Surprising Science

Imagine being a soldier in Afghanistan today. Your platoon is attacked by a group of insurgents who set your outpost on fire. In the chaos and confusion, you step into a pile […]

Forget about 3-D movies and television, says the Christian Science Monitor. 3-D holograms, once seen only in science-fiction movies like Star Wars, are swiftly becoming a reality.

“Text messagers and computer gamers aren’t alone in the willful misspelling department. RNA molecules do it, too.”

“Psychopaths are a paradox. Many of them, like Bundy, are intellectually high functioning, and they clearly know right from wrong. They are not delusional, they are socially inept.”

“Much of the discussion about torture concentrates on the moral and ethical dilemmas involved, but…these arguments…are irrelevant if torture doesn’t work in the first place.”

The narrow focus on ‘lifestyle factors’ has implied that when people get cancer, it’s their own fault. Is it time to focus more on environmentally induced cancers?rn

There has been a putative epidemic of bipolar among children in the U.S., and a corresponding rise in the pediatric use of antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, and other drugs.

Professor of physics at Drexel University, Dave Goldberg analyzes wormholes and cosmic strings to determine if time travel might be an achievable goal.

Researchers say talismans work by attaching a hope or wish to a physical object which induces the placebo effect. The objects demonstrate the power of the mind.

In its obsession with online speed, Google has released free software that could make many sites load twice as fast. Technology Review explains how it works.

It’s a good day for porn in the red states of America. According to a new study in this month’s Evolution and Human Behavior, researchers expect a significant increase in […]

The Guardian’s Matt Parker will introduce seven of mathematics’ most intractable problems. To win a million dollars, all you have to do is solve one.

A revolutionary surgery has helped three blind patients to see following the implantation of an artificial retina. The operation brings hope to thousands of blind people.

Professor of evolutionary paleobiology at the University of Cambridge, Simon Morris says one of Darwin’s detractors still raises interesting questions about human uniqueness.

Physicist James Kakalios, author of The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics, wants people to know what quantum physics has done for them lately.

After years of supporting gene patents, the federal government has unexpectedly challenged controversial applications on naturally occurring DNA sequences.

“Biophysicists have calculated natural system couldn’t get faster, more sensitive or more efficient without first relocating to an alternate universe with alternate physical constants.”

Are biotechnology and sustainable agriculture complimentary or contradictory? The Economist moderates an online debate between experts in the field.

“Obviously, we’re not nearly as rational as we like to believe, which is why we binge on subprime mortgages.” Jonah Lehrer on how neuroscience can improve economics.

“Researchers find that associating an object with anger actually makes people want the object — a kind of motivation that’s normally associated with positive emotions.”

The immune system has been found to target viruses inside cells, suggesting new strategies against infections including the common cold and winter vomiting bug.”

“The pieces of our universe fell into the places where they are, not because of a guiding hand and a grand design, but through mere accident,” says physicist Victor Stenger.

Could life on earth have come from outer-space? NASA finds that the universe is filled with giant carbon buckyballs that might have fallen to earth a long time ago.

Was the development of computing the most significant technological advance of the twentieth century? The Economist hosts an online forum for debate.

“Much of what medical researchers conclude in their studies is misleading, exaggerated, or flat-out wrong.” The Atlantic investigates the veracity of medical science.

A study from the U.K. says that while heroin causes the user harm, the adverse effects of alcohol on the wider community are significantly greater.

If NASA is to fly space colonization missions, it may need volunteers for one-way missions to Mars or beyond. However, the 100-year Starship project remains shrouded.

“Magicians dazzle us by exploiting loopholes in the brain’s circuitry for perceiving the world and paying attention.” Two neurologists follow a street magician in this Scientific American report.

“The Fed should buy a brain scanner.” Neuroscientist Read Montague at Baylor College of Medicine looks at the brain to explain the market’s boom and bust cycle.