The worst fears of the satellite community have been realised. Two satellites, Kosmos 2251 and Iridium 33 crashed into each other approximately 800 km over northern Siberia. How this happened is unclear as the orbits of these satellites were pretty well known,...

On February 3rd, Dave Conyers of the US House of Representatives re-introduced a bill to repeal the National Institute of Healths public access policy, which says that research funded by this agency must be made freely available on a database called PubMed...

As the annual meeting of the world's largest scientific society kicks off in Chicago, Illinois, this morning, there's an atmosphere of celebration despite the chilly temperatures outside. It's not just the double anniversary of both Darwin's and Lincoln's birth....

Vicky Pope, head of climate change advice at the Met Office Hadley Centre, says scientists should be careful not to exaggerate the evidence for climate change:The reality is that extreme events arise when natural variations in the weather and climate combine...

It was pretty much smooth sailing, with questions about climate change, climate science, and scientific integrity at the February 12 Senate confirmation hearing for John Holdren, director-designate of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy,...

The Astronomy Education Review, a web-based journal/magazine about astronomy education and outreach, has announced the on-line publication of its 14th issue at http://aer.noao.edu. Access to this journal is free. In light of recent discussions here, this article...

The man responsible for one of the most significant public health threats of our time has been exposed as a fraud.Andrew Wakefield, the discredited British scientist whose study "linked" vaccines and autism, has been accused of falsifying data.According to...

A recent paper in PLoS argues that variation in genes that regulate dopamine (5-HTTLPR) and serotonin neurotransmission (DRD4) influences financial risk taking: at the 5-HTTLPR gene, one homozygous form (two identical copies or alleles) took on 28 percent less...

According to theaberrant salience account of schizophrenia, the positive symptoms of the condition - the hallucinations and delusions - come about because patients see meaning where there is none. The neurotransmitter dopamine, associated with learning and...

Two hundred years ago today, Robert Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England. Over his 73 years of life, he was an ardent observer of nature and a prolific writer who published tracts on Pollination of Orchids, Formation of Volcanic and Coral Islands,...