Even in stringent times, it seems like a good idea to do some science to find out what the world is made of and how it works.
If humanity’s earthly tenure isn’t fated to end with the Mayan calendar, it is certain to end someday. It’s the sort of thing artist and author, Trevor Paglen, thinks about a lot. He knows, for example, that we homo sapiens have occupied the earth a mere .004 percent of its 4.5 billion-year history. He knows…
For the first time in history, a study shows that the number of years of healthy living lost because of eating too much is higher than the number of years lost by people who do not eat enough food, according to NewScientist. Over 500 scientists in 50 countries contributed to The Global Burden of Disease…
In many cases in the developing world, red tape and lack of funding ensure that the best projects go to men. The administrators are not willing to take a risk on a woman, it would seem. Problems get compounded for a woman who already has a family. It would appear almost as if having a…
The American Indian Student Union at the University of Virginia has upset some conservative students on campus with an “Anti-Thanksgiving” event. The student group planned and advertised the “Anti-Thanksgiving” event as a potluck where students would “share free food.” They also recently held a screening of “The Only Good Indian,” a film about a Native…
Despite the fact that today’s kids have less time to play than previous generations, children’s creative play has increased, recent research finds. The study seems to oppose earlier findings that children’s creativity has dropped since the 1990s. However, it’s possible that increased creativity in play isn’t translating to creativity in other activities, Case Western University…
Do you think cutting-edge scientists should earn as much as star athletes, celebrity artists or Wall Street bankers? The Russian billionaire investor Yuri Milner does, and this week he put his money where his heart is, depositing $3 million in the bank accounts of each of the nine theoretical physicists he judged to be doing…