Should scientists studying the health effects of nicotine accept funding from the tobacco industry?
Photo by Mathew MacQuarrie on Unsplash
Photo by Johannes Plenio from Pexels
A new angle on peace and patience
LegPull Press has just published “The New Compleat Angler” by Izaak Walton XII.
Engraving from ”De humani corporis fabrica” (1543)
Eyeing the machinery of the spirit
More than three centuries ago, Pascal said, “Man considering himself is the great prodigy of nature. For he cannot conceive what his body is, even less what his spirit is, and least of all how body can be united with spirit.”
The lifeless surface of Mars • NASA/JPL/MSSS, processing by Olivier de Goursac (CC BY-SA 3.0)
All you need is (eons) of time
The first media reports of evidence for life on Mars were pure NASA gush. Scientists discover evidence of life on Mars. Give us a few billion bucks and we’ll go look for it.
Photo by Max Rosero on Unsplash
Immortality for everyone on a chip of silicon
I watched as a tourist dismounted from a tour bus in Dingle town the other day. His video camcorder was glued to his eye as he came down the steps. Missed the bottom step and fell flat on his face.
Microscopic structures within Martian meteorite ALH 84001 • NASA (Public Domain)
It’s a small world after all
Last week’s announcement [in 1996] by NASA of evidence of life on Mars was top-of-the-front-page news in this remote corner of Ireland.
Artist's impression of a supermassive black hole • ESO/L. Calçada (CC BY 4.0)
The monster in the Milky Way
Every child at some time in his life has written his address this way: Billy Smith, 426 Oak Ave., Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Earth, Solar System, Milky Way, Universe.
A mosquito of the genus Anopheles • Jim Gathany/CDC (Public Domain)
The bite that binds us
Here’s something to think about while you’re slapping mosquitoes this summer. We have more in common with these creatures than you might think.
Photo by Ed Robertson on Unsplash
Growing up with the BOMC
Dear Book-of-the-Month-Club, this is a fan letter from someone who has never belonged to your club.
Artist's impression of the Galileo probe entering the Jovian atmosphere • NASA/Ames Research Center/Ken Hodges (Public Domain)
A little poetry with the facts, M’am
Most people who make a living communicating science spend long hours reading the scientific literature. In a typical week, I peruse several books and a dozen journals.