SSS 2011-01-12

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute. Remember affirmations? Because I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggonit, people like me. Well, if Stuart Smalley's shot-in-the-arm makes you smile

SSS 2011-01-13

This is Scientific Americans 60-Second Science. Im Christie Nicholson. Got a minute? Performance anxiety can be crippling. Entertainers who suffer from it come up with creative defenses. Bono has his purple shades. The indie rock singer Cat Power fac

SSS 2012-08-13

Elephants dont need cell phones to hold long distance conversations, their deep calls can travel miles. And although humans cant always hear these vocalizations because of their low frequency, elephants produce them using the same mechanism that lets

SSS 2012-08-07

This is scientific American sixty seconds science. I'm Christopher Intagliata. Got minute? You've probably noticed you're more likely to catch a cold if you pull a lot of all-nighters. But lack of sleep can also compromise your immune system's respon

SSS 2012-07-13

Vaccines are desperately needed in the developing world. Even when theyre available and inexpensive, theres still a major problem: most vaccines need to be refrigerated. Reaching the relevant populations often means traveling to areas where electrici

SSS 2012-07-12

The eyes are the windows to the soul. As such they can reveal if someone is lying, right? Cop shows, advice shows, even some organizational training courses hold that if somebody looks up and to the right, theyre probably lying. Up and to the left me

SSS 2012-07-05

This is scientific American-60 second science,Im Cynthia Graber.This will just take a minute.You talk to a friend and then you talk to a theory on the iphone.I found forty resting rents.Dose your brain function differently when interacting with machi

SSS 2012-07-02

The same mathematical models used to study the hunting range of lions have many other applicationsthey describe the flight patterns of honeybees. And now researchers say these math models can help explain the stability of gang territories and pattern

SSS 2012-04-16

Spring is in the air. And so are those dang insects, hungry for a blood meal. The victim can wind up with a bunch of bites, red and itchy. So what drugs can quench that itch? Maybe none, according to a study in the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin. Res

SSS 2012-04-11

Global warming might seem like a mechanic boom after all milder temperatures in more carbon dioxide and nitrogen should feed flower. But ten years study has found that any initial positive effect on plants from climate change may soon disappear. The

SSS 2012-04-09

This is Scientific American 60 second Science, I am Christopher Intagliata, got t minute. City dwellers compete with the din of traffic to be heard. And its not just urban humans. Sparrows living in San Francisco's Presidio district actually tweet th

SSS 2012-03-20

This is Scientific American 60 Second Science, I am Sophie Bushwick, got a minute? Is the attempt to make environmentally friendly roadways doomed to wind up in the toilet? Actually, it may be the other way around. To earn a green certification, the

SSS 2012-03-16

This is Scientific American 60 Second Science, I'm Cynthia Graber, this will just take a minute~ You know the sceneits a Friday night, and your date just canceled. Youre bummed, maybe a little hurt. You think now might be a good time for a beer, mayb

SSS 2012-03-09

This is Scientific American 60 Second Science, I am Sophie Bushwick, got a minute? Typing can be tough for your handsbut can it also mess with your head? Researchers have discovered that words typed on the right side of a QWERTY keyboard, for example

SSS 2012-06-08

This is Scientific Americans' Sixty-Second Science, I'm Christopher Intagliata, got a minute? Vampire spiders, as the name suggests, like blood. And they feast on blood-filled mosquitoes to get it. But only female mosquitoes suck blood. So how do spi

SSS 2012-05-18

Does an ice-cold drink actually taste better than the same beverage at room temperature? Depends on what its taste is: a new study finds that the intensity of some flavors varies with temperature. The work is in the journal Chemosensory Perception. R

SSS 2012-05-15

Have you ever wanted to turn down the volume at a deafening concert or noisy bar? Envy the whale: a new study finds that toothed whales can reduce their own auditory sensitivity when they expect a loud sound. The work is presented at this weeks Acous

SSS 2012-05-10

If you enjoy sharing all your likes and dislikes on Facebook, youre definitely not alone: research finds that broadcasting personal opinions gives people the same sense of reward as earning money. The study is in the Proceedings of the National Acade

SSS 2012-05-09

This is Scientific American 60 Second Science, I am Amy Kraft. Got a minute Jack Nicholson, playing the crazed caretaker in The Shining, makes me reach for a blanket. Now a study finds that people we find, well, creepy can actually make us feel colde

SSS 2012-05-08

This is Scientific American 60 Second Science, I am Amy Kraft. Got a minute Jack Nicholson, playing the crazed caretaker in The Shining, makes me reach for a blanket. Now a study finds that people we find, well, creepy can actually make us feel colde