural Development is a recently published free pdf book which details case studies in sustainable food production methods.…

Where Science Meets Poetry Caveat:  it may strike the reader from what follows that I have an agendist stance against modern poetry.  I have no quarrel with that assessment. Quite obviously…

'If you begin by treating the scientific ideas of earlier centuries as myths, you will end by treating your own scientific ideas as dogmas': we have tried, throughout this book, to display the…

The chemical compounds carnivorous plants in the tropics use to dissolve their prey could serve as a new class of anti-fungal drugs for use in human medicine, according to researchers from Tel Aviv…

Writing in Cell, a team of biologists say they have unraveled the biochemistry of how bacteria so precisely time cell division, a key element in understanding how all organisms from bacteria to…

The mechanism by which the parasite Plasmodium intensively replicates itself in human blood to spread malaria has eluded scientists despite decades of rigorous research. But now biologists writing in…

A recent study in the American Journal of Human Genetics has revealed how human genes interact with their environment to boost disease risk. The authors say the findings shed light on why the search…

In December 2008 CNN announced that it was closing down its whole science and technology production team and moving the environmental agenda into their general news. It was as if the news world had…