There's a coevolutionary struggle between a New Zealand snail and its worm parasite but it ends up being sexually advantageous for the snail, whose females favor asexual reproduction in the absence…

A group called the Blind Driver Challenge team in Virginia Tech's Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory  has retrofitted a four-wheel dirt buggy with laser range finders, an instant voice command…

In Toledo, Ohio on June 26, 1914 -- a star was born. He was named Lyman Strong Spitzer, Jr. for good measure. An asteroid, a space telescope, and a building in the Princeton Plasma Physics…

If there are two things biology guru Josh Witten likes, it's getting pummelled by very large men sans padding or helmets (it's not a sex thing, pervs) ... and remote bookstores. It's his remote…

CNN is trying to look like they are impartial by simultaneously only having talking heads who stress how vital government health care is while then proclaiming it Obama's "Waterloo." If you aren't…

This is way better than the Geico Cavemen ads - Elisabeth Daynes' reconstructions of ancient hominins. Science Magazine featured her work in their July 10th issue. Her website has some great images.…

One of my recently developed rules: avoid the last minute rush. I don't run to catch the Metro train, and I don't scramble to put my data into some sort of coherent form when I have to give a lab…

Tangential Science: it's not necessarily science, but it's still funny. 1. Pity poor Conde Nast.  Not only are they going to lose $200 million in 2009, meaning Graydon Carter of Vanity Fair may…

Health requires safety. There is a laser hazard that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is concerned about: the increased availability in stores and on the Internet of certain types of laser…

Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something. -Plato

If you're inclined to follow print media, and live in the Sacramento area, and came down on the side of Sacramento Magazine in the great SacMag/SacTown (1) War, you might be interested to know they…

In this two-parts article I wish to describe in some detail, but still at an elementary level, the characteristics of one of the most important probes of the physics of subnuclear collisions at today…

Allow me, if you will, to stray from my usual posts about computers, Internet technology, and mathematics. In the mid-1980s I saw a musical on Broadway called The Tap Dance Kid. I enjoyed it a lot —…

Scientists in Nevada are reporting development of a new and environmentally friendly process for chicken parts that are a lot better for you than Chicken Nuggets - namely, producing biodiesel fuel…

University of Utah School of Medicine researchers and their colleagues at University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center have found strong evidence that abnormal calcium signaling in neurons…

Scientists in Hangzhou joined residents and tourists across China and India in observing the longest total solar eclipse in a century - and probably the most-viewed one ever.  The moon's shadow…

If global warming projections hold up, tree crops that rely on the 'winter chill' in California's Central Valley could be in peril, say researchers in a new study.   If you aren't aware,…

A new study conducted by researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and Georgia State University looked at psychiatrically healthy Americans ages 9 to 17 to determine what…

The three-spine stickleback, tiny fish that thrive in oceans and in fresh water, appear to be the same yet ecologists are finding that they are actually a diverse collection of very specialized…

Feeling stressed?  The scent of a lemon or any other fragrant plants will help you feel better, say scientists in Japan who report the first scientific evidence that inhaling certain fragrances…