Why Polls Don't Work
After decades of gradual improvement, the science of predicting election outcomes has hit an accuracy crisis.
Science & Technology
Ross Ulbricht, Sentenced to Life for Running Website Silk Road, Files Appeal
Defense insists Ulbricht's trial denied him a fair defense of his theory of other potential Dread Pirate Roberts', and that his life sentence was unjustified and unconscionable.
You Really Won't Believe This University Study Alleging Chocolate Milk Mitigates Concussions. And You Shouldn't.
Product placement masquerading as science
The Return of Decentralized, DIY Science
Cheaper technology is transforming scientific institutions-and it's making it easier to operate outside them too.
CancerMoonShot2020: "Perhaps the most important scientific initiative undertaken in human history"
New collaboration announced to use precision medicine techniques to cure cancer
$20 Oil Soon? Resource Depletionists Go Hide Your Heads in Shame!
How low can the slide downward from the peak of the most recent commodity super-cycle go?
Government-Funded Scientists: Never Hide Anything from the Public
Actually, science only works well when all researchers show their work
How to Chat Anonymously Online
A guide to anonymous encrypted communication in 5 easy steps.
Death Rates Rise for Young White Americans Too
It's not just midlife whites - mortality rates for whites ages 25 to 34 are also increasing
Everybody Hates Vegans, More Accurate CRISPR Gene-Editing, and Welcome to the Anthropocene
A scitech research and policy round up for January 8, 2016
As Hollywood's International Market Grows, Will Foreign Censors End Up Controlling U.S. Content?
Big movie studios are already tweaking their films, and online services like Netflix may follow.
Long, Long Ago, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away, a Star Wars Actor Wore an Atlas Shrugged T-Shirt
And people have opinions about that.
Obama Falls 600,000 Electric Cars Short, Science Advances by Funerals, and Record Wildfires?
A scitech research and policy round up for January 7, 2016
Hottest December in Satellite Record: Global Temperature Trend Update
Overall 2015 was third warmest year in satellite record
You Know Who Else Would Have Crushed Uber?
Salon praises the Germans' salutary fealty to rules, since it helped get rid of Uber.
Venezuela Bans GMOs, Utopia via the Borg Collective, and Cancer: Bad Luck or Environment?
A scitech research and policy roundup for January 6, 2016
Obama's Rainbow of Everlasting Joy: The Year in Presidential Photography
Despite an ongoing media boycott of White House staff photography, the president's image crafters still call the shots.
Biomedical Study Reproducibility Scandalously Bad, Evidence for "Free Will," and Robot Rebellion by 2055
A scitech research and policy round up for January 5, 2016
Pharmacists Can Now Prescribe Birth Control in Oregon. Why Not Make It Over-the-Counter Everywhere?
Getting government out of the way would protect women and employers alike.
Conservative Deviance Detection, CRISPR Cures Muscular Dystrophy, and Virtual Reality Ethics
A scitech research and policy roundup
The Technology That Made Nathalie Cole So Unforgettable
The late singer's massive 1991 "duet" with her dead father foreshadowed a world of musical mashups.
Ronald Bailey Talks About The End of Doom on C-SPAN Book TV
The anti-doomsaying book for this decade*
Give a Drunk (or Anyone) a Free Ride Home on New Year's Eve, Accept a Tip, Face $500 Fine
Portsmouth, NH, not amused by Free State Project participant's plan to get around their anti-Uber regulations.
If Peyton Manning Used HGH to Recover From a Broken Neck, Should We Really Care?
It's time to rethink the stigma surrounding this "performance-enhancing drug."
Bioethics: Standing Athwart Science, Yelling 'Whoa'*
I'm a bioethicist, and I am here to help slow down scientific and medical progress
With Every Call for Encryption Restrictions, Officials Make the Technology's Case
Of course secure communications frustrate governments. That's the whole idea.
Will 2016 Be a Record Year for Bitcoin?
Prices of the cryptocurrency are expected to reach a record high next year.
Biotech Company Terrorists Poison Chipotle's Food, Claims Natural News Nutjob Mike Adams
A raving anti-tech activist's conspiracy theory about Chipotle's recent E. coli outbreaks.
Should Terminal Patients Be Allowed to Try Experimental Drugs?
"Right to try" laws offer hope for people trying to save their own lives.
"Welcome Back, Baby!": SpaceX Returns Rocket to Earth
The private spaceflight company brings a reusable booster back from space and sticks the landing.
Kansas Couple Whose Tea Was Mistaken for Marijuana Loses Suit Over Fruitless Raid
Robert and Adlynn Harte argued that cops should have known field tests are unreliable.
The End of Doom Is the Anti-Doomsaying Book for This Decade
So says Purdue University President Mitch Daniels in the Wall Street Journal
CRISPR Gene-Editing Is Scientific "Breakthrough of the Year"
"If scientists can dream of a genetic manipulation, CRISPR can now make it happen"
Good Stuff Comes from the Bottom Up
How culture, economies, technology, and government evolve
Uber, Lyft Drivers in Seattle Given Legal Go-Ahead to Unionize
How might union worker protection policies work along with a community-rating app system?
Rep. Thomas Massie and 14 Colleagues File Amicus Brief in Case Regarding Barring Distribution of 3D Weapon Printing Files
Massie's brief argues State Department claiming powers to halt speech related to 3D weapon printing that the relevant law does not, and cannot, give.
Facebook Check Wouldn't Have Stopped San Bernardino Terrorists, No Matter What GOP Candidates Say
Did an Obama-administration policy prevent the feds from looking at Tashfeen Malik's social-media profiles? Yes and no.
Slate Says "Upwing" With The End of Doom by Ronald Bailey
Forget Right and Left: Are You an Upwinger or a Downwinger?
