I've never been at war with salt myself.

That's better.

NASA says, "the evidence for rapid climate change is compelling".

"A few months ago, the London bartender Tony Conigliaro told me that weak cocktails can be more aromatic than stronger drinks. That observation provoked me to play with the proportions of alcohol and water in spirits and wines. Then this month, a barista showed me that I could make tastier coffee by brewing it with less ground coffee and more water. It’s true, as it turned out: Water is indeed a useful flavor enhancer, exactly because it dilutes other ingredients and can change their balance for the better."

"In the cozy confines of personal life, we rarely used the power of numbers. The techniques of analysis that had proved so effective were left behind at the office at the end of the day and picked up again the next morning. The imposition, on oneself or one’s family, of a regime of objective record keeping seemed ridiculous. A journal was respectable. A spreadsheet was creepy. And yet, almost imperceptibly, numbers are infiltrating the last redoubts of the personal. Sleep, exercise, sex, food, mood, location, alertness, productivity, even spiritual well-being are being tracked and measured, shared and displayed."

"In the second half of the nineteenth century, the cure for scurvy was lost. The story of how this happened is a striking demonstration of the problem of induction, and how progress in one field of study can lead to unintended steps backward in another."

Harold McGee (author of "On Food and Cooking") is blogging. Brilliant.

"In paleontology, a Lazarus taxon (plural taxa) is a taxon that disappears from one or more periods of the fossil record, only to appear again later."

"Although these stories are reports about medical research, they are really about computing – in the sense that neither would have been possible without the application of serious computer power to masses of data. In that way they reflect a new – but so far unacknowledged – reality; that in many important fields leading-edge scientific research cannot be done without access to vast computational and data-handling facilities, with sophisticated software for analysing huge data-sets."

"The collection of essays expands on the vision of pioneering computer scientist Jim Gray for a new, fourth paradigm of discovery based on data-intensive science and offers insights into how it can be fully realized." Free book from Microsoft Research.

"Covers technological, scientific, and cultural trends that are changing - and will change - human beings in fundamental ways."

Mr Reid's excellent Interesting talk: "Everything you know about nuclear power is wrong".

Makes me want to stop using Google Maps.

"The procession of technological discoveries is inevitable. When the conditions are right — when the necessary web of supporting technology needed for every invention is established — then the next adjacent technological step will emerge as if on cue. If inventor X does not produce it, inventor Y will."

So what is the organisation's end goal? Bowdler puts it simply: "To engage people with science who would not otherwise choose to immerse themselves in the subject."

Hilarious. Ill-advised.

"Geek Pop is the world’s only sci-pop festival - a free online music event featuring songs about science. In 2009, Geek Pop will take place between 6-15th March."

"Brilliant Noise takes us into the data vaults of solar astronomy. After sifting through hundreds of thousands of computer files, made accessible via open access archives, Semiconductor have brought together some of the sun's finest unseen moments. These images have been kept in their most raw form, revealing the energetic particles and solar wind as a rain of white noise. This grainy black and white quality is routinely cleaned up by NASA, hiding the processes and mechanics in action behind the capturing procedure."

Brilliant. Wish I'd seen this.

"Who says big ideas are rare?"

"As Borges wrote reviews of non-existent books, I have notes for essays I'll never write. Here I've collected what's been on my mind the last couple of months."

"Science groups for young professionals who don’t wear white coats, like the year-old Secret Science Club at Union Hall, are cropping up in bars and bookstores all over the country." Great idea!

"The evidence from the £12m four-year project will end years of debate and is likely to overturn government advice that eating organic food is no more than a lifestyle choice."

"A new health scare erupted over soft drinks last night amid evidence they may cause serious cell damage." Great timing.

"For years, 'Dr' Gillian McKeith has used her title to sell TV shows, diet books and herbal sex pills. Now the Advertising Standards Authority has stepped in." Nice one!

"Recent research finds that a snap decision to quit smoking cigarettes is actually two to three times more effective than planning ahead for the big day."

Gift ideas from New Scientist

" I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster." Genius.

"Margaret Atwood on why we need science fiction"

"It doesn't matter how brainy you are or how much education you've had - you can still improve and expand your mind."

Darwinian logic behind the female orgasm has remained elusive. Women can have sexual intercourse and even become pregnant - doing their part for the perpetuation of the species - without experiencing orgasm. So what is its evolutionary purpose?

"Destroying the Earth is harder than you may have been led to believe."

"These stickers and bookmarks are being introduced to increase awareness and appreciation of Charles Darwin."

"lets you zoom from satellite altitude into any place on Earth."

"Humans specialize in distraction, especially when the task at hand requires intellectual heavy lifting."

Atomic tomatoes are not the only fruit