Surprising Science

Different species have their different tricks for getting by. Human beings are smart, quick-moving and numerous. We’re also pretty large, as mammals go. Sloths, on the other hand, take a […]

Today we take a computer’s speed for granted, but it wasn’t so long ago when it was normal to sit and wait for several minutes every time we booted up […]

A pair of Canadian paleontologists say that anigmatic fossilized organism called Nectocaris pteryx (literally “swimming crab with wings”) was the great-grandmammy of the modern-day squid, octopus, and cuttlefish: In the […]

A lifetime ban on donating blood for men who have slept with other men, created to protect recipients from HIV, is being challenged as outdated and unfair by two Canadian physicians.

It looks like the internet forecasters were optimistic when they designed the current IP address architecture known as IPv4. They figured 4 billion addresses would be enough. But this was […]

Standardized tests are supposed to measure innate abilities. The subject of your last conversation, the lead story on the news last night, the pictures on the wall at the test […]

The strange behavior of two suppermassive black holes may change the way scientists understand the evolution of galaxies, including our own Milky Way.

The incomprehensibility of quantum physics is responsible for the rise of postmodern social theories which reject the notion of a stable, immutable truth.

The good news is Americans are living longer than ever; the bad news is this increases the chances of getting Alzheimer’s, and no preventative treatment has proven successful.

“Overuse injuries, overtraining and burnout among child and adolescent athletes are a growing problem in the United States,” says pediatrician Dr. Joel S. Brenner.

West Philadelphia high school has entered two cars into the X-Prize competition which requires production-ready models that get over 100 miles per gallon.

Adding nanoparticles to water increase its thermal conductivity, or its ability to take heat away from something, which could save the world a significant amount of electricity.

How can scientists be religious? How has religion evolved, according to science? In a special series this week, Big Think rounds up a learned cast of thought leaders—from a computer […]

The words “packet switching” don’t mean much to many people. But for Leonard Kleinrock, UCLA Distinguished Professor of Computer Science, packet switching is what ultimately gave him the title, “Father […]

Spain’s surprisingly advanced renewable energy sector is facing obstacles like government cutbacks, ever-changing regulations and a retracting European economy.

“More than 60 percent of U.S. cancer deaths are caused by smoking and diet. But what about the rest?” asks Scientific American. New studies are seeking the environmental causes of cancer.

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” says Barry Goldman at the L.A. Times, frustrated by tech support’s insufficient understanding of modern gizmos.

European scientists plan to launch two satellites into orbit, one always between the other and the sun, in order to study the sun’s corona without waiting for a natural eclipse.

Technology is decentralizing medical treatments from costly hospitals to primary care physicians and patients themselves with more focus placed on preventative care.

Bioethicist Arthur Caplan writes that the creation of the first synthetic bacteria demonstrates a new understanding we have of life, but that doesn’t mean life is worth any less.

MIT is designing commercial aircrafts that use 70 percent less fuel than current airplanes after winning a contract from NASA in 2008; air traffic is expected to double by 2035.

“Our thesis is that the sun people, the African family of warm communal hope, meets an antithesis, the vision of ice people, Europeans, colonizers, oppressors, the cold, rigid element in […]

Ayaan Hirsi Ali thinks the American Academy of Pediatrics’ proposal to aid in female genital mutilation gives tacit support to a practice which should be condemned outright.

While Facebook and Google have come under recent attack for alleged violations of privacy, enforcement of existing laws should be prioritized over new regulation, writes the Economist.

An American biologist, Craig Venter, is making waves after creating the first self-replicating cell whose DNA is synthetic; immediate uses could include synthetic vaccines and biofuels.

“Thinking outside the box might be facilitated by having a somewhat less intact box,” says a researcher who sees similarities in the brains of creative people and schizophrenics.

Cheese, among other organic material, may power the future since sugars like lactose can be fed to bacteria cultures inside of full cells to generate electricity; the Economist wheys in.

“Researchers at UC Berkeley are perfecting microscopic fibers that can produce electricity from simple body motions such as bending, stretching and twisting,” reports the L.A. Times.

People who deny generally accepted scientific truths use fragile reasoning to regain control over their lives from an indifferent Nature, such as claiming that business created swine flu.

Researchers are using social networking sites to map the spread of flu symptoms between friends, a technique which may one day aid greatly in stemming a public epidemic.