Understanding the laws of physics can often help us get closer to the secrets behind a world record or a gold medal haul In a…
Scientists master the art of piquing public interest

Be it Higgs Boson or Mars, smart communication makes complex theories fascinating In the past month, two major scientific events captured the public’s mind and…
Information is not knowledge

An average individual today receives in one hour the amount of data that a 17th-century person received in a lifetime Is the flood of information…
Make reading an integral part of your daily routine

Books are losing out to smartphones, internet and television in the arab world Last December, we Arabs were shocked to hear that we (on average)…
Science plays an integral role in policymaking

Obama and romney show marked ideological and agenda differences on subject The US presidential election has heated up with three debates between Barack Obama and…
The Mayan doomsday story is not only wrong, but culturally dangerous

The Mayan doomsday story is not only wrong, but culturally dangerous If you are reading this today (Friday, Dec. 21, 2012), then obviously the world…
The myth of good luck and bad superstitions

People should be made aware of the fallacies of irrational beliefs Barely have we buried the doomsday global scare that we’ve run into another irrational…
Dangers to Earth must be considered rationally

Let there be no reasoning errors and biases in judging nature’s wrath and dealing with them On February 15, one asteroid zipped past Earth at…
Plug brain drain by giving talent a chance to flourish

people need opportunities for professional, financial and personal development Last month, an intriguing piece of news came up on my screen: A group of US…
How ‘big data’ is changing our lives

Smart communication makes complex theories fascinating, but beware the pitfalls From pre-historic days till 2003, humanity produced five exabytes (million gigabytes) of data, through texts,…
Are robots about to change humanity?

Progress in artificial intelligence is driving robots to a new level of intelligence and sophistication Last week, a video of a robot trying to stop…
Training for earthquakes is the key

Apart from concentrating on earthquake engineering and human readiness, there isn’t much we can do right now When earthquake struck on April 16, I was…