General Science

Africa should invest in GMOs for small farmers

GMO Africa — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:07:01 GMT

Source: SciDev.net Date: June 26, 2008 Africa needs a Green Revolution based on public investment in agricultural science and technology, including local research into genetically engineered crops, says Robert Paarlberg, in the Harvard International Review...(read more)

Amphibious Robot Snake (video)

SciencePunk — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:49:28 GMT

Amphibious robot snake. Info here. That is all. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct5xe2Vnp6c...(read more)

Official: urine is worth more than champagne

SciencePunk — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:11:50 GMT

Have you ever heard the phrase (usually directed at some very recently-single lady) “he’s not worth your tears”? Well, how much are tears worth, really? How much are any of your bodily fluids worth? Thankfully the good people at Innovative...(read more)

As far as I understand thinktanks….

Bad Science — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 20:33:18 GMT

Ben Goldacre The Guardian, Saturday June 7 2008 It is with deep regret that I must alert you to a frightening decline in the quality of maths in reports complaining about the frightening decline in the quality of maths in Britain. “The value of...(read more)

DNA Video: Illumina on Wallstrip

Eye on DNA — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Interesting little summary on the history of Illumina. They look through your DNA and discover your genetic code. via business|bytes|genes|molecules...(read more)

DNA Excerpt: Fermat’s Last Theorem

Eye on DNA — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 08:05:00 GMT

From Fermat’s Last Theorem (also titled as Fermat’s Enigma) by Simon Singh: “In mathematical terms the final proof is the equivalent of splitting the atom or finding the structure of DNA,” announced John Coates....(read more)

Seed's Daily Zeitgeist: 6/6/2008

Seed Magazine — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:39:43 GMT

How the Web Was Won The history of the internet, as told by its creators. Open-source Self-replicating Machine, er, Self-replicates The best part about this self-replicating robot? It's open source, so you can make your own. The Iraq War Suicides...(read more)

Friday Flash Fun: Epsilon

SciencePunk — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:54:59 GMT

Bizarrely claiming to be based on something to do with the Large Hadron Collider, Epsilon is nonetheless a nice little distraction involving portals, wormholes, gravity bombs and time warps. Even more bizarrely, you will use all these monumental powers...(read more)

Seed's Daily Zeitgeist: 6/5/2008

Seed Magazine — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:11:00 GMT

Make a Mad, Mad, Mad Neuron Ever wanted to be a mad scientist? Now you can build a neuron in this flash game. (via Vaughan ) What's more convincing than talking about brains? Pictures of brains! Further evidence that people find brain scans unreasonably...(read more)

Badasses of Science

SciencePunk — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:23:40 GMT

Over at Cracked, Luke McKinney has written a round-up of the 6 most badass stunts ever pulled in the name of science. It’s really rather good. I’m sure you people can think of some notable examples that missed the cut....(read more)

Monsanto Offers a Plan to Increase Food Supply

GMO Africa — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:41:14 GMT

Source: New York Times Date: June 4, 2008 Monsanto, the leader in agricultural biotechnology, pledged Wednesday to develop seeds that would double the yields of corn, soybeans and cotton by 2030 and would require 30 percent less water, land and energy...(read more)

The Reality Tests

Seed Magazine — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:10:07 GMT

Anton Zeilinger heads up the IQOQI lab in Vienna. Photograph by Mark Mahaney. To enter the somewhat formidable Neo-Renaissance building at Boltzmanngasse 3 in Vienna, you must pass through a small door sawed from the original cathedrallike entrance. When...(read more)

Chemistry student offends teacher, aces test

SciencePunk — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:16:48 GMT

We’ve seen a lot of ’stupid exam answers’ in the past, but I like this one best. Click the image for the full picture. Why do I love it so? Because even though he managed to leave snide comments for every question, he still aced the...(read more)

What does DNA mean to you? #8

Eye on DNA — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 08:02:00 GMT

Reader Doug tells us what he thinks of DNA: DNA is our chance to pop open the hood and tinker around a bit. Surgeons get to slice things up and sew them back together a bit but genetic engineers can really mix things up. Once you’ve got the DNA...(read more)

Seed's Daily Zeitgeist: 6/4/2008

Seed Magazine — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:41:04 GMT

The Singularity IEEE explores the future of human-computer integration. (via Mo ) Dark, Perhaps Forever Will we ever know what dark energy really is? Pass the Land Shrimp Mmmm...bugs. A New Step in Evolution Carl Zimmer discusses new research implicating...(read more)