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Ozempic Is A Kickstart, Not Magic - Here Is How To Make Weight Loss Stick

Publicly doctors say all of the things you'd expect a group with heavy state and federal scrutiny...

Spring Forward Fall Back: We Hate Changing Clocks But Hate One Change Most

In 1918, with Gen Black Jack Pershing off to France to stop the Germans in World War I, the United...

Canadian Epidemiologists Claim Processed Foods Cause Bad Kids

A cohort analysis of preschoolers in Canada has led the authors of the paper to call for bans...

What AI Can't Do: Humanity’s Last Exam

By this time 26 years ago, the "Dot-Com Bubble" was ready to burst. People who wanted to raise...

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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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The Evolution Of Monogamy - No Definitive Answers Any Time Soon

The Evolution Of Monogamy - No Definitive Answers Any Time Soon

Jul 29 2013 | comment(s)

Most mammals aren't monogamous, nor are most anything except birds, where it happens in about 90% of cases. 

It's actually quite rare in mammals (5%), so why did it evolve? Was it to be better parents together, to protect offspring from being killed by other males or instead to protect women from competitors? Well, it depends on who you ask.

Being a solitary individual who can't run all over the place protecting females from other males wins the prize, according to Cambridge zoologists Lukas and Clutton-Brock, who looked at 2,000 species of mammals and determined that when breeding females didn't like each other and female density was low, a monogamous mating strategy developed because males were unable to defend multiple females from other males.
Industry Arrogance Is Not A Reason To Deny Science

Industry Arrogance Is Not A Reason To Deny Science

Jul 29 2013 | comment(s)

If you talk to someone who knows food but not science, it won't be long before some jab at Monsanto issues forth. And if you persist in discussing biology, it really won't be long before you get called a shill for Monsanto.

You don't have to use biology, you could also do the same social experiment using energy or medicine, if your test is for left-wing people, or global warming, if you want to see the right go into a tirade about science. 
Congratulations Carissa Yip, Youngest Female Chess Expert In The US

Congratulations Carissa Yip, Youngest Female Chess Expert In The US

Jul 29 2013 | comment(s)

9-year-old Carissa Yip is probably better at chess than you. She is certainly better than me and already better than 93 percent of the 51,000 plus players registered with the U.S. Chess Federation.

She has set a goal to reach 2,100 this year; an Expert is anyone ranked over 2,000 while at 2,200 you are considered a Master. She also wants to one day become the first female to win the overall championship — not just in the female category, her father told The Boston Globe.
To Food Mullahs, It's Not About Ingredients, It's About Your Incorrect World View

To Food Mullahs, It's Not About Ingredients, It's About Your Incorrect World View

Jul 28 2013 | comment(s)

"Those among us who are anthropologically inclined tend to view a can or bottle of soda as an instantly recognizable symbol of everything that is wrong with Western civilization as we know it" is the first sign indication that you have left planet Earth and officially joined the alternative universe of Woo.

And your tour guide is the features director at Martha Stewart Living. Now, when it comes to celebrity criminals, I like Martha Stewart, mostly because Steve Madden never really bounced back after his prison sentence while Stewart became more popular than ever after her conviction. And I appreciate people who can win against adversity.
Weekend Science: Beer Flavor Leads To Dopamine Release In Men

Weekend Science: Beer Flavor Leads To Dopamine Release In Men

Jul 27 2013 | comment(s)

You know what happens to women when they watch Katherine Heigl movies or episodes of "The Bachelor"? 

Well, it happens to men also - when they think there might be beer nearby.

Really, it is almost Pavlovian, except the saliva is mental too. A PET scan study found that even when no alcohol was involved, the flavor of beer caused striatal dopamine release in men.(1) 

The striatum in men (and women - and all primates - but this particular study is about men, so, let's stay on message) consists of the caudate nucleus and the putamen and it gets input from the cerebral cortex and structures like the amygdala and hippocampus.

Global Warming Is Not The World's Top Problem, Energy Is

Global Warming Is Not The World's Top Problem, Energy Is

Jul 26 2013 | comment(s)

I've long said that energy is the biggest issue we face in the 21st century - with energy, I can solve the problems of food and water and that helps solve poverty too. I can even turn lead into gold.