Proof
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Good Placebos Gone Bad
November 03, 2010
Placebos are supposed to be inert controls, designed to prove a drug’s efficacy. Consequently, placebo composition is rarely documented in drug trials. Is this dangerous?
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Numbers Don’t Lie, But People Do
September 24, 2010
The author of a new book on misleading math examines the Republican blueprint for governing the United States, and comes to one conclusion: Wherever there’s politics, there’s proofiness.
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Football’s Confounding Physics
September 16, 2010
Why is it that soccer goalkeepers sometimes have more trouble stopping long-range shots than shots from up close? Physics and the limits of human perception provide the answers.
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Sniffing Out ET
September 01, 2010
The discovery of potentially habitable planets beyond our solar system is imminent. But no one really knows when we might learn whether any of those distant worlds are inhabited.
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Does Coffee Work?
August 04, 2010
More than any other drug, caffeine makes the modern world go ’round. But how good is it for you, how well does it work, and how much do most users consume? The answers may surprise you.
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Suicidal Tendencies
June 09, 2010
High-profile suicides of public intellectuals have contributed to the stereotype of “tormented genius.” But are smarter people really more likely to take their own lives?
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Barefoot and Passionate
May 26, 2010
New studies suggest that running barefoot might be better for the body than running in shoes, but will the research actually affect how runners compete and train?
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Brain Wars
May 19, 2010
Can playing video games make you smarter? According to a recent study, the answer is no—but earlier papers arrived at the opposite conclusion. Now bloggers are joining the debate.
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What Life Leaves Behind
November 09, 2009
The search for life beyond our pale blue dot is fraught with dashed hopes. Will the chemical and mineral fingerprints of Earthly organisms apply on other worlds?
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Uncovering Ardi
October 05, 2009
Anthropologist John Hawks explains why Ardi, the oldest known skeleton of a human-like primate, matters so much to the science of human origins.
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Studying the Strangest Man
September 15, 2009
Graham Farmelo explains why Paul Dirac may be the 20th century’s most misunderstood physicist, and speculates that Dirac may have had undiagnosed autism.
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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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This Is Your Brain on Facebook
April 21, 2009
Recent studies on the effects of the internet and other new media on brain plasticity raises an open research question: Is Google making us smarter?
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Scientific Truth in the Age of Wikipedia
February 09, 2009
Does the radical egalitarianism of the wiki undermine traditional notions of scientific authority and consensus?
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Boxing with Shadows
October 15, 2008
The real marvel of the LHC is that, in a litter of subatomic debris, scientists know exactly what to look for.
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The Meaning of Life
September 04, 2007
Last week, biologist J. Craig Venter crossed a momentous threshold—creating a living organism with no ancestor. In 2007, Carl Zimmer gave Seed this provocative look at the difficulties inherent in defining "life."
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A Not So Starry Night
April 08, 2007
Michael Frayn steps out of character to ponder our place in the universe.
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Einstein Wrong About Being Wrong
November 30, 2005
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Sweet Tooth Might Reduce Stress
November 18, 2005
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.
