How many arms does a spiral galaxy have? Can you spot a galaxy with a central “peanut” bulge?  How about a galactic merger?   You won't need a towel to write an astronomical 'Hitchhiker’s…

U.S. intelligence officials have spent more than seven years searching for Osama bin Laden but UCLA geographers say that, if he is still alive, they have a good idea of where he was at the end of…

Participating in certain mental activities, like reading magazines or crafting in middle age or later in life, may delay or prevent memory loss, according to a study released today. The study…

The Rift Valley fever virus is a mosquito-borne African virus that causes fever in humans, inflicting liver damage, blindness and even death on a small percentage of the people it infects. Rift…

Preschool children who are securely attached to their mothers form closer friendships in the early grade-school years for a number of reasons, according to a new University of Illinois study…

Plants are obviously essential to our survival and that of most other animals on earth but it is easy to overlook how they have become discretely embedded into our everyday lives; plants provide us…

Show Me The Science Month Day 15 What happens when a big chunk of your genome is accidentally copied? Bad things could obviously happen when when sudden and dramatic changes are made to your genome…

I often get the query "what is a good website for astronomy?". My instant answer is "Astronomy Picture of the Day". If you're only going to check one site, choose this. One picture plus a paragraph…

The Archaeopteryx is experiencing a phoenix-like reascent to fossil celebrity status.  The disovery of this clearly birdlike dinosaur in 1861 lent ethos to Darwin’s brand new Theory of Evolution…

Pagophagia is an eating disorder where you chew a lot of ice. A friend of mine had it. After she discovered she loved crunching ice cubes, she started going through several trays of ice cubes per day…

According to Einsteins Theory of Relativity, the maximum speed in the universe is light velocity. But let's imagine a space ship - if it was possible - running at this limit speed in one direction in…

"When people live where the weather is colder and they are more covered with clothing, they depend on their diet for their vitamin D," reports Raymond Hobbs, MD.  Dr. Hobbs’ study in the January…

Last night at two in the morning I woke to find someone had grafted a zombie arm to my left shoulder. I commanded it to move—no response. I jabbed it with my right hand—no response. I threw it…

       “The Extended Phenotype – The Long Reach of the Gene” is the book Richard Dawkins wants you to read “if you read nothing else of mine” because “It is probably the finest…

Cancer cells need a lot of nutrients to multiply and survive. While much is understood about how cancer cells use blood sugar to make energy, not much is known about how they get other nutrients. Now…

Without formalized sign language instruction, deaf children in families develop their own language using simple gestures that become more complex over time.     Unless they are gather in…

 A research review published recently in Nutrition Today(1) says that the high-quality protein in eggs makes a valuable contribution to muscle strength, provides a source of sustained energy and…

John Tierney asks, why not bring a neanderthal to life?". With today's technology, we could probably completely reconstruct a physical neanderthal genome. Tierney sees no reason not to do it.…

Want to know if your discipline is in over-hype freefall?   Look at all the empty seats in your session.   For "The Science of Kissing" session I talked about yesterday it was standing room…

Sunday Science Book Club, February 15 2009 Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America’s Soulby Edward HumesHarperCollins, 2007 It is rare for the world to see born on…