A Moment of Science

Otter heroes with a secret mission

04 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The carefree southern sea otters of central California’s coast have had a secret mission: working to fight the devastating loss of kelp forests due ...

What animals will thrive in the next century?

03 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers used statistical tools to forecast which characteristics the animals of the future will likely have.

Parenting styles and telomeres

31 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Research suggests there's a link between parenting styles and health effects later in life

Saved by the boil

30 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As any aficionado will tell you, water can be just as important as the tea leaves themselves when it comes to a good brew.

Why are glass bottles different colors?

29 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If the color of the bottles was significant enough to control how they’re recycled, then surely the color was more than cosmetic. So what's the reas...

The future of New Zealand's birds

28 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Because of the isolation, New Zealand has evolved a unique set of animals dominated by abundant bird species found nowhere else.

A matter of preference

27 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Exposure to music, art, and architecture can have a formative impact on our sense of self.

Humans aren't unique when it comes to fingerprints

24 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Fingerprints might be unique to one person, but they aren't unique to one species.

The starch difference

23 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever made rice that was perfectly fluffy and then the next day, taken it out of the fridge only to find it hard and crumbly?

How do our organs heal themselves?

22 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Normally, when tissue gets injured, cells start replicating and make new tissue. But what about the heart?

Benjamin Franklin and his fabric swatches in the snow

21 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In a letter written in 1761, Benjamin Franklin tells how he collected some little squares of broadcloth. Franklin wanted to demonstrate that these col...

Extremophiles go to the ends of the Earth and thrive there

20 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Just like Goldilocks, humans have searched for a place that's "just right" to live in. That's not the same for all species, though.

Colors and their opposites, with paint

17 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We usually think of paint as a substance that adds color to things. But, from a physical point of view, paint works by taking colors away.

Why do people grunt when playing tennis?

16 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tennis players are known for the loud grunts they make during a game. Why do they do it?

Could being a dog person be in your genes?

15 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 2019 a team of Swedish and British scientists published a study claiming that whether we chose to own a dog may be influenced by our genes.

Graphene and faster computer chips

14 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Physicists are searching for new materials with better semiconductor properties so that computers can continue to improve.

Where the sky isn't blue

13 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We just covered why the sky is blue, but there are a few areas without color above us.

What makes the sky blue?

10 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It can't be the atmosphere, or dust, or water droplets. So what makes the sky blue?

Temperature: A key variable in making the perfect cup of coffee

09 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Water temperature is a major element of quality control in making coffee. Why exactly is temperature important?

A rattlesnake's rattling trick

08 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rattlesnakes modulate their rattling frequency to trick other animals into thinking the distance between them is shorter than it really is.

Cud-chewing monkeys

07 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Proboscis monkeys from Borneo and cows do have something in common: they both chew their cuds.

Rain in this desert is deadly

06 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Atacama Desert in Northern Chile is the driest desert on Earth. The only life there is microbial, and researchers study it to get an idea of what ...

What inspired the Lorax?

03 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

One study proposes that this “sort of a man” described as “shortish, and oldish, and brownish and mossy” could have been inspired by the patas...

"Terror beasts" of the early Cambrian

02 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Paleontologists constantly search for new species of fossilized creatures from the distant past to expand our understanding of the history of life on ...

How do mosquitoes find us?

01 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mosquitoes always seem to find us, no matter how hard we try to get away. How do they do it?

Rain on the rear window

30 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The next time you're driving during a rain shower, glance back at the rear window. You'll notice that while raindrops batter the front windshield, the...

A giant bee, rediscovered

29 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Megachile pluto, commonly called “Wallace’s giant bee” is the world’s largest bee. And perhaps its most elusive.

Do you start your day with tea or coffee?

26 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Do you prefer the jolt of coffee or a more gentle start to your day with tea?

When every day is opposite day for your organs

25 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Situs inversus totalis means that all the organs, blood vessels, and nerves in the chest and abdomen are flipped to the opposite side.

Why do square waves happen?

24 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Normally you’d just see waves coming in parallel to the shore. But what if there were also waves moving perpendicular to the shore?

Humans have been hanging out with cats for almost 10,000 years

23 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A grave in Cyprus from 7500 BC shows a furry feline and human owner buried together. It’s the oldest known site of a tame cat.

Prehistoric air conditioning

22 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How did dinosaurs keep themselves cool?

Genetic mutation and pain

19 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Did you know it’s possible to have a gene mutation that really does make bumping into furniture or even getting surgery totally painless?

Walking uphill is hard work

18 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What makes walking uphill so much harder?

Why do giraffes need such long necks?

