The iconic image of Watson and Crick giving a presentation on DNA in 1953 at Cambridge University. The geneticist James Watson, who has been ostracized since public comments about black African IQ in 2007, is to auction off his 1962 prize for discovering the structure of DNA. It is expected to fetch in excess of $3 million. “Because I was an ‘unperson’ I was fired from the boards of companies,... 

A study shows that a declining sense of smell could be sign of death approaching. Flopping a simple smell test as a senior could predict one’s approaching demise, a new study shows. Thirty-nine percent of the subjects of the study, which was published on Wednesday, who failed the test died within just five years. This was compared to the 19 percent among those with moderate smell loss and just 10... 

U.S. District Judge William Paley ruled today that the NSA’s rampant violations of the Fourth Amendment are legal. He cited al-Qaeda and 9/11 when he dismissed a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union challenging the NSA’s surveillance program. Paley said the NSA program “represents the government’s counter-punch” to al-Qaeda. Despite recent evidence to the contrary, Paley... 

People wait in line with boxes to carry food from a food bank in northern New York in June. New official data show that the US government has failed to reduce the level of poverty in the country amid weak economic growth. The US Census Bureau said in an annual report on Wednesday that 46.2 million Americans are still living below the poverty line. The overall poverty rate stood at 15 percent in 2011,... 

A growing number of rootworms are now able to devour genetically modified corn specifically designed by Monsanto to kill those same pests. A new study shows that while the biotech giant may triumph in Congress, it will never be able to outsmart nature. Western corn rootworms have been able to harmlessly consume the genetically modified maize, a research paper published in the latest issue of the journal... 

Bay Area residents attempted a citizen’s arrest of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, while he gave a speech to the World Affairs Council in San Francisco on 22 October 2009. Twenty-two people were arrested for challenging Olmert directly and demanding he be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. Olmert has also faced protests at Tulane University,...