If youre driving on an interstate highway, the only thing keeping you from going faster than the speed limit is your sense of civic duty, or perhaps that police car up ahead. Theres one speed limit, however, that most scientists agree nothing will ev...
The researchers observed macaque moms gently bouncing their young, holding their heads and trying to attract their gaze. And when the monkey moms made lip smacks, their babies often responded in kind. OK. But besides being adorable, so what? Well, fo...
Three of these nucleotides are also thought to be associated with sleep and sedation. A team of Spanish researchers collected breast milk over a twenty-four hour period from thirty healthy moms who had been breast-feeding for at least three months. T...
Parents of young infants know just how rare and valuable uninterrupted sleep can be. As it turns out, the timing of breast milk production may help play a role in facilitating sleeping in an infant. Some mothers express breast milk during the day and...
If you drop the ball, gravity will pull it toward the center of the earth, but will not diminish that extra eastward speed. So as the ball falls itll outrun the ground and land slightly east of the straight-down point. Edwin H. Hall, a Harvard Univer...
The earth turns on its axis every 24 hours or so were taught. But, before we had pictures from space, how would we prove it to someone? The rising and setting of the sun and stars in the sky provide pretty strong evidence, but not absolute proof, sin...
Researchers from Harvards School of Dental Medicine think the giant tooth might also act as a sensory organ. With an electron microscope they discovered that the surface of a narwhal tusk is covered with millions of tiny nerve endings. These nerves c...
Narwhals arent fish, theyre mammals-a rare type of whale.And a spiraled tusk they famous for isn't a horn.But it is actually an elongated tooth. Only male narwhals grow tusks, which can be over six to almost ten feet longmore than half their body len...
I keep hearing that were running out of oilis this true? Some geologists say that oil production may have already peaked. But others say there is a lot more oil to be discovered. So Whos Right? Great question and important question since we use oil f...
Amazingly, after only ten years of selected breeding, the team had developed a strain of foxes with dog like tameness towards humans: tail wagging, face licking, playful friendliness. But thats not all. Although the scientists always selected foxes b...
Have you ever played with a dog or cat and wondered why they are so tame? How did our ancient ancestors take wild, and potentially dangerous, carnivores and turn them into mans best friend? In 1959 a Russian geneticist name Dmitry Belyaev began an ex...
The best way to avoid rust is to use stainless steel. Like all steel, stainless steel is mostly iron, but it also contains nickel and chromium. These are not just a protective coating, but are melted into the steel itself. The mixture must contain at...
Our modern world, with its skyscrapers, suspension bridges, and automobiles, relies heavily on steel. If you own an aging car however, you know firsthand that steel has one annoying problem: it rusts. All steel, that is, except stainless steel. What...
Making wine is a biological process. Live yeast added to grape juice digests the juices sugar giving off alcohol as a byproduct. How much alcohol is produced depends on how much sugar the juice starts with. But eighteen percent alcohol is about as st...
If youve ever rubbed your eyes and seen faint sparkles of light, you have demonstrated a surprising fact of sensory physiology. Depending on how hard you ruband you should always be gentleyou may see glowing patches or even faint colors. Since your e...
