Scientists who study how human chemistry can permanently turn off genes have typically focused on small islands of DNA believed to contain most of the chemical alterations involved in those switches.…

The Age of Entanglementby Louisa GilderAlfred A. Knopf, 2008 Perhaps there is no greater demonstration of Einstein's brilliance and famous independence than his rejection of the spookiness at the…

2009 will be an eventful year for Earth observation at the European Space Agency. I watched the ESA press conference in December 2008 immediately after the Ministerial where ESA's Director General…

2009 will be an eventful year for Earthobservation at the European Space Agency. I watched the ESA pressconference in December 2008 immediately after the Ministerial whereESA's Director General…

One of the things I enjoyed most about my time at Yale was the history of the place. I was pleasantly surprised to discover the famous scientists that worked there, including Lederberg, Tatum, Altman…

While the entertainment industry's awards shows are beginning to clog the airways with completely mindless fluff, a recent award by the editors of Science magazine is going relatively unnoticed. In…

The recent landing of a Airbus A320 on the Hudson was a tragedy narrowly avoided - thanks in no small part to the quick thinking of the pilot after a flock of birds took out both engines on the plane…

New research by Brunel University, the Universities of Exeter and Reading and the Centre for Ecology&Hydrology says there is a stronger link between water pollution and rising male fertility…

Even 150 years after Charles Darwin’s epochal On the Origin of Species many questions about the molecular basis of evolution are still waiting for answers. How are signaling pathways changed by genes…

Transiting exoplanets are routinely detected when they pass in front of their parent star as viewed from the Earth, which only happens by chance. The transit event causes a small drop in the observed…

Smallpox has a nasty history throughout the world. Caused by poxviruses, smallpox is one of the few disease-causing agents against which the human body’s immune system is ineffective. The human…

Since man first discovered that he could control fire and combust fuels for heat and cooking, he has had to deal with the byproducts of the combustion of organic fuels.  But with more people the…

OK, here's more commentary on some of the interesting stuff over at Cosmic Variance, this time on the cult of genius: During high school or college, many aspiring physicists latch onto Feynman or…

At Cosmic Variance, find out how the once active physicist Frank Tipler now registers high on John Baez's crackpot index: In science, we tend to valorize (to the point of fetishizing) a certain kind…

As a science site, we can continually be baffled that both the left and the right can find something to be critical about.   Some on the right are critical of stem cell research or climate…

In an article in the International Journal of Astrobiology, P. McCafferty discusses the possibility of a red, blood-like life form living inside meteors. This conclusion raises the possibility that…

Imagining aliens helps us think about evolution If we ever do make contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence, what will it look like?  Hollywood has had no shortage of examples for films and…

If you're a reader of geography or a student of eastern philosophy, you may have seen the name K'un Lun.  It is the name of a mountain range in western China and borders the northern edge of…

One suggestion would be to gain more understanding of life processes. For that, we design science experiments in situ, in vitro, in vivo, and/or in modeling. There are facilities…

In part 2 we closed with the idea that Bohr seemed to be using general relativity against Einstein to save quantum mechanics! A wonderful story. But is it true? Einstein seems to have thought…