Friday, 25 May, 2012

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?

Leap day approaches. But could a smart calendar finally drive a stake through the heart of Feb. 29? Could a “permanent” calendar place Christmas and New Year’s Day on Sunday, and simplify life for people who make schedules? It’s possible — but only if the new calendar gains acceptance…

If (gasp!) the subject is too big for a Whyfile, hit the books. Here, we review four great science books, on evolution, environment, fighting nature, and discovering motherly love.

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.

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?

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.

Obama decides that current and new grant applications at the National Institutes of Health are an effective economic stimulus. People get jobs. Inventions get invented. What’s not to like?

Did the arrival of 4,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons of space junk start the formation of organic molecules roughly 4 billion years ago? “Could be,” says a new study from Japan…

Archeologists thought Middle-Eastern cities grew through remote “daughter” villages. But a new study of a big city in ancient Syria, shows that new settlements formed closer to town.

Museum returns a priceless classic vase to Italy. What’s at the root of obtaining ancient loot? Where should we draw the line? Does it make sense for big museums to keep artifacts, or should it all go back to source countries?