SciTech Daily Review - science, technology, future developments, innovations, implications

Fathers really are essential to their children's development -- even if they can only be around part-time ... [more]

More scientists are beginning to think that traveling back in time would not violate the laws of physics. But how would they do it? ... [more]

A type of DNA long thought to be inherited only from mothers may be influenced by dad after all. If so, scientists may have to rethink some basic beliefs about the timing of human evolution ... [more]

Seeking answers to age-old questions, several areas of space science research look set to yield important answers during 2000 and through the next decade ... [more]

A major US study recently reported an alarming rate of serious medical errors in hospitals. Mathematician John Allen Paulos concludes that the problem has less to do with medicine per se than with a failure of the underlying systems ... [more]

Scientists have identified the sector of the brain where memories of fear reside -- a discovery that points the way toward possible treatments for anxiety disorders ... [more]

Raquel Welch's fur bikini has been cast aside. Archaeologists have condemned Hollywood's crude portrayal of Stone Age women to the midden heap of history, with research showing that many maintained extensive wardrobes of fine fabrics, linens and evening wear ... [more]

The Templeton Foundation invests millions so scientists might prove that faith works. But their answers aren't what Sir John Templeton wants to hear ... [more]

The area of the brain used while reading appears to depend on the complexity of an individual's native language ... [more]

Synaesthetes can see sound, smell colors, and taste shapes -- and neuroscientists think they might open a window into the ultimate mystery of human consciousness ... [more]

Never mind alien life -- after a string of embarassing mishaps, NASA could be fighting to save its own skin ... [more]

With motives that neuroscientists don't completely fathom, your brain surreptitiously swipes information from your senses, then hides it right under your nose ... [more]

Human pressures on the environment may be adding to the tragic cost of natural disasters ... [more]

A remarkable experiment spotlights the hippocampus as the battleground where traumatic stress, memory and our sense of self collide ... [more]

New thinking and scientific discoveries have brought the world closer together during the past 1,000 years -- and Europe was the birthplace of the revolution of reason ... [more]

Some green activists compare him to Judas, others call him a liar, but Patrick Moore was a founding member of Greenpeace and is a frontline veteran of campaigns against everything from whaling to nuclear waste. But somewhere along the line it all went wrong ... [more]

Rejoice in dark, chilly winter weather -- those dreary days serve to sharpen up your mind ... [more]

After 50 years' struggle, a fundamental problem of quantum physics has been solved at last ... [more]

Research on the phenomenon of "post-traumatic growth" has shown that, for some people, coping with significant traumas can lead to psychological growth ... [more]

Did humans lose a sixth sense? A mutated gene may explain why humans apparently cannot detect pheromones ... [more]

Time. We mark it, measure it and race against it. We divide, organize and try to manipulate it. But despite our best efforts to control it, time seems to have more power over us than we do over it. But what is time? ... [more]

Fundamental differences in the human brain may account for stronger spatial awareness in men, and greater emotional understanding in women ... [more]

The most popular students in school are sometimes the best liars ... [more]

Just four years after the first indirect evidence of extrasolar planets was announced, researchers have developed a method to analyse their size and composition ... [more]

Despite a push to understand human behavior in space, NASA remains squeamish about sex ... [more]

James Bond's almost legendary state of good health may be due, at least in part, to compliant bartenders: A martini (shaken, not stirred) may contain more effective antioxidants than its swizzled counterpart ... [more]

Were you born in the winter? Chances are you may end up getting fatter as you get older ... [more]

Images of 'solar moss' may give scientists clues into one of the most baffling mysteries of solar physics: Where is the energy source for the corona's intense heat? ... [more]

Absinthe is making a comeback -- so next time someone asks "What's your poison?" think carefully before you answer ... [more]

Before the advent of general anaesthesia, it is generally believed, a patient undergoing an operation could have expected little in the way of support. But descriptions of ancient anaesthetics have been found in manuscripts dating from pre-Roman times to the Middle Ages ... [more]

Unsafe sax: A cohort study looks at the impact of too much sax on the mortality of famous jazz musicians ... [more]

Stretching before you exercise in a bid to prevent injuries is a waste of time, according to Australian researchers ... [more]

Prospecting for oil? Try looking in an asteroid crater ... [more]

Millions of years before humans invented the barometer to measure atmospheric pressure, mayflies were experimentally measuring air's density and leaving ancient barometric readings in the fossil record ... [more]

For two days in May, 1999, the solar wind virtually disappeared -- the most drastic and longest-lasting decrease ever observed ... [more]

"Tens of thousands of years from now we might have a species that is certainly very clever, but diminished in its capacity for the sort of intelligent compassion that's uniquely human." Primatologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy is courting controversy with her predictions that inadequate childcare will profoundly alter the course of our evolution ... [more]

The chemical that lets deep-sea creatures take the pressure holds hopes of a treatment for cystic fibrosis ... [more]

