The Sciences
How Much Control Will We Have Over Our Personal Data?
The flood of online data about each of us seems to be increasing exponentially. For the most part we're willing participants, lured by the promise of convenience and information.
Stories by Fred Guterl
Environment
The End is Nigh! Time to Go Shopping
"Why did the government make an announcement not to worry about 2012?... Is this a conspiracy? And if NASA is not worried about Dec 21, why did the head of NASA make a video warning NASA employees to prepare for disaster?" -- question on NASA's Ask an Astrobiologist Being a lazy person at heart, I am always impressed by people who devote a great deal of time and effort to a cause...
Policy
Brains in Circulation
Scientists are collaborating across borders to an unprecedented degree, broadening opportunities in Big Science and Big Data projects and helping bridge the gulf between nations
Best Countries in Science: SA‘s Global Science Scorecard
Environment
The Future According to Sandy
“We [seem to] have a 100-year flood every two years now," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says he told President Barack Obama during his tour of the damage from Hurricane Sandy on Tuesday...
Paul Nurse: Science Will Benefit in the Rise of India, China
The rise of China and India bodes well for science, says British Royal Society president Paul Nurse
Health
Paul Nurse: We Need to Have a Grown-Up Discussion about Biosecurity
avian influenza, biology, biosecurity, bird flu, global science, globalization, influenza, paul nurse, state of the world's science, white house
Environment
Best Countries in Science: SA's Global Science Scorecard
"Global society operates as a network of creativity and innovation."--John Sexton, writing in Scientific American . In the October 2012 issue, we publish our Global Science Scorecard, a ranking of nations on how well they do science—not only on the quality and quantity of basic research but also on their ability to project that research into the real world, where it can affect people’s lives.The United States comes out on top, by a wide margin, followed by Germany, China, Japan, the U.K., France, Canada, South Korea, Italy and Spain...
Paul Nurse: We Need to Have a Grown-Up Discussion about Biosecurity
avian influenza, biology, biosecurity, bird flu, global science, globalization, influenza, paul nurse, state of the world's science, white house
The Sciences
Scientific American Snags "Science in Society" Essay Award
We are thrilled to pass along the news that Scientific American has won this year's prestigious Science in Society award, given by the National Association of Science Writers, for the essay Ban Chimp Testing that appeared online and in our October 2011 issue...
Why Do Birds Live Longer Than Turtles?
The key indicator for animals may be total energy expended over a lifetime
Is Bird Flu Waiting to Explode?
By concocting bird flu viruses that could potentially spread easily among humans, researchers have ignited a debate about the need for safety versus open inquiry
The Sciences
"Flame" Malware Greatly Expands the Scope of Cyber Warfare
The discovery of a new species of highly sophisticated malware earlier this week adds another puzzle piece to the contemporary cyberwar battleground.
Climate Armageddon: How the World's Weather Could Quickly Run Amok [Excerpt]
Climate scientists think a perfect storm of climate "flips" could cause massive upheavals in a matter of years
Evolution
Controversial Bird-Flu Research Published: How Worried Should We Be?
A highly controversial research paper on bird flu was released today by the journal Nature. It shows that a particularly troublesome strain of avian influenza, designated H5N1, which has been worrying public health officials for more than a decade, has the potential to become a human pandemic...
Environment
Food, Not War, Is the Biggest Threat to World Security, Argues Lester Brown
Even as Iran’s nuclear program raises the likelihood of yet another conflict in the Middle East, the bigger threat is a potential food crisis in the making, says Lester Brown, founder of the Earth Policy Institute...
The Sciences
Best Science Song of All Time, Verse 2
Yesterday I asked: what is the best pop science song of all time? Here's where we stand: on the shoulder of giants (with apologies to Sir Isaac).One of those giants is Ryan Reid, our digital art guru, who not long ago did a wonderful post on 10 songs inspired by science...
The Sciences
The Best Pop Science Song of All Time
Yesterday we ran a story about calculations that confirmed earlier news that physicists may be on the verge of discovering the existence of the Higgs boson, which, if it turns out to be true, would be one of the biggest science stories of all time.What concerns me here, though, is not science so much as popular song.For reasons that are obscure to me, the article triggered a memory of the old Johnny Cash tune, Folsom Prison Blues, which began rolling through my head...
Spectacular Plumes of Dust Reach across the World [Slide Show]
Environment
How Obama Plans to "Double Down" on Clean Energy
Early in his state of the union speech, President Obama renewed his call of last year for investments in clean energy. Unbowed by the troubles with Solyndra, Obama said he would direct the defense department to throw its buying power behind clean energy supplies for the U.S...
