Seed: Science is Culture

Seeing the Unseeable

The limits of our senses confront the limitlessness of the universe.

Brian Cox: Lord of the Ring

Though he gave up a successful music career in favor of particle physics, Brian Cox can't seem to escape showbiz. A rising science communicator in the UK, he advised director Danny Boyle on the new sci-fi thriller, Sunshine.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for July 9, 2007)

Men use as many words as women, rubber ducks follow the ocean currents, and the rhino's days could be numbered.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for June 25, 2007)

Bite victims are mostly men, the blind have better recall, and circumcision may not be an HIV magic bullet.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for June 18, 2007)

Daddies' girls prefer daddies' looks, a baby monitor shows NASA's missions, and espionage comes to a lab near you.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for June 11, 2007)

Venter applies for a patent on life, leopards are lured by cell phones, and Adam commits unoriginal sins.

I Can't Believe it's Science (for June 4, 2007)

Reality TV takes on organ donation, semen may be an antidepressant, and Kanzi shows off his language skills.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for May 28, 2007)

I Can't Believe It's Science (for May 21, 2007)

Female chimps get aggressive, dolphins have dialects, and certain names suit specific faces.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for May 14, 2007)

The five-second rule won't save your life, babies conceived in the summer struggle academically, and high ceilings promote abstract thinking.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for May 7, 2007)

Humans are walking faster, Buzz Aldrin will run a lottery for space, and baby names have consequences.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Apr. 30, 2007)

Cloned dogs will mate, chimps are not human, and plants are cleared of wrongdoing.

I Can't Believe it's Science (for April 23, 2007)

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Apr. 16, 2007)

I Can't Believe It's Science (for April 9, 2007)

Zookeepers give up on a panda, a chimp fights for his rights, and people have bizarre fetishes.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for April 2, 2007)

Scientists study semi-identical twins, an astronaut runs a marathon in space, and teenagers take on GlaxoSmithKline.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for March 26, 2007)

Ewes get more nipples, Harry Potter will be eco-friendly, and happy animated characters make better salespeople than sad ones.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for March 19, 2007)

Taped confessions can be misleading, manly men recover faster, and researchers selectively erase rats' memories.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for March 12, 2007)

New Mexico insists Pluto's still a planet, a pawless panda struggles to mate, and the English and Irish are mostly just Spanish.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for March 5, 2007)

Scientists create remote-controlled pigeons, Hawking plans to take flight, and venting doesn't relieve anger.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Feb. 26, 2007)

IKEA starts charging for bags, the World Cup sparks a German baby boom, and video game players make better surgeons.

Dresselhaus Wins L'OREAL-UNESCO For Women in Science Prize

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Feb. 19, 2007)

I Can't Believe It's Science (Feb. 12, 2007)

Video games boost visual acuity, the Super Bowl ads were a flop, and people lie on dating sites.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for February 5, 2007)

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Jan. 29, 2007)

A sloth redefines sloth, a scream kills hundreds of chickens, and a researcher determines the world's most disgusting sound.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Jan. 22, 2007)

A panda slims down to mate, Nobel prize winners live longer, and having kids shortens womens' lives.

Scientists and Evangelicals Unite to Save the Planet

I Can't Believe it's Science (for Jan. 15, 2007)

Men everywhere like women with narrow waists, NASA switches to the metric system, and Euros are coated with cocaine.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Jan. 8, 2007)

The FDA approves cloned meat, researchers say praying helps, and celebrities need some help with their science.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Dec. 25, 2006)

Humans can track a scent, Shakespeare's linguistic constructions excite the brain, and Russia launches a national vodka project.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Dec. 18, 2006)

Michael Crichton takes on a critic, female geckos don't need mates, and scientists study families that feel no pain.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Dec. 11, 2006)

Condoms don't fit Indian men, Victoria's Secret goes green, and confident people like surprise endings.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Dec. 4, 2006)

The mentally ill prefer Bush, fertile men have more sons than daughters, and deja vu is explained—again.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Nov. 27, 2006)

Murderers are identified before they commit their crimes, lovelorn gorillas get sent to an island, and people act like their dogs.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Nov. 20, 2006)

Pandas get a taste of blue cinema, Stalin tried to breed ape-men, and adolescents make decisions more carefully than adults.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Nov. 13, 2006)

Crazy gene names get an overhaul, children like lucky people, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are the best band ever.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Nov. 6, 2006)

Pornography could prevent rape, alcohol is Finland's number one killer, and men struggle with the stubborn condom.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Oct. 30, 2006)

Ghosts aren't real, a dog gets high on toads, and school books can stop bullets.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Oct. 23, 2006)

Humans might split into two species, getting a bear drunk makes him easier to shoot, and hot professors are good professors.