Evidence from the unmanned Mars Global Surveyor appears to support the idea of an ancient ocean on Mars ... [more]

Doctors are already testing IVF embryos for genetic disorders. Will we soon be making designer babies? ... [more]

A theory of spontaneous creation puts planet development on the fast track ... [more]

The discovery of a unified theory of physics will probably not be possible without radically new ideas. But some promising concepts are already in circulation ... [more]

Did Jupiter bully other planets in a gargantuan case of sibling rivalry? ... [more]

Dietary zinc supplementation can reduce the incidence of childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea in developing countries ... [more]

Reducing the number of allergic reactions suffered by pregnant women may minimise the risk that their children will develop allergies and asthma later in life ... [more]

One of the great mysteries of plant reproduction has finally yielded up its secrets ... [more]

A group of scientists have discovered how viral infections trigger asthma attacks in susceptible people, a finding that may lead to strategies for countering such virus-induced health crises ... [more]

A common parasite has overturned traditional beliefs about evolution and the role of haemoglobin ... [more]

After years of being regarded as a mathematical curiosity, Benford's law is now being eyed by everyone from tax inspectors to computer designers ... [more]

The loss of the Mars Polar Lander is forcing NASA to take a long, hard look at its policies ... [more]

Physicists are hearing the ching! of Schröedinger's Cash Register, as they try to break economists' monopoly on financial theory ... [more]

The brain is one of mankind's greatest mysteries -- and no amount of dissecting, drugging and probing has yet revealed its secrets ... [more]

We have little green men to thank for the greatest discovery of modern cosmology ... [more]

An extensive study has indicated that electromagnetic fields pose no threat to children's health ... [more]

Education not only makes a person smarter, it seems to generate a certain type of synapse in the prefrontal cortex of the brain ... [more]

Researchers warn that the introduction of a single genetically modified fish -- carrying a 'Trojan gene' -- could wipe out entire wild populations of the species ... [more]

Was there a second African exodus? Genetic evidence seems to suggest so ... [more]

A new questionnaire, designed to screen for eating disorders, may make a cryptic diagnosis a little clearer ... [more]

The gravitational pull of the sun & moon, and a wobbling planetary core, may have contributed to massive volcanic eruptions in Earth's past ... [more]

A complete map of the human genome will be extremely useful when it is finished in the next few years. But that is far from the end of the story ... [more]

How do you clean up in space, where a vacuum cleaner won't work? First, study a single grain of dust ... [more]

The biomedical revolution of the next century promises to alter our culture, our politics, and our lives. So why does bio-tech continue to stir up so much opposition -- and even horror? ... [more]

Data on changing ocean currents around Europe indicate that the currently temperate continent may be facing an ice age ... [more]

Parents have always known that cuddling, feeding and pacifiers calm distressed babies -- finally, we're beginning to understand why ... [more]

What is the source of galactic clouds? Two new papers suggest quite different -- but not necessarily contradictory -- theories ... [more]

Now hear this: Being stressed can prepare your ears for deafening dins ... [more]

So just what do you say to a naked alien? For starters, ask it about its mother and father ... [more]

Why is nature left-handed? The mystery deepens... ... [more]

Quantum computing could change the face of cryptography, semiconductors and a host of other technologies. It's a phenomenon that has got everyone from IBM to the Bank of England thinking hard ... [more]

Professor Bill Zealey doesn't have much to work with in his quest to mine near-earth asteroids for ice. But he does have a couple of things going for him: a research grant and a 10-year-old blender ... [more]

It's heresy, but... The Universe may contain regions where time runs backwards. If so, it could explain dark matter ... [more]

It appears that human genetic organisation has more in common with chickens than it does with mice ... [more]

From collapsing sand piles to traffic jams, seemingly arbitrary events may actually be following a universal mathematical law ... [more]

Feeling forgetful? Blame it on your hormones ... [more]

Scientists need to improve their outdated communication skills, if they want to successfully communicate the benefits of space exploration ... [more]

When dolphins swim they create a hauntingly beautiful, ghostly glow. That glow may contain the answer to one of science's deepest mysteries -- the secret of fluid dynamics ... [more]

Contrary to the prevailing theories, a US geologist suggests that in the long term, global warming can actually lead to a dramatic fall in sea levels ... [more]

"You can design for technology, and you can make the human user adapt, or you can design for the human user and make the technology adapt.” Many companies have chosen the former route -- and consumers, for the most part, just read the manuals and gripe about the technology ... [more]

Dreams of setting foot on distant planets are terribly romantic -- but exploration via remote sensors offers a much more practical alternative ... [more]

Bioterrorism is a real threat. But the biophobia which is gripping the US carries an even more frightening undercurrent ... [more]

Methane gas ignited by an impacting asteroid may have ignited the world's biggest barbecue: The one that destroyed the dinosaurs ... [more]

