An ancient Roman lead scroll unearthed in England three years ago has turned out to be a curse intended to cause misfortune to more than a dozen people, according to new research. Found in East Farleigh, U.K., in the filling of a 3rd to 4th Century AD building that may have originally been a temple,…
Over at Edge.org, Harvard University physician and social scientist Nicholas A. Christakis discusses transformative changes in the social sciences in the 21st Century: These three things—a biological hurricane, computational social science, and the rediscovery of experimentation—are going to change the social sciences in the 21st century. With that change will come, in my judgment, a…
“Moral Math” refers to the study of ideas drawn from mathematics which can positively impact moral decision-making and social behavior. This essay describes a workshop designed to introduce these ideas to interested individuals of varying degrees of mathematical and theological sophistication. Created by a retired minister and former math professor, the workshop details five sets…
In orbit around Earth is a wide range of satellites that we rely on for everything from television and radio feeds to GPS navigation. Although these spacecraft soar high above storms on Earth, they are still vulnerable to weather—only it’s weather from the sun. Large solar flares—or plasma that erupts from the sun’s surface—can cause…
The frontal lobes are the largest part of the human brain, and thought to be the part that expanded most during human evolution. Damage to the frontal lobes—which are located just behind and above the eyes—can result in profound impairments in higher-level reasoning and decision making. To find out more about what different parts of…
A new analysis of complex interactions between humans and the environment preceding the 9th century collapse and abandonment of the Central Maya Lowlands in the Yucatán Peninsula points to a series of events — some natural, like climate change; some human-made, including large-scale landscape alterations and shifts in trade routes — that have lessons for…
A swollen star near the end if its life has been caught devouring one of its own planets — a scenario that could one day be replayed on Earth when our own sun dies in billions of years, scientists say. Astronomers discovered the cosmic crime scene while studying an ancient star that has expanded in…
Scientists have discovered that a space inside a special type of carbon molecule can be used to imprison other smaller molecules such as hydrogen or water. The nano-metre sized cavity of the hollow spherical C60 Buckminsterfullerene — or bucky ball — effectively creates a ‘nanolaboratory’, allowing detailed study of the quantum mechanical principles that determine…
Guess who’s not talking about climate change? Besides the usual suspects, we can now add some unusual ones: most of the major media outlets in the U.S., according to a new analysis from Media Matters for America, a media watchdog website. In the face of last month’s record heat wave in the U.S., Media Matters…
Semen doesn’t just ferry sperm. It also bears a mystery ingredient that turns on ovulation in some animals and may even pump up fertility in humans as well. The molecule, nerve growth factor, kick-starts egg release and revs up pregnancy-protective hormones in llamas, researchers report online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences….