As with everything, my insatiable curiosity leads me to adventures.  This past week I went on a hike to one of the remote areas of Trinity River Audubon Center to view a pond that I hadn't seen…

Two theories that have been making the biological rounds have been group selection which argued for evolution and selection operating "for the good of the group" and the "selfish gene" which argued…

I thought I'd write a compelling story about Humboldt squid and one of their favorite prey items, the lightfish Vinciguerria. These two creatures are quite the dynamic duo: one flashing like a red…

For the crowd watching an Illinois high school football game last fall, it was a sickening feeling watching one of their Unity High School cornerbacks collapse to the ground after delivering a heads…

I am told "Transformers: Dark Side Of The Moon" is a good film.  I enjoyed the first movie well enough, even if it was noisy in all of the wrong ways.   The sequel hurt both my eyes and my…

Over the past several years, a growing number of trade associations, foundations and science and engineering companies have started major efforts to get scientists into schools and hopefully inspire…

My car Runs On Snake Oil There are far too many people trying to con money out of ordinary people with offers of gadgets that will supply you forever with free energy. ... we're a wee bit skeptical…

The Posthumous Memoir of Ignaz Venetz This memoir was published by the Swiss Natural Sciences Society, shortly after the death of Ignaz Venetz, to honor his great contribution to science. For…

The Posthumous Memoir of Ignaz Venetz My  three part article on Venetz's prize-winning 1821 paper began with some facts tending to prove that he was the first person to discuss climate change…

Right now on the east coast of Australia where I live, we have an outbreak of the deadly Hendra Virus (HeV) which kills horses and humans and even infects dogs and I have to admit that I’m scared,…

Science 2.0 favorite Lawrence Krauss of ASU tackled the James Webb Space Telescope issue on the Richard Dawkins website and a commenter there linked to my rationalization that canceling it might be…

The brain is quite complex (talking about an understatement), with its billions of neurons with many connections between them. These neurons and their connections form an intricate three-dimensional…

Freethoughtblogs.com has now been announced. PZ Myers’ “Pharyngula” and Ed Brayton’s “Dispatches from the Culture Wars” together with three other blogs start a new network. The scienceblogs “science…

I have always liked dolphins but I can't pinpoint why - maybe it was "Flipper" when I was a kid, it can't be "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" because a whale was saving the Earth in that one.  …

Why dark matter does not emit photon? We are now living in the era of new revolution. Are we again treading on the process of huge revolution that occurred in the late 19th century and the early…

Large amounts of research and money have been invested in the development of transgenic, or GM (genetically modified) crops. These crops are genetically engineered to withstand drought, excessive…

Before embarking on this discussion it is important to try and resolve some language and definition issues that will likely occur in this post. One of the main difficulties in addressing this problem…

Dark Matters from PHD Comics on Vimeo. Sounds like they had a few physics grad students + Jorge Cham. A good and entertaining review of these major players on the cosmological stage. Note: dark…

Thomas Edison did a lot right but there is one thing he got very, very wrong. Namely, a talking doll that was sure to be an inspiration for generations of future horror movie fans.   It was a…

Is This A Fishing Expedition ? In legal circles, a 'fishing expedition' is an illegal attempt to discover unspecified information which may, perhaps, be prejudicial to one party in a legal case.…