Living Lasers

Living Lasers

Lasers (acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) were invented roughly half a century ago, and in that time, they have found their way to industry, medicine, all kinds of…
Germany Abolishes Itself

Germany Abolishes Itself

Germany shortens school ("turbo abi") and abolishes mandatory military training at the same time! This year, those that otherwise would have marched to the shooting range instead squeeze in between…
Your chance to name a species!

Your chance to name a species!

Usually, you have to be insanely, insanely lucky to name a species. Not only that, after the ages spent finding and researching your animal, you then have the laborious process of getting your new…
Entropic Gravity Snatches Spinoza Prize

Entropic Gravity Snatches Spinoza Prize

The British have their Copley medals, the French the CNRS Gold medals, the Germans have Leibniz awards, and the Dutch... they have their Spinoza prizes. Each year three to four Spinoza laureates…
Variation In Recombination Rate

Variation In Recombination Rate

Recombination, the process by which a molecule of (usually) DNA is broken and joined to another one, is one of the main sources of genetic diversity in sexual organisms. Meiotic recombination takes…
People for the Ethical Treatment of Squid

People for the Ethical Treatment of Squid

At the beginning of the year I mentioned this European cephalopod conference, where they were going to talk about new laws regulating the use of squids, octopuses, etc. in experiments. Sadly, I…
Did the Woolly Mammoth interbreed with elephants?

Did the Woolly Mammoth interbreed with elephants?

Woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) roamed the planet for more than a million years, ranging from Europe to Asia to North America. Nearly all of these giants vanished from Siberia by about 10,000…