Four marine biologists stand accused of giving away Ukraine's state secrets. The probable reason is that all of the scientists study bioluminescent plankton, which can reveal the whereabouts of submarines ... [more]

Robert Zubrin of the Mars Society believes that humanity needs a new frontier -- and that frontier can only be on Mars ... [more]

Pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics are emerging -- and increasingly important -- disciplines, leading the way towards individualised medicine ... [more]

A new mathematical model shows that the chaotic behaviour of stock market traders dooms the market to being a perpetual roller coaster ride of highs and lows ... [more]

Physicists have simulated in a laboratory some of the effects found around one of the strangest and most dangerous objects in the known universe -- a neutron star ... [more]

Move over Mars: the exobiological possibilities of Europa deserve equal billing ... [more]

When it comes to recognising faces, humans beat computers, hands-down. But no-one is quite sure how we do it ... [more]

Vaccination against infectious diseases has literally transformed the planet. That transformation looks to continue into the 21st century, creating an even more widely vaccinated future ... [more]

Extraterrestrial exploration demands of us the vision, the will, and the means to follow our dreams ... [more]

It is a "given" in discussions of genetic engineering that no sensible person can be in favour of eugenics. But what, exactly, is immoral about eugenics? ... [more]

A dramatic reduction in the thickness of Arctic Sea ice in the last decade lends weight to reports that the Arctic climate is warming up ... [more]

Can computerised medical "expert systems" deliver improved quality in primary care? ... [more]

A study of the dynamics of the Earth's core reveals hurricanes under our feet ... [more]

Colour vision may have originated 20 million years earlier than previously believed ... [more]

The promise of the human genome project to transform biology and medicine is alluring. But does it ring true? ... [more]

Who's the fittest evolutionary biologist of them all? The descendents of Darwin duke it out ... [more]

To your very good health! A little alcohol actually helps rats repair their damaged livers ... [more]

For those who know they're at risk, a genetic test may well be empowering, providing either reassurance or confirmation. But what would such genetic knowledge mean for the general population? ... [more]

A new type of map -- developed by NASA -- shows the Earth's past and present tectonic activity ... [more]

Despite considerable efforts to mimic humans' effortless bipedal gait, biotechnology is still confounded by the problem of remaining upright ... [more]

Shivering termites help their colonies control disease ... [more]

A small interplanetary rebel is defying astronomers' usual labels ... [more]

Our ancestors may have been Martian extremophiles ... [more]

Hikers and overseas travelers quickly learn the gut-wrenching consequences of drinking unfiltered water. Now it appears that chimpanzees and baboons in Senegal catch on as well ... [more]

How do you recreate a 20-mile-wide asteroid crater in a bucket? ... [more]

The British explorer Robert Scott might well have survived his ill-fated expedition to the South Pole in 1912, were it not for a freak cold snap ... [more]

Good news for pregnant women: You may suffer constant bouts of sickness, cravings, sore breasts and aching knees but your memory is probably improving ... [more]

When it comes to cookie-dunking, it appears that cold milk takes the biscuit ... [more]

Why is it that con artists find it so easy to hoodwink the elderly? ... [more]

Toddlers are being given cocktails of drugs to treat hyperactivity, even though the drugs have never been tested for safety in such young children ... [more]

The Torino Scale -- designed to measure asteroid risk -- is a disaster yardstick in search of a role. Its short but controversial history is a tale of scientists, their politics and the 'public good' ... [more]

Forget the ice ages you've read about. Hundred of millions of years ago, the planet was one big frozen wasteland. But if the big chill had never happened, would any of us be here today? ... [more]

Good news for night-owls: early birds feel more stressed during the day than those who like to sleep in ... [more]

In the eternal debate of Nature vs Nurture, nurture seems to have won the latest round ... [more]

Just 'thinking old' is enough to make the elderly shuffle ... [more]

Humans naturally tend to look for the meaning behind tragedies. But statistics show that often a coincidence really is just a coincidence ... [more]

Although the question has always been right in front of people's faces, scientists are just now beginning to answer why two nostrils smell better than one ... [more]

Computer systems designed to reduce human error can actually make people more prone to making mistakes ... [more]

Water tables are falling on every continent and major rivers are being drained dry before they reach the sea, as human population growth overtaxes water supplies ... [more]

Ethnographic anthropologists make ordinary lives the subject of extraordinary study ... [more]

Thomas Gold, scientific heretic, asks us to re-examine our assumptions about the origins of "fossil fuels" ... [more]

The brain, barely at the level of understanding itself, may be on the verge of changing its own architecture ... [more]

A terrible drought 13,000 years ago may have spurred the development of agriculture ... [more]

Ballet can be even more beautiful if you've read a little Newton ... [more]

Men and women seem to reason differently in solving moral dilemmas -- but both approaches can lead to equally valid solutions ... [more]

