A few years ago, at mile 20 of my second marathon, I promised myself I would never again run a 26.2 mile race. I had trained impeccably, ran my first […]
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A capsule containing two complimentary enzymes measuring just 10 nanometers thick could be a vessel for new vaccines and a powerful cure for hangovers, say UCLA researchers.
“How to Make the Most of Your College Education” has become a popular blogging theme. Megan McArdle got things started this time, but the most sensible contribution has come from […]
Using benefit-cost analysis (or its equivalent, cost-benefit analysis) to evaluate projects not only increases the value of government spending, but increases equity as well.
Using yeast cells, biochemical engineers at MIT have found a way to boost the production of isobutanol, a chemical which has long been considered a possible alternative to gasoline fuel.
The breakthrough innovation development of the year so far is the White House’s upcoming plan to map the entire human brain. By essentially enabling us to reverse-engineer the human brain, the Brain […]
Google Glass. Life Extension. Life Extinction. These are among the brainiest memes included in the inaugural post of our new blog, Mind Memes, which offers quick reads on the Internet […]
The magic “x-factor” that people talk about when they talk about talent is not so magical: it’s simply a matter of hard work. And no other craft reminds one of […]
Perhaps if the penalties for reneging hurt the politicians themselves – not the American people – then they would comply more readily.
What secrets might one single biological pathway be harboring? The RAS family of proteins have a unique role. They act as a sort of relay, an on/off switch, if you […]
Scientists at Cornell University have used a 3-D printer to construct an artificial human ear which, when used to replace a damaged ear, looks and functions nearly identically to the original.
Researchers at Duke University have enabled rats to feel infrared light by implanting special sensors into the brain, allowing the rodents to “touch” extra-sensory information invisible to their eye.
German scientists have found that thinly sliced diamonds could store quantum bits of data at room temperature, a development that could eventually make quanutm computers widely available.
In the US, it may not be in gasoline or paint anymore, but it’s still present in the environment and is increasingly being attributed to a wide range of health issues.
U.S. presidents aren’t often asked to explain their governing visions in terms of political philosophy. References to the Founding Fathers (Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Washington et al.) are ubiquitous and safe, […]
The elite are not necessarily the wealthy but the people who run the country. And they live in almost a different world from the rest of us.
Kepler 37-B is about the size of our moon, yet is a little too close to its parent star for human comfort.
A sustained and targeted environmentalist marketing campaign is at least partly responsible for Indonesia’s Asia Pulp & Paper’s decision to reexamine its manufacturing process.
The park is only the fifth place in the world to receive the honor from the International Dark Sky Association, which is “the only non-profit organization fighting to preserve the night,” according to its Web site.
My electric toothbrush kept me up half the night like a squalling newborn. The trouble began yesterday. My husband and I were sitting downstairs when we heard a thunderous rumbling […]
My electric toothbrush kept me up half the night like a squalling newborn. The trouble began yesterday. My husband and I were sitting downstairs when we heard a thunderous rumbling […]
Poets quite often make the best art critics. The same aesthetic antennae attuned to language and meaning come into play when diving into the meaning of visual art. So, when […]
Last week’s events have asteroid hunters feeling both vindicated and excited as they step up efforts to develop better detection methods.
One of the more ubiquitous statements that has emerged over the last decade, ‘Spiritual, Not Religious’ is a self-affirming antidote to the traditional trappings of religion, the archaic and inflexible […]
Today, predictive analytics’ all-encompassing scope already reaches the very heart of a functioning society. Several mounting ingredients promise to spread prediction even more pervasively: bigger data, better computers, wider familiarity, and advancing science.
In Taiwan, millions use the Easycard for everything from riding a bus to opening a door to buying a snack. Other countries are considering adopting the technology, which comes with both pros and cons.
What can math be used for? Here’s a wise answer: two basic forms of geometry are used in almost every engineering project and every physics discovery that has ever been made.
Data released this week predicts that by the end of this month, China will officially become the world’s largest smartphone and tablet market, surpassing the US.
The Stylistic S01 will become available to users of France’s Orange network starting in June. Writer David Meyer suggests that more manufacturers should be paying attention to this kind of accessibility.
The study, which involved anonymous tracking of commuters in urban areas, is the first to use data from phones rather than from surveys or census records.