Man, I love it when scientists discover and publish things on a schedule that matches my state-mandated curriculum!  It really makes my job a lot easier.  (Also, the joke in the title line…

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It's the big day, the Darwin Bicentennial, so what are you going to read? You should start by checking out the interesting evolution pieces we've got here on the site, laid out on our Darwin Day…

While in no way sexy, paleomagnetic dating stands the test of time for being useful. You probably remember a demo from science class where a sheet of paper is laid over a bar magnet, and iron…

When people think of a refrigerator, magnetism isn't necessarily the first thought that comes to their minds. We've all become accustomed to the loud humming noise of the compressor and blowing fan…

Parents and advocates who believe vaccines cause autism were dealt a double blow this week. On the scientific front, a discredited 1998 study that launched the vaccine-autism debate onto the…

This is the year of Darwin (yes, yes, it’s also the year of astronomy, I know), and especially this week -- around the date of Chuck’s birth -- we are seeing a spike of events, radio and tv pieces,…

A well known professor of analog circuit design and theory once said "all models are wrong".   Analog design is particularly rewarding and challenging, I believe, for this very reason.…

Economic, environmental, political and supply issues dictate that reliance on fossil fuels will be ephermeral on the scale of human history.  While developments in telecommunications and the…

Economic, environmental, political and supply issues dictate that reliance on fossil fuels will be ephermeral on the scale of human history.  While developments in telecommunications and the…

One of my readers (via Facebook) said he loved my blog but still had no idea what I did.  Good point.  While most career scientists hyperspecialize, I've moved among multiple fields of…

“As a young boy I was always very curious. My parents didn't like to leave me at home alone, because they knew I would dismantle the radio. . .” So begins an interview with Ghana's rocket man who is…

The Valentine's Day lovefest on this site - who says scientists aren't warm and fuzzy? - is spectacular. You can learn about the chemistry of love with Valentine's Day science for women, easy…

Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill say they have helped develop a new genomic test that can help clinicians predict which breast cancer patients are most likely to survive…

A problem arises with abstract representational thought where we imbue more significance to the symbol… the word… than to what that word is a symbol of. This is the major failing of most established…

If you were here for Darwin Day 2008 you know what this is all about; a celebration of Darwin and all that his work has accomplished both during his lifetime and since.   To spur participation…

There are some big things happening this week so I will just take a minute to fill everyone in.   Of course, you must know by now Darwin Day is tomorrow and we are doing everything we can to…

Coming up on Darwin's birthday, a lot is written about natural selection by non-biologists because opponents of evolution prefer to believe that biology stopped in 1859.  Criticizing Darwin and…

The central dogma of Molecular Genetics is that information flow is unidirectional:  DNA to RNA to PROTEIN.  That is, DNA holds the blueprints, RNA is the messenger, and Proteins are the…

The big five extinctions  are  regularly the subject of   many investigations, and speculations regarding the causes, the main  culprits  being  often put …