There has been a spate of mainstream media (MSM) articles recently revealing the linkage between drugs in the water supplies and altered reproductive organs of fish. Some of these exposés have drawn a correlation between the explosion of fish abnormalities (and mutations) and different types of prescription and over-the-counter drugs found in their aquatic environments. That the water supplies the world …
World’s first genetically modified human embryo raises ethical concern – by Hannah Brown
The genetic modification of humans make many people feel very uncomfortable. Credit: Tatiana Vdb/Manuel/Flickr, CC BY It all started with a rumour. Then just six weeks ago, a warning rang out in the scientific journal Nature, expressing “grave concerns regarding the ethical and safety implications” of creating the world’s first genetically-modified human embryo. Then last week, a Chinese group from Sun Yat-sen …
Is the universe a hologram?
This news release is available in German. At first glance, there is not the slightest doubt: to us, the universe looks three dimensional. But one of the most fruitful theories of theoretical physics in the last two decades is challenging this assumption. The “holographic principle” asserts that a mathematical description of the universe actually requires one fewer dimension than it seems. …
What Happened to President Obama’s Promise to Restore Scientific Integrity? – Jonathan Latham
Pretty much every branch of the US government has had trouble implementing President Obama’s flagship scientific integrity policy. In 2011, the US Department of the Interior (DOI) appointed the scientist Dr. Paul Houser to be its first ever Officer of Scientific Integrity. Within a year he was fired. Believing his dismissal was for drawing attention to a scientifically questionable Department policy, …
WHAT HAPPENED TO OBAMA’S PROMISE TO RESTORE SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY? – JONATHAN LATHAM
Pretty much every branch of the US government has had trouble implementing President Obama’s flagship scientific integrity policy. In 2011, the US Department of the Interior (DOI) appointed the scientist Dr. Paul Houser to be its first ever Officer of Scientific Integrity. Within a year he was fired. Believing his dismissal was for drawing attention to a scientifically questionable Department policy, …
Making Science History – Jim Hightower
We’ve all seen those touchy-feely TV ads with baby deer, butterflies, and sylvan streams — claiming that some big corporate polluter is nature’s best friend. There’s a word for such hokum: greenwashing. Leave it to the Koch brothers, however, to invent a whole new category of greenwashing. Doling out millions of their oil-smeared greenbacks, David and Charles Koch have been …
New radio carbon dating technique will revolutionise field archaeology
Scientists from the University of Liverpool are developing a new carbon dating technology that could revolutionize field archaeology. In partnership with Norton Priory Museum & Gardens and supported by funding from theArts Council England, they will develop a new technique which will make it quicker and easier to date archaeological finds. Radiocarbon dating is used to determine the age of ancient objects by …
Women are more likely to be physically assaulted in developed countries, study shows
When researchers examine violent assault numbers, historically the data has pointed to higher rates of female victimization in developing countries. But a study by a West Virginia University sociology professor finds that women in developed countries — like the United States — are actually more likely to be physically assaulted than women in developing countries. In “Individual and Structural Opportunities: …
Harnessing “Black Holes”: The Large Hadron Collider – Ultimate Weapon of Mass Destruction
What would you have done to stop catastrophic events if you knew in advance what you know now. We have the moral obligation to take action in every way we can. The future is in our hands. The stakes are the highest they have ever been. The Large Hadron Collider developed by the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN) is …
How Science Helps Us Find the Good
I’ve been covering the science of human goodness, off and on, for almost ten years. In that time, I’ve seen a dramatic transformation in the way scientists understand how and why we love, thank, empathize, cooperate, and care for each other. Of course, “goodness” doesn’t seem like a very scientific concept. It sounds downright squishy to many people, and thus …










