Science and Conservation Science and technology

My Strange n Surprising Summer Staycation with Cellulitis

rom quick pricking by unseen marine creature, to intense fever, and hospital stay for an infection deep within the skin.

The Viral Time Bomb – Pandemic of Our Time

Guan Yi, director of the State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases at Hong Kong University, has extensive experience of viruses; yet after a brief visit to Wuhan in January, remarked “I’ve never felt scared. This time I’m scared.” [Written for South China Morning Post, published on 29…

As news of Wuhan coronavirus emerges, evolutionary biology suggests potential for a pandemic, not killing high percentage of people.

Environmentalism is under assault; yet this planet is the only home we have; providing our food, air, water... It's our life support system.

Fusion Power and Human Failings

Several projects are underway in the quest to discover ways to harness fusion power, which is akin to a holy grail of nuclear physics.

Goodbye dinosaurs, Hello birds

Fossils found in Liaoning, China, offer a wealth of insight into the origins of birds, albeit without simplistic missing links.

So You Want to be a Cyborg?

Off-the shelf headsets and DIY implants can help get you started.

A Man for All Sequences Frederick Sanger

Frederick Sanger made pivotal contributions to studying the chemistry of life, primarily by finding how molecules are assembled.

Leaps of Logic and Faith versus Evolution Science

Darwinism has been questioned and tested wherever possible. becoming a pillar of modern science, but subject to non-scientific attacks.

Ebola’s inner rampage and praise for dirt plus optimum sex

Though “immune system” is a familiar term, there is still much to be learned about how our bodies defend against diseases.

Sleep Science plus insomniac fruit flies, angry women and brain-washing

Sleep science did not really begin till 1953, the same year the structure of DNA was discovered.

Blue light at last wins Nobel for LED titans

Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura received a Nobel Prize for seminal roles in the invention of blue light-emitting diodes.

Robots Rising as Boris struggles to identify everyday objects

While boffins work on the Robobrain, a robot sentry and robot sex slaves, Boris struggles with knives and forks.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Meet the world's greatest dinosaur hunter.