科学美国人60秒 SSS Medical Marijuana Faces Fed's Catch-22

Medical marijuana is now available in 28 states. But a big obstacle to research on marijuana as medicine is that its listed by the federal government on whats called Schedule I. Assignment to Schedule I means that the Food and Drug Administration doe

科学美国人60秒 SSS Blood Cells Remember Your Mountain Vacation

Head to the mountains, and if the steep trails don't slow you down, the thin air will. There's less oxygen up thereso strenuous activity can leave you dizzy, out of breathor worse. But even though you're beat, biochemical processes are already busy a

科学美国人60秒 SSS Fermented Foods Find Fervent Advocate

There are sort of three main ways that our species has developed to break down foods, or process foods, in a primordial way. And that is by cooking, by fermenting foods and by drying them or desiccating them. Paul Breslin, professor of nutritional sc

科学美国人60秒 SSS Vision Needed to Curb Nearsightedness Epidemic

So were inside, were in fake lighting, were not spending as much time outside in the context in which our visual system evolved. Amanda Melin, assistant professor of anthropology archaeology and of medical genetics at the University of Calgary. And a

科学美国人60秒 SSS Guppy Groups Provide Friendly Protection against Foes

Humans aren't the only species that forms friendships. Lots of animals prefer to spend their time only with certain individuals. It's all very well showing that you do get social relationships and social bonds forming, but why on earth would you form

科学美国人60秒 SSS Spaceflight Squishes Spacefarers' Brains

Time spent in zero G changes the body: Astronauts come home with bone loss and muscle weakness. But what happens in their heads? To find out, researchers examined MRIs of astronauts brains taken before and after flight. They looked at 12 astronauts w

科学美国人60秒 SSS Two Words Trigger CDC To Stay Quiet

CDC is afraid is afraid to fund firearms research. David Hemenway, professor of health policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Twenty years ago they were doing a tiny amount of funding for firearms research, $2.6 million a year, $2.6

科学美国人60秒 SSS The True ＂Bottom＂ of the Food Chain Is Plenty Polluted

The Mariana Trench is the deepest spot in the worlds oceans. Only three humans have ventured into the trench in submersibles. But plenty of our pollution has made the voyage to the bottom of the sea: a new study finds that critters living more than s

科学美国人60秒 SSS Heat Sensor Has Snaky Sensitivity

One of the most exquisite heat sensors in the worldits not in some government lab. It's in the head of a snake. The pit viper, to be specific. They're incredibly sensitive. They beat any of the synthetic counterparts, even the most expensive semicond

科学美国人60秒 SSS Housing Boom Busts Birds' Valentine's Day

Urban development is encroaching on forests in the Pacific Northwest. And its also ruining Valentines Day for some songbirds. Because urban growth is making it a challenge for some birds like the Pacific Wren to stay faithful to their partners, at le

科学美国人60秒 SSS Pesticide Additive Could Be One Culprit in Bee Deaths

Pesticide Additive Could Be One Culprit in Bee Deaths 农药添加剂是蜜蜂死亡的一大诱因 Springtime is flower season. And that includes some 90 million almond trees in California. It's the largest pollination event in the U.S.and beekeeper

SSS 2010-11-19

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Steve Mirsky. Got a minute? Look at a map and you can tell right away where New York ends and New Jersey begins. But that official border is not a true reflection of how the community is really sha

SSS 2010-11-18

This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science. Im Christopher Intagliata. Got a minute? Astronomers have already discovered hundreds of exoplanets. But make way for the new kid, which is orbiting a kind of star that models say it shouldnt. Researche

SSS 2010-08-20

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Molly Webster. Got a minute? Everyone from Freud to Tina Fey has tried to understand why some things are funny. Now, new research concludes that one key to comedy is for a situation to violate a mo

SSS 2010-08-25

Youve probably seen dogs working security at airports, sniffing for drugs, bombs and contraband food. Now our best-friend biosensors might have a new task: ferretting out the scent of bird flu. And they may not be alone on the job. Researchers from t

SSS 2010-08-26

This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science, Im Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. Gimme the chocolate milkshake and the cheeseburger deluxe. Thats the cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, onion, fries and statin pill, coming right up. That

SSS 2010-08-27

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Cynthia Graber. This will just take a minute. Are you listening to me through headphones? Because heres a sample of what might be harming the ears of teenagers. Just kiddingthe last thing we want t

SSS 2010-08-30

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata. Got a minute? Engineers are always plugging away to get better energy efficiency out of our products -- like cars that guzzle less gas or light bulbs that burn brighter on f

SSS 2010-08-31

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Cynthia Graber. This will just take a minute. We humans love excuses to gather for a rousing evening of communityfeaturing lots of food. Now researchers have evidence for the earliest known group f

SSS 2010-07-21

The earths tropics teem with species. Theyre far more biologically diverse than the cooler parts of the planet. And scientists have credited higher temperatures and greater amounts of sunlight. But a new study claims that the secret to tropical biodi