Vesta 灶神星 You can see the planet Jupiter on a clear night, but Jupiter is humongous. Mars and Mercury are smaller than that, and you can see them, too. Wait a minute, our moon is even smaller, and you can see that. Could anything smaller than t...
Celebrity Worshiper s 你崇拜明星吗？ Are you a celebrity worshiper ? If so, that might say something about the kind of person you are. Psychologists have found that people who believe in a just world are more likely to worship celebrities, whe...
Making Contact 为什么戴隐形眼镜看东西更清楚？ Don:I get contact lenses to replace my glasses and its like Im seeing the world through new eyes. Its miraculous ! Yal: Acutlly, Don, there is nothing miraculous about it. D: Who tell? Y: W...
Ultraviolet Fish 带紫外线的鱼儿 So you want to attract a mate . After all, passing on your gene s is what evolution is all about. To do that you need offspring , and to get a lot of those you need to be attractive. The flash ier the better. He...
Adolescent Addictions 青少年吸毒问题 What makes adolescents so vulnerable to developing addictions to substances like nicotine, alcohol, and drugs? Teens, in particular, seem more vulnerable than any other age group. Is it a result of peer pre...
DNA Wrath of Khan 成吉思汗疯狂的基因 Today, Afghanistan is a war-torn region, battled over by military forces and world-spanning empire s . Eight hundred years ago things were much the same. Only then, there was only one ruler: Genghis Khan....
Why Dogs Bark ? 犬吠为何？ Have you ever wondered why do dogs bark ? In terms of evolution , there has to be a reason for bark ing , or it probably wouldnt be there. Is it to warn of predator s ? But dogs bark when there are no predator s around...
Dehydration 脱水 If I were to stop drinking water right now, how long could I live? There are different factors involve d here. A human being isnt an automobile which needs a certain amount of gas. There are conditions under which a person could di...
Osteoporosis 骨质疏松症 Todays word is: osteoporosis ! Yep, osteoporosis . Now, youve heard this word before, and you know it has something to do with bones. But can you actually explain what it is? The answer is straight-forward. It comes down...
Snoring and Cognition 鼾声和认知能力 Snoring can be pretty disturbing to people who sleep in the company of snore rs , as well as to the snore r himself or herself, though she may not realize it. For instance, some snore rs have a condition ca...
E. T. Phoned. Now What? 外星人来电 Suppose one day scientists pick up a transmission they think is generated by alien s . Now what? Do we build a landing strip and break out the welcome wagon? Well heres the thing about picking up alien broadcas...
Silk 蚕丝 Silk is the strongest natural fiber in the world, as far as we know. Scientists long to understand just how exactly the silkworm manages the process of silk weaving, so they can replicate the process in order to manufacture such things as...
Buckminster Fuller and His Geodesic Dome 巴克敏斯特福乐和他的球型屋顶 Ever heard of a man named Buckminster Fuller, or Bucky, as his friends called him? R. Buckminster Fuller was a twentieth century scientist, philosopher , inventor, an...
Caterpillar VS Plant 植物大战毛毛虫 If you have kids, youve probably read the children's book: The Very Hungry Caterpillar , see, at least five thousand times. If you havent had the pleasure, heres a brief plot summary. A caterpillar hatch es...
It Pays to Be an Optimist 做个乐观主义者 Research shows that whether a person is an optimist or a pessimist is related to their quality of life, including their physical health. The subjects involved first took personality tests in the 1960s a...