17 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever wondered why giraffes have such long necks?

How mosquitoes will be impacted by global warming

16 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Scientists think that as many as a billion people around the world could be newly exposed to the diseases spread by mosquitoes within the next fifty y...

The unique species of the tufted deer

15 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This small species lives throughout southern China, from high eastern Tibetan mountains to low coastal mountains, preferring forests and shrubby habit...

Virtual reality and yawning

12 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There’s a big gap between how we act in virtual reality and how we act in real life, as scientists who did an experiment focused on yawning found ou...

Not all antioxidants are the same

11 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We've heard a lot about how antioxidants can help prevent disease. Does that mean we should eat as many antioxidant-rich foods as possible?

Moths use acoustic camouflage

10 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Most moth species are active at night. It must be really dangerous to be a moth. Luckily, they've developed a few ways to protect themselves.

Why do humans like coffee?

09 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Scientists think that animals evolved the ability to detect bitter tastes in order to avoid things that are harmful or even poisonous. So why do we li...

What makes swatting a fly so hard?

08 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Where most of us are concerned, the question is not whether we would hurt a fly but whether we could.

The mysteries of Oumuamua

05 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In October, 2017 astronomers at Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii discovered something strange. It was an object, moving through the solar system too fa...

Red cone, green cone

04 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Did you know that compared to creatures such as dogs and cats, humans can distinguish millions more shades of color?

Tsunamis in the oceans of Mars

03 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There's evidence that the northern lowlands of Mars are the basin of a huge ocean that existed more than 3 billion years ago, and covered about a thir...

Fighting back against root rot

02 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Root rot is a condition of indoor and outdoor plants. Root rot may be caused by poorly drained or overwatered soil, or soil-borne pathogens and nemato...

In the atmosphere, microbes are walking on air

01 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Microbes are everywhere, from the deepest ocean to the highest mountaintop. They're also in the air all around, riding the breeze up, up, up into sky.

The ant with moves like a cheetah

29 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

But a cheetah isn’t the fastest animal in the world, even though a lot of people think it is. The animal that can move the fastest is actually a lot...

Background noise and sleep quality

29 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Background white noise can help some peoples’ sleep quality by minimizing the length of time it takes them to get to sleep. So, what exactly is whit...

Different rates of sea level rise

29 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mid-Atlantic states such as North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland have been hit particularly hard by rising sea levels

Ant doctors

29 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Do other species have healthcare?

How your attitude affects your body

29 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Our attitudes might affect us more than our genes do.

Can animals tell time?

22 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Does your pet give you the evil eye when they get fed a few minutes late? Its like they know...but do they?

Could The Gulf Stream collapse?

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Gulf Stream is a current of warm water in the North Atlantic Ocean that travels up the Eastern coast of North America. Media reports have raised c...

Ice age plant survived the big chill

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Like a science fiction time traveler, an arctic plant of the late Pleistocene age, over 31,000 years old, was resurrected after a long frozen sleep.

Every time you eat a fig, remember a fig wasp lost its wings

19 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Figs have their thousands of individual flowers folded up inside them, so they can't rely on bees or wind to pollinate them with a male fig's pollen. ...

Study links air pollution and a decline in cognitive function

18 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Has your brain been feeling foggy lately? Or maybe, smoggy? If you live somewhere affected by air pollution, there might be a connection.

The jellyfish that never grows old

15 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Scientists once thought that aging and death were the inevitable fate of all complex living things. But then, by accident, they discovered they were w...

The great cilantro debate

14 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On today's Moment of Science, we'll be sniffing our way through a controversial culinary conundrum: the great cilantro debate.

Elephant grandmothers means more elephant calves

13 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Grandmother elephants are important for the survival of baby calves.

Looks delicious! The connection between appearance and taste

12 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

English is full of phrases that connect appearance to taste. However, scientists have been discovering that the connection between the two runs deeper...

Escaping alive from a frog's stomach

11 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes, when a frog eats a large insect, you can see it squirming in the frog’s belly, desperate to escape. Lack of air, acids, and digestive enz...

Copy your neighbors, but only when they're successful

08 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Scientists looked at the nestbox choices of pied flycatchers after the birds observed the "success" of nesting great tits.

Why are operating rooms so cold?

07 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Is there a reason operating rooms are always so cold and drafty?

Starfish are all heads, no tails

06 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Colorful or plain, skinny or chubby, big or small, the nearly 2,000 species have it all.

Skeptics think about vaccines differently

05 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Vaccine skeptics might see vaccines the way they do because they tend to overestimate the likelihood of rare negative events.

Walked or swam? An index can answer

04 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How do scientists figure out even basic facts such as whether an animal walked on land or swam in the sea?

