Science

Review of Evolution: Selected Letters of Charles Darwin, 1860-1870, edited by Frederick Burkhardt, Samantha Evans and Alison Pearn. Evolution contains letters from, as the editors say "The decade immediately following publication of On the origin of species in 1859 to the eve of publication of Descent of man […] arguably the most intense and productive of Charles Darwin's life." Darwin was …

Joel Guttormson, Outreach and Event Coordinator for the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science interviews speakers from TAM 2013 presented by the James Randi Educational Foundation. Cara is a science communicator and currently co-hosts and produces "TakePart Live," a nightly news and talk show on Pivot TV. http://www.takepart.com/ JREF: http://www.randi.org Questions provided by the …

Bill Nye has built his career on making scientific concepts accessible to the public. But according to a well-known creationist, the beloved "Science Guy" doesn't really getthe subject. “Bill Nye still doesn’t understand the difference between historical science and observational science — so he may be known as ‘Bill Nye the science guy’ — but he …

Conservative groups at the forefront of global warming skepticism are doubling down on trying to discredit the next big report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In recent weeks, they've been cranking out a stream of op-eds, blogs and reports to sow doubt in the public's mind before the report is published, with …

Everybody knows that our political views can sometimes get in the way of thinking clearly. But perhaps we don’t realize how bad the problem actually is. According to a new psychology paper, our political passions can even undermine our very basic reasoning skills. More specifically, the study finds that people who are otherwise very good at …

Scientist Bill Nye and comedian Bill Maher targeted Republicans and religious individuals as enemies of science, especially in regard to the growth of the U.S. economy and overall human progress, while lambasting creationism and spiritual fervor. At the start of the interview on “Real Time” Friday, Maher proclaimed that science has become politicized and asked …

Before there was life on Earth, there were molecules. A primordial soup. At some point a few specialized molecules began replicating. This self-replication, scientists agree, kick-started a biochemical process that would lead to the first organisms. But exactly how that happened — how those molecules began replicating — has been one of science's enduring mysteries. …

About 100 protesters gathered in downtown Vancouver on Monday to speak out about Canadian government scientists who are being hampered from talking to the public about their taxpayer-funded research. Prominent scientists such as David Suzuki spoke at the rally on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery at noon, saying the Conservative government is shutting …

Scientists in Spain have reported the first self-healing polymer that spontaneously and independently repairs itself without any intervention. The new material could be used to improve the security and lifetime of plastic parts in everyday products such as electrical components, cars and even houses. The researchers have dubbed the material a 'Terminator' polymer in tribute …

How much bacteria do people carry around? Enough to fill a big soup can. “That’s three to five pounds of bacteria,” says Lita Proctor, the program coordinator of the National Institutes of Health’s Human Microbiome Project, which studies the communities of bacteria living on and in us. The bacteria cells in our body outnumber human …

Male orangutans plan their travel route up to one day in advance and communicate it to other members of their species. In order to attract females and repel male rivals, they call in the direction in which they are going to travel. Anthropologists at the University of Zurich have found that not only captive, but …

I’ve heard that we should stop talking about “pure” science and “applied” science; that we should only be talking about “good” science and “bad” science. Last year, CSIRO Chief ExecutiveMegan Clark said as much during question time at her National Press Club address, and this year I heard it recommended again at the Universities Australia Conference. So …