In The Tempest, Prospero tells us that "We are the stuff that dreams are made on." What, then, is a dream? ... [more]

In a bewilderingly complex visual world, the brain somehow manages to "pay attention"to certain essential features of a scene. How do we do it? ... [more]

HIV is hard to catch. So why have infection rates stopped declining? What is going on out there? ... [more]

Entangled photons could provide deep insights into our world that nobody, not even physicists, expected ... [more]

Children who are struggling to read might be helped by wearing coloured contact lenses ... [more]

We still don't know much about the mysteries of Earth's magnetism. Now, however, a better computer simulation reveals a few clues ... [more]

Cuts in carbon dioxide emissions may save the Amazon -- but not the South Pacific ... [more]

Having an eventful day? If so, the chances are that a special gene will switch on in your brain tonight while you dream, helping you hold onto the memory ... [more]

Programmes which remind computer users to rest, stretch and sit properly may be annoying -- but they're well worth the irritation ... [more]

When dinosaurs ruled the land, giant crocodile-like reptiles called mosasaurs ruled the seas. But these champions of the food chain were prey to an even greater predator ... [more]

Less than a week's worth of chronic sleep loss can produce metabolic changes resembling the effects of advanced age or the early stages of diabetes ... [more]

A safer way of altering genes could make engineering humans more tempting than ever ... [more]

Traditional stress tests for heart disease may soon be supplanted by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging ... [more]

Oceanic temperature swings during the last ice age weren't restricted to the poles -- a finding which may have serious implications for greenhouse-induced climate changes ... [more]

The editor of the Lancet has defended his decision to publish a controversial paper on genetically modified foods, amid continued criticisms that he had simply fuelled public confusion over the issue ... [more]

When it comes to walking, our australopithecine ancestors were one step ahead of us ... [more]

For all the faults and false promises of personality tests, it looks as if these ubiquitous quizzes are here to stay ... [more]

Scientists have developed conflicting explanations for the puzzling behavior of Soft Gamma Repeaters ... [more]

Over the years, human beings have turned commerce into a symbolic exchange. Stephen Jay Gould searches for clues to this process in the animal kingdom ... [more]

Despite the long-established belief in a link between stressful events and cancer, a review of the studies shows that is just isn't true ... [more]

Widespread public mistrust of nuclear power is hardly surprising. But appropriate decisions about radiation risks can be made only by studying valid data ... [more]

Two years ago, Monte Verde in Chile was certified as the oldest archaeological site in the Americas -- rewriting the story of humans in the New World. Now that claim is being challenged ... [more]

Damage to the part of the brain which learns moral and social rules could cause children to grow up into irresponsible adults and even criminals ... [more]

There's gold in them thar subduction zones! ... [more]

Go ahead ... Have another piece! After all, they do say that chocolate is a ''health food'' ... [more]

The intricately intertwined story of an embattled ecosystem: a tale of mice, maggots, moths and men ... [more]

Just because it's natural, that doesn't mean it's safe! Some popular herbal remedies may prove dangerous if taken before surgery ... [more]

Moses Judah Folkman discusses the next phase in his cancer research: making the critical leap from mice to men ... [more]

To weight-loss researchers, willpower is an outdated and largely discredited concept, about as relevant to dieting as cod liver oil ... [more]

When it comes to forecasting hurricanes, a simple model may be the best ... [more]

Richard Dawkins ruminates that illogical thinking is the only thing joining science and religion together. ... [more]

To build a balloon capable of circumnavigating the globe, engineers ripped a page from aeronautical history ... [more]

In a pilot study, a 'brain pacemaker' has proven effective against debilitating depression ... [more]

At any random moment, a sudden whiff of odour can evoke intense, forgotten images from the past. Rachel S. Herz plans to find the mechanism behind the scented memories ... [more]

Not many men get breast cancer, but too few are aware of the risk ... [more]

Surely nothing is possible without time. But according to physicist Julian Barbour, time doesn't exist ... [more]

Magnetic stimulation of the brain may be a safer, less traumatic alternative to conventional electric shock therapy ... [more]

Researchers have uncovered new clues to the mysteries of high-temperature superconductivity ... [more]

Thanks to a delightful device developed by Mahlon Kriebel, you can explore the subtleties of chaos at your own kitchen table ... [more]

Research is inconclusive about the long-term effects of sex as a flu preventitive, but there are still few remedies as sweet ... [more]

The Indian Ocean has its own El Niño-like phenomenon, with significant influence on global weather -- and more directly, on the inhabitants of monsoon regions ... [more]

You too could have seemingly superhuman mental skills. All you have to do is switch off part of your brain ... [more]

Prof Pill-Soon Song hates mowing his lawn. So he set out to create more robust, slower-growing plants ... [more]

