SSS 2010-02-16

Some call it the hormone of love. Its oxytocin and it helps moms bond with and breast-feed their babies, and even keeps romantic couples content. Now a study suggests that this same hormone might also help people with autismby improving their social

SSS 2010-06-01

This is Scientific America's 60-Second Science. I am Karen Hopkin. Thisll just take a minute. Mmm, sticky rice. Its a glutinous side dish thats perfect for practicing your chopstick skills, for sopping up curry sauce and, amazingly, for building real

SSS 2010-05-03

This is Scientific American's Sixty-Second Psych. I'm Christie Nicholson. Got the minute? Say a teenager takes the car without permission and crashes it. Or pole jumps off a bridge into white water. Bruised, broken or worse, arrested, the first words

SSS 2010-05-05

This is Scientific American's Sixty-Second Science. I'm Cynthia Graber. This'll just take a minute. This podcast is one minute long. If you listen while going for a walk in a park or working in a garden, youre 20 percent of the way to giving your men

SSS 2010-05-06

The big dream for neuroscientists is to be able to watch our brain cells in action, in real time. Well, new research has maybe found the most promising tool yeta technique to watch individual neurons light up in response to a stimulus, like flipping

SSS 2010-05-07

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This'll just take a minute. Its not easy being me; when I was born the doctor told my mother, I did all I could, but he pulled through anyway. Rodney might felt badbut listening to hi

SSS 2010-05-10

Weve all agonized over difficult decisions. Go to college or backpack around Europe? Buy or rent? Apple pie or death by chocolate? Well, agonize no morebecause a study in the journal Science suggests that simply washing your hands after making a toug

SSS 2010-05-11

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Cynthia Graber. This'll just take a minute. The Patriot Act and the Bioterrorism Preparedness Act were passed in 2001 and 2002. These laws in part cover research on pathogens and toxins thought to

SSS 2010-05-12

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Christie Nicholson. Got a minute? We know someone is in pain just by looking at their face. Winced eyes, grimacing smile. I mean we recognize it immediately. But can we see pain in non-human faces?

SSS 2010-05-13

Twelve men have walked on the moon. And now you can, too. Virtually, that is. Because planetary researchers are enlisting everyday citizens in scientific exploration of the surface of the moon. At the Web site moonzoo.org, you can check out new high-

SSS 2010-05-14

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Cynthia Graber. Thisll just take a minute. Bisphenol A. Also called BPA, it's used to make shatter-proof plastic known as polycarbonate, found in everything from water bottles to medical devices to

SSS 2010-06-02

After hundreds of years, the most common, basic microscopes still operate by means of the same old hardware: the lens. But what if you could do away with that lens and create a microscope that fits on a cell phone? Thats what researchers led by Aydog

SSS 2010-06-03

This is Scientific America's 60-Second Science, I am Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. Most of us dont think twice about getting behind the wheel even for short hops to pick up some milk. And thats not just because cars are convenient, or b

SSS 2010-06-04

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I am Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. July is coming. Its a time to fire up the barbecue, hit the beaches and watch the fireworks. Its definitely not a time to be in the hospital. Because fa

SSS 2010-06-07

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I am Cynthia Graber. This will just take a minute. Counterfeiters and money minters constantly try to outsmart each other. But money could become much harder to forgethanks to butterfly wings. Butterfl

SSS 2010-06-08

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I am Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. Its refreshing. Its invigorating. And it leaves you feeling truly alive. No, Im not talking about a cold shower or a fruit smoothie with a mochachino ch

SSS 2010-06-09

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I am Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. Bubbles. Big ones entertain children and tiny ones tickle champagne aficionados. Even witches appreciate what they bring to a boiling cauldron. If you,

SSS 2010-06-10

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I am Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. I once took part in a vodka tasting contest, in which participants tried to tell an expensive brand from a cheap one. I dont recall the exact outcome, f

SSS 2010-06-11

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I am Steve Mirsky. Got a minute? With the World Cup soccer tournament underway in South Africa, a couple of things for the science-interested audience to watch for. First, the games will feature a new

SSS 2010-06-15

When astronaut Alan Shepard took his first swing at a golf ball on the moon, he hit more dirt than ball. The dust he kicked up reinforced the idea that the moon is one big sand trap. But looks can be deceiving. Now, scientists reanalyzing lunar sampl