A Moment of Science
Episodes
Come Springtime, Thank Phytochromes
07 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When Spring has finally sprung, make sure to thank phytochromes for making it all possible.
The Acidification Of The Oceans
06 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Carbon dioxide production impacts our planet's air, but how is it affecting our oceans?
Wise Owls
05 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We've all heard the phrase "wise old owl," but are these animals really deserving of the description?
Do Hummingbirds Hibernate?
04 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Many animals are able to sleep through harsh winters, helping them to conserve energy. Recently, scientists have been looking into whether hummingbird...
Saccadic Suppression
03 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What is saccadic suppression, and how does it help us in our daily lives?
Cadmium And The Flu
30 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How does cadmium interact with pathogens in the body? Scientists show this could be a potentially dangerous combination.
Glacial "Sawdust": The Colorful Components Of Mountain Lakes
29 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What makes mountain lakes so colorful? Today's A Moment of Science tells us more.
Colors And The Brain
28 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How exactly do we perceive color? A team of researchers set out to find the answer.
Ravens: Avian Einsteins
27 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The brainpower of ravens can't be denied. Now, scientists are looking into new behaviors and what insights they might provide for corvid communication...
How Do Birds Navigate Migration?
26 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Bird migration is a well-documented phenomenon, but how are they able to make their annual journey?
Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Makers
23 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On today's A Moment of Science, we look into the science behind what makes old-fashioned ice cream makers work.
Can We Farm On Mars?
22 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As we look to the future of space travel and the potential to step foot on Mars, many important questions need to be asked to see this dream become re...
How To Heave Your Guts
21 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We've often heard the phrase "heaving your guts," but are humans the only ones who can do so?
The Chemistry Of Line-Dried Laundry
20 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There's nothing quite like the smell of fresh laundry. Some chemists were curious, what exactly is that smell?
Why Do We Love Junk Food?
19 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Why does eating bad food feel so good? Our evolutionary history might tell us more.
Reflex Tears
16 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes it can feel like tears spring to your eyes. What exactly are reflex tears, and how can they be beneficial?
Animal Pain
15 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
People often project human emotions onto their pets, but humans and animals might be more similar in how we experience pain than previously thought.
Ants and Superstrength
14 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How did ants get to be so strong? The answer might lay in their evolution.
The Baby Schema
13 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Why do humans often find "awkward" features cute? Scientists looking into the baby schema provide some insight.
Consider The Kumquat
12 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever wanted a healthier alternative to gummy candy? Then perhaps you should consider the kumquat.
What's Up With That Fake Grape Flavor?
09 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever wondered why your grape-flavored snacks never seem to really taste like grape?
Persistent Monkeys
08 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We are often told "if at first you don't succeed, try try again." But are humans the only ones who think so?
Hurricanes And Global Climate Change
06 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When humans burn fossil fuels, some specific gases released trap the sun’s heat, and cause global climate change by the greenhouse effect. The warmi...
Bilingual Brain
05 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to speak more than one language? Would it be hard to talk without mixing up the languages?
What's In A Moo?
02 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For many of us, cattle lowing in the distance sounds like the mere background music of a bucolic country scene. Cows, however, don’t talk without ha...
Smells And Memories
01 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When you step outside and sense the transition from autumn to winter, or notice signals of a fast‑approaching spring, you likely experience a feelin...
What Kangaroos Can Tell Us
31 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In recent experiments, scientists think that kangaroos have the ability to communicate simply by gazing at human researchers.
Calypso Orchid: A Lure And A Tease
30 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The calypso orchid is one of the most eye‑catching little flowers you'll see on forest floors across the Northern United States, Canada, and Europe....
The Alcohol Clouds Of Outer Space
29 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There’s a joke that asks, “Where do astronauts go for a drink?” The answer is, “The space bar!” But in the distant future, you might ask tha...
Natural Artificial Flowers
26 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There's a type of mustard plant, called "Holboell's rockcress" which naturally grows a dainty, light blue flower atop its narrow stem. Sometimes you'l...
Flight Loss
25 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Most insects fly—but, across millennia, many species have lost the ability. Island dwelling insects have been especially prone to this evolutionary ...
Can A Theory Evolve Into A Law?
24 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists get a little weary of some people saying that the fact that evolution is a theory means that modern science itself isn't convinced it reall...
How Wolves Feed Their Kids
23 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Wolves are predators that hunt and kill large mammals, such as deer. During the season that they rear their pups, they kill prey and bring it back to ...
What Is Rewilding?
22 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Rewilding is a term coined in the 1990s by those working in conservation and environmental activism. It refers to large-scale wilderness recovery that...
Onions Are Toxic To Your Pets
19 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
You may already know that chocolate can be lethal to your pet, but did you know that onions can be toxic to your cats and dogs too? And I'm not just t...
Baby-Talking Bats
18 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
“Baby talk,” or “motherese,” might not be a language with any native speakers, but most humans seem suddenly fluent in it in certain situation...
Hearing A Shape
17 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The first picture an expecting mother is likely to see of her developing fetus is not, technically, a picture at all. Most likely, it's an ultrasound ...
The Oldest Ballistic Tongue
16 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Part of the appeal of chameleons lies in their ability to fire their long sticky tongues out of their mouths to capture insects to eat. Scientists rec...
Red-Eyed Pictures
15 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Some photos appear normal, except for an unearthly red color glowing from the pupils of your loved ones' eyes. Are Grandma and Uncle Felix possessed, ...
Dogs Don’t Recognize Faces Like Humans Do
12 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The human brain is exquisitely tuned to identify faces and facial expressions, which are so important to human social interaction. Researchers have fo...
The Breathless Parasite
11 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Pretty much everyone knows that oxygen is a fundamental requirement for life as we know it, but oddly enough that’s not entirely right. There are ma...
How Do Birds Survive Hurricanes?
10 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ecologists go in search of birds displaced by hurricanes that make landfall along the coastal wetlands of the southern U.S. The abundant plant life th...
Earth's First Parasite
09 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 2020 paleontologists found the oldest fossil evidence of a parasite ever, in 540 million-year-old rocks in Yunnan Province, China.
Brachiation
08 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s A Moment of Science examines brachiation, which is how apes and monkeys swing through the trees. Orangutans, spider monkeys, and chimpanzees...
AI Antibiotics
05 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Bacteria are evolving the ability to resist some of our most important antibiotics. Unless something is done, resistant strains of bacteria may kill 1...
The Parasite That Eavesdrops On Its Host
04 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 2020, an international team of researchers made an important discovery about a parasite called a dodder. Dodders are a group of over a 100 parasiti...
Did Life On Earth Begin In Hot Springs?
03 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The molecular working parts of living things are complex organic molecules with a backbone of carbon atoms. Some scientists think that hot springs mig...
Frogs Can Breathe Through Their Skin
02 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Cutaneous respiration is the ability to breathe through the skin, and is a common trait in amphibians, although humans can't do it.
Failing Better
01 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Some scientists have an exact figure for how much failure is optimal for learning: they say that learning is most effective when it involves failure 1...
Why Is U.S. Money Green?
26 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We use money all the time, but have you ever wondered why U.S. banknotes are green? After A Moment of Science researchers did some investigating into ...
More Wolves, Taller Willows
25 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The willows in Yellowstone National Park used to commonly grow up to 157 inches tall. But in the 1990s, most willows in the northern part of the park ...
Earth's Climate History
24 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If we understood how Earth's climate has changed over its long geological history, we could better understand modern climate change. In 2020, geoscien...
The Germ-Killing Power Of Copper
23 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The ancient Egytians used copper to sterilize wounds and clean their drinking water. They even wrote about it in one of the oldest known medical texts...
How Does Crop Rotation Work?
22 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Crop rotation involves a lot of questions, like a puzzle. There are so many different crops that farmers can choose to plant, and so many different co...
Mollusks Reveal The Length Of A Day
19 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Rudist clams were around in the late Cretaceous and are extinct today. Their fossils can tell us a lot of surprising things, such as the length of a d...
The New Tree In Town
18 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When a gardener digs up a tree or shrub in one place and transplants it to another, the plant will endure all sorts of stress. It’s common for trans...
Shrinking Eyespots On Butterflies
17 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The eyes on the wings of a butterfly can look kind of strange, but they're not looking at you, they're just a deflecting mechanism. Like a lot of butt...
Phosphine: A Sign Of Life On Venus
16 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 2020 an international team of astonomers made a surprising discovery using the James Clerk Maxwell telescope in Hawai'i. They found evidence that t...
A Drop In Temperature
15 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When you take your temperature, we hope to find that we have a normal temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. This might not be as normal as we think,...
The Discovery Of A New Organ
12 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A team of Swedish biomedical researchers have just discovered a new organ in the bodies of mice, and they expect that humans have it, too. They missed...
Bridging The Gibbon Divide
11 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When a landslide in China created a treeless gully in a forest, the apes who lived there had to leap dangerously across, or take a long detour through...
The Loneliness Of Social Distancing
10 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
During times of mandatory isolation, like COVID-19 “social distancing”, countless people experience loneliness, but our craving for social contact...
Thiophenes On Mars: Evidence Of Past Life?
09 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Thiophenes are compounds of carbon, hydrogen, and sulfur. Their molecules contain a ring of four carbon atoms and one sulfur atom. They are found in c...
Do Elephants Grieve Their Dead?
08 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There are documented accounts by scientists of elephants' interest in the bodies of their dead. In 2019 a team of American researchers added their own...
The Rusty Moon
05 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 2020, a team of American scientists reported the first remotely sensed evidence of the mineral hematite on Earth's moon. The researchers made their...
Is Your Dog Anxious?
04 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sensitivity to loud noises, like thunder or fireworks, is the most common kind of anxiety for dogs. In fact, researchers at the University of Helsinki...
Where Did Penguins Come From?
03 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists have mulling over the origin of the penguin. And after sequencing the genome of the 18 species of penguins that exist today, they have a pr...
Foxing
02 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you visit an archive with scrolls, illuminated manuscripts, or old books on display, you might notice a particular kind of round, yellowish, or ora...
The Danger of Supervolcanoes
01 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Just like the impact of an asteroid or a comet, the explosion of a volcano can be a major disaster. 39,000 years ago the Campi Flegrei volcano blew up...
Whale Migration Molting
29 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Some animals go to great lengths to exfoliate. Some scientists think that the reason some whale species make their long migration is to shed their ski...
Was Earth Once A Waterworld?
28 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Many astronomers think that exoplanets circling distant stars might be waterworlds, but maybe we don't need to look that far away. In 2020 two America...
The Difference In Our Gestures
27 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Do we learn gestures by watching others make them? Or do our patterns of gesture originate from language itself?
Is The Great Barrier Reef Dying?
26 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Great Barrier Reef is that gigantic coral reef off the coast of Queensland, Australia, and it may be dying. This reef is the largest biological st...
Spaghettification by Black Hole
25 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Here’s a joke for astronomy buffs: what’s a black hole’s favorite meal? Spaghettification! Of course, the joke only makes sense if you know what...
Rejuvenating Human Cells
22 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Science has done some amazing things, but nobody really knows if it could ever extend our life span, or eliminate aging entirely. Recently, a team of ...
Dolphin Best Friends
21 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Male dolphins hang out with acquaintances and family, but they also spend a lot of time with their best friend. Adult male bottlenose dolphins often b...
A Rainforest In Antarctica
20 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
92 million years ago, during the time of the dinosaurs, there was a rainforest in Antarctica. This isn't due to the movement of continents on Earth's ...
