May 29th, 2012 |
3
A pair of security researchers in the U.K. have released a paper [PDF] documenting what they describe as the “first real world detection of a backdoor” in a microchip—an opening that could allow a malicious actor to monitor or change the information on the chip. The researchers, Sergei Skorobogatov of the University of Cambridge and [...]
Keep reading »
I love optical illusions. They make me feel clever if I can figure them out and even when I have to peek at the answer, it’s still fun to find out how my brain was tricked. But do they serve any purpose in the real world? Can we use them to make us sharper in [...]
Keep reading »
May 24th, 2012 |
1
The pharmaceutical industry rightly calls the stage in drug development between basic research and clinical trials the “Valley of Death.” This is when a potential treatment that’s worked in mice, monkeys, and the like catapults to a phase 1 clinical trial to assess safety. It’s rare. Francis Collins, MD, PhD, director of the National Institutes [...]
Keep reading »
May 23rd, 2012 |
12
Science in crisis Scientists – and science generally – are in a moment of crisis on multiple fronts. The gap between science and society has grown to a chasm, with disastrous consequences for issue after issue. For example, just last month, Tennessee passed legislation permitting creation “science” into classrooms. On another front, the concern of [...]
Keep reading »
May 21st, 2012 |
2
The international renown of Johns Hopkins Medical School isn’t always a good thing. Its proximity to Washington, DC is another problem. Together, they produce a stream of foreign doctors intent on seeing Washington and then Hopkins, an hour away in Baltimore. The problem for a Hopkins scientist like me is what to do with the [...]
Keep reading »
May 17th, 2012 |
26
“Energy policy” and “clean energy” may be political hot buttons this year, but the technological realities and challenges to achieving energy and environmental goals are seldom discussed. There is strong public sentiment that the U.S. should decrease our reliance on fossil fuels because of concerns about pollution, global warming, ecosystem damage, and energy security. Although [...]
Keep reading »
May 16th, 2012 |
3
Sequencing of the exome – the protein-encoding parts of all the genes – is beginning to dominate the genetics journals as well as headlines, thanks to its ability to diagnose the formerly undiagnosable. The 2011 Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting honored the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel’s coverage of a 4-year-old whose intestinal disorder was finally diagnosed [...]
Keep reading »
May 15th, 2012 |
1
Over the past few months, we have been flooded with emails from distressed parents asking whether their deaf child will be able to hear one day. With each new email comes a poignant story about a child whose world is silent. It is estimated that hearing loss affects 11% of school age children and even [...]
Keep reading »
May 14th, 2012 |
12
Ever notice that we’ve got a thing for round numbers? We like our data neat and tidy. The world of ocean pollution and litter prevention is filled with nice round numbers. Like those lists of how long various consumer goods take to go away once they escape into the environment… But recent finds on the [...]
Keep reading »
May 12th, 2012 |
1
#StorySaturday is a Guest Blog weekend experiment in which we invite people to write about science in a different, unusual format – fiction, science fiction, lablit, personal story, fable, fairy tale, poetry, or comic strip. We hope you like it. The Gravity of the Situation Daria clung to the rope ladder, her knuckles white. Her [...]
Keep reading »
Clocks, metabolism, evolution - toward an integrative chronobiology
Taster's Choice: Why I Hate Raw Tomatoes and You Don't
Can the "Urban Advantage" Bring Better Global Health As City Populations Skyrocket?Researchers Discover Hacker-Ready Computer Chips
USC Dornsife Scientific Diving: Remaking What We've Lost – A Look At Artificial Reefs
CalCharge – Building a Battery Innovation Ecosystem
YES! Send me a free issue of Scientific American with no obligation to continue the subscription. If I like it, I will be billed for the one-year subscription.
Share
