The ST36 Zusanli () acupuncture point is located just below the knee joint. This spot in mice--and it is hoped perhaps in humans--may be a critical entryway to gaining control over the often fatal inflammatory reactions that accompany systemic infections...
Keeping with the Oscars theme, if the previously-posted World Science Festival video was a bit too long for a Sunday evening, Vi Hart has a short and sweet video of a (one-sided) Möbius strip on which she has rigged to play a musical theme from Harry Potter...
If you’re looking around for something to watch this Sunday evening that complements the Oscars, the World Science Festival has a great video which features the Coen Brothers, film composer Carter Burwell, Alec Baldwin, and neuroscientist Aniruddh Patel discussing the emotional effects and role of music in film...
Fifteen year old Ann Makosinski was inspired when she was told that humans are “like walking 100-Watt bulbs.” She decided to harness that bulb in a human-powered flashlight...
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.
A recently published study of a 30-pound martian meteorite found in Antarctica suggests the presence of indigenous carbon-rich material, ancient water erosion, and a number of tiny structures that resemble the sort of features that we see rock-eating microbes leaving in basaltic glasses here on Earth...
Scholarly scientific publications have a pretty standard structure: Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, References.
This week has seen the release of the latest set of ‘confirmed’ exoplanets from NASA’s Kepler mission.
When I tell people I am a librarian, they automatically think they understand how I spend my day: they imagine a lot of book stamps, telling people to be quiet, and having time to read.
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.
Art and science are often thought of as disparate entities, drawing on different strengths and different ways of thinking. This is surely true, but the disciplines also share patterns of thought and essential characteristics...
For many people, the largest smart gadget they own is not their phone or tablet--it's the automobile sitting in their driveway. Cars have been able to connect to Android, iPhone and mobile Microsoft devices for years now--primarily via voice commands--to access apps aimed at communication and entertainment...
Elizabeth Kolbert combines the sharp observational powers of a field biologist with the literary skill of a seasoned and thoughtful writer.
I’ve been traveling quite a bit recently and the drone of the plane engine is a major annoyance. While I have a pair of noise dampening ear buds which are much more comfortable and produce better sound than the default iPhone earbuds, I have been wavering about purchasing a pair of active noise canceling earphones [...]..
The new movie “Pompeii” reconstructs one of the most famous volcanic eruptions in history with unprecedented “3D” special effects – but even the best visuals can’t help if the science is wrong – so how geological accurate is the movie?...
There is a shamefully broad gap between the lip service that we Americans give soldiersor “heroes,” as we love to call themand our actual treatment of them.
Before Jan Koum sold his company, WhatsApp, to Facebook for a mind-numbing $19 billion, he had a Post-It note affixed to his deskput there by WhatsApp co-founder Brian Actonthat set out the companys philosophy: No ads, no games, no gimmicks...
Hitler decided against Germany’s officially establishing a biological warfare program for reasons that are not entirely clear. Speculation has centered on his experience of being gassed in World War I and on a personal phobia about microbes...
We just began a new undergraduate program in Science Communication at my school, Stevens Institute of Technology, and I’m agonizing over what to teach.
In the latest issue of the New York Review of Books, Freeman Dyson has a nice review of Mario Livio’s readable book on scientific blunders committed by great scientists.
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