Surprising Science

“Consciousness of course is one of the largest questions of brain structure and function. And we approach it now perhaps differently than we have in the past with our new tools. But I’m not convinced that we understand it any better,” says Joy Hirsch.  

In the kitchen of the future, there will be no such thing as waste. A cyclical ecosystem will use the methane power of leftovers to provide energy to lights and appliances. 

An extreme-ultraviolet microscope for creating the next generation of microchips has been created by scientists in collaboration with leading semiconductor manufacturers.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that extreme weather, including floods and fires, will continue to cost the planet billions of dollars are possibly create refugees. 

A $100,000 award has been given to a N.A.S.A. agency to examine three laser-based approaches to do what, until now, has only been the stuff of science fiction. 

China has taken an important step in building a space station by 2020 and an American aerospace engineer says China will own the moon in 15 years. Is this a new space race?

Expect 2012 to be the year of a major push to sell us ‘families’ of interconnected screen devices that use the cloud to store our digital entertainment libraries.

Activities that give us pleasure activate the same areas of the brain such that, for some, taking cocaine is analogous to giving to charity. Pleasure is a powerful motivator for action. 

In a culture obsessed with efficiency, mind-wandering is often derided as a lazy habit. But our minds lose track frequently and daydreaming, if cultivated, can pay dividends. 

The X Prize Foundation will offer a $10 million prize to the first team that significantly boosts the speed and accuracy of D.N.A. sequencing, which could open wide new medical horizons. 

There’s a very good chance that generating food from traditional farming and livestock practices will not be able to keep pace with the world’s population boom.

The holy grail of blood research, man-made blood, will soon be tested on humans. Within a decade, it could supply much of the world’s need, saving countless lives around the globe. 

A growing body of research suggests that laughter can really benefit your health. From improving immune function to lowering blood pressure, a good guffaw is good medicine. 

Apple’s patent war rages on against Samsung and Google but in what sense has something been stolen from Apple? Timothy Lee says strict patent laws harm the common good. 

From former iPod chief Tony Fadell comes a smart thermostat that adjusts the temperature in your home according to your lifestyle while saving substantial amounts of energy. 

The mud volcanoes at Isua, in south-west Greenland, have been identified as a possible birthplace for life on Earth by an international team of geologists. 

Every Wednesday, Michio Kaku will be answering reader questions about physics and futuristic science. If you have a question for Dr. Kaku, just post it in the comments section below and check back on Wednesdays to see if he answers it.

Dell predicts that IT managers will move to the sort of model that film studios use: big temporary teams that come together to solve a problem then disband.

The world’s population is about to reach seven billion. Can we handle that many humans, let alone the three billion more expected to be added by the end of this century?

Scientists were recently surprised to find that brains missing a corpus callosum, which links the two hemispheres of the brain, were still able to communicate quite effectively. But how?

Summarizing a breadth of research on how magnetic fields affect the brain, it is clear that our body’s most advanced organ responds in wild, wonderful and sometimes tragic ways. 

Humans do not passively receive the world, we interpret it and retell it to our friends and neighbors. Recent research suggests we are quite eager to bend the truth for a good story.

New genomic technologies allow scientists to read organisms’ genomes as well as make increasingly complex changes to them, creating organisms with new capabilities.

Two drug companies are testing formulations of a universal flu vaccine in hopes of bringing a successful version to market in the coming years. It could replace the annual flu shot. 

Clinics that take advantage of new technologies to provide ‘upstream’ care can prevent lengthy and costly procedures ‘downstream’. Is technology the best preventative medicine?

Exotic pets are not safe and should not be kept in homes, advocates say. In addition to causing physical harm, exotic animals can spread rare diseases to their human owners. 

As use of mobile phones has spiked over the last 20 years, the health risks they present have been much debated. New research rejects a link between phone use and brain cancer.

Recent discoveries in the field of neurobiology can tell us much about the causes of the current financial crisis, and how to treat it, says a former UBS exec.  

Nobody is born with entrepreneurial skills, says Eric Ries, Harvard’s entrepreneur-in-residence. What’s important is learning the science behind managing risk and failure. 

Robots are usually designed with very specific tasks in mind. But the “foambot”, though it looks ungainly, lets you decide on the task and build on the spot.