Soot and methane were little-considered factors in climate change models a decade ago but with the drop of CO2 in Western nations, activists have begun to worry about those.  It would have been…

The PandaX experiment of China is located in a deep underground laboratory, shielded by 2,400 meters of low radioactive rocks to provide protection for PandaX against cosmic muons. It began operation…

Platonic solids are regular bodies in three dimensions, such as the cube and icosahedron, and have been known for millennia. They feature prominently in the natural world wherever geometry and…

Australia is working to repeal its unpopular carbon tax and replacement strategies to mitigate carbon emissions and stave off future climate change may bring a bonus - water savings. A new study says…

Some viruses can hide in our bodies for decades. How do they escape notice and destruction? They have 'fake' human proteins that trick our immune cells into thinking they belong.  Now,…

An international research team has developed a new method to analyze the global genome, or the metagenome of the intestinal microbiota. The intestinal microbiota is all the bacteria found in the…

The 37th International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP) began last Thursday in Valencia, Spain with three days of parallel sessions, now moves on to plenary sessions until Wednesday, summing…

Mindfulness meditation is all the rage in meditation circles but does it work? Most research claiming benefits have focused on lengthy, weeks-long training programs using people who already like…

    Many high IQ Asperger sufferers think that their rationality is ultimately superior. Their moralizing provides judgments; their “honesty” blurts them out. Such behavior is usually…

Probiotics are a popular fad but there is little evidence they are anything more than a well-marketed placebo. Like homeopathy, at least that means the only harm will be in your wallet. Yet when…

Metaphysical thought processes are more deeply wired than hitherto suspected WHILE MILITANT ATHEISTS like Richard Dawkins may be convinced God doesn’t exist, God, if he is around, may be amused to…

If you call yourself a paleo diet aficionado, you probably eat a lot of bugs. As many as you can. Because finding enough food was the kind of struggle only dinosaurs can sympathize with - an ant diet…

All across the world, there is one thing babies share in common; their size, if they are born to healthy, well-educated, well-nourished mothers. Obviously there are wide disparities in the average…

Two years have passed since the discovery of the Higgs boson (on July 4th, 2012), and the young particle still causes excitement. Originally it was the excess of Higgs decays to photon pairs as seen…

The dose makes the poison, it is often said, and it is true. Lots of medicines and chemicals are harmless or beneficial in reasonable quantities but dangerous in high quantities. What about CO2 in…

There are numerous ways to address carbon emissions but are we choosing the right approaches? America and Europe have invested heavily in subsidizing solar and wind generation and solar panels - but…

Evolutionary adaptations have allowed Tibetans to have no trouble living at 13,000 feet, but how they became able to conquer the harsh environment of hypoxia has long been a mystery. Genetic studies…

Medicine is advancing rapidly and it always has risks, but in early going the risks are going to be greater. A paper found that the risk of patient harm increased two-fold in 2006, the year when…

What is the impact of volcanic sulfate emissions on climate? Researchers have completed the most accurate and precise reconstruction to date of historic volcanic sulfate emissions in the Southern…

The small intestine is not easy to examine. X-rays, MRIs and ultrasound images provide snapshots but each suffers limitations.   The average human small intestine is roughly 23 feet long and 1…