Free Speech Zone

What is a scientist? Ask a dozen people that question and you will get at least eight answers. (And that's even if those 12 happen to be scientists.)
Heroes aren't always cops, soldiers or scientists. Sometimes they are the wives of scientists. Here's one worth remembering.
Science media is fractured. But other tribes, like environmental activists, have clearly been successful and have put aside their differences and flourished by working together. What separates them from us? 
A few folks from the University of Rochester got together and analyzed the recorded sounds of ice when dropped into a glacier borehole in Antarctica. As to what caused the odd sounds of plummeting ice, their research found that the answer centers around sound dispersion in acoustic waveguides.
Ron Swanson, a character from the TV "Parks and Recreation," can teach us valuable, practical lessons about science and culture this holiday season.
Gases are being now infused into various beverages, especially coffee and beer for a variety of reasons. But there is a viral video of two maniacs who tried "helium-infused beer." If they were looking for laughs they succeeded mightily. But is it real?
The "wellness" platform is the sexy new term added to our lexicon.  Wellness clinics and gurus have hijacked medicine and have gone so far as creating fake medical problems to manipulate the public.  It's time to out them for the hacks that they are.
Netflix has declined to carry the agriculture documentary called "Food Evolution", for reasons they refused to specify. Like all documentaries, it is clearly a passion project so when disappointments like that happen, passions run high as well, and lots of speculation occurs among the fans. Some believe it's a conspiracy against science, that Netflix is politically aligned with the groups who make their money scaring people about food. (1) Others give them a pass and say science documentaries are probably just not a draw for their audience.
A dose of science weirdness involving falling mice, a dishonest eatery that foolishly mocks chemistry ... and a truly stimulating coffee – if you get our drift.
To stay in business, media outlets need viewers. So they give readers what they want, which apparently consists largely of pointless political bickering, epic acts of stupidity and naked people.
Out-of-the-ordinary items of interest, including a young, popular fitness blogger killed by a cannister of whipped cream.
When our readers get upset, we hear it. The insults fly: Liar. Jerk. Sock puppet. Propagandist. Criminal. Corporate slut, to name just a few. And in a recent Op-Ed in the Baltimore Sun we explained why Wi-Fi is safe. That's when the pitchforks came out.