That’s the title of this article, and that’s the subject matter: scientists in Antarctica drink a lot. Well, you might say, why not? It’s Antarctica, Jake. NSF managers in Washington say they’re still looking at whether shipping a few breathalyzers … Continue reading →
Can you tell which toe of yours is being touched? When they’re not allowed to peek, many people can’t differentiate between which toes of theirs are being “prodded” by an experimenter. Sounds a bit kinky: Researchers at the University of … Continue reading →
A new human fossil has been found, and it has some intriguing and unusual characteristics: The researchers suggest that the fossils represent a previously unknown species in our genus, Homo, one that had a peculiar mix of physical traits and … Continue reading →
I’ve spent countless hours reading about and trying to understand the technical parts of the Iran arms deal—the details of the proposed inspections, what that actually means, and whether it all would be adequate in terms of stopping Iran from … Continue reading →
This is potentially very good news. Very: Researchers gave one dose of the new vaccine, developed by the Canadian government, to more than 4,000 people who were contacts of confirmed Ebola cases within 10 days of being identified. In comparison, … Continue reading →
Here’s an article about Dr. Joel Salinas, a Boston neurologist with mirror touch synesthesia, which is the sensation, when watching other people, of perceiving that “whatever touches their body [is felt] on my own body as well and it’s kind … Continue reading →
Well, there’s always Pluto, about which the science is not settled.
Continue reading →Last night I was thinking once again about Donald Trump’s statement that rapists are coming into this country—not about the political ramifications, or about Trump’s candidacy (I’m not a Trump fan), but about the question of whether it’s true, and … Continue reading →
A previous thread led to a discussion of just what the word “race” means—whether it refers to something fixed and physical, or whether it’s one of those “socially constructed” ideas. “Race” is a convenient way to refer to human variation. … Continue reading →
An alert reader send me a link to this article debunking the study described in this previous post of mine. Donald Green, the Columbia political science professor who was the senior author on the study, which was published in Science … Continue reading →
Just in case you didn’t have enough to worry about, there’s Yellowstone: A new University of Utah study reports discovery of a huge magma reservoir beneath Yellowstone’s previously known magma chamber. …The new report fills in a missing link of … Continue reading →
What’s the Gompertz Law?: What do you think are the odds that you will die during the next year? Try to put a number to it ”” 1 in 100? 1 in 10,000? Whatever it is, it will be twice … Continue reading →