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More on Superhabitable Worlds

https://theness.com/neurologicablog/more-on-superhabitable-worlds/

Published: October 13, 2026 14:11

It is an interesting time in human history for our understanding of life in the universe. We have the technology and basic knowledge to search for the signs of life on other planets, but we have not yet detected any. Confirmation of the high probability of…

Finally – A Carbon Nanotube Application

https://theness.com/neurologicablog/finally-a-carbon-nanotube-application/

Published: October 12, 2026 13:32

The carbon nanofiber revolution has been slower than hoped. This is one of the drawbacks of being a technophile and following tech news – you hear about exciting technology years before it is realized, and many of the tantalizing breakthroughs never come…

Optogenetics Wins 2026 Nobel in Physiology or Medicine

https://theness.com/neurologicablog/optogenetics-wins-2026-nobel-in-physiology-or-medicine/

Published: October 5, 2026 12:57

The Nobel Prize is often awarded not to researchers who made a huge discovery about how the world works, but to those who have developed techniques that improve research itself. The downstream effects of such developments are likely to be dozens or…

Butterflies Are Masters of Illusion

https://theness.com/neurologicablog/butterflies-are-masters-of-illusion/

Published: October 1, 2026 13:26

Stephen J Gould (still my favorite science essayist) wrote an excellent article in 1985 (Red Wings in the Sunset, later published in his book, Bully for Brontosaurus) about artist and naturalist Abbott Handerson Thayer. Thayer wrote about how animals use…

Dogs and Speech

https://theness.com/neurologicablog/dogs-and-speech/

Published: September 28, 2026 13:09

Dog owners (of which I am one) tend to develop a strong sense that their dogs understand what they are saying. Research actually supports this conclusion. In a 2016 study dogs were able to respond to praise words without intonation, to intonation with…

Setback For Trump’s Tampering With Science Funding

https://theness.com/neurologicablog/setback-for-trumps-tampering-with-science-funding/

Published: September 24, 2026 13:36

This is a tiny bit of good news it what has been a horrific story for American science over the last almost two years. Trump has backtracked on his attempts to politicize science funding at the NIH, and throughout the federal government. He did this…

NYT – Don’t Shill for Fake Psychics

https://theness.com/neurologicablog/nyt-dont-shill-for-fake-psychics/

Published: September 21, 2026 13:21

A recent article in the New York Times is, unfortunately, terrible journalism that ends up shilling for a fraudulent and exploitative industry. The author, Sarah Wildman, tells of her previous encounter with a medium through her unnamed cousin. Part of the…

Science Is (Partially) Socially Constructed

https://theness.com/neurologicablog/science-is-partially-socially-constructed/

Published: September 14, 2026 14:24

When you hear the phrase, “Science is socially constructed,” what does that mean to you? If you are a philosopher of science, you likely have a deep and nuanced understanding of exactly what that means. Unfortunately, in my experience, many scientists and…

Perhaps Star Trek’s Computer Voice Makes Sense

https://theness.com/neurologicablog/perhaps-star-treks-computer-voice-makes-sense/

Published: September 10, 2026 13:51

For many science fiction fans the computer voice on the Enterprise is iconic, and is, in fact, “the” voice of any computer. Majel Barrett deliberately gave the computer a stilted, monotone, mechanical voice to reflect the fact that it was a non-sentient…

Solar Is Booming

https://theness.com/neurologicablog/solar-is-booming/

Published: September 1, 2026 15:33

Solar power as a source of electricity has been on a meteoric rise, and has crossed some encouraging milestone recently. Every way you look at it, solar is booming. This is driven primarily by the decrease in the cost of adding solar power, so let’s start…

NASA’s New Roman Telescope Launches

https://theness.com/neurologicablog/nasas-new-roman-telescope-launches/

Published: August 31, 2026 12:51

On Sunday August 30, 2026, NASA successfully launched the Nancy Grace Roman space telescope aboard a Space X Falcon Heavy. This telescope has amazing capabilities and will add to our ability to study and understand the universe, with a special focus on…