I’m not sure if this has been blogged to death and I just haven’t noticed, but there is a superb article on the Discover site detailing The 11 Greatest Unanswered Questions of Physics. What is dark matter? What is dark energy? How were the heavy elements from iron to uranium made? Do neutrinos have mass?… Read more »
Posts Tagged: science
Three Gorges Dam
A few weeks ago I finished reading The Best American Science Writing 2001. It’s a marvelous collection of all the “best” essays written on scientific topics from last year. One article, “Running Dry” by Jacques Leslie, really shocked me. It’s all about the depletion of the Earth’s freshwater and the (disastrous) effects damming has had… Read more »
Non-Fiction Addiction
Good gravy! I’ve been suffering from a severe case of non-fiction addiction lately. I managed to grab three of the five Oscar movies over the weekend, but otherwise for the last month or so I’ve watched almost nothing that wasn’t on TLC, Discovery, or A&E. I’ve seen specials on mummies, temples, “the Iceman”, pyramids, tombs,… Read more »
Longitude
I finished reading Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel this afternoon. It is a wonderful book.
Organ Donation Mandatory
“Switching to a mandatory system of organ donation — one where viable organs are harvested from the recently deceased without the family’s permission — would alleviate the nation’s donor-organ shortages and prevent people from needlessly dying while waiting for an organ, according to two US and UK researchers.” link via Follow Me Here …
Headache explained
Scientific American answers the question, “What is a headache?” The most common type of headache is the tension or muscle contraction type, which is frequently caused by spasms in the neck muscles and the muscles of mastication (chewing). This type of headache is usually treated easily by over-the-counter medications. More intense headaches are caused by… Read more »
Infinity
A few nights ago I finally finished reading Just Six Numbers : The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe by Martin J. Rees. I liked it. It was a good read. The author explains pretty much everything you need to know to understand the science of cosmology as it exists today. It was full of… Read more »
tsetse
Every now and then I get a referral from The International Atomic Energy Agency. Sadly, though, I can never find a link on their site to mine. They have articles on radiation leaks in Georgia and upgrading nuclear security, but nothing about the atomic structure of Gagne. I’ll have to assume that one of my… Read more »
Gravity
What does gravity smell like? Visit The Smell of Gravity to learn. I first discovered this link back in the 1900s. I can’t believe it’s still on line.
Got Sleep?
Sleep hogs beware. A new study suggests that individuals who sleep eight hours or more a night actually have an increased death rate compared to those who average fewer hours. Study subjects who slept seven hours a night had the best survival rates. Those sleeping eight hours a night were 12 percent more likely to… Read more »
Marijuana
“You don’t see the severe acute consequences you get with alcohol or cocaine,” Dr. Budney said. “People don’t embarrass themselves. They don’t wreck the car. They don’t spend all their money on a binge. “That doesn’t mean it’s not addictive. It can be insidious. It gets into your lifestyle and then you can’t get it… Read more »
Nanotech
The minuscule size of most nanotubes – hollow cylinders of carbon measuring only a few billionths of a meter wide – boggles the mind. Even more astounding may be that scientists can conceivably nestle these straws inside one another like Matryoshka dolls, with the inner set of tubes sliding in and out a billion times… Read more »