One way our bodies resist disease is by producing a variety of chemicals called antibodies, which destroy the virus or bacterium causing the disease. Antibodies have to be selective to avoid destroying the wrong cells, so each type of antibody recogn...
Chimps do it. Dolphins do it. Even crows that want to catch fish do it. But an octopus? Yes, it seems the smartest member of the invertebrate world has learned how to use a tool. Octopuses have a reputation for being clever. They can figure out how t...
You may have heard of the Five Pillars of Islam, but have you heard of the Six Articles of Faith? The Five Pillars of Islam the profession of faith, prayer, zakat, Ramadan and the Hajj are considered the foundation of the faith. But the Six Articles...
But heres a mystery: When you press pause on the VCR, the screen doesnt go blank. Instead, you get a frozen image. Remember, you need a changing magnetic signal to create even a still video image. If the video tape isnt moving, where is this changing...
Ear rocks, also known as otoliths, are tiny pebbles of calcium carbonate in our inner ear that help keep us balanced. Theyre located deep inside the inner ear in a small pouch called a utricle. When we move our heads, the tiny rocks move around and b...
Although audio tapes and video tapes look different, theyre based on the same principles. Each has a roll of magnetic material which slides past the so-called playback head in the VCR or cassette deck (cassette decks have one playback head, VCRs have...
But there are problems with each of these ideas. For example, it would be difficult to monitor nuclear waste under the ocean floor. Waste buried deep in the earth, meanwhile, might contaminate ground water. And as ice sheets continue to melt, its har...
Whats the best way to dispose of nuclear waste? And is it true that scientists have considered sending it into space? Good question. To answer the second part firstyes, sending nuclear waste into space has come up. But if a rocket or space shuttle ca...
While osteoporosis is treatable, its not curable, so early detection really is key. As it is, though, about one in two women, and one in four men over fifty will probably have an osteoporosis-related fracture. For women, in fact, the odds of sufferin...
In fact, recurrence of these painful cold sores is very common because once you have the virus, you never get rid of it. The latent virus can be triggered by many factors. Exposure to wind and sun can cause an outbreak, and so can physical or emotion...
Osteoporosis literally means porous bone. It is characterized by loss of bone density and the deterioration of bone tissue, which makes bones fragile and more likely to fracture. The important thing about osteoporosis is figuring out whether youve go...
The difference between these two mistakes may seem unimportant to a lay person, but to a cognitive psychologist it is crucial for understanding how language development occurs. In order for us to construct meaningful language, we must learn how to su...
You might call them cold sores or canker sores or maybe fever blisters. Whatever theyre called in your house, if you get them, youre in the company of about ninety-five million other Americans who suffer from the virus that causes cold sores. The sci...
Similarly, given the choice between the nest built by their mother and the nest of another mother, normal baby mice always chose the familiar nest while only a third of the receptor-deficient mice chose moms nest. The receptor-deficient mice dont lac...
Plants attract fruit eatersor frugivoresby packing valuable resources into their fruits like sugar and water or important nutrients such as carotenoids, vitamins and minerals. Plants often target specific animals that will give their seeds the best c...
