Michael Shermer of Michael Shermer: What Will ET Look Like? has inspired me to write a sci fi. Shermer's ET, whether a bipedal primate or not, is attractive for a theme of oceans…

This is a well-documented Solar anomaly.  The effect  can be loosely  described as  "  the spinning dinner plate  wobble."   This evidences  a …

The extracellular deposits of of the amyloid beta (Aβ) protein are the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease(AD) brain. These Aβ deposits are result of- 1) increased production of Aβ (anabolism)- High…

In the first-ever study of food advertisements in UK magazines, researchers found them filled with sugary, salt-filled options often contradicting the health messages the articles were trying to put…

Peter Doran, Associate Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, wasn't all that happy that his Nature paper(1) was widely used  by detractors of…

NGC 253 is one of the brightest and dustiest spiral galaxies in the sky but we are always learning new things about it.   Astronomers using the Very Large Telescope's (VLT) near-infrared eye…

A review article published in the European journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics says there is a relationship between depression and bone metabolism. The study says that the association between…

Mutants are always interesting, right?  (With the exception of sequels?)  Anyways, today's mutant offering is two-headed fish in Australia.  (First cane toads, now this?  Can't…

Scientists who study how human chemistry can permanently turn off genes have typically focused on small islands of DNA believed to contain most of the chemical alterations involved in those switches.…

The Age of Entanglementby Louisa GilderAlfred A. Knopf, 2008 Perhaps there is no greater demonstration of Einstein's brilliance and famous independence than his rejection of the spookiness at the…

2009 will be an eventful year for Earth observation at the European Space Agency. I watched the ESA press conference in December 2008 immediately after the Ministerial where ESA's Director General…

2009 will be an eventful year for Earthobservation at the European Space Agency. I watched the ESA pressconference in December 2008 immediately after the Ministerial whereESA's Director General…

One of the things I enjoyed most about my time at Yale was the history of the place. I was pleasantly surprised to discover the famous scientists that worked there, including Lederberg, Tatum, Altman…

While the entertainment industry's awards shows are beginning to clog the airways with completely mindless fluff, a recent award by the editors of Science magazine is going relatively unnoticed. In…

The recent landing of a Airbus A320 on the Hudson was a tragedy narrowly avoided - thanks in no small part to the quick thinking of the pilot after a flock of birds took out both engines on the plane…

New research by Brunel University, the Universities of Exeter and Reading and the Centre for Ecology&Hydrology says there is a stronger link between water pollution and rising male fertility…

Even 150 years after Charles Darwin’s epochal On the Origin of Species many questions about the molecular basis of evolution are still waiting for answers. How are signaling pathways changed by genes…

Transiting exoplanets are routinely detected when they pass in front of their parent star as viewed from the Earth, which only happens by chance. The transit event causes a small drop in the observed…

Smallpox has a nasty history throughout the world. Caused by poxviruses, smallpox is one of the few disease-causing agents against which the human body’s immune system is ineffective. The human…

Since man first discovered that he could control fire and combust fuels for heat and cooking, he has had to deal with the byproducts of the combustion of organic fuels.  But with more people the…