July 3, 2017
Preserving specimens in situ for future researchers
There’s an old joke that there were five paleoanthropologists for every hominin fossil. It’s based partly on truth, which should give you an idea of the rarity of such finds. A major part of what we...
March 28, 2017
Human Mars Expeditions: Psychiatric Emergency Could be a Significant Danger
At center stage in any type of space colony is the issue of the human mind. Who is most likely to remain mentally healthy and for how long and what stressors, or series of events, can...
March 14, 2017
Colonization of the Venusian Clouds: Is ‘Surfacism’ Clouding Our Judgement?
A 1969 Star Trek episode features a floating sky city called Stratus, whose residents believe they are superior to people who live down on their planet’s surface, but real humans advocating for off-world colonization today may...
March 7, 2017
Social Learning in Animals: Implications for the Evolution of Human Intelligence
Cross-posted with the permission of Prof. Nathan H. Lents, originally posted at The Human Evolution Blog. The human capacity to learn exceeds that of any other animal. Indeed, our massive memories and impressive computing power are the...
February 28, 2017
Goldilocks and the Seven Dwarfs: Exoplanet Discovery is a Sample of What’s to Come
Not 30 years ago, there was no evidence of any planet outside our Solar System and now over 3,400 such worlds have been confirmed. These include dozens of Earth-sized –many orbiting in the “Goldilocks zone” of...
February 21, 2017
Human Germline Modification: A Frontier for Biotechnology, or A Target for Prohibitions?
The prospect of human germline modification got a boost in mid-February, with a National Academies for Science and Medicine recommendation that genome editing to preventing genetic diseases in future generations should be permissible. The recommendation came...
February 9, 2017
From Our Archives: Celebrating African Americans in STEM – Katherine Johnson
To celebrate National African American History Month, we applaud Katherine G. Johnson, a living legend in the fields of math, physics, and space science. A lifelong love affair with numbers brought Johnson from a small town...
December 28, 2016
2016 Year in Science
As 2016 comes to a close, here’s a selection of six significant science stories (by no means a complete list) for the year: Gravitational Waves Detected Arguably the biggest science story of the year is the announcement...
December 21, 2016
Hazards of Mars exploration demand top-notch wilderness medicine capabilities
If you’re considering becoming an early Mars colonist, the National Geographic Channel’s new TV series MARS is a must to watch. That’s partly because it shows you that settlers will not inhabit lavish domes on the...
December 9, 2016
John Glenn 1921-2016: NASA astronaut, US Senator, medical guinea pig, all around cool person
2016 saw public criticism that candidates pushing their early 70s would be too old to serve as US President, but 18 years ago a man took on the grueling physical stress of space flight at the age...
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