Wednesday, 23 May, 2012

Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology given to inventors of MRI machine — but were these guys really the inventors? Meet an unprecedented PR campaign to change the Nobel.

Edward Teller helped invent the hydrogen bomb, then pushed missile defense. By public advocacy and secret research, he changed the 20th century.

Manned space flight is expensive — and risky. What causes accidents? Was the destruction of space shuttle Columbia a result of NASA’s failed safety culture? Are accidents normal?

An international team of scientists selected the Homestake goldmine to be the world’s deepest underground lab, but the project may sink.

New technology in ground-based telescopes will give better picture of the universe and detect deadly asteroids.

Scientific journals choose self-censorship, decide not to publish articles related to biological weapons, bioterrorism and national security. Is this a necessary change in scientific tradition, or an over-reaction to a fearful political climate?

Space shuttle Columbia has crashed, raising questions about research on the space shuttle and the International Space Station. Should we do space science by robots or manned vehicles?

Genetically modified corn in Mexico starts scientific scandal; journal retracts article. What do we really learn from scientific publications? How have money and patents changed the scientific process?

Hubble Space Telescope is fixed, will add to history of discovery. Get a gander of galaxies, quasars, gamma ray sources, and other greatest hits of the greatest spyglass.

New research into alternative and complementary medicine shows effects of St. John’s wort, hypnosis and the placebo effect.