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Scientists have for the first time observed how atoms in magnesium oxide morph and melt under ultra-harsh conditions, providing new insights into this key mineral within Earth's mantle that is known to influence planet formation.

Including 'tactile emoticons' into social media communications can enhance communication, according to a new study.

In a feat aimed at understanding how cells move and creating new ways to shuttle drugs through the body, scientists say they have built a minimal synthetic cell that follows an external chemical cue and demonstrates a governing principle of biology called 'symmetry breaking.'

Engineers have created a patch that combines sensors and bacteria to interact with the body.

Engineers have created a patch that combines sensors and bacteria to interact with the body.

Researchers have used inkjet printing to create a compact multispectral version of a light field camera. The camera, which fits in the palm of the hand, could be useful for many applications including autonomous driving, classification of recycled materials and remote sensing.

A team aims to improve options for renewable energy storage through work on an emerging technology -- liquids for hydrogen storage.

Researchers have adapted a class of techniques employed in astronomy to unblur images of far-away galaxies for use in the life sciences, providing biologists with a faster and cheaper way to get clearer and sharper microscopy images.

Complex metal alloys enter a new era of predictive design for aerospace and other high-temperature applications.

Weight-loss drugs are proving their worth against addiction, high blood pressure and even depression, so let’s stop criticising them as a quick fix and start exploring their true potential

After a lifetime of avoidance, avid baker Catherine de Lange discovers that puff pastry isn't hard to make –you just need a bit of time

The Leftovers follows those left behind after 140 million people vanish, unaccountably, in The Departure. The parallels with the covid-19 pandemic are obvious in this jewel of a TV show, says Bethan Ackerley

These stunning photographs are some of the winners of this year’s Milky Way Photographer of the Year competition

Hunt for the Oldest DNA, the story of Eske Willerslev, a Danish evolutionary geneticist reconstructing ecosystems from ancient DNA, is as compelling as his scientific discoveries

Nine years after hackers targeted Ashley Madison, the dating site for wannabe adulterers, many people still don't grasp what was truly chilling about the scandal, says Annalee Newitz

Feedback looks into new research into whether air passengers need to worry about collisions with birds, and is relieved to discover no real animals were used in the experiments

Babies cannot tell us what they are experiencing, so it is hard to know what they are conscious of. But new research suggesting they perceive the world consciously could change how we care for them, says Claudia Passos-Ferreira

Michael Schindhelm's exhibition explores the possibilities and perils of living healthily for centuries – or at least much longer than today

There should be some kind of Constitutional amendment that puts up a wall between science and religion, just like the First Amendment that puts up a wall between government and religion. The incursion of religion into science is never helpful, and is often harmful. It has, for example, led to creationism. (I don’t object so much to the reverse incursion, since science has often disproven assertions of believers (creationism, Adam and Eve, the Exodus out of Egypt, and so on.) Maybe there should be a membrane that allows a one-way leakage of science into religion but prevents the reverse movement.,)

Here’s a new letter in Nature (click headline to access) noting not only the large difference in methodology between seeking “truth” in science vs. religion, but also using the high proportion of nonbelieving scientists (compared to the general public) as evidence for the incompatibility of the two areas. (Matthew sent me this to “cheer me up”.)

The link to the Conlon article is here, and that to the NAS survey is here. 

I discuss in Faith Versus Fact how the more accomplished a scientist is, the more likely they are to be nonbelievers. For example, here’s a quote from page 12 of my book:

Finally, if religion and science get along so well, why are so many scientists nonbelievers? The difference in religiosity between the American public and American scientists is profound, persistent, and well documented. Further, the more accomplished the scientist, the greater the likelihood that he or she is a nonbeliever.  Surveying American scientists as a whole, Pew Research found 33% who admitted belief in God, while 41% were atheists (the rest either didn’t answer, didn’t know, or believed in a “universal spirit or higher power”).  In contrast, belief in God among the general public ran at 83% and atheism at only 4%. In other words, scientists are ten times more likely to be atheistic than other Americans. This disparity has persisted for over eighty years of polling

When one moves to scientists working at a group of “elite” research universities, the difference is even more dramatic, with just over 62% being either atheist or agnostic, and only 23% who believed in God—a degree of nonbelief more than fifteenfold higher than the general public.

Sitting at the top tier of American science are the members of the National Academy of Sciences, an honorary organization that chooses only the most accomplished scientists in the United States. And here nonbelief is the rule: 93% of the members are atheists or agnostics, with only the remaining 7% believing in a personal God. This is almost the reverse of the data for “average” Americans.

I then go on to discuss why accomplishment as a scientist is negatively correlated with religiosity. Two explanations immediately stick out, and I think both are at play in these results. But I’ll let readers think up their own reasons.

By the way, the same pattern is seen in UK scientists. A fuil 87% of the members of The Royal Society are atheists or agnostics, while about 49% of Brits believe in God. But I think that 50% would be quite a bit higher if you added Brits who “believe in a higher power”.

 

Quantum light is key to futuristic quantum technologies, but researchers have been creating it in the same way for 60 years – now liquid crystals offer an easier way to produce it