Our economic system has learned to put a price to production and commerce. But it has not assessed the cost of the outsourcing of cumulative residual materials

Throughout the seventeenth century, public exhibitions of natural phenomena caused or discovered by scientists began to have a major social impact. Prints and paintings of that period show the public

Onions are essential elements to be found in our vegetable gardens. Although it makes you cry when chopping it in the kitchen, it is highly consumed in the region of Valencia either fresh and raw, deep or shallow fried, boiled, grilled or in brine. It can also be stored to be eaten all along the year

«The time has come to close the book on infectious diseases. We have basically wiped out infection in the United States». These optimistic words were addressed to the United Nations General Assembly in 1966 by William H. Stewart, the Surgeon General of the United States (leading spokesperson on matters of public health).

[caption id="attachment_1705" align="alignleft" width="200"] © J. Wagensberg[/caption] Some ideas are born and germinate in the mind but remain there, under contemplation, never making it out into the world to be tested.

The sun formed about 5,000 million years ago. Since then it has been rotating around the Milky Way, which takes around 226 million years. The Sun, like many other stars,

In the Lavansa valley and other places from l'Alt Urgell (at the Catalan Pyrenees) the figure of the trementinaire is still alive in the collective memory. As it happens with

Since Swiss astronomers Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz announced the discovery of the first extrasolar planet or exoplanet, in 1995, different research groups worldwide took up the hunt for planets

© ABC.COM The title heading today’s section is the same as the last episode of the legendary series Cosmos, in which Carl Sagan asked the following question: «We know who speaks

[caption id="attachment_25863" align="alignleft" width="200"] Photo: Jorge Wagensberg[/caption] Photo: Jorge Wagensberg[/caption]There are three necessary components for creativity of the human mind: to have a good idea, to recognise the idea is good

One of science fiction’s unfulfilled dreams was setting up settlements in other worlds. Even though there was a lot of speculation regarding space settlements when the space race was starting,

«Ointments are preparations intended for medicinal or cosmetic use»The healing power of plants has always been known. Different cultures have found in them the best way of healing. They are

In September of 2011 the 6th Science Centre World Congress was held in Cape Town, South Africa. Some of the participants, among which I was, had the privilege to make a four day visit to Welgevonden Park (meaning found well in Afrikaans).

Given its importance, it is not surprising that through evolution we have developed a system to detect the presence of salt, a system that is incorporated into the sense of taste

In ancient Greece, Empedocles stated that everything was made up of only four elements: water, fire, earth and air. It was undoubtedly the first attempt to describe the content of our universe. Over a hundred years later, Aristotle added a fifth element: ether or quintessence, which formed the stars, while the other four were the constituents of terrestrial substances.

© V. Peris i J. L. Lamadrid Picture of the Andromeda galaxy. Picture taken by the astrophotographer from the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Valencia, Vicent Peris and his

In Sarlat, the Perigord city with a splendid medieval centre, there is a sheltered market inside a desacrilised church. The reform was supervised by the architect Jean Nouvel, born in Fumèl, a nearby town. A quote from Jean Baudrillard can be read over the immense nave door: «Architecture is a mixture of nostalgia and extreme anticipation».

There are times when a story is so striking that the written article emerges unasked. In my case that particular news-story has been a catastrophist pronouncement by Stephen Hawking, stating

«The Nansen expedition claimed the most northern position man was ever known to have reached and made outstanding scientific contributions on oceanography, climate, hydrography, ice formation and the study of

A Valencian proverb says «Who plants cabbages in July will be able to eat them at anytime». This is the topic of this article, the cabbage family, very important in the Valencian fields and tables.

Lately, I met David Livingstone, Professor of Geography and Intellectual History at Queen’s University Belfast, during a symposium held at the University of Bergen where he discussed, among other things,

Nature’s complexity goes beyond human imagination. The discovery and exploitation of biodiversity has undoubtedly helped us to reach a certain level of understanding of the natural world. Even though all

Marie Curie was the first woman who ever taught in the classrooms of the Sorbonne University in Paris and the first woman to obtain the Nobel Prize.

One of the privileges of working on this section of the journal Mètode is the chance to recount the surprising things we encounter and enjoy in the plant world. And