Data
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Mapping Science
January 24, 2011
Mapmaking has a new challenge far more involved than depicting the traits of the physical world. As revealed in a stunning new collection, the Atlas of Science, the task at hand is at once ambitious and amorphous: to map the world of scientific knowledge, the collective wisdom that humans have accumulated over time — and continue to generate at an ever-increasing pace.
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On Soil
January 18, 2011
Long regarded as lowly “dirt,” soil is gaining attention as a vital natural resource. The Global Digital Soil Map will generate data crucial for combating hunger, poverty, and climate change.
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Calling All Mapmakers
January 13, 2011
complexity, data, geography, information, scale, visualization
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The Power of the People
December 22, 2010
Dave Munger test-drives two newly unveiled tools for understanding vast sets of cultural and scientific data.
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Knowing Sooner
December 06, 2010
Our world is an uncertain place where biological systems and financial markets can collapse in an instant. Powerful predictive models fueled by smarter data sets are the tools that will allow us to know sooner and adapt more quickly to the problems that define our complex age.
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G is for Goldilocks
October 01, 2010
Gliese 581g is the most promising habitable world astronomers have found so far. But the chances of finding life there are vanishingly slim.
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Divided Minds, Specious Souls
September 21, 2010
The experience of a unified mind and the possibility of an everlasting soul are connected. And there is scant evidence to support the existence of either.
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Sexy, But Biased
August 18, 2010
When scientists, scholarly reviewers, and the media focus only on the most sensational results of research studies, the resulting distortions can harm scientific progress and the public.
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Tiny Viruses, Big Controversy
August 11, 2010
A recent dispute over the active mechanism for adamantanes, antiviral drugs that combat influenza, sheds light on the difficulties of designing effective antiviral therapies.
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From Galileo to Cassini
July 27, 2010
Four hundred years ago, Galileo turned his telescope toward Saturn for the first time. But instead of rings, he saw something quite different.
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An Embarrassment of Riches
June 18, 2010
Kepler’s planetary gold rush, a Japanese spacecraft that rides sunlight, a virtual Cambrian explosion, and the problem of performance metrics.
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Beneath the Surface
June 15, 2010
Powerful computer simulations may be the best method available to quantify the amount of oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon—and to predict where it will go.
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Vintage Music and Biotech Seeds
April 27, 2010
In this week’s Findings Log, we take a look at new research on genetically engineered crops, the benefits of brain training, and turning sound into sheet music.
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Saturn’s Strange Children
October 21, 2009
Spacecraft observations of giant tenuous rings, two-toned moons, and methane fogs are showing Saturn’s moons to be even more alien than previously believed.
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Our Shifting Urban Landscape
October 06, 2009
Urban ecologist James Danoff-Burg takes us into the field to demonstrate the tools of analyzing the biodiversity of human-altered ecosystems.
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Richard Dawkins Seeks Converts
September 22, 2009
In his new book, Richard Dawkins sets out to convince the unconvinced that evolution is true. Will he succeed?
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Not Just for Fence-Sitters
September 22, 2009
Dawkins’ new book, The Greatest Show on Earth, demonstrates the power of storytelling in communicating evolution’s biological evidence.
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The Evolution of Evolution
September 10, 2009
Ben Fry has created a tool that allows you to watch the theory of evolution evolve. Here, he introduces us to his amazing exploration of scientific thought.
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Acupuncture: Real or Sham?
September 02, 2009
Controls for acupuncture studies are improving. Their results are not. How are peer reviewers reacting?
bias, data, efficiency, proof, research
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Because E=mc2
August 25, 2009
On the beauty and significance of the world’s most oft-cited but less oft-understood equation.
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Immortal Information
June 15, 2009
A new nanoscale storage device could preserve all the digital information you want, for as long as you want—and longer.
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The Long Shot
May 19, 2009
Two rival scientific teams are locked in a high-stakes race to discover other Earth-like worlds—and forever change our own.
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Why We’re Not Obsolete
May 12, 2009
As scientific data accumulates, volume can overwhelm understanding. A new Cornell computer program is using the technological advances that created this data-understanding problem to help solve it.
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The Tricorder Arrives
May 01, 2009
Cell phones will soon be able to sense our environment and its pollutants. This new power may change the way we move through the world, but can it motivate us to change it?
data, information, innovation, networks, systems, technology
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Ear to the Ground
April 22, 2009
Natural quiet is a rapidly disappearing resource. But if you travel far enough, and listen carefully, you can still find it.
Now on SEEDMAGAZINE.COM
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Ideas
I Tried Almost Everything Else
John Rinn, snowboarder, skateboarder, and “genomic origamist,” on why we should dumpster-dive in our genomes and the inspiration of a middle-distance runner.
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Ideas
Going, Going, Gone
The second most common element in the universe is increasingly rare on Earth—except, for now, in America.
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Ideas
Earth-like Planets Aren’t Rare
Renowned planetary scientist James Kasting on the odds of finding another Earth-like planet and the power of science fiction.
