Null results are important in science, but that doesn't mean scientists want other people to see theirs. The reason is obvious: competition. If one group has a null result and another group is working on something similar, they potentially give the competitor a shortcut by publishing a negative result.So it goes in just about every field. The food industry has its own null results, but they...
read moreDo you care about children? If so, says Arianna Huffington, you'd better ask for more regulations that augment helicopter parenting with nanny government - and you'd better be part of the 1% that will be able to afford food when all pesticides are banned. What is her evidence? Rachel Carson started telling us 50 years ago that scientists were out to kill us all. read...
read moreHow will the Universe end? And when? It's been speculation in religion and philosophy since man realized he was special. Can physics offer anything new?Let's go to the Dark Energy hypotheses and see. 1998 really messed us up, theoretically. Until then, we knew the Universe had to slow down - well, theoretically. But then the Hubble showed us truly distant supernovae and we...
read moreNo one is asking the Department of Energy to play venture capitalist with taxpayer money again, but basic research in dye-sensitized solar cells may bring the cost of solar down enough to allow for mainstream acceptance - primarily because dye-sensitized solar cells (also known as DSCs) are less fragile than panels that use crystalline silicon, also a benefit of thin-film panels, and don't...
read moreTemperatures above 100 degrees and drought-like conditions have taken a toll on corn and soybeans in the upper Midwest for weeks but it has brought a benefit to peppers and other crops: Their flavors have become unusually concentrated, producing some of the most potent-tasting produce in years."Peppers really like hot weather," said Irwin Goldman, a horticulture professor at the University of...
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