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Rutgers Study - Forcing DEI Programs On People Increases Hostility

If you have done nothing wrong, do you want to be treated like a criminal? That was always the...

Minnesota Trial Lawyers Want To Ban Neonics - Here Is Why That Is A Mistake

Minnesota is having a challenging year, so challenging they are approaching California as the wackiest...

The Toxic Masculinity Of Disney Movies

Once upon a time, stories were just stories. They were fantasies that took people to a new world...

AI And The Poetry Problem

Artificial Intelligence is artificial, but it is not intelligence. That could change some day but...

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Hank CampbellRSS Feed of this column.

I founded Science 2.0® in 2006 and since then it has become the world's largest independent science communications site, with over 300,000,000 direct readers and reach approaching one billion. Read More »

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Too Much Potential Life On Other Planets - And Why That's Good For Astrobiology

Too Much Potential Life On Other Planets - And Why That's Good For Astrobiology

Nov 04 2010 | comment(s)

2010 is the biggest year for life on Mars since 1898.  Or 1955 or whenever the last 'life on other planets' craze hit the public.  
 
But unlike those other times, there is good reason.  This year, over 20 different papers have invoked the chance there may once have been life on Mars in their work.    There is now all kinds of data discussing water on Mars, minerals on Mars and even that the soil might support life.  The Journal of Geophysical Research-Planets alone has 64 papers on Mars so far this year.
Implanted chip allows blind people to 'see'

Implanted chip allows blind people to 'see'

Nov 03 2010 | comment(s)

A man with an inherited form of blindness, retinitis pigmentosa, has been able to identify a coffee mug and various shades of gray using a retina implant, according to work published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The Retina Implant AG is a sub-retinal chip placed in the central macular area behind the retina.   Their chip works by converting light that enters the eye into electrical impulses which get fed into the optic nerve behind the eye.   It requires an external battery which was connected to a cable that protruded from the skin behind the ear.

Retina Implant AG

Archetype Analysis - How World Of Warcraft Will Be The Greatest Sociology Tool Ever

Archetype Analysis - How World Of Warcraft Will Be The Greatest Sociology Tool Ever

Nov 03 2010 | comment(s)

1,400,000 70-dimension histogram vectors about gamer behavior.  What can you do with that?

Me?  Nothing, the math is too much but, if you can make sense of it, a lot of data is there in the ongoing online gaming phenomenon known as World of Warcraft(WoW).   Keeping track of all that data would seem to be solely the purview of computer programmers but sociologists are starting to take notice.   Some people are just goofing off and writing a book about their experiences but others see gold in 'game mining' - the insights of anthropology we can get by seeing what 10 million people do in a virtual, controlled setting over a period of years.
Not just science fiction - 3-D moving holograms get closer

Not just science fiction - 3-D moving holograms get closer

Nov 03 2010 | comment(s)

Remember the "Star Wars" scene where robotic scamp R2-D2 projects a three-dimensional image of Princess Leia trying to ask for help from Obi-Wan Kenobi?   

New 3D holographic imaging technology developed at the University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences is bringing it a little closer.   
Will China overtake the US in science leadership?

Will China overtake the US in science leadership?

Nov 01 2010 | comment(s)

There are times when being a communist dictatorship has its advantages.  Without having to worry about jobs or elections, you can enact a plan and stick to it until it works and, if a million or so peasants get displaced to build a dam, they don't vote anyway.
Happy Halloween - if you didn't watch my

Happy Halloween - if you didn't watch my "5 Movies for Halloween" you can still watch these videos

Oct 31 2010 | comment(s)

I get that not everyone will devote two hours each night, or 10 hours over a weekend, to pumpkin carving a Death Star...

death star pumpkin

 ...or watching 5 terrific Halloween movies, but even if your attention span runs more toward Twitter than IMDB, here are at least a few videos you can try: