Column
-
-
-
-
-
-
Beer bubble math
The rate of change of bubble volume. If this quantity is positive, the bubble will grow; if it’s negative, it will shrink. A constant that depends on the temperature and the specific gas in the foam. (The foam on top of a glass of Guinness lasts unusually long because Guinness uses nitrogen in addition to […]
-
-
Mind the gap: Genetic knowledge and medical power
Since the completion of the Human Genome Project a decade ago, much excitement has swirled around the possibility that determining a person’s genetic makeup could help doctors personalize the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease. But James P. Evans, a physician and geneticist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says the promises […]
-
Better risk assessments through molecular biology
As director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s NexGen Program, toxicologist Ila Cote leads a collaboration that brings together data, methods, skills and brains from diverse fields to better understand how chemicals interact with living things and the environment. In doing so, scientists hope to answer questions about potential risks from chemical exposure more quickly […]
-
Japan crisis may have little effect on U.S. energy policy
Whatever the ultimate repercussions of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant accident in Japan (see Page 6), the crisis raises questions over the role nuclear power should play as an energy source. Michael Levi, head of the energy security and climate change program at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, spoke to reporters […]
-
Basic research generates jobs and competitiveness
Trained as a mechanical engineer in India, Subra Suresh researched the interfaces between engineering, biology and materials science before becoming dean of engineering at MIT and, as of October, director of the U.S. National Science Foundation. In February in Washington, D.C., at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Suresh […]
-
A new era of physics at the Large Hadron Collider
Last month in Washington, D.C., at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, theoretical physicist Lisa Randall of Harvard University spoke about her hopes for the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s most powerful particle accelerator. She sat down with Science News physical sciences writer Devin Powell after her February 19 […]
