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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...

Morte Alla Francia Italia Anela - The Secret History Of Organized Crime In 1343

Italy as we know it today had not been such since the days of the Roman Empire. You can see that...

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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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Conservation Of Momentum For Pre-Schoolers

Conservation Of Momentum For Pre-Schoolers

Sep 16 2009 | comment(s)

In creating a science site for kids (that would be Kids Science Zone - if you haven't written anything there, feel free to do so) , the majority of comments I have gotten have been likely about the same as I would have gotten if I had opened up this site to a large community of people with advice to give - namely a lot of suggestions from people who don't use it about how awesome it would be if it had X, Y or Z added.
Ancient Civilizations Knew How To Keep Things Messy ...

Ancient Civilizations Knew How To Keep Things Messy ...

Sep 15 2009 | comment(s)

Today an archaeologist revealed that even in ancient Israel they were making outstanding likenesses of Alexander the Great.   Israel was a far cry from his usual stomping grounds but he had passed through on his way to Egypt and they had become so enamored with him - and his thousands of troops, we can assume - that they capitulated.

More interestingly, outstanding Hellenistic artists created likenesses of him, so the great ones were not limited solely to places like Alexandria.

Alexander was the first 'cult of personality' as his images attest:
King Nestor - Argonaut And Trojan War Hero's Palace Discovered In Greece

King Nestor - Argonaut And Trojan War Hero's Palace Discovered In Greece

Sep 11 2009 | comment(s)

Michael Cosmopoulos was raised in Athens but has been in St. Louis since 2001.  Yet his heart and his science never left Greece.   Since 1999, he has been working at a site in Pylos and he recently came across a real-life palace dating back to the time of the Trojan War.

The Trojan War is just a story, of course (though if you don't think so, which figure from Homer's historical work do you think I am?)(1) but historians debate what kernels of truth may be in there.
 
There's Little Science-Based Evidence In The Health Care Debate Because There's Little In Health Care

There's Little Science-Based Evidence In The Health Care Debate Because There's Little In Health Care

Sep 09 2009 | comment(s)

In case you haven't heard, there's a debate about health care reform going on - today we find out that a campaign promise, no fines if you choose not to use government health care, is off the table if you are middle class.   That's only going to aggravate the situation.  What is needed is some clear thinking and some science-based evidence, but you won't find it in Washington.  Heck, you won't even find it in medicine.
Phone Review Blues

Phone Review Blues

Sep 05 2009 | comment(s)

No matter how bad things get, there's always something trivial we can completely take out of its big picture context and blow up into something dramatic.   Mountains, molehills and all that.

Sure, there are people starving in third world countries and the US may be on the verge of becoming one economically - wars are being fought, globals are being warmed, dogs and cats are secretly plotting against each other ...

Wave Field Synthesis Gives Us Flat Loudspeakers With Big Cabinet Sound

Wave Field Synthesis Gives Us Flat Loudspeakers With Big Cabinet Sound

Sep 04 2009 | comment(s)

Flat-panel televisions are nothing new.   I think even my father has one in his toolshed by now.  But legitimate flat-panel loudspeakers are harder to come by.    

There are single-speaker surround sound systems, and those are admirable, but speakers, unlike today's televisions, require a great deal of old-fashioned physics, analog-style, because that's how sound reaches our ears - so flat panel ones, though a terrific concept in size, haven't been great in practice.