At most biomedical research conferences, you hear talks filled with published or almost published materials, which is unfortunate, because it's a lost opportunity for colleagues to talk about the…

The media is a powerful teacher of children and adolescents, an editorial in JAMA says. But what are they learning, and how can it be modified? "When children and adolescents spend more time…

Thinking Machines and The Semantic Quagmire What Is The Semantic Quagmire? I use the term "semantic quagmire" to refer to a peculiar state of mind which must ultimately be reached when thinking about…

In his “Practical Security” column in the May/June issue of IEEE Internet Computing magazine, Stephen Farrell talks about strength of cipher-suites, and the fact that the overall strength is not…

 An essential prerequisite [for genius] is a particular skepticism. [The scientist] must have refused to acquiesce in certain previously accepted conclusions. This argues a kind of an…

Want to know how gravestones will weather due to pollution?   Can you help measure hailstones?   If so, or you are wondering what else one person can contribute to solving global climate…

Did animals teach us one of the oldest forms of human technology, basketry? Did that help us learn to count? These are just two of the themes due to be explored at a University of East Anglia event…

ESA’s Mars Express orbiter has obtained images of Hephaestus Fossae, , which lies at about 21° North and 126° East on Mars. Named after the Greek god of fire, Hephaestus Fossae extends for more…

Research scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart working in conjunction with their colleagues from the company Logos Innovationen have…

The thinking, talking robots of Isaac Asimov science fiction are nothing like what we actually have - programmed machines that do the simplest things.   European researchers in robotics,…

New research suggests that the hunger hormone ghrelin is activated by fats from the foods we eat in order to optimize nutrient metabolism and promote the storage of body fat.  The findings, the…

Boys who carry a particular variation of the gene Monoamine oxidase A (MAOA), called the 'warrior' gene by some, are more likely to join gangs and be among their most violent members, according to a…

I'm a bit of a movie buff.I especially like science fiction movies.I'm also a little paranoid and keen on conspiracy theories. It should therefore come to no surprise that I was sucked into the viral…

Not quite as scientifically challenging as Garth's Geek Off, but still a workout for the neurons. John Tierney's "Tierney Lab" column in the NY Times features DeCAPitated puzzles, like the one below:…

Is it a pig? A rhino? A zebra? Heck if I know. But it's really freaking weird looking, that's for sure. The headline in the NY Times article, "New Research on Malaysia's Odd, Elusive Tapir" caught my…

Children with Angelman Syndrome develop normally until about 1 year of age and then their intellectual development stops.  They fail to develop language and other cognitive skills, are severely…

Very cool news- a ROV recently dove to the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench.  Here's the basics over at Discover. I can't wait until they release more images.  It's very exciting that…

The issue of altruism in animals is well recognized, but the explanation has always been strained. In particular, the idea that altruism would be beneficial at the group level gave rise to the idea…

This can't all be good stuff: a paper I'm reading noted that "Just a few keywords (linkage, mapping, SNP, genomewide association) identified 6866 articles in the PubMed database published in 2007…

Sometimes vaccines can eradicate widespread disease, like MMR, diphtheria, polio, smallpox. Sometimes they can mired in controversy, like the fight over whether they cause autism. In this…