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Declaring War On Frappuccino And Diet Soda Is Not A Valid Government Nutrition Guideline

You're not  a Frank-people because you eat Doritos, despite what people writing lifestyle/diet...

Physician Burnout Is Common - And Informal Rationing Is One Big Cause

If the government promises every home a great gardener, most people recognize they won't get a...

Cancel Culture Prevents The Best Researchers From Engaging With The Food Industry

After Chris Wild took over the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a UN-funded...

Vermont Should Stop Showing Leadership In Overruling Scientists On Farming

Despite Vermont's Agricultural  Innovation Board (AIB), created to inform regulatory recommendations...

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Hank CampbellRSS Feed of this column.

I founded Science 2.0® in 2006 and since then it has become the world's largest independent science communications site, with over 300,000,000 direct readers and reach approaching one billion. Read More »

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Science Left Behind 2014: Styrofoam Out At Congressional Cafeteria - Again

Science Left Behind 2014: Styrofoam Out At Congressional Cafeteria - Again

Oct 09 2014 | comment(s)

Food containers in the House became more environmentally friendly last week - again - as paper containers have started to take the place of their stryofoam counterparts.

We've seen this all before, of course. In my introduction to Science Left Behind I noted that the last time Democrats had the House locked down their big green move was replacing plastic utensils with corn-based alternatives that broke easily and melted in soup. And the containers had to be shipped on emissions-belching trucks to deep Virginia where they could be composted, all for far higher cost.
Is Chess The New Texas Hold 'Em?

Is Chess The New Texas Hold 'Em?

Oct 09 2014 | comment(s)

Credit: Millionaire Chess tournament

When I was a kid, no one outside Texas played Texas Hold 'Em. We played Stud, we played Draw, we played Liar's, but not Hold 'Em.

Like Esther Williams movies and organic food, some things just make their way into pop culture and there is no rational reason why. Texas Hold 'Em is now the most popular card game in the country, every month or so our neighborhood gets together at one of our homes and puts in 20 bucks each and we go at it.
Synthetic Biology: GMOs Without The Cultural Drama

Synthetic Biology: GMOs Without The Cultural Drama

Oct 09 2014 | comment(s)


Credit: Shutterstock

One thing certain about nature - it sure isn't efficient. Just take a look at the human male reproductive system and you get the idea that if it was designed, it was designed by fish, and on a dare. It is a problem waiting to happen, but evolution is about the survival of the fitter, not the fittest - and then we add in some random walks and mutations. 
Cyborg Bacteria Can Defeat Bioterrorism

Cyborg Bacteria Can Defeat Bioterrorism

Oct 08 2014 | comment(s)

The 21st century promises to bring a kind of science warfare only dreamed about in science fiction. Already it's become clear that it is possible to paralyze a large chunk of America and get policymakers in perpetual crisis mode, even with something as well-known as ebola.(1)

That kind of threat is getting mainstream attention now, but it has long been researched by government agencies that are in the business of predicting threats. And scientists working for them have recently created a hybrid bacteria - a cyborg mix of computer chip and genetically modified organism - that can not only detect infectious diseases but automatically mobilize to defeat them. This ain't your daddy's Deathlok.(2)
Is Biomedical Research Not As Good As Previous Generations?

Is Biomedical Research Not As Good As Previous Generations?

Oct 07 2014 | comment(s)

Dr. Steve McKnight is President of the American Society For Biochemistry And Molecular Biology and chairman of the biochemistry department at the University of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. He has probably also made a few enemies among young researchers in the society he manages. 

Governor Jerry Brown and the NRDC get it right on antibiotics

Governor Jerry Brown and the NRDC get it right on antibiotics

Oct 06 2014 | comment(s)

California Governor Jerry Brown has sided with the usually-anti-science National Resources Defense Council and vetoed a bill that would have forced factory farms to adhere to US Food and Drug Administration standards.

Yes, the governor of California and the NRDC don't want farms to use FDA guidelines.