science

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Anglicans Making Nice With Darwin
Anglicans Making Nice With Darwin
Sep 15, 2008 12:04 PM CDT

Anglicans Making Nice With Darwin

Church's essay series aims to repair evolutionist's reputation

(Newser) - When Charles Darwin came out with his theory of evolution by natural selection nearly 150 years ago, the Church of England opposed it. But now, 200 years after the celebrated scientist's birth, the church has launched a website exploring its history with Darwin, and the church's head of public affairs...

Plans to Stop Global Warming Straight From Sci-Fi Novels

Geo-engineering offers promise for slowing climate change ... and fear of consequences

(Newser) - Scientists worry humans might not curb carbon emissions in time to save the planet from irreversible harm, and some have suggested a radical concept called geo-engineering, the Economist reports. Once the stuff of science fiction, geo-engineering would combat global warming by manipulating the environment. While promising, critics warn ecological consequences...

Busy Brain May Mean Big Belly
 Busy Brain May Mean Big Belly 
Sep 5, 2008 12:50 PM CDT

Busy Brain May Mean Big Belly

(Newser) - Does thinking make us fat? Researchers say that intellectual activity just might cause us to pig out, LiveScience reports. Volunteers who performed a series of problem-solving tasks in a study consumed almost 30% more calories afterward than those who just sat around and took it easy. One theory: The body...

Vatican Debates Paying Tribute to Galileo

Heretic remains a touchy subject in Catholic Church

(Newser) - Galileo Galilei is riling the Catholic church yet again, the Wall Street Journal reports, as an anonymous donor has offered to pay to erect a statue in the Vatican of Catholicism’s most famous heretic. But though the church has come around on science, Galileo remains a touchy subject. He’...

5 Facts About Pain
 5 Facts About Pain
Jul 28, 2008 5:55 AM CDT

5 Facts About Pain

And why it's hard to treat

(Newser) - Electrical signals carry pain impulses to the brain—that much scientists know. But how to treat pain remains a question, LiveScience reports. Here's the scoop:
  1. It "is a complex mixture of emotions, culture, experience, spirit, and sensation," one expert said. In other words, it's hard to even define.
...

How to Become Batman
 How to Become Batman 
Jul 17, 2008 9:35 PM CDT

How to Become Batman

It's possible—but don't expect to keep it up

(Newser) - We all want to be Batman. But how do we make it happen? An interview with neuroscience professor and martial artist E. Paul Zehr in Scientific American provides some tips: Three to 5 years of strength and conditioning training, 10 to 12 years of learning self-defense skills, and up to...

Italian Cooks Up Eggplant and Tomato Tree

Hardy hybrid said to yield better produce than nature intended

(Newser) - A Sicilian amateur botanist claims to have developed a plant hybrid that functions as the world’s first tomato/eggplant tree, ANSA reports. Taking advantage of the fact that all three share the same genus, Giuseppe Marino grafted tomato and eggplant tissue onto a devil’s fig shrub, a hardy plant...

Brains Get Noisier as They Age
Brains Get
Noisier as
They Age
Jul 10, 2008 1:36 PM CDT

Brains Get Noisier as They Age

Study finds neural complexity generates more cranial static

(Newser) - Just because you can't hear it doesn't mean your brain isn't making noise. It is, and scientists using high-tech gear to record it have now discovered that it increases as you mature, reports LiveScience. A comparison of noise generated by groups of children and young adults indicates that brain noise,...

To Cheat Death, Eat Less
 To Cheat Death, Eat Less 
Jul 9, 2008 6:26 PM CDT

To Cheat Death, Eat Less

15% reduction in your diet at age 25 could add 4½ years to your life, researchers think

(Newser) - Call it the Refrigerator of Youth: Eating less could add nearly 5 years to your lifespan, LiveScience reports. Even scholars dismissive of anti-aging hype concede that a more moderate eating approach could bear fruit. "There is plenty of evidence that calorie restriction can reduce your risks for many common...

