In 1977, Harrison Ford had a sporadic career and was mostly a carpenter but he had done another film with George Lucas and sat down with KXAS-TV reporter Bobbie Wygant to discuss it. The new project?…

With all the fuss surrounding whether the l'Aquila earthquake should have been predicted, the point is often missed that it didn't need to be.  As the recent Christchurch earthquake has shown, a…

Chris Anderson and Michael Wolff have written in Wired magazine that, in their words, “the web is dead.” The web, as opposed to the Internet. Michael Wolff was recently on the Brian Lehrer Show on…

Bantam Books must be happy. Prior to going on sale, Stephen Hawking's* new book 'The Grand Design' has attracted considerable media attention. (See for instance: CNN, BBC, Yahoo, Telegraph, and…

Bantam Books moet gelukkig zijn. Voorafgaand aan de hand te koop , heeft Stephen Hawking * nieuwe boek De Grand Design / i > trokken veel aandacht in de media : http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm…

I like to guide your attention to the work of Denis Sciama who in his article "On the origin of inertia" (see reference below) has put a very interesting view not only on the origin of inertia, but…

The Washington Post reports on massive cuts across the world of European science.  The impact on young scientist will be devastating as their research is placed on hold.  All 12…

A 19th century nursery rhyme called "What Are Little Boys Made Of?" and generally attributed to Robert Southey goes "What are little boys made of?  What are little boys made of? Snips and snails…

This week is World Water Week. The big event takes place in Stockholm Sweden where Stockholm International Water Institute SIWI is organizing this yearly event. The World Water Week is an unique…

Yesterday afternoon a flutter of Monarch Butterflies landed in the courtyard garden at the end of our block for a wondrous "asteral" visit. The winds were shifting and gusting and thunderheads were…

I just learned about this today so I am passing the info along.   Why mention it?  One of the riders is Pete Schleider, who is the lead outside investor in Science 2.0.  He's a modest,…

CERN owes its historic aversion to patenting to its 20 European member states, says spokesman James Gillies. They pump millions of euros into the organisation every year to help develop new…

CERN owes its historic aversion to patenting to its 20 European member states, says spokesman James Gillies. They pump millions of euros into the organisation every year to help develop new…

A Labor Day special: I am offering you to have a short virtual tour of the CDF Control Room today, free of charge. I am currently on shift there, and we are taking data. If you send me an email with…

One of the most common forms of self-medication in capitalist societies surely has to be retail therapy.  Is there really a problem that can't be solved by a new pair of shoes, or the latest…

I have railed against this particular form of lawn care hokum ever since I first heard about it, but I think I might have narrowed down it's origin. The story goes like this. Rumors float around the…

A Special Guest Post by Richard ("Dick") Flatman "I call our world Flatland,not because we call it so, but to make its nature clearer to you, my happy readers, who are privileged to live in Space."…

Coincidences in physics and in a sense infinite coincidences in mathematics are coincidences also because of the contingency around them: It could have been different. There is this type of…

Psychotropic medications -  psychostimulants like Ritalin,  antidepressants like Prozac and antipsychotics like Haldol - during pregnancy increase the probability of birth defects,…

While proponents of organic farming insist it can meet population projections and is better for wildlife, scientists at the Universities of Leeds and York say instead a balanced approach is superior.…