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EarthScope: A Seismic Shift in Data Gathering
Two hundred years after the New Madrid quake rocked the U.S., Earthscope, a traveling scan of what lies underneath North America, reveals more about earthquakes and volcanoes.
Why Robot Maids Won’t Do the Dishes
How hard is it to design a humanlike robot? Harvard’s Steven Pinker highlights how simple human accomplishments represent formidable robotics challenges.
20,000 Robots Under the Sea
Jules Jaffe of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography is developing an army of underwater explorers that researchers hope will produce a fine-grained, real-time map of the movements of the sea.
San Francisco Bay Model Is Flush With Life
After being retired in 2009, the scientific San Francisco Bay Model that replicates the nearby estuary has water flowing through it once again.
Teens Weigh Ethical Animal Research Dilemmas
Youth Ethics Summit gives students an understanding of how medical research works, which some say is critical to the pushback against animal rights activists.
Animal Research’s Changing Equation
Gavels and courtrooms are replacing placards and bullhorns, says the biomedical research community, as determined legal eagles work to increase animals’ rights and possibly even grant them “personhood.”
Feds Put Chimp Experiments in Cage
A blue-ribbon panel sees the sun possibly setting on medical experiments using chimps, leading federal authorities to halt new awards but leave existing experiments in place.
Scientists Deflated by Obama’s Policy Decisions
After swooning over promises that science would always trump politics in his administration, some observers are troubled by President Obama’s decisions on smog and contraception.
Engaging Iran Through Vaccine Diplomacy
An American researcher argues that science diplomacy regarding neglected tropical diseases could cool tensions between Iran and the U.S.
archive
Does This Make My Antenna Look Big?
Researchers mix technology with fashion, analyze a pharaoh’s skin condition, measure the smarts of Scrabble players, and more in this edition of Miller-McCune’s “Cocktail Napkin.”
The iPod Touch as a Crop Saver
New Gene-Z device identifies diseases in plants, water, and food within 30 minutes, researchers say.
Charting Genomes: Old Hairs Create New Headaches
Two studies make similar strides in identifying how mankind came to populate the Earth, but their differing approaches to gathering and using samples open up ethical questions.
Las Cumbres Helps Confirm Planet With Two Suns
A retired Google exec’s dream of ringing the planet with telescopes available to kids and professional astronomers has assisted in some recent discoveries.
A Light Bulb Moment in the Brain
The new science of optogenetics is amending neuroscience’s focus on cutting and chemicals to shine a light directly on the brain.
The Physics of Terror
After studying four decades of terrorism, Aaron Clauset thinks he’s found mathematical patterns that can help governments prevent and prepare for major terror attacks. The U.S. government seems to agree.
As if Commercials Weren’t Bad Enough Already
Do we really need to smell the items featured in TV programming? A materials expert has created a function for your TV or portable device that can generate thousands of odors.
Scientists Find Missing Drink, umm, Link
In Miller-McCune’s continuing examination of brewer’s yeast, we look at a new find in the world of lagers.
Science Posters Given a New Life Online
A cool new project dubbed Skolr promises to spread the latest science farther and faster by bringing science’s ubiquitous poster sessions online.
Battling World Hunger Through Innovative Technology
From innovation in architecture and robotics to mobile apps and interactive games, technology is reshaping our understanding of and approach to world hunger.
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- Conservatives’ Politics of Fear a Biological Response
- Who Owns Government-Funded Research Papers?
- Republicans Like Candidates Who Look Republican
business
- A Perennial Epicenter, Now for Same-Sex Marriage
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- EarthScope: A Seismic Shift in Data Gathering
- Pressure to Conform Can Inspire Creativity
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science
- EarthScope: A Seismic Shift in Data Gathering
- Why Robot Maids Won’t Do the Dishes
- 20,000 Robots Under the Sea
- San Francisco Bay Model Is Flush With Life
- Teens Weigh Ethical Animal Research Dilemmas
culture
media
- Bitter About Your Life? Blame Facebook
- Miller-McCune’s Top Stories of 2011
- Pop Charts Still Dominated by Men
- Searing Look at Rio’s Homicidal Police
- PBS to Show ‘Where Soldiers Come From’
legal affairs
- A Perennial Epicenter, Now for Same-Sex Marriage
- Prop 8 May Be Same-Sex Couples’ Least Worry
- Five Orcas, Five Slaves or Five Persons?
- California’s Medical Marijuana Morass
- The FCC and Indecency: Here We Go Again
environment
- Quake Rescues Reserve, Shakes Baja Fishing Town
- Children’s Books Increasingly Ignore Natural World
- Conservation’s Earnest Message Could Use Levity
- Traffic Solution: Make Drivers Less Lonely
- Street Makeovers Put New Spin on the Block
health
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Children’s Books Increasingly Ignore Natural World
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Are Some Airlines Just Too Dangerous to Fly?
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Casual Sex: Men, Women Not So Different After All
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Triumph of the Cyborg Composer
from the source
House Bill Puts Transportation in Partisan Crossfire
Transportation used to be one of the few guaranteed areas of agreement when ideology trumped pragmatism in D.C. But that’s no longer the case.
Pressure to Conform Can Inspire Creativity
New research suggests less-creative people do more innovative thinking when they are told individualism is the norm, and instructed to conform.
Better Super Bowl Makes for Better Ads
A lot of people say they watch the Super Bowl mostly for the ads. But it turns out a good game surrounding those ads makes them seem better.
Overseas Troops Finally Get Fair Shot at Voting
After decades of obstacles hindering the voting process, new laws will allow overseas and military voters to submit their votes in time for the 2012 election.
Neglected Tropical Diseases Neglected No More?
World health leaders announce coordinated push to eradicate or control neglected tropical diseases.
Children’s Books Increasingly Ignore Natural World
A survey of award-winning children’s picture books from 1938 to 2008 suggests our increasing estrangement from the natural environment.
Traffic Solution: Make Drivers Less Lonely
Rather than moaning about too many cars on the road, the Ridesharing Institute says the real key to battling traffic congestion and pollution is filling empty passenger seats.
Numerology Doesn’t Know the Score
Various ways of assigning numbers to events, people, and actions is an ancient parlor game, but let’s not take it beyond that.
Conservatives’ Politics of Fear a Biological Response
Researchers looking at how we fixate on threats uncover more evidence of a biological component to the red-blue divide.
Morning People May Be More Creative in the Afternoon
New research finds problems that require a flash of illumination to solve are best approached during the time of day when you’re not at your peak.
Hall of fame
Slugging — The People’s Transit
In Washington, D.C., commuters have taken thousands of cars off highways via a homegrown rideshare system known as “slugging.” Can the government create more slugs — without stepping on any?
Bacteria ‘R’ Us
Emerging research shows that bacteria have powers to engineer the environment, to communicate and to affect human well-being. They may even think.
A New Take on Political Ideology
An evolutionary psychologist proposes a new framework for understanding the root causes of our political beliefs.
The Real Science Gap
It’s not insufficient schooling or a shortage of scientists. It’s a lack of job opportunities. Americans need the reasonable hope that spending their youth preparing to do science will provide a satisfactory career.
Triumph of the Cyborg Composer
David Cope’s software creates beautiful, original music. Why are people so angry about that?
