This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science, Im Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. Some people pay big bucks for a designer handbag or a luxury carand the distinctive logo that goes along with them. Now scientists have learned that other...
This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science. Im Karen Hopkin. This will take just a minute. Whats in a neck? Well, its a good place to hang a pendant or a tie. Or to rest your head. Now scientists say that by separating our heads from our bodies,...
This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science. Im Karen Hopkin. This will take just a minute. Spend any time in a bar, and sooner or later youll hear, Ill have what shes having. It sounds like a bad pickup line, but there may be an actual biological...
Have you ever bought a new electronic device, or tried a new activity, and then dropped it because you were sure you couldnt possibly master it? Well, dont give up so quickly. Researchers performed six experiments that involved subjects trying out ne...
Youd think an animal that hops would know how to land. But for a kind of frog, thats not the case. Imagine trying to catch a frog. You reach and they jump, only to land gracefully on their feet a few feet away. It was thought that all frogs moved thi...
Heres what scientists think happened, oh, about a hundred million years ago. There was this three-star system. The three linked stars were strolling through the galaxy but got too close to the giant black hole at the center. The hole swallowed one of...
Imagine if before you took each step, your guts lurched up into your throat. Well, caterpillars dont have to imaginethey take such drastic steps every day. Researchers were interested in how fluids move around inside a caterpillar. So they put one on...
The earths tropics teem with species. Theyre far more biologically diverse than the cooler parts of the planet. And scientists have credited higher temperatures and greater amounts of sunlight. But a new study claims that the secret to tropical biodi...
A couple of studies on perception. First, theres now visual data to back up the idea that everything looks kinda gray when you feel blue. Researchers examined how the retina responds to different black-and-white contrast situations. They did the test...
New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte had to leave Sundays game against Tampa in the third inning because of a strained groin. He thus slightly beat the odds. Because his injury happened after the All-Star Game, which was last Tuesday. And a new stu...
This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science. Im Steve Mirsky. Got a minute？ Whaddya get when you cross a planet with a comet? Well, HD 209458b looks like a candidate. Its a gas giant planet also called Osiris, and its orbiting so close to its st...
Clothing is so yesterday. I mean, really, what can it do? It cant pick up sound, or beep at us if somethings wrong. Or can it? M.I.T. researchers say theyve developed a fiber that would allow clothing to eventually do those things. Their study is in...
Doctors like to think that theyll turn in colleagues who are doing a particularly bad job. But its not so straightforward when physicians are faced with such a colleague, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Associati...
Some bacteria have adapted to super cold environments for millions of years. And scientists have isolated some of the essential genes that allow bacteria to tolerate their harsh living conditionsbecause these same genes might help in the creation of...
Being beautiful has its advantages. It can make you more popular, even make you seem more competent. Now, University of Haifa researchers have found that, if youre a politician, good looks will also make you seem more newsworthy. Because better-looki...
