"Discrepancies in the Measured Expansion Rate of the Universe" Abstract: The most basic parameter in our description of the expanding Universe is the current expansion rate, given by the Hubble Constant. A mere two decades ago, the value of that constant was uncertain to a factor of two. Since then, the face of cosmology has […]

"CRISPR" "New Advances in Genetic Engineering: The Nuts, The Bolts, Frankenstein Monsters?, and Ethics"   In the last 150 years we’ve had an amazing advancement in our understanding of the genetic code that programs life. While some technologies for manipulating genes have developed in the last few decades, new programmable systems have been discovered in […]

Copernicus' Epicycles Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) is sometimes called the father of modern astronomy. He's famous for introducing to Western Europe a thorough and worked-out model of the Solar System with the Sun at the center. At the time, nearly everybody accepted Ptolemy's Earth-centered model, with planets riding on celestial spheres, and riding on epicycles inside […]