I know this is last minute, but I decided to do a live Hangout on Google+ to talk about the solar eclipse. I’ve embedded the video below if you want to watch. If you want to ask questions, go to the link above or send me something on Twitter. If you leave a comment here I won’t see it!
| Discover Magazine | News |
Foer Returns to New Republic as Editor: Two months after buying a majority stake in The New Republic, the technology entrepreneur Chris Hughes has lured one of its former stars, Franklin Foer, back to the magazine as its editor. … The print magazine and Web site will be redesigned and the page count of the print edition will be expanded, Mr. H
| Discover Magazine | News |
Foer Returns to New Republic as Editor: Two months after buying a majority stake in The New Republic, the technology entrepreneur Chris Hughes has lured one of its former stars, Franklin Foer, back to the magazine as its editor. … The print magazine and Web site will be redesigned and the page count of the print edition will be expanded, Mr. H
| Discover Magazine | News |
It is sometimes fashionable to assert that higher socioeconomic status whites are the sort who will impose integration on lower socioeconomic status whites, all the while sequestering themselves away. I assumed this was a rough reflection of reality. But after looking at the General Social Survey I am not sure that this chestnut of cynical wisdom ha
| Discover Magazine | News |
It is sometimes fashionable to assert that higher socioeconomic status whites are the sort who will impose integration on lower socioeconomic status whites, all the while sequestering themselves away. I assumed this was a rough reflection of reality. But after looking at the General Social Survey I am not sure that this chestnut of cynical wisdom ha
| Discover Magazine | News |
Today’s the eclipse! I’m excited, though our weather here in Boulder has been fairly touch-and-go the past few weeks. I’m hoping for clear skies so I can see it; I got my eclipse glasses in the mail yesterday, so I’m all set. Locally, CU Boulder is holding a viewing in the football stadium! That’s a pretty nifty idea. A
| Discover Magazine | News |
Today’s the eclipse! I’m excited, though our weather here in Boulder has been fairly touch-and-go the past few weeks. I’m hoping for clear skies so I can see it; I got my eclipse glasses in the mail yesterday, so I’m all set. Locally, CU Boulder is holding a viewing in the football stadium! That’s a pretty nifty idea. A
| Discover Magazine | News |
As a change of pace, I was the guest rogue on this week’s episode of The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe. We covered a lot of ground, from Futurama heads to asteroid mining to Mayans… and I have an abysmal record at the Science or Fiction segment when I’m on the show, so you can hold your breath in anticipation to see if I fi
| Discover Magazine | News |
As a change of pace, I was the guest rogue on this week’s episode of The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe. We covered a lot of ground, from Futurama heads to asteroid mining to Mayans… and I have an abysmal record at the Science or Fiction segment when I’m on the show, so you can hold your breath in anticipation to see if I fi
| Discover Magazine | News |
I highly recommend Åse Fixes Science, in light of our recent conversations about psychology. It’s a fascinating and important discipline, but it is hard to make heads or tails of it all.
| Discover Magazine | News |
I highly recommend Åse Fixes Science, in light of our recent conversations about psychology. It’s a fascinating and important discipline, but it is hard to make heads or tails of it all.
