A new study of African lions says climate extremes, which would include the increased frequency of droughts and floods predicted by global warming models, can create conditions in which diseases that…

Many scientists are frustrated by the way scientific studies are reported in the media. However, in many cases I think I and others have unfairly lumped the majority of science writers together,…

Researchers at Johns Hopkins say that epigenetic marks on DNA - chemical marks other than the DNA sequence - do indeed change over a person's lifetime, and that the degree of change is similar among…

Data from Google Trends is being used in Pensacola, FL to settle a legal question in an obscenity trial; the argument raised by the defense is that if Google's data shows that the term (for instance)…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that, in the U.S. alone, foodborne pathogens are responsible for 76 million illnesses every year. Of the people affected by those illnesses,…

Just like humans, liver cells love doughnuts, but these are polystyrene ring “doughnuts”, just a few microns across, and they might give scientists a new way to deliver drugs selectively, potentially…

More than 55 million cosmetic surgery procedures will be performed in 2015, predicts a recent study in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons…

An international team has reached a milestone in the construction of one of the largest ever cameras to detect the mysterious Dark Energy component of the Universe. The pieces of glass for the five…

Ritalin, CIBA-Geneva's brand name for methylphenidate, has long been the weapon of choice against rambunctious children (and even used by some who actually have attention deficit hyperactivity…

A recent Northwestern University study has a surprising results - substantially more men are likely to share their creative work online than women even though both genders engage in creative…

Gordy Slack, writing in The Scientist seems to think so. First things first, I am not in the camp that looks on honest questions as deserving of a declaration of war in that sort of 'you are with…

A study recently published in Social Science Quarterly finds that religious beliefs play a more significant role than church attendance or religious traditions in political participation. Religious…

Scientists at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research have, for the first time, genetically programmed embryonic stem (ES) cells to become nerve cells when transplanted into the brain, according…

I hesitate to scoop Jonathan Eisen by commenting on a news item verging on "Genomics by Press Release" (he is, after all, the one quoted about this in a prestigious publication), but this is worth…

Multitasking is detrimental to how we learn according to two interesting pieces which discuss recent neurological studies of multitasking, in The Atlantis, and in The Atlantic (yes, those are two…

Biologists at Harvard University have determined that some African frogs puncture their own skin with sharp bones in their toes when threatened, using the bones as claws capable of wounding predators…

A new report at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars has some recommendations about science advice for the next president. The rationale for this report is that: The next President…

Homer's Odyssey, be it history or fiction, had one potentially true part that has fascinated readers throughout the ages - namely whether Odysseus returned home to experience a total solar eclipse.…

Want to put your computer to good use while you sleep? Muhammad Zaman, assistant professor in biomedical engineering, recently introduced Cellular Environment in Living Systems @Home or CELS@Home…

Rachel Carson wasn't all that happy with DDT. I bet she really wouldn't like a gel bait insecticide that can kill three generations of cockroaches as they feed off of each other and transfer the…