A planet with a mass probably not much greater than that of the Earth has been discovered orbiting a star in the closest stellar system to our own. The discovery was announced yesterday by the European Southern Observatory in Chile. … Continue reading
Coma Niddy’s rap about dark matter: On the clip’s YouTube page you can click “Show more” to see the lyric and additional information about Coma Niddy (Mike Wilson), the writer-performer-producer, including links to his other science-related rap songs. I have … Continue reading
As you’re no doubt aware, the Republican Party dropped support for Senate candidate and current Representative Todd Akin (R-Missouri) after he claimed that it’s “really rare” for victims of “legitimate rape” to get pregnant as a result. Other Republicans continue … Continue reading
Here’s an updated version of a classic experiment originated by Sarah Brosnan showing that capuchin monkeys resent what they perceive as unfair unequal pay. The monkeys in this test have been taught that they can buy a treat with a … Continue reading
I’m having trouble believing this one, but then again, maybe it was a mistake for us apes to give up a useful mood indicator, and if so maybe a bioengineered solution is in order. This reminds me that British author … Continue reading
An article on the Science News website reports on growing academic study of the spread of misinformation via social media such as Twitter. There is evidence that it goes beyond the usual rumor-mongering we’ve long seen in chain emails and … Continue reading
The remarkable Antikythera mechanism is a device more than 2000 years old apparently intended to compute the positions of the classical planets, predict eclipses, and perform related astronomical calculations. The website of Britain’s Guardian newspaper published an interesting article today … Continue reading
A forthcoming research article (PDF) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports some pretty convincing evidence of gender bias even in the university science departments. Quoting from the abstract, … In a randomized double-blind study (n = … Continue reading
Britain’s Guardian newspaper reports that Cambridge University’s Peter Wadhams, an expert on ice in the Arctic, fears that the Arctic Ocean will be essentially ice free in the late summer (August-September) as soon as four years given recent observations. Wadhams … Continue reading
Irish comedian Dara O’Briain takes on quack medicine: (For those concerned about such things, be warned that he uses the occasional naughty word.) At the end O’Briain makes passing mention of Noddy, a children’s character familiar in the UK … Continue reading