By Sharon Weinberger of Nature magazine The Pentagon's forays into social science--what the military calls "human terrain"--have raised ethics concerns among academics. [More]
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Feed SubscriptionFirst-Ever Malaria Vaccine Found to Be Somewhat Effective in Humans
By Daniel Cressey of Nature magazine www.nature.com/news The world's leading candidate for a malaria vaccine has cleared another hoop on the way to widespread use, proponents say. [More]
Read More »Supply Chain Emissions Make for a Bigger Carbon Footprint
A country's energy consumption of gasoline, coal and other fossil fuels is often the attention-grabber in climate discussions. But the energy to make and deliver consumer goods is a more hidden carbon culprit, a recent study says. Steven Davis, a postdoctoral student in the Department of Global Ecology at the Carnegie Institute of Washington, tracked the supply chain of greenhouse gases from goods traded internationally in 2004
Read More »Stand-Off Involving Presidential Science Advisor Threatens U.S.-China
By Eugenie Samuel Reich of Nature magazine When US presidential science adviser John Holdren hosted a dinner and meetings between US and Chinese science officials in May, he must have known it would lead to a high-level stand-off. [More]
Read More »The First Americans: Mounting Evidence Prompts Researchers to Reconsider the Peopling of the New World (preview)
In the sweltering heat of an early July afternoon, Michael R. Waters clambers down into a shadowy pit where a small hive of excavators edge their trowels into an ancient floodplain. A murmur rises from the crew, and one of the diggers gives Waters, an archaeologist at the Center for the Study of the First Americans at Texas A&M University, a dirt-smeared fragment of blue-gray stone called chert
Read More »On the Trail of the First Americans [Interactive]
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Read More »Paths Taken
One of the pleasures of Scientific American , I’ve always thought, is that it offers armchair travelers a vicarious expedition to the exciting worlds uncovered through science. I reflected on that fact recently as I sat on the tarmac, my flight 23rd in line for takeoff at LaGuardia Airport in New York City. I was reading over this issue’s articles and again became absorbed by our cover story, “ The First Americans ,” by Heather Pringle.
Read More »Facetones Brings a Social Element (and Pictures of your Mug) to the Smartphone
Verizon has a new service called Facetones , a mobile app that creates and displays a video slideshow of your friends’ Facebook photos whenever a call from them comes in or you call them. The app, which syncs your phone’s contact list with your Facebook friend list, is created by Vringo , a provider of software platforms for mobile social and mobile video services
Read More »What Day Is Doomsday? How to Mentally Calculate the Day of the Week for Any Date
Every now and then a prominent religious zealot proclaims that the end is nigh. Harold Camping is the most recent example of such a doomsayer.
Read More »Vacuum Tube: Kids under 2 Should Not Watch Television
Every parent needs a break from time to time--a few minutes to prepare dinner, do the laundry or quickly check e-mail. That's when the television suddenly becomes the best invention ever--an instant free babysitter that enthralls even the youngest infants and might, fingers crossed, even teach them a thing or two
Read More »Bloomberg: We Want Your Start-up’s Taxes
New York City's mayor laughed it up at TechStars Demo Day, claiming the Bloomberg TV show resembles the Jersey Shore and that start-ups should grow to pay "a lot of taxes." New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg stepped in front of dozens of young entrepreneurs and hundreds of investors Tuesday and joked about the Jersey Shore and taxes. This was the prelude to TechStars Demo Day in New York City, where 31 start-up founders graduating from the incubator would be presenting their ideas to would-be funders
Read More »The State Of Social Media 2011: Social Is The New Normal
This post is one in a series introducing my new book, The End of Business as Usual . The state of social media is no insignificant affair. Nor is it a conversation relegated to a niche contingent of experts and gurus
Read More »Dead German Satellite Will Fall to Earth This Week
A defunct German satellite is expected to plunge to Earth this week, but exactly when and where the satellite will fall remains a mystery. The massive
Read More »Flowtown Acquired by Demandforce
Start-up Flowtown, which started out helping small businesses connect e-mail and social marketing, has been acquired by Demandforce. Start-up Flowtown, which started out helping small businesses connect e-mail and social marketing, has been acquired by Demandforce. It's an especially sweet victory because the two-year-old company has gone through several iterations.
Read More »Did Saturn’s Moon Iapetus Once Have Its Own Moon?
Could a planet have a moon that itself had a smaller moon? A former subsatellite would help explain some of the mysteries of Iapetus, one of Saturn's moons
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