New research says that sunspots provide an incomplete measure of changes in the sun's impact on Earth over the course of the 11-year solar cycle - good news for global warming proponents concerned…

Scientists say they have discovered the chemical reaction that forms the molecule triacetylene in the ultra-cold atmosphere of Titan, one Saturn's more popular moons for researchers since Titan's…

Transitions are exciting because at temperatures close to absolute zero the transition from one quantum phase to another can provide a deeper understanding of fundamental laws of the universe.…

Jeff writes: "[Do] squid or cephalopods have any weird parasites similar to the isopops that replace the tongues on a number of fish . . . ?" (Heh. I am still chuckling over "isopops." Although…

Dr P.K. Tewari  made observation that AN  un noticed dehydration in Rajasthan especially in Jaipur even when one sits under roof at home with fan running . The sign of dehydration is dry…

5.1   Pharmacognostical characterization of some selected medicinal plants   The word "Pharmacognosy" derives from the Greek words pharmakon (drug), and gnosis or knowledge. The term…

Genealogy is the study of ones family history and background.  I have been doing such a study in my spare time.  What I found was in a word shocking, affirming, and surprising.  I knew…

I have been a CrackBerry user for several years, and am rarely seen without it in my hand or on my belt. Last week I traded my 8700 for the Bold (9000) -- wow, what a good move! The Bold is faster,…

So much science education happens in informal ways--outside of the classroom. These experiences can be so valuable and sometimes even more influential than the classic approaches taken for so long by…

CHLOROPHYTUM TUBEROSUM (Roxb.) Family : Liliaceae Hindi : Safed musli Mundari : Kulaebo, Piri jadu, Piri tar Oraon : Oro arxa. Trade name : Safed musli This is a genus of two hundred…

Botanical origin : Calotropis procera Family : Asclepiadaceae Arka, an important drug of Ayurveda is known in this country from the earliest time. It is mentioned by the earliest Hindu writers and…

You can think of it as the United Nations of knowledge - except no dictators wearing pistols are allowed to get up and spout nonsense.  Or you could think of it as the Wikipedia of knowledge,…

If  Airlines were armies, United and Lufthansa would be invincible. Their meals betray it -you know, the stronger an army, the worse the food it distributes. I am just out of a flight from…

I like Penn&Teller, the magicians and debunkers of pseudoscience and general inanity. I regularly use clips from their show in my critical reasoning class, despite cringing every time Penn…

Happy. punctuation day; everyone!1 1 Technically the 6th National Punctuation Day was yesterday, but I was still recovering from tuberculosis/black plague, so I'm a day late.

Euphorbia tirucalli L.: Family: Euphorbiaceae Genus: Euphorbia Species: tirucalli, insulana Common names: English: Indian tree spurge, Milk hedge, Petroleum-plant, aveloz, milk bush, pencil tree,…

The plants of family Euphorbiaceae are mostly monoecious herbs, shrubs, and trees, sometimes succulent and cactus-like. With about 300 genera and 7,500 species, Euphorbiaceae is one of the largest…

Biofuels According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory [NREL] (see http://www.nrel.gov/learning/re_biofuels.html): “Unlike other renewable energy sources, biomass can be converted directly…

I'm torn.  There's two ways I would make a new smash video game, "Astronomy Hero". In the first, you are doing night observing runs, trying to accumulate enough light from each target while…

Okay, I know Michigan is practically an island, but that water is fresh, and there are no freshwater cephalopods (curious, yes? I will muse on that later!). So we can consider it landlocked from a…