Scientific American has posted an interesting new edition of its “Ask the Experts” column, which explains how the abbreviations on the periodic table of elements are determined.
At right, Darmstadtium, an element discovered in 1994 after German scientists fused nickel and a lead atom together. Only a few atoms have ever been made and it has [...]
The new issue of Archaeology Magazine features my review of Survival By Hunting: Prehistoric Human Predators and Animal Prey, by paleoarchaeologist George Frison. It’s an archaeological text, dealing with the ways ancient American hunter-gatherers tracked, stalked, trapped and killed their prey.
But it’s much cooler than just a textbook. Frison’s an old hunter and tracker, and [...]
This enormous sunfish –around two and a half meters long– washed up on a beach in Puponga, New Zealand last weekend.
Ocean Sunfish (its scientific name, Mola mola, means “millstone” in latin) are the world’s largest bony fish, and can weigh up to 3000 pounds and measure as long as 11 feet. They’re found worldwide, usually [...]
“News for Nerds” website Slashdot posted a great Q&A today with author Neal Stephenson. He’s written a couple of science fiction classics, including Snow Crash and The Diamond Age, and his latest books (including Cryptonomicon
and Quicksilver
) are all about the evolution of science and technology.
I’m a few chapters from finishing The System of the World [...]
Today’s Astronomy Picture of the Day is of IC 418, The Spirograph Nebula, located about 2,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lepus. This photo from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the odd patterns evident in the nebula in detail.
Speaking of Spirographs, I used to rock the SpiroTot set back when I was a kid.
Gallic Wisdom, More Sad News, Calcium Cancelled, A New Ark Just In Time, Late Predictions From God, Mitchell Speaks, Time Control in Russia, Clipped by The Clip, and I’m Back….
James Randi is back from abroad and has plenty to say in this week’s Swift!
These frolicking baboons may not know it, but they were nearly put on ice.
As residents of the Helsinki Zoo, the monkeys are forced to spend about half the year indoors to escape the frigid Finnish climes. Zookeepers worried that was cruel, so when the zoo recently began renovating the monkey enclosure, they eliminated the inside [...]
Scientific American has published its 2004 Science & Technology Web Awards, a roundup of fifty of the best science and technology web sites. There’s some great links in there, even if it does have a few glaring omissions.
For more good science links, check out the right-hand column of this page.
Court TV Program, MSNBC Off the Deep End, Help This Man, More Korean Psychics, Going Around In Crop Circles, Religious Mysteries Examined, and In Conclusion….
James Randi signs in from across the pond all in this week’s edition of