George Dyson talks with Martin Eiermann about the definition of life, human progress, and the importance of cognitive autarchy.
In your wildest dreams, could you imagine a government that builds its policies on carefully gathered scientific evidence? One that publishes the rationale behind its decisions, complete with data, analysis and supporting arguments? Well, dream no longer: that’s where Great Britain is heading. Author Metanexus Editors
As many of you know, I’m fortunate enough to live in a city that values science and scientific knowledge so highly that the our local news station, KGW, routinely brings on scientists to talk about the lastest developments in our endeavors to understand the Universe around us. Just last week, I was invited to share…
The Obama administration is issuing the first-ever national standards to control air pollution from gas wells that are drilled using a method called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, but not without making concessions to the oil and gas industry. Much of the air pollution from fracked gas wells is vented when the well transitions from drilling…
Climate change is accelerating, and it will place unparalleled strains on American military and intelligence agencies in coming years by causing ever more disruptive events around the globe, the nation’s top scientific research group said in a new report. The group, the National Research Council, says in a study commissioned by the C.I.A. and other…
Spacefaring worms undergo genetic changes associated with longer lives in their Earth-bound cousins, research has shown. A number of Caenorhabditis elegans worms were carried aboard a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) and brought back for study. Researchers found reduced activity of five genes in the worms that, when suppressed in the species on…
Examining four animal groups with high relative brain size, and finding that they have a variety of qualities in common even though they have very different evolutionary histories and live in different environments.