2015, the year that was: Science + Technology

Dec 21, 2015 00:15 am UTC| Technology Science

This year came and went almost as fast as NASAs New Horizons probe zipped past the distant dwarf planet, Pluto. Yet New Horizons managed to pack a lot into its flyby, revealing astounding images of Pluto that show it to be...

SpaceX Plans Launch Of Upgraded Falcon 9

Dec 17, 2015 05:12 am UTC| Technology Science

SpaceX scheduled a static fire test of the Falcon 9s first stage engines at Cape Canaveral, Florida on December 16. Florida Today reported that SpaceX lifted a Falcon 9 rocket vertical on its launch pad Wednesday, but as...

How a simple observation from the 1800s about patterns in big data sets can fight fraud

Dec 10, 2015 11:29 am UTC| Insights & Views Science

Benfords law was first mentioned by the American scientist Simon Newcomb in the 1880s, when he noticed that in books of tables of logarithms, the pages of numbers whose leading digit was 1 were more worn than the pages of...

In the driver's seat of evolution

Dec 08, 2015 02:26 am UTC| Insights & Views Science

Humans have had a profound influence over evolution; ours and the evolution of many other species. So much so today that we are without doubt in the drivers seat of evolution for many species, including our own. Weve...

Why treat gene editing differently in two types of human cells?

Dec 07, 2015 16:21 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science

At the conclusion of the recent International Summit on Human Gene Editing in Washington, DC, its organizing committee released a much-anticipated statement recommending how human genetic engineering should be regulated....

Debate on whether we should use gene-editing technology is far from black and white

Dec 03, 2015 01:59 am UTC| Insights & Views Science Law

Arguments in favour of embracing gene editing focus on how it can deliver cheap treatments and cures for some truly awful medical conditions. They contest banning the technology based on all the good it can do for people,...

Explainer: why is the night sky black?

Dec 02, 2015 11:55 am UTC| Science

It sounds obvious. Thats what night is. The sun has set and when you look up at the sky, its black. Except where theres a star, of course. The stars are bright and shiny. But wait. Imagine you are deep in a forest. All...