Theory
“While unified theories are sometimes called 'theories of everything,' this phrase is misleading and hubristic. Such theories offer absolutely zero help to 99 percent of scientists.” — Sir Martin Rees
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What Really Causes Autism?
October 20, 2010
Scientists are finally beginning to make headway understanding the real causes of autism. Yet millions remain unconvinced by the evidence. Why?
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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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The Asymmetry of Life
September 07, 2010
Look into a mirror and you’ll simultaneously see the familiar and the alien: an image of you, but with left and right reversed.
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Projectile Pooping
August 25, 2010
When it comes to eliminating wastes, some animals are overachievers. Silver-spotted skipper caterpillars and Adelie penguins both can fling poo to startling lengths. But how, and why?
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Symbols from the Sky
July 13, 2010
Heavenly messages from the depths of prehistory may be encoded on the walls of caves throughout Europe.
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We Are Not Alone
April 20, 2010
In his new book, astrobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuch says that extraterrestrial life has already been found.
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Leading Lights
April 02, 2010
Aligning economic value with currently unpriced things—in nature and society—could be the ticket to global sustainability.
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Yellow, Black, and Blues
February 15, 2010
A look at our agricultural past may explain why honey bees around the world began disappearing three years ago.
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The Wagnerian Method
January 04, 2010
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The Outer Limits
December 15, 2009
For half a century computer performance has roughly doubled every two years, but the laws of physics place insurmountable barriers on how long this growth can occur.
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Intergalactic Controversy
December 02, 2009
New observations of galactic clusters have revealed a controversial phenomenon called “dark flow,” which could be a sign of parallel universes.
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Mars: A Teeming Past?
November 09, 2009
Questions of extraterrestrial life rest on theories of Martian history.
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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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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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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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The Wagnerian Method
August 20, 2009
Physicists investigate the grand artistic vision of one of the most influential artists of the last two centuries.
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Mapping the Brain’s Highways
August 11, 2009
Neuroscientists are mapping out a complete atlas of connectivity in the human brain, but what’s emerging is a battle of scales.
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Opera in the Fifth Dimension
August 10, 2009
In Hypermusic Prologue, physicist Lisa Randall re-imagines her extradimensional theories of the universe as opera.
happiness, irrationality, public perception, space, theory, truth
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Supersizing Quantum Behavior
July 29, 2009
A groundbreaking Caltech experiment may detect quantum physics where classical mechanics has ruled sovereign.
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Reconciling an Ordinary World
July 29, 2009
Advances in materials and techniques bring physicists a step closer to observing the oddities of quantum behavior at the real-world scale.
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Inside the Mathematical Mind
July 21, 2009
Mariana Cook’s stunning portraits and narration from her subjects offers a candid look at the secret lives of mathematicians.
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The Extinction Oscillator
June 29, 2009
Sometimes, something kills nearly all life on the entire planet. But is there a regular cycle to this creation and destruction of Earth’s biodiversity?
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Invoking the Magic of the Mind
June 25, 2009
Are secrets of the evolution of the mind to be found by imagining the ancestors of tool-wielding crows, or is such an approach strictly for the birds?
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.