The "Mozart effect" just doesn't stand up to scrutiny. But it's hard to hit the 'pause' button on such an overwhelmingly popular movement ... [more]

The physics of glass: yet another everyday mystery that science can't explain very well. But then, glass is a confusing kind of matter, quite unlike the three ordinary kinds ... [more]

It's the cardinal rule for any nuclear worker: never, ever bring a critical mass of highly enriched uranium together. In breaking that rule last week, workers at Japan's Tokaimura plant triggered the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl. It was was an accident waiting to happen ... [more]

The possibility of human genetic engineering has raised a storm of argument in Germany, in language which harks back to the ideology of the Nazis ... [more]

Carbonated drinks really do hurt us -- but it's such a satisfying pain ... [more]

A stock market investment strategy that produces amazing gains on average, still can leave most investors poor. A little bit of probability theory points out the truth behind the hype ... [more]

John Horgan talks about the 'upside' of studying the stubborn mind: "Just the right amount of skepticism -- mixed with just the right amount of hope -- can protect us from our own lust for answers while keeping us open-minded enough to recognize genuine truth if and when it arrives. If The Undiscovered Mind succeeds at all, it will persuade readers to view mind-science with hopeful skepticism." ... [more]

Research on the biochemical mechanisms of addiction may lead to new medications -- offering the means for drug addicts to not only kick the habit, but also stay clean ... [more]

Forget about the rainforests -- deserts could be the key to slowing climate change ... [more]

Fossilized eggs provide clues about dinosaur mothering techniques ... [more]

Studying first three minutes of an argument can predict the likelihood of divorce ... [more]

Lack of sleep produces much the same effects as drinking too much ... [more]

Serendipity is a frail reed; if the best you can say for your research strategy is 'you can never tell, it might pan out,' it should probably be reconsidered. So why, asks Jerry Fodor, does everyone go on so about brain imaging research? ... [more]

The problem with cyberspace, according to Paolo Soleri, is not that there's no 'there' there. It's that people get stuck there ... [more]

Contrary to their slow-witted and even sickly image, Neanderthals were surprisingly robust and healthy ... [more]

The head of NASA wants private companies to take over the cost of orbiting the earth, and leave exploring the solar system to the space agency ... [more]

Questions regarding the ethics of "placebo" trials become even more vexed when it comes to sham surgery. Is it acceptable to place patients at risk, in order to evaluate the effectiveness of new treatments? ... [more]

In charting the unknown, the possibilities for disaster abound. The loss of the Mars probe is not a tragedy -- allowing it to further damage the struggling space programme would be ... [more]

Plant scientists are reassessing the role of silicon in plant nutrition ... [more]

You can run, but you can't hide. Big Brother can recognise your face, even if you're in disguise ... [more]

Icelandic taxpayers tend to support the odd concession to the elf lobby (free registration required) ... [more]

The British doctor who pioneered a revolutionary ovary grafting technique is urging restraint in use of the procedure ... [more]

Science isn't about fairness. It's about facts, or facts as best we understand them, and it's about putting those facts into the public arena where anyone can determine if they stand up to a challenge ... [more]

The cover of Time magazine said it all: "The I.Q. Gene: HOW MEMORY WORKS." But it's a great leap from engineering smarter mice to engineering smarter humans ... [more]

Science fiction writer David Brin looks forward to the day when surveillance cameras will be ubiquitous -- all in the name of freedom ... [more]

The fourth-century mathematician Pappus theorised that the elegant shape of the honeycomb resulted not from an innate bee sense of geometric beauty, but from nature's efficiency. At last, he has been proven right ... [more]

Why Johnny can't compute... It's often easier for kids in the US to find someone who can sell them a gun and teach them how to use it, than it is to get help learning how to program a computer ... [more]

Climate scientists have ripped up their old forecasts of greenhouse gas emissions in the next century, warning that they could be much too optimistic -- or too pessimistic ... [more]

Forget sleazy porn sites and violent computer games. A more serious threat to children is the risk of developing RSI ... [more]

99% of the universe appears to be missing -- but a search for galactic wimps may hold the key to finding it ... [more]

Mushrooms have 36,000 sexes, and slime mould has about thirteen. So why are most of the rest of Earth's lifeforms limited to just two? British scientists think it's all due to an ancient bacterial infection ... [more]

We know where our limbs are because of two types of information -- what we can feel and what we can see. New research suggests how this input combines in the primate brain ... [more]

A project to return Keiko the killer whale to his native Iceland waters has been a failure ... [more]

Damocles' sword, revisited ... Despite an overwhelmingly poor track record as a lie detector, polygraph screening programmes continue to be instituted in the US ... [more]

Ordinary childhood strep infections can trigger obsessive-compulsive disorder ... [more]

Burgeoning technology makes it increasingly easy to intrude on our privacy; an intrusion which is often justified by the social demand for transparency, democracy and security. Does this mean that the privacy of some must stop where that of others begins? ... [more]

