Science Surfing

Ecosystems

Bee All

With continuing concerns about the decline of honeybees in North America—and especially the newly recognized Colony Collapse Disorder—here’s a site to learn more about the important role these and other bees play in plant health and agriculture. This academic site links to plenty of related places on the Web that also address threats to not […]

Health & Medicine

Phytochemical Beauty

Our Food For Thought column recently published two offerings on health-related findings about genistein, a soybean constituent. Ever wonder what that chemical looks like? Or how about capsaicin—the spicy agent in hot chilies being explored as a painkiller, lycopene—the red pigment in watermelons that may protect our skin against harmful ultraviolet rays, or sulforaphane—a trace […]

Astronomy

Help Spot Galaxies

Although computer programs can be written to sort galaxies into general categories, they would inevitably throw out the unusual, the weird and the wonderful, astronomers say.