What's a Hairy Wood Ant Good For?
August 31, 2013
A humble, rare ant might help humans learn how to communicate better with networks. It's just one of many ways nature is inspiring technology that approaches perfection.
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Fearsome-Looking Terror Bird May Have Been Vegan
August 30, 2013
You can't judge a book by it's cover. In the same way, you can't assume a large extinct bird with a huge beak was a terror-raising predator.
Grand Canyon Demoted by New Discovery
August 29, 2013
A canyon longer than Grand Canyon has been discovered under the ice of Greenland. Scientists are surprised that it has persisted through the ice ages.
You Are Not a Martian
August 28, 2013
Every once in awhile, someone "suggests" that life began on Mars, not Earth. Here it comes again from someone who knows better.
Psychotherapy Has a Shrink
August 27, 2013
For better or worse, the practice of psychotherapy is shrinking, reports say.
Observable Chemistry Does Not Logically Apply to the Origin of Life
August 22, 2013
Origin-of-life researchers assume that intelligently-designed experiments in the lab can inform them about the emergence of life without design – in short, that design proves non-design.
Survival of the Weakest
August 21, 2013
If "sometimes it pays to be a weakling," what does that mean for 154 years of Darwinian teaching about survival of the fittest? What does it mean, further, when sexual selection doesn't work?
Fossilization Requires Special Conditions
August 20, 2013
A science writer wrote a semi-amusing account on how to become a fossil. In so doing, he pointed out that fossilization is a very rare fate for most organisms.
Stem Cell Science Can Proceed Ethically
August 19, 2013
With adult and induced pluripotent stem cells in abundance, it should not be necessary to destroy human embryos to understand stem cell science.
Scientists Are Not Experts on Values
August 18, 2013
The "fact-value split" is a dubious distinction, illustrated by several recent articles. Scientists cannot act as if their findings are values-free.
Scientists Dodge Youthfulness of Saturn Moon Titan
August 17, 2013
Like Enceladus, Saturn's moon Titan shows multiple signs of being far less than 4.5 billion years old – yet the press releases are strangely silent about the implications.
Secrets of Sight
August 16, 2013
The number of processes involved in eyesight continues to grow, adding more focus and clarity to the miracle of vision.
Discovering Mammals, Dead and Alive
August 15, 2013
Two mammal discoveries made the news this week: a cuddly one and a fossil. Do they tell evolutionary tales?
Meet Your New Teacher, Prof. Neanderthal
August 14, 2013
Far from being dumb brutes stuck in caves, Neanderthals may have taught modern people techniques that are still used today.
Invisible Influence of Plants Coming to Light
August 13, 2013
The air is filled with substances we barely notice – molecules produced by plants – but they have profound effects on climate and ecology.