The Shroud of Turin controversy returns -- revealing once again the clash between media seeking an immediate, conclusive answer, and the slower, much more skeptical pace of science ... [more]

How will computers be built after 2015? Stan Williams thinks he has a good recipe. It’s not perfect -- but that’s the beauty of it ... [more]

Interacting online with people from throughout the world is a daily occurrence for millions of Internet users, yet most do it with little perspective on the virtual identity they are projecting. ... [more]

Unless you’ve been shipwrecked or you’re an extremely ill-prepared camper, you’ve probably never had to make a fire without a device for instant ignition. But 200 years ago it was a whole different story ... [more]

Biological control can kill cannabis plants, but at what cost? ... [more]

The Earth is leaking! The Earth could be dry and barren within a billion years because the oceans are draining into the planet's interior ... [more]

Sufferers of Tourette's syndrome may have more control over their swearing and twitching than anyone has realised ... [more]

Youth sports head injuries may be more serious than generally believed ... [more]

A British scientific conference has endorsed a three-point plan to reduce the use of animals in medical experiments, education and cosmetics testing ... [more]

Tropical rains help predict global weather ... [more]

Head trauma may contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease ... [more]

It's not the drink talking. Dutch courage is all in the mind ... [more]

Iron-enriched formulas are no better for older babies than the cows' milk they're meant to replace ... [more]

Our capacity to detect infinitesimally minute quantities of toxins has increased with a vengeance. But should we necessarily regard them as dangerous? ... [more]

When it comes to weather forecasts, the average may be better than any of the parts ... [more]

Many of the new millennium's crops may carry an intentional genetic defect: the seed they produce will be sterile ... [more]

Despite all evidence to the contrary, many adults still believe that serious illnesses can be a 'payback' for bad behaviour ... [more]

Life in the fast lane is only an optical illusion ... [more]

Whatever the practical impact on researchers and institutions, the image of the scientist as a secretive genius scribbling indecipherable runes must be consigned to the past ... [more]

The Victorian image of an archaeologist -- a solitary scientist pursuing lost worlds with a whisk broom -- has been zapped into oblivion by lasers and particle accelerators ... [more]

As Brian Hayes points out, just as the computer has conquered mechanical technologies, it has also taken the place of clockwork in metaphor and myth ... [more]

Accepting our innate genetic traits can paradoxically give us the freedom to modify their effects ... [more]

Let the buyer beware; and be particularly wary of 'new age wisdom' dressed up in state-of-the art garb ... [more]

The sad thing isn't the end of the Mir itself -- it's the loss of the once-proud Soviet space program ... [more]

Sometimes, green manufacturing can be worse for the environment ... [more]

Surviving a disaster isn't necessarily all that bad for your mental health ... [more]

You know how to navigate the Net -- but do you really know how your email gets from A to B? ... [more]

Most of the well-known facts about Galileo's career are anything but ... [more]

Life on Earth is much, much older than we dreamed ... [more]

If food be the barometer of culture, eat up ... [more]

The pervasive phenomenon of Y2K anxiety can be seen as a Rorschach inkblot test of the modern psyche ... [more]

Searching for the extraordinary? You'll find it in the ordinary ... [more]

Chances are, the world's population is in for some rapid downsizing ... [more]

Kansas may reject evolution as a theory to force on schoolchildren, but computer models continue to compile evidence that it's the basis of life ... [more]

Smog impacts: hurtling through airways, tiny particles may do more damange than previously assumed ... [more]

The roots of human society may have been char-grilled ... [more]

Washington's latest sex scandal has disturbing implications for researchers ... [more]

Eureka! Archimedes' lost text is being brought to light ... [more]

Tabletop fusion may have fizzled, but it's not necessarily dead in the water just yet ... [more]

Hark ye and rejoice, at the birth of a Cybernation ... [more]

Creationists undergo evolution and it looks like natural selection -- in the form of school board decisions -- are favouring them ... [more]

Take some time to watch the river flow -- you could learn a thing or two ... [more]

Being a telephone psychic subjects you to the gruelling pace and sadistic management style of a hamburger-flipping job at McDonald’s. But you're dealing with life and death here ... [more]

Almost 25 years on, Peter Singer's utilitarian philosophy still triggers stormy protests ... [more]

Ignore the reports about chattering bonobos; language remains unique to humans. But animals can think and feel. The challenge is to discover what, and how ... [more]

The skin's own defences could lead to new therapies to treat skin cancer. ... [more]

To maintain the number of airplane crashes and deaths at their present levels, air travel would have to become about three times safer over the next 20 years ... [more]

Saying "I love you" makes a better job of bonding than grubbing through someone's fur. Maybe that's why we're the Naked Ape ... [more]

Should an invocation of the Freedom of Information Act alarm scientists? Should the public have full access to all research conducted with public funds? It may sound like a good idea but ... [more]