| Discover Magazine | News |
A few weeks ago I met Chris Mooney for some drinks & snacks, and we talked about his new book, The Republican Brain: The Science of Why They Deny Science–and Reality. It was an interesting conversation. We have a long history, so it wasn’t as if we were strangers. I recall Chris from the late 1990s when we were both involved in the c
| Discover Magazine | News |
A few weeks ago I met Chris Mooney for some drinks & snacks, and we talked about his new book, The Republican Brain: The Science of Why They Deny Science–and Reality. It was an interesting conversation. We have a long history, so it wasn’t as if we were strangers. I recall Chris from the late 1990s when we were both involved in the c
| Discover Magazine | News |
The launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 this morning was aborted at literally the last second — the sensors detected too high a pressure in a combustion chamber in one of the engines. Apparently this didn’t put the rocket in any danger, but it was outside the limits for an allowable launch so the computer shut things down. Here’s video o
| Discover Magazine | News |
The launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 this morning was aborted at literally the last second — the sensors detected too high a pressure in a combustion chamber in one of the engines. Apparently this didn’t put the rocket in any danger, but it was outside the limits for an allowable launch so the computer shut things down. Here’s video o
| Discover Magazine | News |
Top picks Manta rays depend on forests. Carl Zimmer on top form. The evidence for precognition was staring us in the face all along. Hilarious satire of psychology’s problems. How a professor who fooled Wikipedia got caught by Reddit – implications for ”truth” online. Great story by Yoni Applebaum. Not allowed to have a small heart: grea
| Discover Magazine | News |
Top picks Manta rays depend on forests. Carl Zimmer on top form. The evidence for precognition was staring us in the face all along. Hilarious satire of psychology’s problems. How a professor who fooled Wikipedia got caught by Reddit – implications for ”truth” online. Great story by Yoni Applebaum. Not allowed to have a small heart: grea
| Discover Magazine | News |
Why do flu shots only protect us for a single season? Why can’t influenza vaccines be like polio vaccines: get them in childhood and be done with them? Wouldn’t that be the best way to prepare ourselves for the next pandemic? These are among the questions that will be addressed at next month’s World Science Festival. To lay the gro
| Discover Magazine | News |
Why do flu shots only protect us for a single season? Why can’t influenza vaccines be like polio vaccines: get them in childhood and be done with them? Wouldn’t that be the best way to prepare ourselves for the next pandemic? These are among the questions that will be addressed at next month’s World Science Festival. To lay the gro
| Discover Magazine | News |
I wrote earlier about the annular eclipse happening this coming Sunday. It’s a solar eclipse, with the Moon blocking the Sun, but because the Moon is at apogee — the point in its orbit farthest from Earth — the Moon appears smaller in the sky, so it doesn’t completely block the Sun. We’re left with a ring of solar surfa
| Discover Magazine | News |
I wrote earlier about the annular eclipse happening this coming Sunday. It’s a solar eclipse, with the Moon blocking the Sun, but because the Moon is at apogee — the point in its orbit farthest from Earth — the Moon appears smaller in the sky, so it doesn’t completely block the Sun. We’re left with a ring of solar surfa
| Discover Magazine | News |
“The copulatory vocalizations of female baboons (Papio ursinus) are more complex than those of female gibbons (Hylobates hoolock) or human females. Adult males of all these species begin calling later than the female, but subordinate baboon males do not call. Copulatory vocalizations may serve to mutually stimulate the mating partners or to in
| Discover Magazine | News |
“The copulatory vocalizations of female baboons (Papio ursinus) are more complex than those of female gibbons (Hylobates hoolock) or human females. Adult males of all these species begin calling later than the female, but subordinate baboon males do not call. Copulatory vocalizations may serve to mutually stimulate the mating partners or to in
| Discover Magazine | News |
The Claim: A lab-concocted strain of ferret flu could become a doomsday weapon or bioterrorist threat. The Contrarian: Wendy Orent, author of Plague, says the much-hyped fears are unfounded: The new strain presents no danger to humans but reveals a great deal about the transmission of flu. Ferrets with the flu sneeze and cough like humans.iStockphot
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Space X is looking good to launch its Falcon 9 + Dragon capsule on Saturday morning at 08:55 UTC (04:55 Eastern US time). NASA tweeted about it, saying there’s a 70% chance of good weather at that time. It’s Florida, so that can change in an instant. Check with NASA and Space X for updates. Space X put together a press kit with details o
| Discover Magazine | News |
Space X is looking good to launch its Falcon 9 + Dragon capsule on Saturday morning at 08:55 UTC (04:55 Eastern US time). NASA tweeted about it, saying there’s a 70% chance of good weather at that time. It’s Florida, so that can change in an instant. Check with NASA and Space X for updates. Space X put together a press kit with details o