Global Warming's a Myth; Here's Why People Believe

The climate change debate is one of 'sick-souled religion'

(Newser) - Global warming is a bunch of hooey, a “nonfalsifiable hypothesis logically indistinguishable from claims for the existence of God”—and any discussion of it is not a matter of science but one of “sick-souled religion,” writes Bret Stephens in the Wall Street Journal. Evidence has emerged...

That Irritating Itch? It May Just Be Your Brain

In fact, our noodles could be inventing 90% of what we call real

(Newser) - A woman suffers from an itch so severe that she scratches right through to her brain—yet doctors find no medical ailment. War victims feel the sensations of a real limb—but from phantom appendages. What does it all add up to? Perhaps a new understanding of how our brains...

Americans See Many Stairways to Heaven: Poll

70% say chance for eternal life isn't unique to their religion

(Newser) - Reaching the afterlife is possible through more than one religion, 70% of Americans believe, according to a new poll. Surveying 36,000 people, the study confirms that while 92% of Americans believe in God, the country is growing more secular, the Dallas Morning News reports. Seven in 10 also agreed...

It's Official: Bikinis Make Men Stupid

Scientists say sex drive trumps common sense

(Newser) - Men make dumb decisions when ogling bikini-clad beauties—conventional wisdom, sure, but now there's some science behind it. Belgian researchers found that men bombarded with sexy images have a definite drop-off in cognitive skills when compared with those who gaze at landscapes, reports MSNBC. The experiment supports earlier findings that...

10 Who Were Blinded (or Worse) by Science

Their work lead to big discoveries...and unfortunate death and injury

(Newser) - Knowledge may be power, but finding that knowledge can get you killed. List Universe ranks the top scientists killed or injured by their experiments.
  1. Galileo Galilei: The “father of modern physics” refined the telescope by staring at the sun for hours, resulting in near-blindness.
  2. Michael Faraday: A nitrogen chloride
...

NASA Was Muzzled on Climate Change
NASA Was Muzzled on Climate Change
Jun 3, 2008 8:19 AM CDT

NASA Was Muzzled on Climate Change

Bush appointees in press office withheld information, probe finds

(Newser) - Political appointees at NASA withheld scientific results on global warming, NASA's inspector general has determined after an internal probe. Investigators found that the public affairs office, run by Bush appointees, suffered from political spinning that was "inconsistent" with the agency's responsibility to pass full information on to the public,...

Homosexuality: It's Perfectly Natural

Gay relationships abound in animal kingdom

(Newser) - It may throw a wrench in Noah's ark-stocking plans, but same-sex relationships appear in many animal species, reports LiveScience.com. The long list of animals that practice gay sex includes bears, penguins, gorillas, and dolphins, among others. But scientists question the act's evolutionary purpose, because it doesn't aid in reproduction....

Science Smackdowns Aid Search for 'Bill Gates 2.0'

Popularity of math, science competitions shoots off the charts

(Newser) - With the days when the space program inspired American students to embrace science and math a distant memory, the US is counting on competition among schoolkids to return the country as a whole to a leading role, the Christian Science Monitor reports. High-level science fairs and math bowls are potential...

Einstein Called Faith 'Childish Superstition'

1954 letter, headed for auction, sheds new light on scientist's view

(Newser) - A relatively unknown letter by Albert Einstein, offered at auction Thursday in London, offers new details on the scientist's tangled relationship with religion, the Guardian reports. While believers often consider Einstein a scientist who maintained his religious faith, the 1954 letter calls the Bible "primitive legends," and "...

Baby Birds' Babbling Suggests Intricate Brain

How our feathered friends learn, play back song may hold answers for human speech

(Newser) - Being bird-brained might not be much of an insult: New MIT research paints a more intricate portrait of how songbirds learn to sing, with one part of the brain used for learning and another for singing itself. Rather than maturing from babbling to birdsong, the independent but overlapping pathways work...

Cougar's Long Trek to Chicago May Tell Tale

Cat likely from SD may yield clues about human overpopulation

(Newser) - A cougar shot April 14 in Chicago was spotted earlier in Wisconsin, DNA tests show, suggesting an epic trek. Now, scientists are eager to study the animal, hoping to learn more about how and why it migrated; they aim to pin down its ancestry in an effort to better understand...

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