Dead Bacteria Walking

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Oct. 16, 2006)

Men suck it up when the game is on, women are more fashionable when they're ovulating, and PETA tries to save the cockroaches.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Oct. 9, 2006)

Neil Armstrong knows his grammar, "The Daily Show" is good for you, and the IgNobel Prizes honor ("I Can't Believe It's) science's best.

Beauty is in the Processing-Time of the Beholder

Googling for a Cure

Online database connects biomedical researchers with promising new magic bullets.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Oct. 2, 2006)

Malaysian astronauts hold off on tying the knot, a lack of white matter could render you tone deaf, and a Southeastern community takes deforestation into its own hands.

Scent of Family Guides Girls' Maturation

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Sept. 25, 2006)

Hawaiian field crickets learn the value of a wingman, a man loses his penis twice, and an Australian sex survey unsurprisingly finds that men are selfish lovers.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Sept. 18, 2006)

Don't drink on the job when you're guarding dangerous chemicals, helmets may increase your risk of a biking accident, and men could be keeping us from world peace.

Looking Away May Help You Face Mental Challenges

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Sept. 11, 2006)

Zoloft may help with your hair trigger, violent crimes may make you feel dirty, and a new study throws more fuel on the intelligence war between the sexes.

The Day The Earth Went for a Spin

Girl Shortage Could Cause Rise in Crime

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Sep. 4, 2006)

Filipino inmates shave for spill, female teachers alienate their male students, and nuns talk to God from multiple spots in their mind.

I Can't Believe It's Science (for Aug. 28, 2006)

Polar bears' genitals are shrinking, Gospel listeners are engaging in unprotected sex, and livestock are still contributing to global warming.

The Great, Dysfunctional Planet Debate

The contentious new planet definition passed by the International Astronomical Union leaves Pluto out.

Scientists Confirm Dark Matter's Existence

I Can't Believe it's Science: 8/11 - 8/17

Testosterone is the elixir of life, a physicist determines how to rate his colleagues and women lose their sex drive after years in a long-term relationship.

Protein Made by Lower Primates Combats HIV

The Culture-Shaping Parasite

The prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii, a single-celled parasite, accounts for some cultural differences.

I Can't Believe It's Science: 8/4 - 8/10

New Zealand's abundance of aggression, Special K's reversal of depression and a trio of teen sex findings guaranteed to worry any decent parent.

I Can't Believe It's Science: 7/28 - 8/3

Humans are getting sexier, marijuana is acting as birth control and global warming warnings are using "climate porn."

How To Spot a Noun

Scientists find a relationship between how a word sounds and how it's used.

I Can't Believe It's Science: 7/21 - 7/27

The expanding US body doesn't fit in its medical machines, the sordid story of love between a duck and a hen and an equation that predicts when your kid is going to ask, "Are we there yet?"

I Can't Believe It's Science: 7/14 - 7/20

Men get stupider after sharing their bed, ferocious animals get better treatment at an Israeli hospital and a stem cell finding done without federal funding.

The Stem Cell Battle in the Senate

Saving the Veto for Stem Cells

Bush stymies a bill that would have allowed federal funding for research on embryonic stem cells, independent of when they were created.

Acting Under Surveillance

When eyes are watching us, we tend to be more honest.

I Can't Believe It's Science: 7/7 - 7/13

The ferocious animals of Australia's past, the excess of pee in German bushes and the promise of meat from stem cells.

Hot or Not

Women's brains respond to erotic images as quickly and strongly as men's.

I Can't Believe It's Science: 6/30 - 7/6

Miniskirts can prevent pain, how to get an instant accent and an even more annoying mosquito has evolved.

I Can't Believe It's Science: 6/23 - 6/29

More uses found for Viagra, German airline passengers light up and if you don't get sarcasm, you might have brain damage.

I Can't Believe It's Science: 6/16 - 6/22

Clowns can cause pregnancy, learning gets you high and the Big Apple is sweeter than you thought.

I Can't Believe It's Science: 6/9 - 6/15

Sperm have a solid sense of smell, the seasonal migrations of human body fat and the funniest joke in the land.

New & Notable: 6/2 - 6/8

Beer to manage menopause, the Chinese tamper with the weather and baritone women get what they want.

Built to be Bilingual

Researchers pinpoint how the brain switches between languages.

The Horniness Gene

Researchers find a link between a gene and human sexual behavior.

New & Notable: 5/26 - 6/1

E. coli can make fuel out of chocolate, children don't actually comprehend TV and sex won't make the baby come any quicker.

New & Notable: 5/12 - 5/18

Chronic bed-wetting teenagers, what we'll suffer through not to be fat and the "Daily Show" has jaded us all.

CERN by the Numbers

How big is this Large Hadron Collider, really?

The Invincible, Flu-Immune Pigeon

One good use for avian flu would be the destruction of pigeons. But, what's the likelihood of that?

