SciDev.Net brings you the most commented on articles in 2012, including news, editorials and opinions, spanning topics as diverse as wind energy, access to weather data and communicating science.
We know we got here from somewhere, but who would have suspected it was by way of a fish that used electrical currents to hunt and communicate and locate itself? Author Metanexus Editors
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has lost more than half its coral cover since 1985, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The loss has been spurred by a combination of factors including hurricanes, coral-eating starfish and coral bleaching. The paper is the most comprehensive survey of a…
The panel on “Quantum Biology and the Hidden Nature of Nature” at the World Science Festival last month was particularly memorable. Skip to 5:30 to hear John Hockenberry give an informative and humorous introduction to these strange bedfellows—biology and quantum mechanics. Paul Davies, Seth Lloyd, and Thorsten Ritz then join Hockenberry for a fascinating conversation….
Biologists have discovered that the Pollia condensata fruit does not get its blue color from pigment but instead uses structural color – a method of reflecting light of particular wavelengths. Most colors around us are the result of pigments. However, a few examples in nature – including the peacock, the scarab beetle and now the…
In a key step toward creating a working quantum computer, Princeton researchers have developed a method that may allow the quick and reliable transfer of quantum information throughout a computing device The finding, by a team led by Princeton physicist Jason Petta, could eventually allow engineers to build quantum computers consisting of millions of quantum…
Speculation is an essential part of science, but how does it fit in? Two recent publications, both about the misty depths of canine and human history, suggest some answers. In one, an international team of scientists concludes that we really don’t know when and where dogs were domesticated. Greger Larson of the University of Durham,…