A series of bitter disagreements between scientists and policy-makers has prompted a group of researchers to create a list of 40 “key unanswered questions” in an attempt to ease tensions by setting an agenda for future work. Led by scientists at the University of Cambridge, U.K., the group — comprising more than 50 scientists, policy…
Both religion and conservative politicians are on the verge of losing the support of many of their constituents: women. That’s the conclusion Washington Post religion columnist Lisa Miller comes to after reading The Resignation of Eve by Jim Henderson and comparing it to the current election season. “Unless the strident, authoritarian social conservatives loosen their…
For fifteen years, science writer Margaret Wertheim has been collecting alternative theories of the universe. Some are poems, others include hand-drawn diagrams, and a few, at first glance, look like academic papers written by professional physicists. They have been sent to her from all over the world by people desperate to share insights about our…
General Electric has brushed aside the doubts leading Republican presidential contenders have raised about climate science. The U.S. industrial and financial conglomerate said it had long seen climate change as a valid concern after an internal evaluation of the scientific case in 2005. “We found enough data there to have a company like GE respond…
Honey bees drones actually have a large spectrum of personalities. Scientists found that some are homebodies, some are explorers, and no matter what they are, we can change them. The defining trait of personality is a consistent response to similar stimuli in different contexts. Honey bees hives are filled with self-sacrificing drones, but certain bees,…
At the Huffington Post, Lawrence M. Krauss ponders the place of a candidate’s religious views in the public sphere: Candidates should have the right to keep their religious views private, but in the current climate essentially none of them actually do so. Rick Santorum has gone so far as to argue that John Kennedy’s strict…
Neutrinos produced by a nuclear reactor in China are changing from one flavour to another more rapidly than expected. The result means physicists could soon explain why the universe is filled with matter instead of featureless radiation. Neutrinos and antineutrinos each come in three flavours: electron, muon and tau. As they fly through space, these…
Consumer products such as shampoos and sunscreens, even ones touted as safer, may contain potentially harmful chemicals not listed on their labels, according to a recent study that tested dozens of them. Chemicals that disrupt hormones or affect asthma were found in all 42 of conventional products sampled, as well as in most — 32…
Fearing that climate change could wipe out their entire Pacific archipelago, the leaders of Kiribati are considering an unusual backup plan: moving the populace to Fiji.
Nationwide, gardeners have been experimenting with their newly assigned plant hardiness zones, a guide provided by the USDA that maps how well a plant will survive winter temperatures in a certain region. The map divides regions into different growing zones based on the average lowest temperature. Since the 1960s, growers have used it as a…