This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science. Im Adam Hinterthuer. Got a minute? Netflix isnt satisfied with the way its system recommends new movies to customers based on their viewing habits. So the mail-order DVD rental company has offered outsi
This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science. Im Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. Many of the key molecules for life have a specific direction, or handedness: DNA twists to the right, amino acids to the left. Now scientists at the Nation
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Cynthia Graber. This will just take a minute. April 25th was World Malaria Day. The mosquito-borne disease is still one of the biggest killers in developing countries with a death toll of a million
This is scientific Americans 60-Sencond Science. I am Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. When you think about silk, you probably think of gossamer fibers woven into lustrous garments or decadently soft bedsheets. But silk is also prized for
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Christie Nicholson. Got a minute? Which would you rather see: a rare Nepalese gharial or a common vole? Even without knowing what these animals are, you might be more intrigued by the gharial, simp
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. Just when you thought youd heard everything, scientists have found that the reason you can hear everythingincluding things that are very quietis because
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Cynthia Graber. This will just take a minute. They say that money cant buy happiness. Ryan Howell believes that it cansometimes. Howell is a researcher at San Francisco State University. He thought
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Adam Hinterthuer. Got a minute? Angry or upset? Try picking up a pen. According to psychologist Matthew Lieberman, most people don't think of writing as a way to calm down. When you look at the bra
(A segment of President Obamas speech to a joint session of Congress on February 24th dealing with energy and basic research:) We know the country that harnesses the power of clean, renewable energy will lead the 21st century. And yet, it is Chin
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Steve Mirsky . Got a minute ? February 28th is International Sword Swallowers Awareness Day, according to practitioner Dan Meyer, who recently demonstrated the technique at the AAAS meeting in Chic
Our health care is too costlyand each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. For decades, scientists have used an imaging technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to chronicle the brain in action. But a stu
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. As Valentines day approaches, remember, its the thought that counts. Just ask a decorated cricket. Because according to a study published in the January
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Cynthia Graber. This will just take a minute. There's a huge, gunky brown cloud that lingers over south Asia and the Indian Ocean each winter. Its been known to cause respiratory diseases and even
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. You may have noticed that as you get older, you start forgetting more stuff: like, where you left your glasses, or the names of your children. Well, if y
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Cynthia Graber. This will just take a minute. Triceratops, as the name suggests, were huge dinosaurs adorned with three horns on their heads. Scientists now say those horns may have been a sort of
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. Weve all gotten e-mails warning us about nasty computer viruses. Maybe you even have antivirus software installed on your machine. Well, now scientists s
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. You probably remember exactly what you were doing when you first heard the news on 9/11. Thats because the brain has ways to file information so that thi
Sickle cell disease is a blood disorder due to a single genetic mutation. It remains in populations because the mutation has a flip sideit helps to protect against malaria. Now another mutation has been shown to afford similar protection. Deficiency
Little girls are made of sugar and spice and, according to a study published in the journal Cell, a fierce determination to maintain their girlishness. Because it seems that a single gene keeps their ovaries from turning into testes. Scientists have