Fusion In A Coffee Mug

Oct 15 2012 | 27 comment(s)

Fusion is the super-clean energy we would be thinking about if government-controlled energy science were about the best long-term solutions and not political pet projects - alas, its share of the $72 billion spent on alternate energy the last three years is negligible.

But something is better than nothing and some recent research revealed at the International Atomic Energy Association's Fusion Energy Conference in San Diego may be worth getting excited about.

From Bold Ideas To Nobel Prizes To The Classroom

Oct 15 2012 | 3 comment(s)

We often associate awards with recent accomplishments, which is far from the case with Nobel Prizes. They're more akin to Hall of Fame inductions than batting titles. For some time they have been awarded for discoveries that are between one to five decades old. The committee tries to reward an achievement that has withstood the test of time, one that has created a key concept in the field and has opened up new avenues in research and science-related technologies.

Genoeconomics: Is Our Financial Future In Our Chromosomes?

Oct 14 2012 | 8 comment(s)

A new phase in the Gene Wars is about to begin—this time focused on the nexus of genetics and economics.

Nature carried a provocative article last week laying the ground work for what should be a fiery debate over the nascent field of genoeconomics. The prestigious American Economic Review is set to publish a peer reviewed paper co-authored by two economists, Quamrul Ashraf and Oded Galor, that argues that a country’s economic well being could be linked to the population’s genetic make-up.

How Female Promiscuity Can Be The Smart Move In Evolution

Oct 14 2012 | 34 comment(s)

Researchers have discovered that females with multiple sexual partners can be more fertile than those that are monogamous, and this because of an “overproduction” of sons. The study, published as a provisional article but already one of the most accessed in BCM Evolutionary Biology, helps to explain a puzzle haunting evolutionary biologist for decades: why so many females chase multiple sexual partners in a mating season, when this is costly and dangerous, and one is enough to fertilize all her eggs.

Inclusive Fitness Is Group Selection

Oct 14 2012 | 36 comment(s)

Despite the intent in biology to eliminate group selection, it invariably turns up as the only reasonable explanation for the cohesion of species and the behavior of large groups of animals.

Additionally, the struggle to explain altruism using kin selection and inclusive fitness is perpetually haunted by the requirement that the entire premise hinges on the existence of an actual "altruism" gene. In other words, Hamilton's rule and inclusive fitness are meaningless if there isn't a genetic component to cooperation and altruism.

Did God Pick Quantum Physics To Protect Us From Evil Scientists?

Oct 12 2012 | 41 comment(s)

Science based creationism has arrived and is fashionable: Established academics and NASA scientists claim that evolution is merely a deception, the fossil record planted; darlings of “new-atheists” get away with basically saying that the universe is made for humans; arXiv is not above promoting considerations of we-are-in-a-simulation scenarios that are hidden variable realities blatantly inconsistent with quantum mechanics.

Finally, Schrodinger's Cat Hits A Nobel!

Oct 09 2012 | 4 comment(s)

Well, kind of. David Wineland and Serge Haroche have not endangered any living beings. That is to say: probably not in their physics experiments.

Yet, although they stayed at a safe distance from bringing life form into quantum superposition, both physicists have thoroughly explored the schizophrenic world of the quantum, and opened the door to the direct observation and manipulation of quantum superpositions. By cleverly exploiting the fundamental interaction between light and matter, the two quantum optics experts have managed to pull off a range of experiments in which Schrödinger's cat states lead to bizarre results.

Naturalness Explained With The Roulette

Oct 09 2012 | 12 comment(s)

Five years ago I was fascinated by an analogy used by my friend Michelangelo Mangano to explain the problem of naturalness, a crucial issue in fundamental physics, and maybe the biggest single indicium we have that new physics beyond the standard model of particle physics should exist, and be not too far away from our current experimental reach.

Languages, Assemble!

Oct 09 2012 | 29 comment(s)

Look what I found in my closet:

Motorola 68HC11 on an eval board made by Axiom Manufacturing

This is my old Motorola 68HC11 microcontroller board. Here's a close up photo of the microcontroller itself:

Motorola 68HC11 Microcontroller IC

For those who aren't familiar with these terms, a microcontroller is basically a computer on a chip. They are often very tiny and low powered, and are ubiquitous whether you realize it or not.

Obscure Molecules In Familiar Smells

Oct 08 2012 | 6 comment(s)

At both the macroscopic and micro levels, not all organisms get equal attention. Because of their sheer numbers, there are still undiscovered species of plants and roundworms at the feet of botanists and zoologists, respectively. Other specimens have been named but little is known about them. At the astronomical level we come across two factors: an overwhelming number of stars and bodies, compounded by a detection limit.

