A Peek Inside the Neanderthal Mind

February 10, 2012
Since many of us may carry Neanderthal genes, it may be comforting to know what it was like to be one of these ice-age Europeans who flourished between 200,000 and 30,000 years ago, and then mysteriously disappeared. The biggest difference... continued

It’s Now Against the Law to be a Kid

February 10, 2012
More and more US schools have their own police forces. Pupils are being arrested for throwing paper planes and failing to pick up crumbs from the cafeteria floor. The state has taken over discipline from the classroom teacher and is... continued

Weeds as a Terrorist Weapon

February 9, 2012
Weed control has become a matter of national security. Along US southern coastal rivers, most particularly Texas' Rio Grande, an invasive species of plant known as giant reed is encroaching on the water, overrunning international border access roads, and creating... continued

Discovery of a Perfect Planet

February 9, 2012
An Earth-like planet recently spotted outside our solar system is the first that atromomers have found that could support liquid water and harbor life. Liquid water is what astronomers look for, and the newly found planet is located at the... continued

How to Read Someone’s Mind

February 9, 2012
"Contactees" commonly report that aliens "talked to them inside their heads," meaning they communicated with them telepathically. Often these people communicate with them right back, the same way, and a whole conversation takes place inside two heads. Soon, human-to-human speech... continued

Some Fat is GOOD Fat

February 8, 2012
Not all fat is the same: The GOOD kind of fat is what's called "brown fat," because it helps you LOSE weight. Fat people have less of it than thin people. Older people have less of it than younger people.... continued

Why Red Means Stop All Over the World

February 8, 2012
It's interesting to consider why the color red sends the same message everywhere: danger, hot, stop. It also means dominance--athletes wearing red (as the Giants did in the recent Superbowl) seem to win more often. It could be explained because... continued

The End of Privacy

February 8, 2012
The concept of privacy may have become a thing of the past. Your cell phone is tracking you, there are spies on Facebook, streetlights are eavesdropping on us, and even the TOYS we play with are spying on us! The... continued

Famous Facebook Last Words

February 8, 2012
If you want your last words to be remembered, put them on Facebook. The Facebook app "If I Die" makes sure you can still send out your last wishes and post messages to your friends even years after you die... continued

How to be Instantly Smarter

February 8, 2012
The idea of a simple, cheap and widely available device that could boost brain function (no more late nights studying for exams?) sounds too good to be true, but it may be a reality. Neurologists are coming up with brain... continued