Imagine that you hit a deer with your car. You don't suffer any physical harm whatsoever. Your car suffers cosmetic damage, but you have insurance. So the question is this: are you the type to feel lucky to be alive? If you had been driving faster or...
What makes the sun shine? For a lot of folks, this is the kind of thing that doesn't even require explanation: it just does. But just being a commonplace phenomenon in no way explains it. Something must cause the sun to shine. And, in fact, there is...
Ya?l: Hey, Don, How come a rooster is fancier than a hen? Don: Ummm! I dunno, Ya?l. So drivers can see it when it crosses the road. Y: Nice try, but males birds are more brightly colored and have more ornamented feathers than females for two reasons....
In lab tests, the booby trapped bandages have worked well against a few kinds of toxic bacteria. The researchers tested the bandages by exposing them to two types of harmful bacteria and one harmless type. The harmless, non aggressive bacterium thriv...
Over the past half century, antibiotics have made bacterial infections much easier to treat. But for people with burn injuries and other serious wounds, infection is still a big problem. So doctors and scientists are always on the lookout for ways to...
Many of the deaths have been attributed to the widespread use of Diclofenac, an antibiotic that was used commonly to treat sick livestock. Vultures feed on these livestock carcasses laced with the antibiotic. Unfortunately Diclofenac is toxic to vult...
Pop Quiz: Whats the highest mountain? Answer? It depends. Oh, okay, the answer on Earth is Mount Everest standing an amazing five-and-a-half miles high. Pretty impressive unless you live on Mars, where there is a mountain called Olympic Mons that sta...
Vultures are scavengers that feast on the decaying flesh of dead animals they find lying in the open. Often vilified for their association with death and putrefaction, vultures actually play a critical role in ecosystem health by cleaning up carcasse...
Despite their ugly and morbid reputation, vultures play a critical role in keeping ecosystems healthy. These scavengers act as natures clean up crew, and prevent the spread of disease by consuming potentially infected carcasses. But how do vultures m...
To get at what is going on here first we need to recall what the temperature of an object says about that objects atoms. The atoms of any object are always in motion jiggling around, and the temperature of an object is a measurement of the average ji...
Kids these days have so many electronic toys its possible to grow up without ever discovering the best toy in the world the tin can telephone. Moms and Dads, take note! Lots of science-types agree that kids will remember one toy you build with them y...
Don: Say you're looking at an object on a table in front of you. How long do you think your eyeballs stay in one position? Ya?l: You mean, how long before they move? I'm going to guess... a minute. D: More like less than a second. Y: Yow! D: Though w...
But theres another reason. Remember that the earth doesnt sit still in space: its orbiting the sun at 18.5 miles per second. Meteors that are coming towards us go faster across the sky because of earths forward velocity. Its like two cars passing in...
Don: [WHISTLING A BIRDSONG-LIKE TUNE] Ya?l: Nice tune Don, but can you whistle with your tail like an Anna's hummingbird? D: Hummingbirds can whistle with their tails? Y: Male Anna's hummingbirds, which live along the west coast of North America, can...
Youre out on a clear, starry night with your best friend, looking for shooting stars. Look, theres one! your friend shouts. But by the time you look, its gone. Theres another! she cries. Too late; you missed it. Then one comes along that seems to jus...
