How did small bands of nomadic Mongol horsemen unite to conquer much of the world within a span of decades? A whole book could be written on that, and it probably will be, if a new "Indiana…

Research using satellite observations and ice thickness measurements gathered by NASA's Operation IceBridge is giving new insight into one of the processes causing Greenland's ice sheet to lose mass.…

Aggressive marketing by raw milk proponents has included claims that raw milk is easier to stomach for for lactose-intolerant people but a pilot study from the Stanford University School of…

It's no surprise that natural selection does not always take an evolutionary time scale.  When thousands of knights died during the Crusades at Acre, natural selection was being channeled. Yes,…

Alan Turing was long famous in computer science and then became notable due to his sexuality and its controversy in England. Less well known is his work in biology and chemistry. During World War II,…

A faster and less expensive form of radiotherapy, called Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), for treating prostate cancer may come with a higher rate of urinary complications. The standard…

The worldwide love affair with subsidized green energy is fading fast but that shouldn't be taken to mean the science is not solid.  In America, new power plants are difficult to get built and…

There's a cosmic war happening between highly luminous O-type stars and nearby protostars in the Orion Nebula . The Orion Nebula is home to hundreds of young stars and even younger protostars known…

Exaggerated health claims are not convincing the public, and "medical" marijuana has become something of a running cultural joke, but there is an upside to more pot - less cocaine use. Meth too,…

When advocates want governments to take over some aspect of society, the argument is often an economic one - the money saved will be a suitably cosmic number. Yet in the trenches of government-run…

The most popular test for ovarian cancer reports false-positives in 94 of 100 diagnosed cases but researchers from the University of Copenhagen and University College London have developed a method…

Calling H.P. Lovecraft: Galaxies in the vast empty regions of the Universe are actually aligned into tendrils.  A team of astronomers based at The University of Western Australia node of the…

Dr. Anne Glover, the European Union's first chief scientific adviser, said when she got the job that her first priority was to stop letting environmental pressure groups suppress science. Modern…

I keep hearing that Notre Dame philosopher and theologian Alvin Plantinga is a really smart guy, capable of powerfully subtle arguments about theism and Christianity. But every time I look, I am…

I will blog my real time reaction to Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Seth MacFarlane's Cosmos remake. From the perspective of a relatively young astrophysicist and science educator. 7:20 PM CST: I love…

Playing fair is an altruistic behavior - we sacrifice our own potential gain to give others what they deserve.  It's persisted since man has existed, so is it biological or social? Regardless,…

How can you find a gay person? It's easy, just look on television. After the successes of "Will  &  Grace" and "Modern Family", networks have been putting gay characters everywhere they…

Harvard stem cell scientists have successfully converted skins cells from patients with early-onset Alzheimer's into the types of neurons that are affected by the disease, making it possible for the…

Just like adults, children as young as 3 tend to judge an individual's character traits, such as trustworthiness and competence, simply by looking at the person's face, new research shows. And they…

Many breast cancer survivors experience fatigue and other debilitating symptoms that persist months to years after their course of treatment has ended. Now researchers at the Winship Cancer…