Parsing the Science of Interstellar with Physicist Kip Thorne
In an earlier blog post about Christopher Nolan's latest blockbuster movie, Interstellar, I lauded the film for its ambition, its visuals and the strong performances of its cast...
"technology"
Return to Nepal: Snow Sampling
Editor's Note: This is the third and final installment in a new series by Ulyana Horodyskyj, who chronicled an earlier expedition to Nepal in a series called, "Climbing Mount Everest," which can be found by clicking here...
Solar-Powered Transmitters Reveal Secrets of Endangered “Little Devil” Seabirds
How do you gather information about a bird species that spends 99 percent or more of its time at sea? Until recently, there wasn’t an easy answer.
Breaking the Code: The Creativity of Technology
So many people are stifled by their own preconceived beliefs about what they can and can't do. That's a shame and in our household we try hard to remove "can't" from our vocabulary. The biggest tragedy is when someone is afraid of, or steered away from, trying by stereotypes and social norms that are in a large [...]..
Watch the Earth From Space, Live!
Live streaming video by Ustream It doesn’t get much better than this (well, of course being in space might be better, albeit colder).
Fill Flash In Wide Angle Macro Photography
What is the secret to the evenly balanced exposure across both the foreground and background in this fisheye photograph? It is not a clever processing job in photoshop.
SciAm Readers Prioritize MP3s Over MPGs
Thank you for your input as no less than 100 readers were kind enough to participate in my not-so-scientific survey of what is least important to them, when given a choice to give up one item ranging between a TV, vehicle, laptop/tablet, and a smartphone...
One Hurricane Is Enough to Ruin Your Year
GOWANUS—The surge of sewer water, toxic sludge and “Brooklyn whitefish” (aka condoms) stopped one short block away from my house back on the long night of October 29, 2012...
Truth and beauty in science
Philip Ball who is one of my favorite science writers has a thoughtful rumination on the constant tussle between beauty and truth in science.
Genes and Race: The Distant Footfalls of Evidence
A review of Nicholas Wade’s book, “A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History“. In this book NYT science writer Nicholas Wade advances two simple premises: firstly, that we should stop looking only toward culture as a determinant of differences between populations and individuals, and secondly, that those who claim that race is only a [...]..
World’s Deadliest Fuel Made Safe and Clean?
Coal kills. When it’s not horrific mining accidents like the one in Soma, Turkey, on May 13 that killed more than 300 miners, it’s the 13,000 Americans who die early each year because of air pollution from burning the dirtiest fossil fuel...
Who Wants a Driver's License?
In the last post I presented results from my poll on the importance of cars to your everyday life. The results suggest, simply put, that its importance is sliding downwards.
Photo Friday: Student team doubles the capacity of existing solar arrays
The integrated circuit design pictured above was designed by Unified Solar, a student lead team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who won the regional price of the Department of Energy's (DOE) National Clean Energy Business Plan Competition at the MIT Clean Energy Prize at the end of April...
The Frustrations of Being Scientifically Literate
Editors note: Craig Fay will be appearing live at the Laughing Devil Comedy Festival in New York City May 14-18. Here's a theory for you: ignorance is bliss.
Need a Hand? Now You Can Print One
"Every 4 1/2 minutes, a baby is born with a birth defect." That translates to 1 of just 33 babies being born with a defect in the U.S. Of these, about 1,500 babies, or 4 out of every 10,000 babies are born missing a hand or arm ("upper limb reduction")...
Guest post: Big step taken in second life for EV batteries
by Tali Trigg Japan's Sumitomo Corporation buys used EV batteries for use in large-scale energy storage The value proposition of electric vehicles (EVs) goes beyond switching an engine block for a battery...
How Do Active Noise Cancelling Headphones Work?
After doing a lot of plane travel with the annoying drone of the engines, Joanne Manaster found herself in need of some noise cancelling headphones.
Surprises in physics: From black bodies to the accelerating universe
Surprises rank high on the list of things that make science a source of everlasting delight. When it comes to being surprised scientists are no different from the general public.
On the varieties of killing: Elizabeth Kolbert’s “The Sixth Extinction”
Elizabeth Kolbert combines the sharp observational powers of a field biologist with the literary skill of a seasoned and thoughtful writer.
Electronic Health Record Tracking System Fails to Gain Federal Support
Health information technologies such as smartphone-based ultrasound and electronic health records should be regulated according to the risk they present to patients, per a proposed strategy rolled out Thursday by three federal agencies...
