Posts - Page 4 of 7

Monster Plants and the Fears of Our Fathers

Epigenetics concerns ways the DNA code is actually expressed and implemented, and is distinctly weird.

Thorium can Power the Planet …. Maybe

Thorium just might prove key to a new generation of nuclear reactors - IF major challenges can be overcome.

Tick Tock Goes the Population Bomb

Overpopulation woes include there being too many rich people; it is more than simply a numbers game.

Genius of the Jungles: Alfred Russel Wallace

Though best known as co-discover of evolution, Wallace was an astonishing man: an explorer, self-taught naturalist, discoverer of new species, prolific – and outstanding – writer, opponent of eugenics, and believer in both women’s rights and spiritualism.

How to Spot a Scientific Dud

Even with science reports, it’s worth remembering the adage: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Scientific Dieting Cooks Up a Moveable Feast

We’re omnivores, and whilst we can thrive on a variety of diets, it's very tough or even impossible to recommend an ideal human diet.

Unrelenting China eco horror show threatens us all

Although much has since been said and written about the need for China to reverse its environmental decline, recent years have abounded with news reports telling of the nation's environment lurching from bad to terrible.

Botswana wildlife bonanza in Okavango Delta and along Linyanti River

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I’m visiting two safari lodges – Abu Camp in the heart of the Okavango, a delta within a desert, and King’s Pool, in northeast Botswana.

Anti-science idiocy threatens catastrophic consequences

For the most part, there might be little harm in idiotic anti-science. Yet there can also be far-reaching consequences.

Solar System Weirdness inc Diamond Rain and Ice Volcanoes

Recent discoveries are helping show that our solar system is a weird place; several of these involve moons, but planets yield surprises too.

Laughter n more science in the Xmas season

In this season to be jolly, even normally serious scientists may loosen up a little, perhaps publishing frivolous research, and looking on the brighter side of life.

Rise of the Superbugs

The age of the wonder drug seems to be drawing to a close, bringing to an end modern medicine as we know it.

Primordial soup and the life from Mars theory

Did life start in a primordial soup on earth, or with chemicals carried from Mars?

Of Mice and Men and Memory, Plus the Inception Deception

Sshort-term memory may retain around seven items for half a minute, while long-term memories form in a process that may be heightened by emotions.

The butterfly and the remarkable Professor Hofstadter

Hofstadter’s butterfly, a remarkable spectrum of electron energy levels, was first described in 1976 by Douglas Hofstadter

Volcanoes: Where the Earth Screams

From volcanoes on Java, to a supervolcano in Hong Kong, and dormant supervolcanoes today.

Happy 100th Birthday to the Bohr Atom!

Picture an atom, and you may imagine spherical electrons orbiting a nucleus packed with particles: this is the Bohr atom, a simplistic model.

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Kawah Ijen sulphur mine on Java in Indonesia

The Ijen volcano complex dominates the landscape of easternmost Java. Active craters include Ijen, which for decades has been mined for its sulphur.

The Cat in the Box and a Real Eureka Moment

The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics was for measuring and manipulating quantum systems; while the Chemistry prize was for work on receptors.

Dreamliner Troubles yet Lithium Batteries Flying High

Lithium batteries have proven especially attractive as they produce high power relatively to their size.

Wonderful World of 3D Printing

3D printing is developing rapidly, with applications including rapidly making complex prototypes, and even creating aeroplane parts.

James Hansen Godfather of Climate Change retires yet will be very busy

Instead of aiming for a leisurely life after work, Hansen plans to better focus his time on climate science, along with communicating the science and its policy implications.

Mapping Our Way to Mind Control?

Beyond producing a pretty music album cover, mapping the brain’s circuitry may lead to significant medical advances

And Man Created the God Particle

World’s biggest machine surely discovers the elusive Higgs boson, helping explain mass. Further quests await.

Digital photography surges as Kodak collapses and smartphones pack CMOS sensors

The explosive growth of digital photography has surprised not only laymen, but also some people involved in its development.

Confessions of a crazy conservationist

I’m not quite so sure now, but I also think you appreciate living in a world where there are places of outstanding natural beauty, and where tigers prowl jungles, polar bears hunt on Arctic ice floes, pandas roam bamboo forests, and sharks patrol reefs, helping keep ecosystems in balance. If you have children, you hope they and their children can grow and live in a similar world.