Over 100 million years ago, late Mesozoic forests were chock full of a diverse group of plants of the class Equisetopsida, though only one genus, Equisetum, commonly called scouring rush or horsetail, still exists today.  

It is unclear about the evolutionary beginnings of the genus Equisetum - molecular dating places the divergence of the 15 extant species of the genus around 65 million years ago but the fossil record had it earlier than that, around 136 million years ago.

Here, I present for you a snippet from the Western Electric document Introduction to Project Mercury and Site Handbook on one of the most important aspects of a space program that barely existed; ground control and monitoring.   You know, the part where they actually know what the astronaut and his capsule are doing and decide whether or to send him into space and bring him back down, a wholly unnatural act.

a.  Direct the entire flight in respect to the mission;
b.  Monitor the flight in respect to aeromedical and capsule systems;
c.  Keep the astronaut and range stations informed of mission progress;

A community survey in England identified people with autism or asperger's syndrome  and found none of them knew they have it.    And autism turned out to be more prevalent in males with lower education and in government housing.

Is autism causing people to have lower education and jobs or has the umbrella gotten so large it has become a blanket diagnosis for everyone not successful?

The results from the first ever general population survey of autism in adulthood. They are based on a two phase epidemiological survey in England (7,461 screening interviews; 618 diagnostic) carried out in 2007. The findings are in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

In my American Literature course this semester, I worked to weave Joseph Campbell’s vision of the purpose of mythology throughout the pieces we read, to get students to consider the role that literature, in its many mediums, plays in providing the bedrock on which we live our lives and derive meaning. In a world in which religion no longer dominates our culture and for many people no longer lives and breathes, providing the answers for all life’s mysteries and meanings, the stories we listen to, watch, or read often become the essential framework on which we hang our own life narratives. Even when we maintain a religious belief structure, it is often not the dominant feature of our lives, and the stories we enjoy are often much more immediate and relevant.

My Project Calliope satellite will be launched on an Interorbital Systems (IOS) rocket-- but IOS hasn't yet launched into orbit. Where are they, how close are we to launch, and what's the risk?

Mike Rangers has a post called "14 signs that the collapse of our modern world has already begun." If it weren't so scary to think of how easily people can be conned, it would almost be funny that he's so wide-ranging in his all-knowingness. That's the beauty of instant expertise, isn't it? Just google it, or even better, just pronounce it on your blog with complete and utter confidence in your competence, regardless of your knowledge-base. After all, isn't that why those heavy hitters at AoA believe they understand complex science that most experts, in order to be experts, spend a decade or more in intense, competitive study, with even more intense testing to prove competency? If you write it down, it makes it real, and it makes it right.

What draws people to communal rituals has long been a topic of interest to sociologists and anthropologists.  What draws people to a communal ritual like walking on hot coals is a topic of interest for, well, everyone.   We all are fascinated by it but few want to do it, yet it has been going on (that we know of) since 1200 B.C.

Rice, the eponymous food of Asia, originated in China, and domesticated rice may have first appeared as far back as approximately 9,000 years ago in the Yangtze Valley of China. Previous research suggested domesticated rice may have two points of origin, India as well as China.

The genome researchers used large-scale gene re-sequencing to re-assess the phylogeny, or evolutionary history, of domesticated rice using previously published datasets, some of which have been used to argue that indica and japonica rice have separate origins. Using newer computer algorithms, however, the researchers concluded these two species have the same origin because they have a closer genetic relationship to each other than to any wild rice species found in either India or China.

Acetaminophen overdose has become the leading cause of acute liver failure in the U.S.  How is that possible, when ingredients are printed clearly on the labels, along with warnings?  

Acetaminophen's is in more than 600 over-the-counter and prescription medicines and people take billions of doses of over-the-counter pain relievers every year, but many do not pay attention to the active ingredients they contain, such as acetaminophen, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study. 

The first observatory experiment to study the dynamic microbial life inside Earth's crust has just been completed.  During the four-year subsurface experiment, the research team deployed the first in situ experimental microbial observatory systems below the flank of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, which is located off the coast of Washington (U.S.) and British Columbia (Canada).