SSS 2011-12-07

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. It's hard to feel a sense of urgency about climate changeit feels so slow. Well, try telling that to the critters dealing with it. Because new data sugge

SSS 2011-12-08

Golf fans always suspected it: before his infamous improprieties, the mere presence of Tiger Woods could panic other pros. Now, economist Jennifer Brown has figured out how strong that Tiger factor was. She analyzed a decade's worth of PGA events, co

SSS 2011-12-09

Cooking is one big science experiment. And chefs have been gaining fame for more explicit use of scientific techniques and tools in the kitchen. Now, according to an article in the December issue of Physics World, mixologiststhe folks behind the bara

SSS 2011-12-12

Cooking is one big science experiment and chefs have been gaining fame for more explicit uses of scentific techniques and tools in the kitchen. Now, according to an article in the December issue of physics world, mixologists the folks behind the bar

SSS 2011-12-14

When it comes to sheer celestial bling, stars might not corner the market on twinkle, because beneath their rocky exteriors, some terrestrial planets may be half diamond. So said scientists at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union. The r

SSS 2010-01-01

We like to think that medical equipment implanted in our bodies undergoes rigorous testing before its put inside a person. Thats not always the case, at least for cardiovascular devices. Thats according to an article in the Journal of the American Me

SSS 2010-01-04

No surprise: machines and humans have differing opinions about art. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute and the University of Girona had computers and non-art expert humans place each of 275 paintings into one of 11 artistic periods, for exampl

SSS 2010-01-05

Sometimes it pays to look like a pile of poop. At least if youre a tasty caterpillar trying to avoid getting eaten by hungry birds. Because a study in the journal Science shows that even young chicks tend to overlook caterpillars disguised as dung. A

SSS 2010-01-06

Stereotypes are usually the last thing to change in the face of contradictory evidence. A case in point is the long held belief that boys are better at mathematics than girls. Well a meta-analysis to be published in the journal Psychological Bulletin

SSS 2010-01-07

It's hard to mistake that sound. Now imagine hearing it during a night that can last for months and where temperatures drop as low as 37 degrees Celsius. Enough to give nightmares to musk ox and Arctic hares, the favorite prey of the long-legged whit

SSS 2010-01-11

When people suffer from a migraine, they often retire to a cave-like dark room. But exactly why does bright light hurt the migraine sufferer? A possible answer was published this week in the online issue of journal Nature Neuroscience. A big clue was

SSS 2010-01-12

If youve ever had a garden or grown flowers in a window box, youve probably heard that you shouldnt water your plants at high noon because their leaves might scorch. Now a study in a journal called New Phytologist confirms that water droplets can foc

SSS 2010-01-13

The author David Allen is considered to be one of world's top consultants when it comes to personal productivity. He's perhaps best known for his self-help time management book-Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity that has for yea

SSS 2010-01-14

What do a whale and a frog have in common? According to a study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, pound for pound, they sound the same. Sounds fishy? I mean, if you've ever heard the eerie song of the humpback whale [whale song], you

SSS 2010-02-01

Bees bread and butter is flowerstheres no reason they should be able to recognize human faces. But they can. Back in 2005, Arian Dyer at Monash University showed that bees could identify people who they associated who with sugary snacks. But could th

SSS 2010-02-03

(Gunshot.) Shhhh, just lie still, son, dont try to talk. I know what youre wondering. You come into town with the fastest draw in the West and I let you draw first and still youre still the one lying here a bullet in ya. Well, if only youd studied so

SSS 2011-11-15

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata. Got a minute? I've always thought that when I get a fever, it's my body trying to make things uncomfortable for the invading pathogen. And that's often truehigher temperatur

SSS 2011-09-14

The little black boxes in airplanes provide useful information after a crash has taken place. Now researchers have devised a way to use black box info from planes that do not crash to help prevent accidents from ever happening. Some airlines already

SSS 2011-09-15

hwThe little black boxes in the aeroplanes provide useful information after a crash has taken place. Now researchers have devised a way to use black box info from planes that do not crash to prevent accidents from never happening. Some airlines alrea

SSS 2011-09-20

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Sophie Bushwick. Got a minute? When it came to surviving freezing weather, mammoths relied on more than their woolly coats: even their blood was specially adapted to let them thrive in chilly clime