History and Nature of Science - History of science

  • Patent wars!
    Patent wars!

    As high-tech giants buy patents and launch lawsuits. How does the patent system work? Why does it fail? What does it mean to be “new, non-obvious and useful”? What will be the impact of the new patent law — the biggest change in 60 years? Why should we care?


    Thursday, April 19th, 2012
  • Bird migration: Key explanation skewered!
    Bird migration: Key explanation skewered!

    How do homing pigeons find their way on their amazing migrations? For a decade, scientists thought iron-bearing nerve cells in the beak can detect Earth’s magnetic field. But those iron granules are in immune cells. So how do the birds do it?


    Thursday, April 12th, 2012
  • First forest: New details emerge
    First forest: New details emerge

    Returning to the site of a classic “first forest” site, New York scientists have found extra complexity: three fossilized trees-like species aged almost 400 million years. One find, a vine-like monster, may be a direct descendant of all seed-bearing trees!


    Thursday, March 1st, 2012
  • The importance of being Einstein
    The importance of being Einstein

    Experiment finds Earth “dragging” spacetime, as Einstein predicted. Einstein knew his physics. Bending light, gravity lenses, shifting spacetime, spinning neutron stars: he called them all.


    Thursday, May 19th, 2011
  • Peopling the Americas — New evidence
    Peopling the Americas — New evidence

    A report that people were in Texas 15,500 years ago settles a long dispute: The Americans who made Clovis-style spear-points were not the first Americans — despite heavy archeological skepticism. Pre-Clovis rules! But who were the pre-Clovis people, and why are scientists so dismissive of contrary evidence?


    Thursday, April 7th, 2011
  • Animal love! (?)
    Animal love! (?)

    Researchers finally accept that animals can have emotions. But is love one of those emotions, and how would we be sure? What does neurochemistry and behavioral studies tell us about emotions. Does your dog really love you? Your cat? Do they love each other?


    Thursday, February 10th, 2011
  • Happy tax day: Meet bureaucracy’s roots!
    Happy tax day: Meet bureaucracy’s roots!

    Which came first: The empire or the administration? Conventional wisdom says the demands of empire led to the rise of bureaucracy. But a new study of six early states suggests that the specialization of power and function we call bureaucracy arises at the same time as the territorial expansion that leads to empire.


    Thursday, April 15th, 2010
  • History of fishing
    History of fishing

    A new study finds a surprising number of fish, birds and mammals in the oceans 100 and 1,000 years ago. Can this information help regulators slow the decline of important marine animals?


    Thursday, May 28th, 2009
  • Only two of the circles mapped show red.  Seven show yellow, while small impacts speckle the Earth.
    “No prob” sez life to crashing asteroids!

    4B years ago, the “late heavy bombardment” burned out all life — or not… High-temp bacteria could have survived in deep rocks.


    Thursday, May 21st, 2009
  • Pacific migrations: New evidence on ancient human voyages

    A stone tool discovered in Polynesia came from Hawaii — 2500 miles away. Modern analytical techniques show that Polynesians did sail thousands of miles across the ocean — without a compass.


    Thursday, September 27th, 2007


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