In its search for new discoveries physics seeks extremes. Now an inconceivably vast explosion is in the news. What can it teach us? First let’s be clear about the extremes that physics seeks. They want information about the very small, smaller than atoms for example, and the very large, larger than our Sun and other […]
Breaking news: We are seeing a new Scientific Revolution. It will be the biggest ever. And I mean ever. Odds on it will be called “the Planck revolution”. Does German physicist Max Planck deserve this? I don’t think so. I think of it as the Riemann revolution. Readers know that more than 150 years ago […]
Heads up! A new technology is transforming gene editing. It gets my vote for top science news of last year. It will affect us all more than we can imagine. And the most surprising news may be its inventor. Many things can change the code of DNA. Chemicals, X-rays, ultraviolet, cosmic rays, and mistakes during […]
It’s a season for something personal, another kind of time travel, a different kind of history. Here is a guest blog authored by my father, Don, a short sketch of his long life so far (he skips over his M.Sc. and careers in science and management). It is based on an article he published in […]
The number of climate-driven natural disasters per year has more than doubled since the 1980s. Meanwhile average global temperature increased less than one degree. We know how to slow the increase. It’s a win-win. Slowing it will keep us safer and will save all of us lots of money. Step one is to understand the […]
Here’s some good news: A better battery may soon be on its way to a device near you. (There’s bad news too but it will have to wait.) Building better batteries is all about smaller, lighter, cheaper, faster charging, longer lasting . . . and most of all getting batteries to hold more charge. This key attribute […]
New science is using genetic analysis to discover more of who we are. We now know most of our cells are bacteria. Until recently we knew little about what they do. Mostly we get rid of them as best we can. This turns out to be a major oops. In a previous post I reviewed […]
Here’s a great DNA-detective story. It involves gene surgery in plants that will soon be saving lives. And it has a surprise ending. Many people owe their lives to the humble Himalayan mayapple. Its leaves contain a substance (podophyllotoxin) that inhibits cell growth. Would be great for stopping cancer but it is too toxic. However, […]
Strategy—as I use the term—is all about survival in a situation. So much of what we know of it relates to war. But the world has many other life-and-death situations. Seeing them through the eyes of those who choose to live can cast new light on complex questions. Recent news gives us an example: Why […]