Monkeys are Musical After All

September 4, 2009
A philosopher once wrote a book in which he asked the question, "What is music?" He described a group of acolytes who had stayed up all night debating and biting their nails over that koan. We know that we're related... continued

Are Cities Alive?

September 3, 2009
James Lovelock first coined the term Gaia, a word that means viewing the Earth as a single living, breathing organism. A new scientific trend views the world's biggest cities the same way. More than half the world's population today lives... continued

Pain Free Farms

September 3, 2009
Autistic animal researcher Temple Grandin works to find humane, non-frightening ways for animals, such as cattle, chickens and pigs, to be slaughtered. Along with the "hormone free," "cage free" and "antibiotic free" labels on meat that are now found in... continued

Will Our Milky Way be Destroyed?

September 3, 2009
We hope to see some pretty spectacular things in the sky at our Stargate Conference in Joshua Tree on Oct. 16-18 but nothing like this: Some astronomers have speculated that collisions with our neighbors in space may one day tear... continued

Placebos Working Better Than Ever

September 2, 2009
But why? - Nobody can figure out why, but placebos are working better than ever. Are people more gullible than they used to be? In Wired.com, Steve Silberman reports on a major drug company that was losing money because it... continued

War Games

September 2, 2009
The military often uses special "games" to play out scenarios about whether or not it would be wise to undertake a certain military exercise (but do they pay attention to the results? That's another topic!) It turns out that this... continued

If it’s HOT Where You Are

September 1, 2009
Here's why - What's going on with the weather?More extremely hot summer days are projected for every part of the country. While the data show indisputable warming over the past several decades, cooler-than-average temperatures across the Midwest and Northeast this... continued

Some Moon Rocks are Fake

September 1, 2009
It's like a bad dream: A piece of moon rock given to the Dutch Rijksmuseum in 1969 by the three Apollo astronauts has been revealed to be fossilized wood. This is certainly fuel for conspiracy theories! At the time, fragments... continued

Surprising Hangover Cure

August 31, 2009
News Year's isn't the only time you're likely to drink too much. There are lots of clever hangover cures, most of which don't work. But here's a new one: asparagus. The amino acids and minerals found in asparagus extract may... continued

Smell Study

August 31, 2009
Is smell influenced by our culture or are genes? As part of a year-long recreation of Darwin's epic voyage on the HMS Beagle, olfactory scientist Sanne Boesveldt will explore how people respond to smell at each of the ship's ports... continued