The science blogosphere is shrinking and growing at the same time. Today, the Public Library of Science (PLoS) starts a new network called PLoS Blogs.   Consisting of 11 blogs by scientists and journalists,  it joins several other relatively small networks launched this summer, including those by the Guardian, Wired and Scientopia. 

With his new book, Danish scientist Bjørn Lomborg has become an unlikely advocate for huge investment in fighting global warming. But his answers are unlikely to satisfy all climate change campaigners.

It’s an 80-year-old illustration showing the largest animals and plants in the world. The ugly little secret is item no. 10, that totally unnoticeable line in the middle of the picture just below the dinosaur and the snake.



The image first appeared in H.G. Wells, J.S. Huxley and G. P. Well’s book "The Science of Life", published in 1931.

If you are anti-military this is not for you but if you've ever shot competition rifle, or just have an appreciation for anyone who is among the best at what they do, you can appreciate this Marine sniper who takes out a target over a mile away - through a brick wall.  The tactical breathing issues alone to make a shot from a mile away are unfathomable.    Better: after he makes the shot, the sniper stays there for another 12 hours.   

I don't recommend doing this at your local shooting range, even if they have a .50 cal.  Why?   The air will positively shimmer when that thing goes off and the recoil, even with a low-recoil gas system, will make inexperienced shooters physically ill.

A robotic hand attached to a small helicopter can successfully and autonomously grip objects while the helicopter is hovering(link to video there too) ...



Article: Paul E.I. Pounds and Aaron M. Dollar,  Hovering Stability of Helicopters with Elastic Constraints, proceedings of the 2010 ASME Dynamics Systems and Control Conference (DSCC 2010).

From Daily Life in an Ivory Basement:

I'm a big believer in open science...but it's always interesting to think about how such things as "data release" can be perverted by clever scientists. I'm currently in France working on some ascidians with Billie Swalla...and we've been talking about what data we plan to release, and how. During these talks...Billie brought up an interesting historical parallel.

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In the interest of your to-do list (and wallet), we’ve adapted Stephen Covey's best-selling self-help book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" to create The Seven Habits of a Highly Successful Scientist…

Always wanted to live out actual hordes of locusts and see what that whole Sodom place was all about?

You're in luck.  The Bible Online, a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game, is coming this September.



The first chapter of the game, Heroes, goes into open beta on September 6th and will follow the book of Genesis as players guide Abraham and his people to the promised land.

Science is messy. Should we tell the readers? Tell our editors? Or would that discourage attention to the endeavor we love? Do we still have to follow the money?

The flurry of stories about that Gulf of Mexico oil plume–here today, gone tomorrow–is yet another example of why daily journalism (nay, hourly journalism) is a terrible way to cover science.