Culture or Neurons?

By Susan Okie Mar 9, 2012 What accounts for our species' self-consciousness and awareness of our mortality, for our impulses to create art, to cling to our memories of childhood, to believe in a deity? Two new books suggest distinct approaches to such elemental questions.What accounts for our species' self-consciousness and awareness of our mortality, for our impulses to create art, to cling to our memories of childhood, to believe in a deity? Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

Scientists Say T. Rex Had Three-Ton Bite

Staff / Truthdig Mar 1, 2012 And now for a brief bit of dinosaur geekery: Researchers at the University of Manchester had the fun job of putting together a computer model of a Tyrannosaurus rex skull that gave them a clearer idea about the bygone species' bite, which turns out to be more impressive than previously believed. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Presenting: Sperm in a Test Tube

Staff / Truthdig Mar 25, 2011 They've gone and done it, those crafty scientists: As reported by Nature (as in the publication), a team of Japanese researchers has successfully cultivated "fully developed sperm" from "immature mouse testicles." And they're not just showing off. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Where Have All the Flowers Gone? Flower Heaven

Staff / Truthdig Jul 7, 2010 As much as one-third of all flowering plants face extinction at the hands of humans, according to new research -- and that's not even factoring in climate change. Such a die-off would have a devastating impact on the food chain. As one of the researchers put it, "if you get rid of [plants] you get rid of a lot of the things above them." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Disgruntled Professor’s Murderous Past

Staff / Truthdig Feb 14, 2010 Adding to the sensationalism, reports are showing that accusations of lethal violence against Harvard-educated biology professor Amy Bishop, arrested Friday in the killing of three at the University of Alabama, are not new. In 1986, accordingly to The New York Times, Bishop shot her brother to death, putting an additional twist on the Alabama carnage. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Render Unto Darwin That Which Is Darwin’s

Chris Hedges / Truthdig May 12, 2008 The New Atheist writers from Richard Dawkins to E.O. Wilson to Sam Harris have become the high priests not of science but the cult of science. Dig deeper ( 8 Min. Read )

Source of Faulty Iraq Weapons Claims Revealed

Staff / Truthdig Nov 4, 2007 Meet Rafid Ahmed Alwan, otherwise known as "Curve Ball" in intelligence circles. He's an Iraqi defector who apparently won himself a green card with his fabricated claims about Saddam Hussein's regime harboring biological weapons, which became the CIA's (and Colin Powell's) key justification for the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

GAO: U.S. Vulnerable to WMD Attack

Staff / Truthdig Feb 28, 2007 Despite spending billions of dollars, the United States is woefully unprepared for an attack involving either chemical or biological weapons, according to a report recently declassified by the Government Accountability Office. The strain of the Iraq war has contributed to problems with staffing, equipping and training the military units expected to respond in the event of such a crisis. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Men Have Biological Clocks Too

Staff / Truthdig Sep 5, 2006 A group of U.S. and UK researchers have suggested that children born to older fathers are likelier to develop autism. The study of 132,271 Israeli children implies the possibility that men also have time constraints on procreation. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Study: Sperm Quality Deteriorates With Age

Staff / Truthdig Jun 7, 2006 It apparently isn't just women who have a biological clock. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

McClellan Wants Media to Apologize for Trailers Story

Staff / Truthdig Apr 13, 2006 The White House spokesman said news networks should apologize for reporting on the Washington Post's story about the phony Iraqi weapons trailers. But when reporters quizzed him on what Bush knew and when he knew it, McClellan ducked the question. Dig deeper

Bush Pushed Discredited Iraqi Weapons Trailers Claim

Staff / Truthdig Apr 12, 2006 Bush claimed that two small trailers found after the invasion of Iraq vindicated his claim of banned WMDs--but intelligence officials had already concluded that the trailers were bogus. The Washington Post has the scoop. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )