Scientists have found zombie ants in the Brazilian rainforests. How can that be? The ants are infected by a fungus. As a matter of fact, scientists have just found four new species of the zombie creating fungus, Ophiocordyceps. You are telling me the...
Yael: Today, we're talking penguin eggs. 今天，我们来谈下企鹅的蛋。 Don: Why? 为什么？ Y: Penguins lay their eggs on hard surfaces near coastlines, or they might dig burrows if the soil permits. And because they're optimized for swim...
Amanda: I'm so exhausted, Mike. I've been shopping in gazillion department stores with my mom throughout the week. We're planning on renovating our house, so we're looking for everything from new furniture to curtains and carpets for all the rooms. 我...
Last month, our English Department invited a local radio star to deliver a public lecture on the topic of media influence on society. He described the tug of war that has been going on in recent years between newspapers on real live paper (my words f...
By calculating how old the rocks are where we find these ancient compasses, we can figure out how long ago the magnetized parts were locked in. That tells us which direction was magnetic north tens of thousands of years ago. Surprisingly, its not alw...
Youre a polar explorer and youve just reached the north pole. The huskies are yapping, the cameras are ready and youre just about to unfurl the flag when, all of a sudden, the north pole becomes the south pole. Imagine your chagrin. Okay, so it doesn...
Older cultures like the Babylonians used a marker of some sort to designate the space where no number goes, such as what comes between six and nine in the number six hundred and nine. The Greeks even used a round figure similar to the modern zero. It...
Did you know that the number zero was discovered by Hindu mathematicians around the sixth century? What? That's crazy! Zero is just a number. It's not something that you have to discover, just there. Well, actually what I mean is isn't it there？ Th...
Every so often, however, that regular motion is interrupted. Think of what happens when you stir that bubbling soup. It takes a few minutes for things to settle down and the regular pattern of bubbling to resume. Thats probably what happens inside ea...
On a previous show we discussed how, every 200,000 years or so, the north and south poles switch places. Not that the places themselves moverather, the entire magnetic field of the earth flips around, resulting in the pole we now call north being on...
The way paper tears is related directly to how it is made. Most paper is made from wood fibers. Logs are chopped into wood chips, mixed with water and chemicals, and run through a process that separates the wood fibers. The soupy mush that results is...
Scientists have found that mindfulness meditation, known as Samatha Meditation, could be reducing the pain that people experience. Fifteen research subjects given 120 degrees Fahrenheit heat pulses found the pain fifty-seven percent less unpleasant a...
The most common reason for heartburn is eating too much, so acid overflows into the esophagus. Lying down with a full stomach makes it worse because gravity cant help keep the acid in. And greasy foods, caffeine, alcohol, and chocolate all increase a...
But youre still smacking your foot directly on the ground, without any padding. Wouldnt this lead to more foot injuries? Possibly. And, of course, it takes time to develop calluses on your feet thick enough to make barefoot running comfortable. And I...
Running shoes are carefully designed to cushion your feet and provide arch support and padding and all that stuff. Run without shoes and youll tear up your foot on rocks and pebbles. But studies have shown that running shoes can do more harm than goo...