The Universe Before It Began

Scientists use quantum gravity to describe the universe before the Big Bang.

Monkeys and Humans Are Both Irrational

Capuchins and humans are both more scared of losing than economics would suggest.

New & Notable: 5/5 - 5/11

Dolphins can engage in name-calling, women are often harassed in chatrooms and drunk monkeys are a lot like drunk people.

Is the Universe Older Than We Thought?

A cyclical universe with multiple Big Bangs could explain one of the greatest mysteries in cosmology today.

New & Notable: 4/28 - 5/4

The case of the mummy's missing member, touching what no one has touched before and the mayor who never flushes.

New & Notable: 4/21 - 4/27

The Pope may OK condoms in some circumstances, you're probably think you are a little hotter than you were yesterday and a scientific guide to being a ladies man.

An Environmental Slap on the Wrist

California court rules that the Bush administration broke the law by ignoring the Energy Policy Act of 1992.

New & Notable: 4/14 - 4/20

China and Taiwan come together, penicillin's got nothing on wallaby milk and even ugly ducklings get lucky eventually.

The Quantum Shortcut

Researchers explain how enzymes use quantum tunneling to speed up reactions.

New & Notable: 4/7 - 4/13

The formula for the perfect butt, regeneration as an alternative to stem cells and how to engage a man.

Is This Cow a Human-Animal Hybrid?

A Dutch company looks to bring a protein created from transgenic cows to the American public.

New & Notable: 3/31 - 4/6

How much to pay for a cancer cure, how healthy beans may be and how we may soon travel to the moon.

One Kid, Two Kid, Red Kid, Blue Kid

Study shows correlation between childhood personality and adult political orientation.

Gluttons for Punishment

Sanctioning institutions have a clear competitive advantage over sanction-free institutions.

New & Notable: 3/24 - 3/30

Prayer doesn't help heal the heart, celebrities will fork over a fortune to feel weightless and the Polish are smarter than the Brits.

Teaching the Tobacco Controversy

Thank You For Smoking provides a gentle critique of sponsored science and a few good belly laughs.

New & Notable: 3/17 - 3/23

Deep sleep my save us from extinction, pretty birds can fight off avian flu, cheese could be an alternative source of ethanol.

Strange Bedfellows

Scientists and Christian clergy ally for science, but is it a bond made in heaven?

New & Notable: 3/10 - 3/16

Swelling drug test subjects, a baby held for ransom by a hospital and a case of warming corpses.

John D. Barrow Wins Templeton Prize

Cosmologist honored for his work on the limits of human understanding.

New & Notable: 3/3 - 3/9

Plants glow for water, office humor rubs people the wrong way and girls gone wild on spring break.

Under the 3D Sea

In less than 40 minutes, an underwater IMAX adventure takes you below the surface for a macabre morality play.

Plays Well With Others

Like their human cousins, chimpanzees may know the value of teamwork.

New & Notable: 2/24 - 3/2

Blondes may just be a passing attraction, the Iditarod has to find a new route and an Australian mother takes on a croc.

Overthrowing Darwin's Number Two Theory

Researchers object to the theory of sexual selection and replace it with game theory.

New & Notable: 2/17 - 2/23

Sharp-toothed chickens, merciful gladiators and over-sexed athletes.

Summers' Fall

President Lawrence H. Summers was a source of controversy at Harvard, but he always made science a top priority.

What Makes a Winner

American and Japanese cultures have different ideas about how to measure success.

Crunchy Granola Suite

How our brains analyze the sound of food to determine crispness.

New & Notable: 2/10 - 2/16

Vulture life-partners break up, the science of speed-dating and how depressing it is to be a parent.

Hitting a High E

Italian scientists find loud music intensifies and extends the brain’s response to MDMA.

Ramparts of Speech

Researchers find elements of grammar are hardwired into the human brain.

New & Notable: 2/3 - 2/9

Identifying fake Jackson Pollocks, rallying around a radish and wheezing in Scranton.

Glow Worms

Researchers evolve a complex trait creating multicolor, genetically identical hornworms.

Instant Study Hints Advertisers Should Objectify Women

Your brain's favorite Super Bowl ads may not be the ones you wanted to like the most.

Waisting Time

Male primates gain weight while their mates are pregnant.

New & Notable: 1/27 - 2/2

Savior siblings are used for their working parts, two different types of earwax, and the new toilet that comments on your flow.

What's Worse: Faking a Memoir or a Medical Study?

Why a Norwegian cancer researcher deserves a tongue-lashing from Oprah.

Why Didn't I Think of That?

Saatchi & Saatchi presents its Award for World Changing Ideas at posh event.

Bush Looks to Science

In his State of the Union speech, the President talks alternative energy, math and science education, and AIDS treatment.

