SSS 2010-10-01

A lot of smartphone apps can help you out if you let them access your phone's GPS. But even if you give permission, do you know everything they're doing with that information? Some computer scientists wanted to find out. So they modified the Android

SSS 2010-10-04

This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science, Im Steve Mirsky.Got a minute? The 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to 85-year-old Robert Edwards of England, for the development of in vitro fertilization. The Karolinska Institutes Chris

SSS 2010-10-05

This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science, Im Steve Mirsky. Got a minute? The 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics goes to the University of Manchesters Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov for their investigations of the two-dimensional material graphene

SSS 2010-10-06

This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science, Im Steve Mirsky. Got a minute? The 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to the University of Delawares Richard Heck, Purdues Ei-ichi Negishi and Hokkaido Universitys Akira Suzuki for their work in develop

SSS 2010-10-07

The clues are adding up to give a picture of a distant Martian past, when the planet had a thick atmosphere that was warm enough for water to stream on the surface. But now the waters gone, and the atmosphere is so thin that any water would boil away

SSS 2010-10-08

You're in the supermarket, and a man collapses. He's gasping. It's CPR time. But wait, was it 20 compressions, two breaths, or 15 to every one breath? Can't remember? Well you may not have to. Because theres hands-only CPRpressing the chest fast and

SSS 2010-10-11

This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science. Im Christie Nicholson. Got a minute? Is it an old wives tale or can deaf people actually see better? Scientists have long thought that the structure of our brain is fixed. For instance, from birth the a

SSS 2010-10-13

This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science, Im Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. Blackjack, slot machines, good ol Texas holdem. People love to gamble. And were not the only ones. A new study shows that pigeons will also pass up a sure

SSS 2010-10-12

This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science, Im Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. Youve tried everything to lose weight: portion control, fasting, liquid diets, even eating meals on a treadmill. Now, a new study suggests that maybe you s

SSS 2010-10-14

That 80s power ballad had it all wrong. Love may keep you from hurting. Two researcherspain specialist Sean Mackey at Stanford and love specialist Arthur Aron at S.U.N.Y. Stony Brookmet at a neuroscience conference. They realized they were talking ab

SSS 2010-10-15

Many of our medicines originate in plants. But were not the only ones who tap into nature.Theres increasing evidence that some animals seek out specific plants for their medicinal qualities. A new study shows that monarch butterflies may be among the

SSS 2010-10-18

A noisy restaurant can distract you from your dinner conversation. But all that clatter may also drown out the taste of your food, making it more bland. That's according to a study in the journal Food Quality and Preference. Researchers recruited 48

SSS 2010-10-19

We tend to think of cavemen as pretty serious carnivores, hunting game and then roasting the yummy bits over a roaring campfire. But scientists just reported discovering traces of starch on some ancient stone tools. Which suggests that there were pro

SSS 2010-10-20

You're trying to exercise willpowerto avoid eating that second piece of cake or buying an electronic toy you don't really need. Try firming up your muscles. Any muscles. Now you can walk awayas long as walking away is truly in line with your overall

SSS 2010-10-21

Pacemakers are expensive. Though some pacemaker manufacturers have dropped the price down to $800 in poorer countries, thats still out of reach for many. One to two million people die each year because they dont have access to this life-saving techno

SSS 2010-10-22

If 50 is the new 40 and 60 is the new 50, whats the new 70? Well, it seems safe to at least say that 70 isnt what it used to be. And thats good. Because a new study finds that 70-year-olds did better on intelligence tests than 70 year olds used to do

SSS 2010-10-25

This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science. Im Cynthia Graber. This will just take a minute. Take a deep breath. Taste anything? Actually, your lungs may, because scientists have discovered that the same receptors that exist on the tongue to tast

SSS 2010-10-27

On October 9th, we reported that cats born deaf develop enhanced vision. Now researchers find that blind people perceive touch faster than do those with sight. The work is in the Journal of Neuroscience. Volunteers who were sighted or who had varying

SSS 2010-10-28

Whether you're a hunt-and-peck typist or a Rachmaninoff of the keyboard, you will make mistakes. But it's not just your eyes catching typos when you see them on the screen. Your hands know when you mess up too. Thats according to a study in the journ

SSS 2010-10-29

This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science. Im Adam Hinterthuer. Got a minute? If there's a line in Vegas on the odds of life on another planet, now might be a good time to place a wager. A study in the journal Science examined 166 Sun-sized star