The story of the laser teaches an obvious lesson about how even the most useless-seeming scientific discoveries can have an unexpected impact on our lives, but the laser was still invented with at least fuzzy applications in mind. So, let’s go back even further in the history of the laser – to Einstein.

There were two things that always seemed out of place in the parking lot of the Whole Foods in Edgewater, NJ – my little Subaru crammed in among all the luxury SUVs and the wild monk parakeets.

The last several weeks I have spent collecting leaves of my two favorite invasive plants, Viburnum dilatatum and Viburnum sieboldii as part of my dissertation research investigating the genetic diversity of these charismatic plants. My question is how did these plants escape from the comfort of their gardens and go off into the wilds of the forest?

Not too long ago, I wrote a post about lichens. In that…

I am working on a mystery. A who done it, of sorts.…

There’s a strange being inhabiting our planet. It’s made up of at least…