Antarctic Forests Dear A Moment of Science, I know that around 250 million years ago the Earth was a lot hotter than it is today. So Im wondering what that meant, exactly? How did the planet look different than it does today? Well, the Earth was diff...
Disturbed Elephants Heres a gruesome hypothetical: If you and your family were rounded up, and you were forced to watch as older relatives were killed, how would it affect you? Needless to say, youd be horrified. Youd probably also be deeply disturbe...
Invasion Of The Giant African Land Snails Like many midwesterners, it turns out that giant African land snails really love Florida. Not A Good Thing Unfortunately, giant African Land Snails are some of the worlds most destructive snails. They can gro...
What We Can Learn From A Flys Ears This may come as a surprise to you, but most flies dont have the ability to hear. However, certain parasitic flies have a hearing system that is so exact in pinpointing a sounds origin that it rivals the exceptional...
Learning Sympathy A big part of being human is feeling sympathy, but just how early on in our lives we learn this is something that scientists would like to know. From Self-Awareness To Other-Awareness Behavioral scientists know that newborns respond...
Reindeer Eyes Rudolph the reindeer is best known for his brightly colored red nose. For other reindeer, however, the most colorful thing about them is actually their eyes. Researchers have found that depending on the season, the eyes of Arctic reinde...
Is Global Warming Good For Grizzlies? Youve probably heard that climate change is bad news for many animal species like polar bears. Warmer temperatures mean less sea ice in the Arctic region. And with less ice, theres less room there is for polar be...
Why Do We Sleep? Dear A Moment of Science, Why do we sleep? I know this question has been debated by scientists and philosophers for centuries, but are there any hard and fast answers? Good question! First, its true that scientists have long pondered...
The Smell Of Anxiety Our sense of smell can have a large impact on how we think and feel. But did you know that mood can affect how we smell? When Neutral Odors Turn Bad According to a study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin Madison, feel...
Another Good Reason To Go For Thai Food Have you ever wondered why some cuisines, like Indian and Thai, are so spicy and others, like English, are so bland? India and Thailand are very hot countries, while England is cold and damp. Perhaps the answer...
Saving the World from Asteroids Okay, so theres an asteroid heading toward the Earth. What do we do? Does our future really rest in the hands of Hollywood, Bruce Willis and a ragtag team of miners like in the movie Armageddon? Early Warning Sure, we...
Humpty Dumpty Wasnt A Cat Humpty Dumpty may have sat on a wall and had a great fall, but Humpty Dumpty wasnt a cat. How do we know this? Because, unlike an egg, a cat can survive a great fall in one piece. Cats can fall from great heights and survive...
The Moving Thumb Philosophers spend a lot of time pointing out that we dont really see the world and that what we really see is what our brains make of the world. Too much of this kind of thing can make you want change your major to Business Administ...
Why We Cant Walk Through Walls Shadowcat! Shes one of the X-Men, and she can walk through walls! Unfortunately, however, Shadowcat cant be real. This is because she violates a basic law of physics that says two things cant share the same space. But a...
Working Overtime In American culture, working hard is almost always stressed as an unmitigated good. Is it possible to work too hard, though? Of course the answer is yes. But the actual mental and physical consequences of working too much are less we...
