“Scientific opportunity has to be a big part of it,” says Francis Collins. Sometimes when a rare disease hits that moment of scientific opportunity it can reveal things about common […]

A conversation with the director of the National Institutes of Health.

"Why does spicy food taste 'hot'? After all, a chili pepper at room temperature will still 'burn' our tongue and cause us to sweat." The Frontal Cortex on the physiology of taste.

"Extreme inequality in the U.S. is the result of tax-cutting ideology, which showers largesse on the GOP's deepest-pocketed supporters." Yale and Berkeley political science professors weigh in.

"With her latest show of edgy work on view in Berlin, Yoko Ono proves she can still pack a punch." Intelligent Life reviews the artist's show, Das Gift.

"Nations laid out their claims to territory in the polar North yesterday and the vast untapped mineral wealth that lies under the Arctic Ocean." The Independent reports.

"Computer simulations show that a stiff wind blowing from the east for 12 hours could have given the Israelites a land bridge that allowed them to escape Egypt over 3000 years ago."

"A newly-leaked study—which advises the German military—paints a bleak picture of the post-peak oil world, including a complete market collapse and various forms of social unrest."

"Today, the 'frankenfish'—a genetically modified salmon. Tomorrow, a 'frankenpig'? Probably." The Christian Science Monitor on the future of food in America.

How you sit and which hand you wright with may in part determine you political preferences. Recent research reveals that irrational processes account for much of our behavior.

Business and economics, not technology, are the real keys to progress in the energy frontier, says Department of Energy Under Secretary Steven Koonin.

What is intellectual property? What is privacy? These questions play out daily now, and those in a position to answer them occasionally shift their views, but the questions surrounding the […]

Two political action committees backed by former Bush political advisers Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie—American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS—have raised a combined $32 million so far this year. They raised […]

When it comes to marriage, most economists would expect that in societies with high income inequality, polygyny (one man with multiple wives) should exist. But while prosperous nations often have high income inequality, they rarely allow polygyny.

You’ve probably wondered how wildlife filmmakers are able to follow a polar bear and her cub across a year. Or get perfect close-up shots of a bear feasting on a […]

The NASA Earth Observatory posted an excellent image today of the erupting volcano Shiveluch on the Kamchatka Peninsula. This isolated part of eastern Russia is one of the most volcanically […]

The Feast Conference is a social innovation summit gathering some of the world’s most compelling thinkers and doers from a cross-disciplinary spectrum of innovation, inspiration and empowerment. Last year, The […]

The amygdala, an almond-shaped structure in the limbic system, is where the the brain processes and reacts to frightening stimuli. Because of its mechanism, our emotional responses to situations that feel dangerous are often unconscious.

Investments in areas like alternative energy sources have a negative cost differential in the short run, even though they may pay off in 20 or 30 years. And what about […]

“Brain imaging is not a very good way to test subtle distinctions [in the brain]…it’s like trying to find out something about New York City by studying New York State,” […]