House Cat Versus Predators
19 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The hunting abilities of house cats are pretty impressive. They look so cute and cuddly, and then they turn out to be ferocious killers. A lot of peop...
Brussel Sprouts Really Are Good For You
18 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Over the years, Brussels sprouts and broccoli have developed a bad reputation as unappetizing health food. In spite of this, they are some of the most...
The Many Colors Of Bell Peppers
15 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The bell pepper is one of the most popular vegetables in the world (even though it’s technically a fruit). Its deeply pigmented, shiny skin advertis...
How Butterflies Keep Their Wings Cool
14 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 2020 an interdisciplinary team of American researchers published a study on how butterflies keep their wings cool. Using a specialized infrared cam...
Megalodon: The Largest Shark That Ever Lived
13 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The largest shark that ever lived is called Otodus megalodon. Its teeth were as big as a human hand. The oldest fossil evidence dates from 20 million ...
Serving Up Nuclear Pasta
12 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Neutron stars can form when a giant star goes supernova. During a supernova, the star’s core collapses, and the remaining protons and electrons get ...
The Science Of Narrative Structure
11 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Even very different kinds of books share some common characteristics, like the pattern of their function words. These are the short connector words su...
Dinosaur For Dinner
08 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Chewed up dinosaur bones are a pretty common find in Colorado's Mygatt-Moore Quarry. According to a recent story, about 29% of 2,368 dinosaur bones re...
Do Praying Mantises Change Color?
07 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Mantises display subtle shades of color that sometimes allow them to disappear into their habitats, where you might find them perching on a blade of t...
Facebook And The Emergency Department
06 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Social media can be addictive, and sometimes it's better to cut back on use. But it isn't necessarily all bad. It can tell us some surprising things a...
How Chinchillas Stay Clean
05 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Chinchillas are sometimes singled out as being particularly adorable and fascinating. Chinchillas are native to the Andes Mountains. To survive the co...
The Australian Wildfires: An Ecological Disaster
04 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Near the beginning of 2020 massive wildfires ravaged Australia.The fires peaked in intensity during December and January. Damage to Australian ecosyst...
The Early Bird Gets The Girl
01 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone might enjoy waking up to birdsong, but not at 4am. So what is making birds start their singing at this less idyllic time?
How Eureka Moments Can Warp Our Judgement
31 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A eureka moment is an experience where a solution or idea suddenly appears in your mind and immediately feels true. One reason eureka experiences are ...
The Powerful Pistol Shrimp
29 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Today we will consider a small but mighty creature called the pistol shrimp. It's a ferocious animal, known for its claws, one of which is a normal pi...
The Gestures In Our Voices
28 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When we talk to people on the phone who we know well, we can often predict their physical gestures while they're talking, even if we can't see them. T...
A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall
26 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Some days rain falls in a light, calm sweep across the earth. On other days rain falls in a torrential downpour, flooding the ground below. So, what c...
Ancient Gum
04 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
At one Stone-Age-era archaeological site in southern Denmark on the island Lolland all of the artifacts have been sealed in mud since the Mesolithic p...
Will Dogs Really Rescue Humans?
03 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Cooperation and mutual aid can help animals survive and reproduce, and in these circumstances evolution can promote helpful and unselfish behavior. A ...
Aluminum, Phosphate, Lead and Water
02 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Too much lead is always a cause for concern, and scientists are still learning about how lead interacts with other substances. Take aluminum and phosp...
Rediscovering the Nose-Horned Lizard
01 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Many years ago, it seemed like there was so much biodiversity out there, with all kinds of new plants and animals to discover. Now it seems like every...
Are There Active Volcanoes On Venus?
30 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The surface of Venus is dotted with ring-like structures named coronae, produced by volcanic activity. They appear to be much like the Hawaiian island...
Neanderthals and Fertility
27 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Some of us have Neanderthal genes, and there's nothing wrong with that. There's research showing that women with a certain gene variant, or allele, in...