Are viruses life forms or not? Scientists have been fighting about it for years, and Anthony has more on the latest wrinkle in this seemingly simple yet age-old debate.
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam refused to sign a bill that would permit discussion of creationism in classrooms alongside the traditional evolutionary-based explanation of the origins of life, but allowed it to become law anyway. The legislation, dubbed the “Monkey Bill” by critics, had sailed through the conservative-leaning state’s Republican-dominated legislature. Haslam, a Republican, earlier had…
Humans inherit more than three times as many mutations from their fathers as from their mothers, and mutation rates increase with the father’s age but not the mother’s, researchers have found in the largest study of human genetic mutations to date. The study, based on the DNA of around 85,000 Icelanders, also calculates the rate…
Barbara King interviewed evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, a meeting that was suggested by the American arm of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science in the wake of a February blog post King wrote at 13:7, questioning whether Dawkins was the best choice to be headline speaker at the March 24 Reason Rally in Washington,…
The National Youth Science Camp aims to give high-achieving students a chance to experience science in a fun setting. Especially when it comes to sciences, or STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — education, learning over the summer matters, education experts say. Students need exposure to hands-on, experiential science beyond the textbook, or they…
A new study suggests you can keep dementia at bay by developing a firm purpose in life. The findings don’t prove that having a purpose will make a difference, and it’s possible that the researchers missed another important factor that’s at play. Still, the study, published in the May issue of the Archives of General…
While many scientists have some dire warnings against us trying to geoengineer our way out of the climate crisis, others don’t necessarily see it that way and are working on new methods to solve the problem. Researchers are studying the idea of cloud brightening, utilizing ships to shoot salt water high into the atmosphere over…