SSS 2010-07-01

Over the years, people have put forth a lot of theories to explain why intelligence differs, from person to person and even around the world. Health, wealth, schooling, nutrition, and even climate have all come up. Now, researchers at the University

SSS 2010-07-02

Sometimes it seems theres only so much we can learn about dinosaurs. We cant know what their coloration looked like, we cant watch them interact with each other. We can only extrapolate from their remains. But now scientists say we can discern a hint

SSS 2010-07-05

Teachers get exasperated at studentsthey dont pay attention, theyre sleepy, they have bad attitudes. But improvement could be a matter of timingjust start school later. Thats according to a study in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

SSS 2010-07-06

Die-hard advocates of alternate energy might fantasize about cars that could one day run on water. But scientists in India have gone a step further. Theyve mathematically modeled an engine that should allow a motorcycle to run on aircompressed air, t

SSS 2010-07-07

This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science. Im Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. When it comes to elections, sometimes we vote with our heads and sometimes with our hearts. But scientists at Stanford say we might also be voting with our

SSS 2010-07-08

More carbon dioxide emissions lead to more CO2 dissolving in the oceans, which turns the water acidic. Those sour seas slow the growth of corals. And it turns out acidic seawater also makes clownfish and damselfish suicidally bold and reckless, accor

SSS 2010-07-09

City planners and citizens alike frequently push for better public transportation. They argue that it can lessen traffic and reduce emissions from cars. Now theres a new reason to be gung-ho about public transitit helps make people skinnier. Thats ac

SSS 2010-07-12

Being beautiful has its advantages. It can make you more popular, even make you seem more competent. Now, University of Haifa researchers have found that, if youre a politician, good looks will also make you seem more newsworthy. Because better-looki

SSS 2010-07-13

Some bacteria have adapted to super cold environments for millions of years. And scientists have isolated some of the essential genes that allow bacteria to tolerate their harsh living conditionsbecause these same genes might help in the creation of

SSS 2010-07-15

Clothing is so yesterday. I mean, really, what can it do? It cant pick up sound, or beep at us if somethings wrong. Or can it? M.I.T. researchers say theyve developed a fiber that would allow clothing to eventually do those things. Their study is in

SSS 2010-07-16

This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science. Im Steve Mirsky. Got a minute？ Whaddya get when you cross a planet with a comet? Well, HD 209458b looks like a candidate. Its a gas giant planet also called Osiris, and its orbiting so close to its st

SSS 2010-07-19

New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte had to leave Sundays game against Tampa in the third inning because of a strained groin. He thus slightly beat the odds. Because his injury happened after the All-Star Game, which was last Tuesday. And a new stu

SSS 2010-07-20

A couple of studies on perception. First, theres now visual data to back up the idea that everything looks kinda gray when you feel blue. Researchers examined how the retina responds to different black-and-white contrast situations. They did the test

SSS 2010-07-14

Doctors like to think that theyll turn in colleagues who are doing a particularly bad job. But its not so straightforward when physicians are faced with such a colleague, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Associati

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

SSS 2010-07-22

Imagine if before you took each step, your guts lurched up into your throat. Well, caterpillars dont have to imaginethey take such drastic steps every day. Researchers were interested in how fluids move around inside a caterpillar. So they put one on

SSS 2010-07-23

Heres what scientists think happened, oh, about a hundred million years ago. There was this three-star system. The three linked stars were strolling through the galaxy but got too close to the giant black hole at the center. The hole swallowed one of

SSS 2010-07-26

Youd think an animal that hops would know how to land. But for a kind of frog, thats not the case. Imagine trying to catch a frog. You reach and they jump, only to land gracefully on their feet a few feet away. It was thought that all frogs moved thi

SSS 2010-07-27

Have you ever bought a new electronic device, or tried a new activity, and then dropped it because you were sure you couldnt possibly master it? Well, dont give up so quickly. Researchers performed six experiments that involved subjects trying out ne

SSS 2010-07-28

This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science. Im Karen Hopkin. This will take just a minute. Spend any time in a bar, and sooner or later youll hear, Ill have what shes having. It sounds like a bad pickup line, but there may be an actual biological