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A new study of Facebook ads shows that what’s old school is new school again. A new study by Facebook brings some big news that, curiously, at first blush might not seem like much news at all.

Holes are everywhere, if you look... This post is the second in a series that accompanies the upcoming publication of my book ‘Gravity’s Engines: How Bubble-Blowing Black Holes Rule Galaxies, Stars, and Life in the Cosmos’ (Scientific American/FSG). [More]

Researchers at Harvard's Wyss Institute are developing plastic chips that can perform the same basic functions as human organs.

The simulations begun by Henry Markram and team on the Blue Brain Project in 2005 constitute the basis for the much more ambitious Human Brain Project, which is intended to capture the workings of the entire organ. Markram and colleagues will learn next year whether the project will be funded

Better lithium ion batteries have led to an explosion in availability of plug-in passenger cars. And now, thanks to relatively cheap electricity and the simplicity of the electric drivetrain, electric vehicles have even more potential for use in the extremely cost-sensitive public transportation arena--a concept that is only just taking root.

The annual Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting brings a wealth of scientific minds to the shores of Germany’s Lake Constance. Every summer at Lindau, dozens of Nobel Prize winners exchange ideas with hundreds of young researchers from around the world

Reductionist biology--examining individual brain parts, neural circuits and molecules--has brought us a long way, but it alone cannot explain the workings of the human brain, an information processor within our skull that is perhaps unparalleled anywhere in the universe. We must construct as well as reduce and build as well as dissect. To do that, we need a new paradigm that combines both analysis and synthesis.

When I first saw the coverage of the article appear on Jezebel saying that exercise doesn’t help depression, I didn’t believe it. I read the press release , and really didn’t believe it. And then, I read the article .

By David Fogarty and David Stanway SINGAPORE/BEIJING (Reuters) - China's carbon emissions could be nearly 20 percent higher than previously thought, a new analysis of official Chinese data showed on Sunday, suggesting the pace of global climate change could be even faster than currently predicted. China has already overtaken the United States as the world's top greenhouse gas polluter, producing about a quarter of mankind's carbon pollution that scientists say is heating up the planet and triggering more extreme weather. But pinning down an accurate total for China's carbon emissions has long been a challenge because of doubts about the quality of its official energy use data.

Roughly 10,000 years ago, the great sheets of ice that had covered much of the planet receded, triggering a wave of extinctions, ecological changes and, ultimately, the rise of human civilization . All those changes came about as roughly 30 percent of the planet's surface went from ice-covered to ice-free

Looks like I’m in for a great summer full of science video goodness! At the end of June, both Carin and I will be heading to an unconference (taking a clue from Bora from Science Online) called BrainSTEM at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Canada (maybe I’ll get to wave at Stephen Hawking!) We will be discussing many issues related to creating new media with science themes, both as education and entertainment. The wonderfully enthusiastic and positive Angela Maiers , education maven, will be the Keynote speaker.

One of the first things you learn in bacteriology is that bacteria come in different shapes. Not a huge range of shapes admittedly, but the main shapes are spherical, rod-shaped, or spiral. Spherical bacteria make sense as a sphere is a fairly simple shape to grow into and chains or colonies of bacteria allow them to spread into their environment.

Testosterone has a lot of roles--some good, some perhaps counterproductive. Now research suggests that testosterone can make people more poised for aggression, even if they’re not feeling feisty. [More]

#StorySaturday is a Guest Blog weekend experiment in which we invite people to write about science in a different, unusual format fiction, science fiction, lablit, personal story, fable, fairy tale, poetry, or comic strip. We hope you like it. ======= [More]

A Testudo tortoise and its large erect penis. [More]