Proof of aliens within 25 years?  What's the basis for this optimism?

Well, of course, it's the Drake equation.  It had to be.  While it is certainly reasonable that everyone has their own perspective and opinion about the likelihood of alien life, it is not reasonable to pretend that the "Drake equation" provides some sort of inside track.

Researchers at the Buck Institute for Age Research writing in the journal Stem Cells say they have successfully used human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to treat rodents afflicted with Parkinson's Disease (PD).

They say the research validates a scalable protocol that the same group had previously developed and can be used to manufacture the type of neurons needed to treat the disease and paves the way for the use of iPSC's in various biomedical applications. 

iPSC research has come strongly into play during the last few years because of limitations on human embryonic stem cell research in the Bush and Obama administrations and are a hot topic among scientists focused on regenerative medicine.

Petermann Ice Island (2010) - The Mörner Version

The world of climate science according to wishful thinkers.

I was raised at the seaside.  I lived through the 1953 floods which resulted from the North Sea storm surge.

Nils-Axel Mörner seems to have visited the seaside once or twice.

If Big Science complains about U.S. budget skepticism in the future, they are going to have to answer questions about the James Webb telescope.  It is currently 3 years and $1.5 billion over budget with no end in sight.   The latest projection, 2014 and $5 billion, has been greeted with so much derision that even the people behind the project in government have demanded an outside panel to oversee the boondoggle.

Research presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association had a surprising finding for women and careers - women who are economically dependent on a man are less likely to cheat but in men it is just the opposite.  So strippers beware.  Your boyfriend who is 'getting his band going' may not be faithful for long.

Alec Baldwin never actually left the United States, even though he said he would if George W. Bush won in 2004.   So people make silly threats about politics but do political outcomes have any effect on more serious issues, like suicide?

Suicide risk factors are something sociologists love to think about and a new longitudinal study published in Social Science Quarterly says it analyzed suicide rates at a state level from 1981-2005 and determined that presidential election outcomes directly influence suicide rates among voters. 

Belief: Girls tend to hang out in smaller, more intimate groups than boys.

Not really.   At least not by the time children reach the eighth grade, says a new Journal of Social and Personal Relationships article.

Jennifer Watling Neal, assistant professor of psychology at Michigan State University, says her study is one of the first to look at how girls' and boys' peer networks develop across grades.   Because children's peer-group structure can promote or mitigate negative behaviors like bullying and positive behaviors like helping others, Neal said it's important for researchers to have a better picture of what these groups look like.

If you watched Comedy Central last night, you may have seen a celebrity roast of David Hasselhoff and some research today is another reminder of "Knight Rider".

A new article concludes that early intervention for young people with delinquency problems may help prevent the development of crime, alcoholism and risky sex behaviors, especially among those with low incomes. 

The study in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry set out to examine the influence of delinquency behavior in late childhood development.   The adolescent and young adults (800 people, ages 10 to 24, from low- and middle-income backgrounds) completed self-report assessments - so calibrate that accordingly - which included questions on delinquent involvement, alcohol use, and sexual activity in late childhood; delinquency and alcohol use in adolescence; and crime, AUDs, and risky sex in early adulthood.

An argument in the business world is how happy you can make employees while still maintaining a job standard.   

JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater cursed out a passenger, grabbed two beers and exited through the plane's emergency exit earlier this week, and a new report in Perspectives on Psychological Science suggests his attitude may be a sign of trouble for JetBlue and other large companies.  It may also be a sign of trouble just for airlines, where flight attendants seem to think passengers exist to give them a reason to collect a paycheck.  Or it may mean nothing.