This guy is the poster child for computer nerd with no social life. Not that I'm making fun - my social life is pretty much nil. I'm also disturbed that technology moves this fast. I still haven't…

On the occasion of her centennial, Rita Levi-Montalcini addressed the crowd with the gentle tone of a grandmother and the confident cadence of a statesman.  At 100 years, she has an energy that…

Nobody wants to have a stuffy, runny nose and itchy eyes year-round, or to not be able to breathe deeply. (Or maybe there are some that do. Whatever floats your boat.) The current magical mystery…

Back on a frozen pre-Inaugeration Day, I picked up a hitchhiker on US295N. We exchanged the usual banter ("Got any guns? No? Great!").  He wasn't a local, just in town to help assemble…

MP3s, podcasts, etc. are not really our thing - most of our readers want data they can use and you can't forward a clip from an MP3 or copy and paste it conveniently ( "go to minute 18 for my…

“We are not only observers. We are participators. In some strange sense this is a participatory universe.”  One Year has passed. On April 13, 2008, John Archibald Wheeler, the doyen of…

The Hubble Telescope was carried into orbit on this day, April 24th, back in 1990, which makes it 19 years old. Now it can finally legally drink alcohol in Ontario! The Hubble Space Telescope (HST)…

I was out tonight visiting with my friends Lucky and Saskia. Lucky is a passionate flamenco enthusiast and theoretical physicist. We were enjoying an evening of live music and talking about advances.…

 Deteriorating screws in bridges, fish that listen in the dark, medical devices that use sound to treat disease, the detected comeback of a long-gone whale, the sound of hyenas, cheese, and…

A new study challenges long-standing expectations that men are promiscuous and women tend to be more particular when it comes to choosing a mate. The research in Trends in Ecology and Evolution…

A preliminary study on the use of stem cells obtained from a patient's own adipose tissue in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) has shown promising results. The three case studies, described in…

The calming neurological effects of nicotine have been demonstrated in a group of non-smokers during anger provocation. Researchers writing in Behavioral and Brain Functions suggest that nicotine may…

Parasite infestations might have a good side. Wild mice from a Nottinghamshire forest have given experts at The University of Nottingham clues as to the importance of some parasites, such as lice,…

By way of the classical photoeffect, Einstein proved in 1905 that light also has particle character. However, with extremely high light intensities, remarkable things happen in the process, say…

Every brain has a soundtrack. Its tempo and tone will vary, depending on mood, frame of mind, and other features of the brain itself. When that soundtrack is recorded and played back -- to an…

In trying to understand the role of prostaglandins – a family of fatty compounds key to the cardiovascular system – in blood pressure maintenance, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School…

A Brief History of the English Language Part 2 Part 1 of this Brief History of English  describes the suppression of the English language under  the Normans who imposed Norman French as a…

A cool morning breeze keeps the mosquitoes down as we pack our kayaks and gear for today’s paddling journey.  It is day four of our holiday, with two days driving up from Vancouver to Cache…

Rita Levi-Montalcini celebrated her 100th birthday this week. The Italian scientist's experiments led to identification of the nerve growth factor (NGF) for which she and American Stanley Cohen…

In last week’s column I described how Bill Irvine uses radio astronomy techniques to detect and identify organic compounds in interstellar space. Why is it so important for the origin of life on…