There is a side of us that is not unique to our own species. Evil. Why? How did it start? The first time. Asking why evil came into existence is a valid question. Evil behaviours are categorised into four distinct groups. Of course, it gets pretty dark. But what is “Evil”?
Continue reading Breaking Bad – The Evolutionary Perspective of Evil
There is one essential difference between living things and inanimate clumps of carbon atoms. From an all-physical point of view, the former tend to be so much better at capturing energy from their environment and dissipating that energy as heat. At MIT, Jeremy England derived a mathematical formula that he believes explains this capacity.
Continue reading A Theory of Life… The Physics of Cells and Macroscopic Irreversibility
Plant life is one of Nature’s miracles. Imagine being a plant and almost all you will ever need to keep on striving is sheer sunlight. In green plants, both photosynthesis and aerobic respiration occur. It’s a lot like the way in which the human body breaks down food into fuel that it can store. Essentially, using energy from the Sun, a plant can transform carbon dioxide CO2 and water into glucose and oxygen…
Continue reading A Day in the Life of a Plant – Photosynthesis and Phytochemistry
We, humans, have driven environmental changes on a scale that is unique in Earth’s history. Human-driven biological, chemical and physical changes to the Earth’s system are so great, rapid and distinct that they may characterise an entirely new epoch – The Anthropocene.
Continue reading Defining the Anthropocene – What is the Age of Man?
After nearly five hours in space, British astronaut Tim Peake completed his first spacewalk, at 17:31 GMT on Friday 15 January. Intended to last over six hours, the space walk was cut short after his US colleague Tim Kopra reported a water leak in his helmet.
Already this article is beginning to sound like one of those sempiternal quizzes you so often get on social media… but it actually shows how science reality connects. Are you having a scientific identity crisis?
Continue reading Lateral Thinking in Science – Who Are You?
Finches in the Galápagos Islands are being threatened by a parasitic fly that attacks their young, placing the same species of birds that helped Charles Darwin refine his theory of evolution in danger of extinction. But the authors of a new study say that human intervention could alleviate the risk.
Continue reading On the Evolution of Darwin’s Finches
Do you feel overwhelmed with the amount of information you have to deal with? Do you spend time drawing up a shopping list, only to forget it on the kitchen table when you leave the house? I know I do. In the words of Homer Simpson: “Every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain.” Don’t worry! Scientists think that it is perfectly normal, and even an essential part of the brain’s learning process.
Continue reading Forget Me… Not!
Goofball, candy, ice, crack, snow, weasel dust, Belushi, Charlie… High in the Andes of South America, Erythroxylum coca grows as a shrub. For 2,500 years at least, its leaves have been known and used for their stimulant properties. Over 5 million people use cocaine and its derivatives in the United States alone.
Continue reading We Do Science on Crack… with Cocaine and the Blood-Brain Barrier
The days of Professor Challenger are here. This week, scientists have set out to drill deeper into the Earth’s mantle than has ever been done before. This time, let us hope the World will not scream!