Topic: Science & Technology

A new book by prize-winning scientist James Trefil makes the case for scientific literacy in today's society.

In the midst of presidential primary session, it seems the list of topics in which we want our nation's next president to be well-versed is endless - the economy, the Iraq War, global warming, the price of oil, health care, the war in Afghanistan, science… Why science?

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A new book describes radio-based weapons and defense systems that are totally wireless.

Last week, according to a preliminary accident report, the engines on a British Airways plane that crash-landed at London's Heathrow airport failed to respond for a demand to increase thrust about two miles before it reached the runway. The British Airways Boeing 777 made a crunching touchdown short of the runway on Thursday, ripping off the plane's landing gear and severely damaging the two engines and wings. Nineteen injuries were reported among the 152 people aboard.

A brain imaging study conducted by researchers from Stony Brook University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University seem to suggest that cultural influences determine how we use our brains.

People from East Asian cultures use their brains differently than people from American culture when solving the same mental task based on simple visual perception. This finding is based on the results of a brain imaging study by researchers from Stony Brook University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University. The finding shows for the first time that the culture one is raised in and the extent to which one identifies with that culture influences brain activity patterns. The study appeared in the January issue of Psychological Science in a research report titled “Cultural Influences on Neural Substrates of Attentional Control.”

Aging dams, abandoned roads, even unused offshore oil platforms, may hold keys to improving our environment.

Thousands of obsolete dams and thousands of miles of abandoned roads in America’s aging and crumbling infrastructure could still be valuable – to the environment, according to a policy forum paper in this week’s Science by Martin Doyle of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and colleagues.

NASA has released a book of space readers with a twist. The 60-page book, with color images of nebulae, stars, galaxies and some of the telescopes that captured the original pictures, is aimed at blind readers.

At a Tuesday ceremony at the National Federation of the Blind, NASA unveiled a new book that brings majestic images taken by its Great Observatories to the fingertips of the blind.

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Touch the Invisible Sky is a 60-page book with color images of nebulae, stars, galaxies and some of the telescopes that captured the original pictures. Each image is embossed with lines, bumps, and other textures. The raised patterns translate colors, shapes, and other intricate details of the cosmic objects, allowing visually impaired people to experience them. Braille and large-print descriptions accompany each of the book's 28 photographs, making the book's design accessible to readers of all visual abilities.

Criticism from within science appears in books aimed at both public and professionals.

Science-inspired books both celebrating and debunking Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection herald the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth due next year.

Earlier this month, The National Academy of Sciences published Science, Evolution and Creationism praising Darwin’s theory. Next month science writer Shaun Johnston will publish Save Our Selves from Science Gone Wrong, a slim manifesto attacking the “bad science” behind the theory.

When someone mentions a mobile home or "house trailer," the image usually doesn't make others green with envy. But "green" is exactly what the future mobile home might be.

Mobile homes haven't earned recognition for long-term quality, environmental friendliness or return on value. But Michael Berk, F.L. Crane Endowed Professor of Architecture at Mississippi State, wants to toss traditional thinking about the structures into the recycling bin, salvaging the traditional "mobile home" perception one national award at a time.

Working in the Carl Small Town Center--a part of MSU's College of Architecture, Art and Design--Berk created an award-winning, next-generation factory-built unit he calls the GreenMobile. Unlike other lower-end housing, Berk's applies sound construction methods, as well as energy-saving concepts for lower utility costs.

Green lighting gets easier and cheaper with each passing day. Lydia Quinn offers some suggestions on how your lighting can be more friendly to the environment, and maybe even lighter on your pocketbook.

With so many options now available, going green in your home is not only easy these days, but also easier on your pocketbook. With green lighting options galore, there's no reason anymore to not take advantage of the latest green advancements.

The Mayan calendar ends in 2012. The Hindus say that 2012 is the end of the age of darkness, which will sweep-in a new "Golden Age." Egyptologists claim that 2012 will bring about an apocalypse that will destroy many of the world's people.

Do we have five years left before a major earth shift happens? December 21, 2012 is the date many prophets forecast for an apocalypse. Taking a look at the future as forecast by ancient civilizations described in the newly released book, Worse Than Global Warming: Wave Technology, we find a definite consistency.

One night each year, nine magic reindeer pull Santa and his toy-filled sleigh around the world. But what about the reindeer who are not part of the ‘deer dream team’? Dr. Perry Barboza is a physiologist who studies reindeer at the Institute of Arctic Biology at the University of Alaska who says that some of the characteristics of the non-mythical reindeer get overlooked in the Christmas crush.

Just one night each year, nine tiny magic reindeer pull Santa and his toy-filled sleigh around the world. They are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph, and it’s said that these mythical animals are the only reindeer that can fly. There is surely something magical at work when 36 hoofs and one glowing red nose can help Santa deliver his toys to girls and boys around the world in just one night.

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Reindeer Bull

But what about the reindeer who are not part of the nine-member ‘deer dream team’? The ones who move each day throughout the Alaskan and Canadian tundra, rather than the North Pole, and who live among caribou rather than elves? Though they do not possess the magic of Santa’s reindeer, they are an interesting breed nonetheless.