Science - The Way Things Are

Scientist Praises Alternative Therapies

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 15:00:00 -0400

A dubious scientist has conducted an in-depth study of alternative therapies and deduced - to her surprise - that they are not merely mumbo jumbo. Kathy Sykes said that she had previously been cautious about using alternative therapies. She explains, "I would rather put my faith in conventional medicine, which has been put through...

Pruning the Tree of Science

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:26:00 -0400

by Chet Raymo

Scientific knowledge grows organically, like a tree. Every piece of published research is like a new bud on a twig. The bud is connected to every other bud on the tree. Two buds may be very close together, on the same twig, or very far apart, so that to trace the connection one would...

Fairy Work

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:35:00 -0400

Yesterday I pulled the yellow flowers off the few dandelions in our grassy garden before they went to seed. Today, a few more yellow flowers. I'm always astonished that a dandelion can make a flower overnight.

Global Warming? Pffft! Try sunspots!

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 18:49:00 -0400

Sunspots are not just interesting science experiments and footnotes to the anatomy of our star, but they could actually have a direct impact on the Earth's climate. According to some scientists, we are long overdo for a storm of sunspots. Usually these things happen in cycles and as it happens the sun has been far too quiet for the comfort...

Universal Harmonies

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:17:00 -0400

Late night, candlelight, a glass of wine. Outside, the stars of Orion are setting in the west. Mars and the Moon, in Gemini, will soon follow. On the stereo -- Henry Purcell's Ode on St. Cecilia's Day 1692.