Fetal surgery -- an unsettling miracle of medicine ... [more]

Elegant crystal beehives connect lighthouses and police cars with a frail French physicist ... [more]

The struggle to achieve a sustainable balance between the Earth's resource base and its human energy will be largely won or lost in the world's cities ... [more]

Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to conceive? ... [more]

It is a triumph of technology that enables us to hear, as it were, the beating of a butterfly wing in a hurricane. But does that mean we should regard it as a danger? ... [more]

Nobody understands me, bemoans the poor little misunderstood Fermat's Last Theorem ... [more]

Thirty years after training the Apollo astronauts, geologist and comet hunter Eugene Shoemaker gets to go to the Moon -- a shame it's a posthumous landing ... [more]

If there is, as some claim, scientific indications of the existence of God, what happens if that evidence doesn't hold up? ... [more]

Those honeycomb hexagons bees make aren't just an accident, but part of a mathematical Grand Design ... [more]

Not only is the reliability of drug tests becoming an increasing problem, but it looks like that they're not doing a lot to help businesses keen on testing employees anyway ... [more]

Are you giving your child a head-start by buying them the latest interactive computer game or simply turning them into button-pushing rats? ... [more]

Where would you rather get your antioxidants -- from vegetables or chocolate? ... [more]

They're playing our song - too loudly. Jean-Michel Cousteau discusses our noisy seas ... [more]

"Endocrine disrupters" aren't the health risk some have claimed ... [more]

It is going to take a little longer than expected to get a so-called "theory of everything'' to explain the Universe, says Stephen Hawking ... [more]

Efforts to mitigate acid rain may actually be increasing regional warming ... [more]

Hoping to inject some imagination into the pursuit of science, a British university is offering a degree in the science of science fiction. ... [more]

Even Machiavelli and Warwick the Kingmaker could have learnt a thing or two from apes ... [more]

Tobacco companies seem to be making the worst of a bad thing ... [more]

Should academics be studying UFOs or would that just be legitimizing the illegitimate? ... [more]

Are we in greater danger from destroying blood stocks or not destroying them when there is the faint possibility of contamination? ... [more]

If you think of the Earth as a Noah's Ark, a life-friendly speck floating through the sterile immensities of space, you will appreciate that its passenger capacity is limited ... [more]

What does the latest media coverage of cellphone hazards tell us? ... [more]

If you're called on as an expert witness, present your testimony as effectively as you are able, but do so in a manner that distinguishes both you and science ... [more]

There is a half-life to medical truth, and an even longer half-life for medical myth ... [more]

Is it really time to abandon your running shoes in favour of a prayer mat? Reports of the efficacy of prayer may have been a little over-enthusiastic ... [more]

Brain implants are a lousy idea ... [more]

Seth Shostak, from the SETI Institute speculates on just what aliens may look like, and he figures they're more likely to be mechanical than biological ... [more]

Even if measles is eradicated, immunisation may still be desirable in developing countries as there is more to the protection it offers than meets the eye ... [more]

If the breast implant controversy proves anything, it is that sound-bite science makes bad news ... [more]

It's not your fault. How you go about rearing your children has no long-term effects on their personality, intelligence, or mental health, according to developmental psychologist Judith Rich Harris ... [more]

Steven Rose talks about rescuing memories ... [more]

Why do US scientific institutions continue to believe in the hocus-pocus of the polygraph? ... [more]

The centralisation and globalisation of foods increase the likelihood of pandemics of foodborne disease ... [more]

One small step for North Korea, one giant leap for NGO relations ... [more]

Reconciling economic growth with the needs of the environment and society will require human creativity and technological innovation ... [more]

The typical scientist's amoral attitute is immoral ... [more]

The space programme has had a profound effect on the environmental movement and should not be abandoned to economic or nationalistic forces, argues Jean-Michel Cousteau ... [more]

When ignorance is buoyed by an unshakeable faith in one's knowledge, then it is time to be afraid ... [more]

If you read SciTech Daily regularly, you may be in danger of being a nerd. The editor confesses to scoring 49.50% on the test ... [more]

Megacities contain the seeds of their own inevitable destruction ... [more]

Seeking alternative cures for cancer treatment can be a marker for significant psychological distress, which is something doctors should be on the look-out for ... [more]

In the tension between open international science and closed national security, who should win? ... [more]

Where do you draw the line between under-treatment and over-treatment for seriously ill newborns? ... [more]

Do we really need the latest gizmos and gadgets in our cars? Naaaaah ... [more]

You can get to the Moon if you want to -- it just takes the Right Stuff and a whole lot of money. The Soviets may have had the former, but they didn't have the latter, and the rest is history ... [more]

Does scientific research have to have overwhelming benefit to humanity before we let it go on in our backyards? ... [more]

What would you give a million dollar science prize for and why? ... [more]

