Richard Feynman, sexism and changing perceptions of a scientific icon
The text of this post has been removed because it did not meet Scientific American‘s quality standards.
The Curious Wavefunction
Musings on chemistry and the history and philosophy of science
Sustainability
Gavrilo Princip, conspiracy theories and the fragility of cause and effect
A hundred years ago this day in Sarajevo, disgruntled nationalist Gavrilo Princip fired a shot. An Archduke and his wife died, the world mourned and fulminated, and in a rash of misunderstanding and patriotic throes the nations of Europe went to war with each other, a war that in its calculated butchery exceeded all that [...]..
Sustainability
New Cystic Fibrosis Medication a Triumph of Drug Discovery
Getting a drug from conception to market is among the riskiest, hardest and most expensive of scientific and human endeavors, often requiring up to ten years of effort and anywhere between 1 and 5 billion dollars...
Oppenheimer’s folly: On black holes, fundamental laws and pure and applied science
On September 1, 1939, the same day that Germany attacked Poland and started World War 2, a remarkable paper appeared in the pages of the journal Physical Review.
Molecular modeling and physics: A tale of two disciplines
In my professional field of molecular modeling and drug discovery I often feel like an explorer who has arrived on the shores of a new continent with a very sketchy map in his pocket.
Sustainability
Philosophy Begins Where Physics Ends, and Vice Versa
Physicist Sean Carroll has some words of wisdom for physicists who might have less than complimentary things to say about philosophy. The most recent altercation between a physicist and philosophy came from Neil deGrasse Tyson who casually disparaged philosophy in a Q&A session, saying that it can be a time sink and it doesn’t actually [...]..
Making nuclear energy cheap: The view from the Breakthrough Institute
I have been wanting to highlight this review of strategies to make nuclear energy cheap and efficient from the Breakthrough Institute for a while.
The Sciences
Verizon Ad Warns Parents Not to Squelch Daughters' Interest in Science
At a time when we are still seeing subtle and not-so-subtle opposition to fostering young girls’ interest in STEM disciplines and to women’s mobility in professional science, it’s encouraging to see this ad from Verizon asking parents to not squelch their daughters’ natural curiosity...
Truth and beauty in science
Philip Ball who is one of my favorite science writers has a thoughtful rumination on the constant tussle between beauty and truth in science.
Evolution
Genes and Race: The Distant Footfalls of Evidence
A review of Nicholas Wade’s book, “A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History“. In this book NYT science writer Nicholas Wade advances two simple premises: firstly, that we should stop looking only toward culture as a determinant of differences between populations and individuals, and secondly, that those who claim that race is only a [...]..
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