Hunc igitur terrorem animi tenebrasque necessest […] sed naturae especies ratioque.1 Titus Lucretius Carus. De rerum natura, Liber tertius: 91-93 I always found these verses by Lucretius following his praise of Epicurus, «honour
There was a time when Homo Sapiens coexisted with other species of the same genus such as Homo neanderthalensis or Homo denisova. However all the groups were very small. Today
«Even being born results in a loud cry», Raimon sings. There are two crucial moments that demarcate human existence: birth and death. Death comes in many forms, agonising or peaceful,
I vividly remember a conversation about the importance of basic science at Harvard University with chemistry Nobel laureate Walter Gilbert. Dr. Gilbert stressed the importance of doing research in order to
If anything makes space travel particular is its roughness: fuel bursting in a controlled explosion, which, more than once, end up being uncontrolled. But space exploration based on chemical rockets is well established, it
«I chose statistics because I thought it was just more interesting, had more life to it than pure mathematics, even though I was trained mathematically». Alan Gelfand explains his passion
«Cancer will never be eradicated, because it is inherent to human beings.» Statements like this one by Mariano Barbacid (Madrid, 1949) will come as a blow for many. But that does not
Leonard Parker is Emeritus Distinguished Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He was the founder of a gravitational research center at his university. The center now has his name: Leonard
In 2012, the Royal Statistical Society issued the following question to the members of the British Parliament, probably regarding the International Year of Statistics (2013): «If you toss a coin twice,
Fra Angelico, Adoration of the Magi, ca. 1451-1453. Washington, National Gallery of Art. This article talks about some of the symbolic icons of renaissance painting and in particular the ones representing
