Science & Society

Apparently, for a week in 2006 the UK newspaper The Guardian gave away wallcharts (=posters) as a promotional gambit to drum up readership. It seems the charts were all nature-themed, with a strong…

One of the favorite themes in transhumanist discussions is considering the melding of human intellect with "machine intelligence" to arrive at superhuman abilities.   Right from the beginning we…

Some people believe in fate, others don’t. I do and I don’t. I may seem at times as if invisible fingers move us about like puppets on strings. But for sure, we are not born to be dragged along. We…

As a relaxing Friday treat, here are two science-related webtoons from occasionally NSFW  Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.  Fortunately, these two are appropriate for all ages.  We…

I've been trying to figure out why "transhumanists" and their predictions irritate me so much.  Perhaps it's seeing humanity reduced to a simplistic engineering problem to be solved.  Or…

What's the quickest way to get scientists and serious science writers to quit coming on your show? Invite the creationists. Discover bloggers Sean Carroll and Carl Zimmer explain what happened: Sean…

More reality programs, less hard science coverage, and when they do cover hard science it's watered down.  This is all true as the production values of the programs have increased while the…

Today marks the start of the (first) Scientific Blogging University Writing Competition. We decided to do this because, since our inception, the scientific community has been incredibly gracious…

If you've read this site for any length of time, you know we are fans of open access.    The notion that research funded by taxpayers should be in the hands of billion-dollar media…

Finally an article that blasts the preposterous mythology suggesting that human longevity is a relatively recent phenomenon and primarily due to advances in medical technology. http://www.livescience…