I had to skip a couple of weeks because I was busy with some projects at work. Hopefully, that’s died down a little now and I’ll be able to commit more time to the blog. Did I miss any big science stories in the past two weeks? Something about a “god particle”?
Well, in case you missed any of the great stuff that Lawrence Krauss wrote about the Higgs Boson, I’ve collected them for you here:
A Blip That Speaks to Our Place in the Universe (via The New York Times)
How the Higgs Boson Posits a New Story of Our Creation (via The Daily Beast)
Higgs and the Holy Grail of Physics (via CNN)
A Quantum Leap (via Slate)
and for a few video clips of Krauss speaking about Higgs Boson, try this:
And the Winner of the Higgs Boson Metaphor Contest is… (via Huffington Post)
But, that’s all old news now!! On to this weeks top ten stories…
Using tiny lipid discs, scientists resolve contradictory evidence about how many proteins are required for neurotransmitter release. (via The Scientist)
Our Brains Often Fail to Notice Key Words That Can Change the Whole Meaning of a Sentence
Far from processing every word we read or hear, our brains often do not even notice key words that can change the whole meaning of a sentence, according to new research from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). (via Science Daily)
Brain Power Shortage: Applying New Rules Is Mentally Taxing and Costly
Can you teach an old dog (or human) new tricks? Yes, but it might take time, practice, and hard work before he or she gets it right, according to Hans Schroder and colleagues from Michigan State University in the US. Their work shows that when rules change, our attempts to control our actions are accompanied by a loss of attention to detail. (via Science Daily)
Primordial Pinwheel: Astronomers Spot Oldest Prominent Spiral Galaxy Yet
Three billion years after the big bang most galaxies were clumpy and odd-shaped, but at least one had already assumed a familiar form, and may elucidate how modern galaxies got their shapes. (via Scientific American)
What’s the problem with unguided evolution?
Jerry Coyne writes about evolutionists and accommodationists who won’t affirm that evolution is unguided and purposeless (in the sense of not being directed by a higher intelligence or teleological force). (via Why Evolution Is True)
A Bone Here, a Bead There: On the Trail of Human Origins
British paleoanthropologist Chris Stringer recently sat for an interview in New York that ranged across many recent developments: the evidence of interbreeding between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens; the puzzling extinct species of little people nicknamed the hobbits; and the implications of a girl’s 40,000-year-old pinkie finger found in a Siberian cave. (via The New York Times)
The Clovis Weren’t the First Americans
Recent evidence reveals humans reached the New World, via the Bering Strait, by at least 15,000 years ago. These early Americans weren’t making Clovis points. Last week, archaeologists announced in Science another example of pre-Clovis technology. (via Hominid Hunting)
Humans have long enjoyed nonhuman lovers—the proof is in our DNA.
Until the past few years, most scientists doubted that human beings had ever stooped to interbreed with Neanderthals or other archaic hominids. (via Slate)
River Networks On Saturn’s Largest Moon, Titan, Point to a Puzzling Geologic History
New findings suggest the surface of Saturn’s largest moon may have undergone a recent transformation. For many years, Titan’s thick, methane- and nitrogen-rich atmosphere kept astronomers from seeing what lies beneath. Saturn’s largest moon appeared through telescopes as a hazy orange orb, in contrast to other heavily cratered moons in the solar system. (via Science Daily)
Chances are, you heard this month about the discovery of a tiny fundamental physics particle that may be the long-sought Higgs boson. The phrase five-sigma was tossed about by scientists to describe the strength of the discovery. So, what does five-sigma mean? (via Scientific American)
Ok, that’s it from me this week. I promise to do a better job of posting from now on. Thanks for your patience (is anybody reading this?)
