In August of 2010, the nebula known as Ira's Ghost was photographed by the Hubble Telescope within the constellation Taurus. First discovered in 1983, it is a "reflection nebula" lit by an external…

When the DNA sequences of Homo sapiens and Pan troglodytes were sequenced, the difference between the sequences of coding genes was smaller than expected based on the phenotypic differences between…

Scientists have discovered more about the intricacies of Natural Killer cells, a unique type of white blood cell important in early immune responses to tumors and viruses.   Unlike most…

Young people always think the previous generations were more conservative, repressed, etc.  Two years ago one young dummy in journalism even referred to 'the more conservative 1970s', which is…

Why do some people, chess players or musicians, practice less but attain more? The common belief is that practice is necessary to achieve mastery in chess, but it's not enough. There has to be…

A routine check of the hep-ex preprints in the Cornell Arxiv revealed today some interesting papers worth giving a look. At least, they are interesting to me: don't expect me to publicize stuff I do…

How a blend of titanium's alpha and beta crystalline forms makes a perfect match for bone tissue. But this 'Dance Your Ph.D.' entrant didn't have a video camera, so they took over 2,000 stills and…

How a blend of titanium's alpha and beta crystalline forms makes a perfect match for bone tissue. But this 'Dance Your Ph.D.' entrant didn't have a video camera, so they took over 2,000 stills and…

For millenia, science and technology have been mobilized toward a Utopian dream; making food so plentiful and cheap poor people could afford to be fat. Well, they can, and because we have freedom…

How do we learn best? It depends on the individual! In the video below, Salman Khan is demonstrating what those of us in psychology, education, and intelligence research already knew: Everyone…

If you are in the Denver area, I am on KOA 850 radio with Mike Rosen in about one hour - they have an online tool to listen. Edit: I finally got around and looked for the archive.  You can…

Rats exposed to the antidepressant citalopram, a serotonin-selective reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), just before and after birth showed substantial brain abnormalities and behaviors, according to a…

When domesticated agriculture was invented, it took off and revolutionized human expansion but a study of ceramic pots from 15 sites dating to around 4,000 B.C. shows humans may have undergone a…

This week, we're running a breast cancer awareness week at my college--spearheaded by my students, friends, and me--to benefit the Hope Fund at Hendrick Hospital in Abilene, Texas, to provide free…

While the incidence of colon cancer has not dropped since 1978, deaths have.  Earlier diagnosis, better treatment? Perhaps healthier hot dogs. 2011 data from the SEER Cancer Statistics…

Does yoga help with chronic back pain?  Yes it does, but so does stretching.  Either is better than handing people a book, according to the largest U.S. randomized controlled trial of yoga…

Gravity continues to work fine, even though we don't know why. Newton wrote down the first calculus based description. Gravity worked at a distance for reasons beyond our reach. Einstein developed a…

Teens who drink more than five cans fizzy soft drinks per week - less than one per day - are significantly more likely to commit violence or carry weapons, suggests research in Injury Prevention,…

South Korea isn't the only place fishermen are worried about losing their squid. According to a recent article in Pakistan's The News,  Fast declining Mayyah catch (squid,…

This article eliminates the need for the Higgs. The quaternionic equation of motion of an elementary particle is in fact a continuity equation in which another quaternionic flavor ψʸ of the…