New & Notable: 1/20 - 1/26

Germans are grumpy, sex is soothing and plants are not to blame for global warming.

Seeing Things

Machines kick our fleshy little butts at many activities: They're stronger lifters, faster multipliers and better chess players. But with...

Wake the Dead

Linguist revitalizes Virginia Algonquian for The New World.

Fat-Burning in the Dark

Scientists show connection between darkness and metabolic fuel switch.

New & Notable: 1/13 - 1/19

Swordtails measure their equipment, women smell best when they're making eggs and parrots divulge all your secrets.

Will The Real Embryonic Stem Cell Please Stand Up?

Cloned stem cells are indistinguishable from fertilized stem cells.

Rebranding Intelligent Design

Dover trial expert witnesses unite with the Discovery Institute to remove a philosophy course from a high school's curriculum.

New & Notable: 1/06 - 1/12

Gruesome prehistoric deaths, glow-in-the-dark pigs, bad news for a cryogenically frozen couple, and an unconventional public safety measure in Colombia.

A Finger on the Pulse of the World

Constructal theory, once used to explain river basin shape, predicts all animal locomotion.

The Anti-Kyoto

Researchers examine how laughter may have evolved.

Unsolved Mystery: Mozart's Skull

Researchers cannot conclude whether or not skull belonged to great composer.

New & Notable: 12/31 - 1/05

Mice get breasts, an ancient echidna gets named, and one lucky dolphin says something that resembles "I do."

The Darwin Awards

Prizes honor the demise of the un-fittest.

New & Notable: 12/17 - 12/23

South Korean censorship, the choice between voting or dying and those darn teaspoons that keep disappearing.

Power to the People?

Over one quarter of North Americans and Europeans think science policy decisions should be based on the views of the public, not experts.

Mental Time Travel

Researchers find that memory consists of recreating past brain states.

Evolution Wins in Dover

Judge Jones comes down hard on the side of teaching evolution, not intelligent design.

The Electric Slide

Experimentally-inspired theorists describe electron choreography in a hydrogen molecule.

New & Notable: 12/10 - 12/16

A long, hard, sensitive organ, big balls, Virgin, and Buffy.

Thinking Pain Away

People can decrease pain by observing their own brain activity.

Mapping the Invisible

Researchers create images of dark matter distribution.

New & Notable: 12/03 - 12/09

A boy genius, drugged-out elephants, the end of aging, and prairie voles in love!

Science Goes To The Dogs

Unofficial Dog Genome Week yields insight into man's best friend.

Jews on Jews: Jews are Great

Steven Pinker Discusses "Jews, Genes, & Intelligence" at the Center for Jewish History.

Reflections on Mirror Neurons

Broken Mirror Neuron Systems May Cause Autism.

Neurons Notice Novel Noises

Cells respond to change in pitch, intensity, duration.

Conic Cross Sections

New imaging technique reveals shocking variability in eye.

Java Jives With Brain

Caffeine boosts short-term memory.

Einstein Wrong About Being Wrong

"Biggest blunder" not really a mistake at all.

Gene Thieves

Bacteria steal genetic material in order to rapidly adapt

Childhood Neglect Leaves Biological Mark

Orphaned children experience stunted social functioning linked to low hormone levels

Stale Beer Maidens

Archaeologists uncover ancient Wari brewery, discover ladies tended the beer garden

Udder Impossibility

The physics of cow tipping stand on shaky ground

An Intergenerational Game of Telephone

Researchers confirm linguistic theory with genetic comparison

Harriet Celebrates 175 Years

Charles Darwin's contemporary marches towards her third century

The Other I.D.

An interview with Don Wise, creator of "incompetent design"

Red, White and Bleu

Researchers use scientific methodology to pair wines and cheese.

Mark Your Answers with a Number 2 Relativistic Pseudo-Particle

Inside a pencil's tip is a metal that's a veritable playground for physicists

Betting on Baseball

Model correctly predicts Cy Young Award winners

A Grave Discovery

The exhumed skull of Copernicus

Tickled Pink: Gender Affects Humor Response

Men and women use different parts of their brains when deciding what's funny

Can You Stomach Lying?

Being dishonest is something you can feel in your gut

"We're From the Government: We're Here to Help"

The easily-trained insects may be stinging dogs for the job of smelling-out trouble

Girls Gone Wild ... for Monkeys

What you are into may surprise you

The Esperanto of the Bacteria World

Bacteria have their own secret code, but there's a hole in it

Ig Nobel Pursuits

Comedic awards honor offbeat science

A Genetic Basis for Alcoholism

Researchers say alcoholism and anxiety could be linked in a destructive loop

The Ascent of Sand

Physicists devise a model for sturdier sandcastles

Behavioral Mimicry Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Who could better than you?

Forever in New Genes

The never-ending genetic sequence baffles scientists