Small Is Ugly

Oct 08 2012 | 8 comment(s)

A topic that should get more attention in science outreach is the weirdness of the small. And no – I do not mean the ad nauseam covered ‘quantum weirdness’, which is not* about small stuff anyway. The classical (non-quantum) behavior of the small is counterintuitive enough. Many misconceptions could be avoided with some awareness about how the surfaces of objects, even smooth looking metal surfaces, look like at small scales (think mountainous battle fields).

Environmental Factors Associated With Bird-Window Collisions

Oct 07 2012 | 0 comment(s)

Every year, anywhere from 100 million to 1 billion American birds are thought to die after colliding with windows. Planners and builders have tried a variety of techniques to reduce collisions, but, according to a trio of researchers from the University of Alberta, these mitigation efforts are ultimately stymied by a poor understanding of what environmental conditions encourage collisions in the first place.

European Food Safety Authority Reviews, Dismisses Séralini Maize Study As Hopelessly Flawed

Oct 05 2012 | 14 comment(s)

The European Food Safety Authority has weighed in with its assessment of the maize study by Gilles-Eric Séralini and his research team at France’s University of the Caen, which purportedly showed that rodents fed a strain of genetically modified corn with Monsanto’s Roundup Ready developed tumors and died.

The Problems Of Biotechnology - GM Foods

Oct 04 2012 | 29 comment(s)

In my previous article, the fundamental equivalence of foods was discussed recognizing that there is a difference in assessing problems with the food, versus problems with food handling. Moreover, much of the focus has been on the safety of these foods regarding human/animal consumption, however I would argue that there are much more serious problems that need to be addressed.

Scavenging Cephalopods: Mild-Mannered Vampire Squid Just Want To Eat Waste

Oct 03 2012 | 2 comment(s)

A couple of weeks ago ago, a debate about the existence of scavenging cephalopods broke out on the cephalopod mailing list. A few days later, such a creature appeared in the news as if conjured!

A grad student had e-mailed the ceph-list because he’d found a website that claimed “most cephalopods are active hunters while some are scavengers.” He couldn’t think of any scavenging cephalopods, and wanted to know if anyone else could.

Buying Organic - It's Complicated...

Oct 03 2012 | 50 comment(s)

A 45-year meta-analysis of 240 science studies found that 'organic' processed food is the same in pesticides, the same in nutrition and a whole lot more expensive.

"...there isn’t much difference between organic and conventional foods, if you’re an adult and making a decision based solely on your health,” said Dena Bravata, senior author of the paper and a physician at Stanford’s Center for Health Policy.

Were Neanderthals And Modern Humans Birds Of A Feather?

Oct 02 2012 | 1 comment(s)

Neanderthals get a lot of flack for being more "primitive" and less "advanced" than we humans, but there is an increasing evidence that they may not have been that different from our early ancestors. For example, researchers are now pretty certain that Neanderthals interbred with modern humans who shared their European habitats.

While this suggests a greater degree of physical similarity than we once realized, there also appear to be cognitive overlaps between the two species as well. Recently, for instance, an international team of researchers published a paper in PLoS ONE reporting that Neanderthals, like early modern humans, harvested bird feathers for decorative purposes.

Crystal Ball: No Teacher Unions But Lucid Dreams

Oct 01 2012 | 2 comment(s)

Here are more revelations from a c rystal ball of science. Again, it may be just a peek through a window of science-spiced fantasies. I'm, of course, also aware that one person's utopia can be another's nightmare, but writing can never be much fun if we are consistently overcautious.

Effects Of Traffic Noise On A Highly Endangered Migrant Bird

Sep 30 2012 | 0 comment(s)

Conservationists and managers are not only interested in current environmental conditions, but also those that may develop in the future. Processes such as urbanization and human population expansion, for example, might eventually reduce the usefulness of some currently high-quality habitats. This possibility is particularly worrisome when the impacted species are threatened or endangered.

Loss Of Npas4 In Mice Mirrors Schizophrenia In Humans

Sep 30 2012 | 12 comment(s)

The human brain is made up of billions of neurons, specialized cells which form vast, intricate networks among themselves to process and sort through the barrage of sensory and internal stimuli we are constantly bombarded with and mediate the appropriate response.

Neurons are long thread-like cells with numerous branches projecting from each end to allow communication with other neurons. When excited, an electrical impulse travels through the neuron and, when it reaches the far end, chemical messengers are released into the synapse, a narrow (microscopic) space between the sending and receiving neurons. These messengers then act on the receiving end of the neighboring neuron to either excite or inhibit it.

Featured Articles