| Discover Magazine | News |
A few days ago, we wrote about a remarkable graphic released by the USGS, showing all the water on Earth—freshwater, saltwater, water vapor, water in plants and animals; all of it—rolled into a sphere. That sphere was only 860 miles in diameter, fitting comfortably between Salt Lake City and Topeka, Kansas, on a map. It was striking, esp
| Discover Magazine | News |
A few days ago, we wrote about a remarkable graphic released by the USGS, showing all the water on Earth—freshwater, saltwater, water vapor, water in plants and animals; all of it—rolled into a sphere. That sphere was only 860 miles in diameter, fitting comfortably between Salt Lake City and Topeka, Kansas, on a map. It was striking, esp
| Discover Magazine | News |
Last week, a video of this mysterious blob floating 5000 feet under the sea was all over the Internet. Was it a whale placenta? A jellyfish? After some collective ooing and aahing, folks on the interwebs put their thinking hats on. Craig McClain at Deep Sea News dug through the literature and found a 1988 paper describing just such a jellyfish,
| Discover Magazine | News |
Last week, a video of this mysterious blob floating 5000 feet under the sea was all over the Internet. Was it a whale placenta? A jellyfish? After some collective ooing and aahing, folks on the interwebs put their thinking hats on. Craig McClain at Deep Sea News dug through the literature and found a 1988 paper describing just such a jellyfish,
| Discover Magazine | News |
Well, what can I say about this devastating and jaw-dropping picture of our nearest spiral neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy? [Click to massive chainedmaidenate. Do it!] Well, I could start with HOLY HALEAKALA! This image is a collection of 11 separate observations of Andromeda taken by NASA’s GALEX satellite. Launched in 2003, GALEX (which stan
| Discover Magazine | News |
Well, what can I say about this devastating and jaw-dropping picture of our nearest spiral neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy? [Click to massive chainedmaidenate. Do it!] Well, I could start with HOLY HALEAKALA! This image is a collection of 11 separate observations of Andromeda taken by NASA’s GALEX satellite. Launched in 2003, GALEX (which stan
| Discover Magazine | News |
A recent study suggesting a link between coffee drinking and longer lives has prompted a flurry of coverage—some snarky, some cautious, but mostly celebratory. (We see you there, reaching for another cup of coffee.) The study published at the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine is about as good as observational epidemiology studies go
| Discover Magazine | News |
A recent study suggesting a link between coffee drinking and longer lives has prompted a flurry of coverage—some snarky, some cautious, but mostly celebratory. (We see you there, reaching for another cup of coffee.) The study published at the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine is about as good as observational epidemiology studies go
| Discover Magazine | News |
1. Our immune system may be like those small bands of Japanese “holdout” soldiers after World War II. Not knowing that the war was over, they hid for years, launching guerrilla attacks on peaceful villages. 2. With our living environment well scrubbed of germs, our body’s immune “soldiers” mistakenly fire on innocent peanuts and cat da
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[NOTE: Whenever I write about actual cosmic events that might possibly affect us on Earth, I get scared emails from some folks. So let me be up front: there are no stars close enough to Earth to hurt us should they explode. Nothing I write in this post changes that; I'm talking about a star that can go supernova that's closer than I thought any was,
| Discover Magazine | News |
[NOTE: Whenever I write about actual cosmic events that might possibly affect us on Earth, I get scared emails from some folks. So let me be up front: there are no stars close enough to Earth to hurt us should they explode. Nothing I write in this post changes that; I'm talking about a star that can go supernova that's closer than I thought any was,
| Discover Magazine | News |
Cathy Hutchinson has been trapped in her frozen body for 14 years, after a stroke disconnected her brain from her spinal column. Recently, however, she commanded a robot arm to bring a thermos of coffee to her lips. This story has been all over the news, but for the ultimate telling of the tale, you need to read Jessica Benko’s amazing story over
| Discover Magazine | News |
Cathy Hutchinson has been trapped in her frozen body for 14 years, after a stroke disconnected her brain from her spinal column. Recently, however, she commanded a robot arm to bring a thermos of coffee to her lips. This story has been all over the news, but for the ultimate telling of the tale, you need to read Jessica Benko’s amazing story over
| Discover Magazine | News |
Seth Shostak is Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute in California, and the host of the weekly radio show and podcast “Big Picture Science.” Join Seth and 50 eminent scientists and sci-fi experts at SETIcon, to be held June 22-24 in Silicon Valley: www.seticon.org. Battleship is not a film that Francois Truffaut would ha
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