A resumption of coastal whaling using ethnological claims will make it impossible for the world community to present a unified front against a resumption of commercial whaling, says Jean-Micheal Cousteau ... [more]

There's passion in philanthropy and it isn't all directed at The Arts ... [more]

Only well-to-do people in the industrial world can afford to care more about preserving biodiversity in the developing world than the residents there ... [more]

Give up on public transit systems and car-pooling and rethink the use of highways if you really want to beat traffic congestion ... [more]

Get those nude piccys off your screen and donate the monitor real estate to a good cause -- finding ET ... [more]

Are medical students losing out from the hands-off approach to medicine? ... [more]

Consciousness studies are starting to look like a real academic empirical discipline, instead of a collection of mystical ideas and mumbo-jumbo ... [more]

Arnold Relman, emeritus editor of the New England Journal of Medicine and alternative medicine proponent Andrew Weil debate whether scientific evidence is a prerequiste for integrating mainstream and alternative medicines ... [more]

Environmental justice is still hanging in the scales ... [more]

Is the Net an evil influence in your child's life? ... [more]

Selling stored ivory does far more to help elephants than hurt them ... [more]

Urban scholars find that there's more than just a fun game lurking behind the interactive virtual Sim City ... [more]

Meet a self-proclaimed cyborg and view the world through an electronic mirror ... [more]

Now you can justify spending hours playing Minesweeper by explaining it's a good way to learn logic ... [more]

Science and ethics may march to the beat of different drums, and when they do, one has to mark time so the other can catch up ... [more]

Personalised, childproof guns using identification technology may be the way to stop children shooting children ... [more]

Science does have something to say regarding the state of troubled teens, but no-one's listening ... [more]

To commit a crime against the natural world is a sin, some would say a mortal sin ... [more]

Viruses take advantage of computer monoculture, so rethink your ideas about having to have "standard" systems ... [more]

The real age of exploration is now and the intrepid explorers are scientists ... [more]

The scientific community needs to assemble an interdisciplinary SWAT team of prominent scientists who will be willing on short notice to respond publicly and forcefully to pseudoscientific claims before they can put down roots ... [more]

Invisible links between complex systems can tell us about molecular bonds or medieval Florence ... [more]

Would we recognize an alien if we saw one? ... [more]

The Internet offers us a chance to invert Maslow's Pyramid and find love before lunch ... [more]

Is science killing the soul? Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker debate the point ... [more]

Peer review and public interest -- when do we need to know the sky is falling? ... [more]

If you've got a spool of copper wire in your pocket and a gleam in your eye, science needs you ... [more]

The verb to Kevork appears to have already entered the English language, even as the enthusiastic Doctor Kevorkian looks set to slip from centre-stage. One thing that will last much longer than either him or his court case is the continued debate over assisted suicide and euthanasia ... [more]

In search of some real brain food? Here's Daniel Dennett on the evolution of culture ... [more]

It's about time the Hippocratic Oath was updated ... [more]

You don't have to wait for the Foundation, Asimov's psychohistorians are here in full mathematical swing ... [more]

The Vomit Comet still lives up to its billing ... [more]

Biology, extraterrestrial life, science fiction and science -- take a look at the Big Picture ... [more]

So if we only use 10% of our brains, does that means our psychic abilities reside in the other 90%? ... [more]

Should researchers have to scramble for sponsorship or lectures or pocket money to run randomised controlled trials? ... [more]

"By the year 2000, every household will have a cold fusion power source." Yeah, right. But don't dismiss cold fusion quite so fast, even if it is 10 years since such bold pronouncements ... [more]

Traditional herbalists need to demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt that their approach to diagnosing disease, and individualising herbal mixtures to the intrinsic characteristics of the patient, is safe, effective and efficient ... [more]

A satellite view of cyberspace?? Fascinating stuff, with all sorts of information in amongst the pretty pictures ... [more]

Sentenced to solitary confinement in our our dark and lonely part of the universe a hundred billion years from now ... [more]

Blessed are the peacemakers in their white lab coats ... [more]

We're focusing on the wrong things when we worry about environmental risks to our children's health. We'd be better off reducing accident rates than additives. ... [more]

Is it safe to save a deadly microbe, or is it as unethical to wipe it out as to kill off the last example of a charismatic mega-fauna? ... [more]

Kissing a smoker is like licking a dirty ashtray -- does this trivialise the dangers of smoking or simply take advantage of aspects that are more immediate than organ damage and reduced lifespan? ... [more]

NASA shows schoolkids planets in a bottle with its Life on the Edge programme ... [more]

Modern doctors assess what killed the Athenian statesman Pericles ... [more]

Aquaculture is not only profitable, it can help ensure the survival of species such as the giant clam ... [more]

Doomsday Millenium Bug scenarios seem to have been averted as companies tackle the problem, though lesser problems remain ... [more]