A story in the local newspaper related how a pit bull was turned into the animal shelter after having been found abandoned in a ditch with all of its teeth filed down to the exposed roots, emaciated…

A recent article, "Cloned Cows: Less In, More Out" raised the question of food safety, since its sale was approved by the FDA last year. However, my concerns are much more fundamental.  The…

Sunday Science Book Club The Voyage of the Beagle, by Charles Darwin You might think that John Krakauer should be the least likely author that comes to mind as one reads a mid-19th century, 533-page…

We are aware of the large and small. We can, for example, taste and smell the earthy but invisible Streptomyces coelicolor. This soil-dwelling bacterium might have been in…

Gross generalizations about atheists remain in style. A letter in response to a Sunday New York Times article in the Week in Review section, by Nicholas Wade. Dear Mr. Wade, While I always enjoy -…

Nicholas Wade has a new article on the evolution of religion. Evolution of the God Gene http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/weekinreview/12wade.html?hpw He seems to be making the case for a…

wind energy and climate change During 11th plan Government of India has proposed 78,500 MW capacity development out of which renewable energy is to account for 14000 MW including 10,000 MW of wind…

PRODUCTION AND IMPROVEMENT OF HYDROCARBONS IN LATICIFER PLANTS V1A.66 A. Kumar, V.R. Kumar, S. Parveen, V.P.S. Shekhawat, A. Kotiya Department of Botany, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur – 302 004,…

In a review of Gladwell's new book: An eclectic essayist is necessarily a dilettante, which is not in itself a bad thing. But Gladwell frequently holds forth about statistics and psychology, and his…

As scientific research steps forward, the reasons for our choices, our decisions, our feelings are studied from all sides, to the point where there isn’t much left of our free-will. Why should it be…

  Soccer-Ball-Sized Submersible Robots Will Track Ocean Currents and Disasters at Sea The National Science Foundation has awarded almost $1 million to develop a swarm of underwater robotic…

Over vast expanses of time, powerful tectonic forces have massaged the western edge of the continent, smashing together a seemingly endless number of islands to produce what we now know as North…

AYURVEDIC MEDICINES: SOME POTENTIAL PLANTS FOR MEDICINE FROM INDIA. Ashwini Kumar Former Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, Insitut fur Pflanzenernaehrung der Justus Liebig Universitat, Giessen.…

Butea monosperma Roxb. ex Willd. Vernacular Names :- Assam : Polah ; Bengal : Kinka ; Bihar : Paras ; Bombay : Khakara ; Central provinces : Pharas ; English : Flame of the forest, Bastard teak ;…

Abrus precatorius Linn. Vernacular Names :- Assam : Latuwani ; Bengal : Chunhati ; Bombay : Ghungchi ; English : Indian liquorice ; Gujrat : Chanoti ; Hindi : Chirmiti, Rati ; Punjab : Labri Ratak ;…

I wish to report here the moves of a game of chess I played on the Internet Chess Club a moment ago, against a similarly rated opponent. This was a 5' game -all your moves have to be done in five…

The Berlusconi government is about to force a devastating law through the Italian bicameral system. And I am appalled by the absurdity of the situation and by the straight face these clowns who…

Slimeball… a derogative term to be sure, from the modern usage, but before it was ever dragged down to the world of insults and verbal nastiness we know it for today, the scum of which we speak and…

Ever wonder why the slow moving sloth has a slightly greenish hue? Ever consider the sloth at all? Well, perhaps not. Location, location, location, is the mantra for many of us in our macro world,…

I'm at a conference. It's keeping me busy. Today my friend and fellow conspirator^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H grad student Julie gave an awesome talk about Humboldt squid in the California Current. Also, there…