Guest Thinkers — August 16, 2010

NSF Science Indicators To Be Released Wednesday

CORRECTION: The Indicators Report will be released Friday, Jan. 15.

The bi-annual NSF Science Indicators report will be released on Wednesday. Chapter 7 of the report will contain a useful synthesis of public opinion trends on science-related topics along with review of research on other dimensions of the science-society relationship. Check back here later this week for discussion of the implications of the report.

Starts With A Bang

The unsurprising non-detection of intelligent aliens

Life arose on Earth very early on. After a few billion years, here we are: intelligent and technologically advanced. Where's everyone else?

A person in a dark robe wielding a glowing red lightsaber on a desert dune under a night sky with a large crescent moon and a visible planet.

High Culture

Does science fiction shape the future?

Six visionary science fiction authors on the social impact of their work.

A human brain preserved in a clear glass container filled with a yellowish preserving fluid, set against a bright, light green background.

13.8

The key problem with the “brain in a vat” thought experiment

Even with the best technology imaginable, you'd probably never be able to exist as a consciously aware brain in a vat.

A dramatic solar eclipse with a radiant ring of fire visible around the moon, set against a backdrop of clouds and a sunburst.

13.8

A cosmic coincidence: What eclipses tell us about Earth

Total eclipses are a product of a strange and almost eerie cosmic coincidence — one that makes Earth an even rarer world in the galaxy and, by proxy, in the Universe.

Starts With A Bang

If photons have mass, could they explain dark matter?

Our Universe requires dark matter in order to make sense of things, astrophysically. Could massive photons do the trick?

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Guest Thinkers

Environmental Health Perspectives on Framing and Science Communication

The journal Environmental Health Perspectives leads off its December issue with a news feature on the relevance of framing research to science communication. For readers who have followed recent review […]