SSS 2011-10-14

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata. Got a minute? (The) most obvious effect of birth control pills is, well...birth control. But the pill may have subtler effects, too. Like influencing which guy a woman goes

SSS 2011-10-17

Most obvious effect of birth control pill is, well, birth control. But the pill may have subtle effects, too. Like influencing guy which women goes for, in her satisfaction with him, in bed and out. So says study in the Journal Proceeding of Royal Sc

SSS 2011-10-18

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Steve Mirsky. Got a minute? Believe it or not, violence has been in decline for long stretches of time. And today we are probably living in the most peaceful time in our species' existence. Harvard

SSS 2011-11-01

Venice's Church of the Most Holy Redeemer has held a musical celebration every year since its construction in 1592. And recently, the church has inspired debate among historians: How could its echoing chambers clearly portray the complicated music pe

SSS 2011-11-02

For many potential entre animals this is one of the scariest sounds around. Scientists long thought the lion's distinctive roar was due to thick layers of fat inside the vocal cords. But new research suggests that it's not the fat that makes the roar

SSS 2011-11-03

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. But sometimes what makes you stronger can kill you, at least when it comes to blood clotting. Because

SSS 2011-11-04

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Sophie Bushwick. Got a minute? The early bird gets the wormand may avoid skin cancer. Because a new mouse study suggests that, for humans, tanning in the mornings may be less likely to permanently

SSS 2011-11-07

The early bird gets the worm, and may avoid skin cancer. Because a new mouse study suggests that for humans, tanning in the mornings may be less likely to permanently damage in DNA and cause skin cancer. A mouses levels of the DNA repair protein XPA

SSS 2011-11-08

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Cynthia Graber. This will just take a minute. Einstein, Newton and many other legendary scientists did groundbreaking work in their 20s. But if your hair has gone gray and no Nobel seems likely, do

SSS 2011-11-09

Food is the body's fuel. Now a study finds that the amount of energy in that fuel can depend not just on its calorie contentbut on how it's prepared. And the research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could explain an

SSS 2011-11-10

Food is the body's fuel ,now a study finds the amount of the energy in that fuel can depend not just on it's calorie content but on how it's prepared,and the research published in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences could explain an i

SSS 2011-11-11

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata. Got a minute? A hungry fish can kill prey with a quick bite. That is, of course, if its prey hasn't already died of fright. Take tasty dragonflies. The mere presence of pred

SSS 2011-10-13

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Cynthia Graber. This will just take a minute. A new archaeological find may signify one of the great leaps in human cultural and cognitive history. Because researchers have discovered a 100,000-yea

SSS 2011-12-19

This is Scientific American's Sixty Seconds Science. I'm Sophie Bushwick. Got a minute? To monitor the biodiversity of the freshwater habitat, you could compare by the water and count the rare wildlife. Or you could just scoop up a cup of water. A ne

SSS 2011-09-29

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. They say all roads lead to Rome. Unfortunately that ain't all that roads lead to. A new study shows that roads can promote the spread of antibiotic-resis

SSS 2011-09-21

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata. Got a minute? Asbestos increases the risk for certain cancers. The fibers are thought to do so by skewering cells, setting off chemical reactions that lead to inflammation,

SSS 2011-09-22

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Cynthia Graber. This will just take a minute. Scientists can now include online gaming in their problem-solving arsenal. Because game players seem to have provided an answer to a scientific questio

SSS 2011-09-23

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm John Matson. Got a minute? Out in space, NASA's Kepler mission keeps watch on more than 150,000 stars. The telescope's job is to see if those stars dim ever so slightlybecause of the presence of an

SSS 2011-09-26

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. Life requires balance. We balance work and family. We eat a balanced breakfast, sometimes. And we balance our electrolytes. That salt-water synergy is no

SSS 2011-09-27

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Sophie Bushwick. Got a minute? The shortest distance between two points may be a straight line, but try telling that to electrons: when current flows down a wire, these particles zig and zag, movin