Play and the brain

01 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers classify an animal behavior as play when it doesn’t involve an external reward, such as food, seems to serve no purpose, occurs repeated...

What we can learn from ancient climate records

29 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Scientists find clues to how the earth's climate is changing by looking to the past.

Tetrataenite as a solution to the rare earth crisis

28 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Demand for rare earth elements is soaring, and it will continue to grow in the future.

The effects of bismuth in Pepto Bismol

27 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When the bismuth combines with the trace amounts of sulfur in your saliva and in your gastrointestinal tract, it reacts to form a black substance call...

King Tut's dagger from space

26 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

King Tutankhamen of Egypt has fascinated people ever since archeologist Howard Carter discovered his splendid tomb in 1922.

Where does bitterness come from? Ask the sharks

23 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Bitterness, like sweetness or saltiness, is one of the major taste sensations. And while it makes our food flavorful, detecting bitterness can sometim...

Remembering the past, as a baby

22 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What's your earliest memory?

Why are sunrises faster than sunsets?

21 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It takes much less time for the sun to light up the sky at dawn than it does for all the light to disappear after the sun sets at dusk.

The temperature of ice on a hot day

20 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If you drink a glass of ice water on a hot day, what temperature is the ice?

Do brains differ with biology?

19 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There are some biological differences between the sexes, but do they extend to the brain?

Mauveine: The first synthetic dye

16 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Where does color come from?

Can plants hear?

15 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 2019 a team of Israeli scientists published evidence that the evening primrose plant can detect the specific sound vibration frequencies of the buz...

Patient HM: Henry Molaison and the neuroscience of memory

14 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Every student who has ever taken a course in neuroscience or psychology has heard of Patient HM.

Monkeys can be petty, too

13 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We share a lot of genetic material in common with our chimpanzee relatives, and maybe some personal characteristics too.

Snowshoes and physics

12 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

One frosty morning you awake to a blanket of fresh snow. Adventure awaits! Do you go skiing? Skating? Building snowmen? Or you could do some physics!

Dogs can recognize their own species

09 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

French scientists tested dogs to see if they could recognize the faces of other dogs on a computer screen.

Being able to stomach bugs

08 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

While not an ordinary part of the cuisine of the United States, insects are a common food source for millions of people around the world. It might be ...

Are eyes evolving?

07 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In evolutionary theory, an inherited trait is favored by natural selection when it helps an individual to produce more offspring than its competitors.

The proteins in dinosaur feathers

06 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Modern birds are the descendants of dinosaurs. Specifically, paleontologists have shown that birds evolved from a group of two legged dinosaurs called...

UFO attack or meteor fragments?

05 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

June 1969. Not one airliner but two, plus the pilot of an Air National Guard fighter plane, report being harassed by a team of UFOs.

Beans get their flavor from yeast

02 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Coffee and cacao beans are fermented. Similar to wine, the flavor of the beans is determined by the type of yeasts and microorganisms present.

Solving a new problem with an old remedy

01 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

From DIY oven cleaner to removing odor from rugs, baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, has long been known as an essential home cleaning agent.

Think like a penguin: Finding your niche

31 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A "niche" is an organism's special "slot" in an ecosystem that allows it to co-exist with other species.

Going for a spin and getting dizzy

30 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When someone moves, fluid sloshes inside the ears’ semicircular canals. The fluid tugs at tiny strands of hair.

The risk astronauts take with the Sun

29 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Apollo astronauts were at risk of something many people don't know about. The Sun.

Are you a tick magnet?

26 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We all know someone who goes for a walk in the woods, and comes back with many ticks crawling on them.

What are contrails?

25 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Why do airplanes sometimes leave contrails behind, and what are they exactly?

How does carbon dioxide impact our ability to think?

24 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

At high levels, carbon dioxide can affect the brain to cause impaired thinking.

Dinosaurs may have had malaria

23 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Scientists discovered a type of malaria in a twenty-million-year-old mosquito fossil from the Dominican Republic preserved in amber.

Murphy's breakfast never goes to plan

22 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If you're eating toast, and you accidentally bump it to the floor, it seems more likely to land buttered side down.

Bacteria feel full, too

19 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We've been hearing a lot about the importance of gut bacteria. Now it seems that bacteria also have a say in how and when we eat.

How the motor cortex treats words

18 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The instant you decide to move your foot, the part of your brain's motor cortex responsible for sending commands to the foot goes into action. So what...

What a steel!

17 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever prepared a meal that required lots of garlic and found that after all of that chopping your hands reek of garlic for the rest of the nig...