science

(Book Review) – The Origin of Our Species

by

New Scientist has a great review of Chris Stringer’s latest book, “The Origin of Our Species” (no prize for spotting the hat-tip to a rather more famous publication by a certian Mr Darwin). … The book is the first popular treatment to take on board the recent sequencing of the Neanderthal genome and the discovery … Read more

Facebook = $50 Billion? – Apparently not if you look at the data

by

Damian Thompson writes today on the telegraph with data that appears to show that anyone who has bought into Goldman Sachs’ $50 billion valuation of Facebook, which is based on projections of revenue growth that seem ludicrously optimistic in the light of the data now available … Here’s a chart showing year-on-year growth (again, click … Read more

Neutrino Transformation Could Help Explain Mystery of Matter

by

Cool story in Wired today … Two research teams have found new evidence of transformations in elusive elementary particles called neutrinos. The findings may finally help explain why the universe didn’t vanish shortly after its birth. “These results are just the beginning of the story for neutrinos,” said physicist Robert Plunkett of Fermilab in Chicago. … Read more

(News Today) – Reversing Type 2 Diabetes

by

Type 2 diabetes can not only be treated, but can now be cured. You need never actually have it; provided that you adopt a sensible lifestyle of good diet and exercise then you are never going to suffer the condition, barring extremely bad luck in your genes. Similarly, if you are headed down the path … Read more

Weeping in utter frustration – anti-evolution bills on the NH legislative agenda!!!

by

The National Centre for Science Educaion reports … Antievolution bills are on the horizon in New Hampshire. Included on a list (PDF) of legislative service requests dated June 14, 2011, are two requests to have antievolution bills drafted for the 2012 legislative session. LSR 2012-H-2176-R, submitted by Jerry Bergevin (R-District 17), asks for a bill … Read more

Naming New Elements

by

We have two new elements in the periodic table, 114 and 116. The details are in the Journal of Pure and Applied Chemistry here. Both are highly radioactive and exist for less than a second before decaying into lighter atoms, so blink and you will indeed miss them. This has been on the cards for some time now, and have been submitted for inclusion along with claims for 113, 115 , and 118. Well, 114 and 116 just made it.

Read more