Could an understanding of how our bodies adapt to changing conditions be applied to predicting whether a business will thrive, a bank collapse or a stockmarket go from boom to bust? Building on theoretical work begun in the 1980s, Alexander Gorban and his colleagues at the University of Leicester think they have the answer to that question and it is in the affirmative. Gorban's work can explain what happens when resources are almost exhausted. He points out that one might see this as the "Anna Karenina ... Read on and comment...

What would you rather be skeptical and healthy or gullible and ill? I know which one I'd choose. Sometimes though, it seems that the "conversations" in which one can become embroiled on the internet suggests that too many people have the opposite point of view. They prefer to believe that there is some kind of conspiracy to poison us and that the only true way is an organic, all-natural approach to food and health. But in the industrialised world, organic and all-natural are myths, the very ... Read on and comment...

Luck, karma, fortune, fate - all arbitrary definitions of coincidence, chance, and probable outcomes. Lucky 7s, unlucky Friday the thirteenths, black cats, walking under ladders, four-leaf clovers, rabbits feet. All nonsense. Charms, amulets, omens, portents of dooms, scattered tealeaves, animal guts, runic readings, palmistry, crystal balls, astrology, tarot, and while we're here prayers to ethereal beings in the sky. All nonsense. But, there are genuine ways to improve your lot without recourse to quasi-supernatural forces. Here are 7 posts that may or may not be lucky for some on this ... Read on and comment...

If you're having a baby scan, rest assured there's nothing to worry about here, this piece of research is about high-energy ultrasound. The difference is like comparing a research laser beam to the light from a cheap flashlight... Anyway, according to Ken Suslick, when high-intensity ultrasound passes through a liquid, the expansion wave of the sound can create isolated bubbles, which can be driven into implosive collapse. Under the right conditions, the collapse of the bubble is so extreme that light is emitted in a ... Read on and comment...