Blogs

Hot Peppers - Why Are They Hot?

I first posted this on July 21, 2006. Some plants do not want to get eaten. They may grow in places difficult to approach, they may look unappetizing, or they may evolve vile smells...

Updates: #scio12, #soNYC, #NYCSciTweetup and more.

I was recently interviewed for Sigma BioBlogs about science education and outreach, and the interview is now online - check it out: @BoraZ – Science online’s BlogFather on Science Outreach and Education...

Friday Weird Science: Clomipramine, Yawning, and ORGASM?!

Can an antidepressant drug produce spontaneous orgasms? And how the heck does this happen? Check it out over at Friday Weird Science, where I'm talking about the possibilities behind yawning induced orgasms...

A Step-by-Step Guide to Cosmology s Best-Kept Secret

In my previous post, I described the little-known and somewhat counterintuitive idea that objects in the distant universe appear larger and larger the farther they are, in a reversal of the usual rules of perspective...

Can a California Start-Up Change the Way We Think about Lightbulbs? [Video]

What would it take to convince you to spend $45 on a 100-watt lightbulb? A Silicon Valley company called Switch Lighting is banking that it has the answer.

The Long Hard Road to Mars

Mars Pathfinder launches in 1996 Starting this Saturday, a 24 day window of opportunity opens for the launch of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory, now also known as the Curiosity rover.

#SciAmBlogs Thursday - more Thanksgiving science, land-walking octopus explained, Hollywood science and more...

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!- Darren Naish - Dwarf mountain toads and the ones with the doughnut-headed tadpoles - Christie Wilcox - The Benefits of Thanks - Carolyn Wyman - God Bless Butterball - John Horgan - R.I.P...

Google Trend: Tryptophan

Science in Hollywood: Hits and Misses

Earlier this week I was a guest on Breakfast Television Vancouver to discuss the portrayal of science in some recent blockbusters. The recent surge in science content in films and TV is something that I find genuinely encouraging...

Live Blog: Field Notes From Thanksgiving

Here in the US, many of us are in the midst of Thanksgiving preparations: turkeys are being baked (or perhaps fried) and basted, potatoes are being mashed, and pies are setting.