How do you improve at any sport? You train, train, train. But how you train is just as important as how much. Armed with the science of exercise physiology, today's olympic-class coaches design sophisticated programs for their athletes. A muscle is l...
Don: Hey Ya?l, here's another one for your strange but true file---Lobsters and crayfish communicate by shooting streams of urine at each other. Ya?l: Eew. This better be a good one, Don. D: It's actually pretty neat.Many animals produce chemical sig...
The crowd goes wild, the cyclist crosses the finish line---And it's a new world record! Today's athletes are constantly breaking the limits of what was once possible. On today's Moment of Science?, we'll learn how high performance athletes get a boos...
Unlike the eight ball situation, the energy seems to have vanished! In fact, we now know that the energy merely changed forms. When the driver hit the brakes, what else happened? For one thing, there was a loud screeching noise. Thats kinetic energy...
These motion-detectors are not sensitive enough, though, to register movement unless it is of a fairly significant sort. You wouldnt want to get dizzy every time you turn your head! We rely to a significant degree on our eyes for more fine-tuning of...
Many of today's listeners have probably experienced some degree of hair loss. So deeply ingrained in the American psyche is the stigma attached to going bald that many people go to great lengths to reclaim their hair. One of the most popular treatmen...
In 2007, microbiologists at Clemson University put the five second rule to the test. They coated squares of tile, wood flooring and carpet with a solution of Salmonella bacteria, waited for it to dry, and then tested how many bacteria transferred fro...
This is an exciting discovery, because we can now use parallax to judge the distance to objects out in space. Heres how. Because the earth moves around the sun in one years time, every six months it is as far away from where it was six months ago as...
Have you ever wondered why cannibalism isnt more popular? Just think about it: each animal is made of a complex variety of chemical ingredients. As an animal, we can either try to assemble these ingredients haphazardly, eating other animals and plant...
Theres a rule in physics called the law of the conservation of energy. Energy can neither be created out of nothing, nor disappear into nothing all it does is change forms. That sounds simple, but it confused people for a long time. To see why, lets...
Ya?l: My car is stupid, Don. D: What do you mean, Ya?l? Y: I turn the key, the engine ignites. I turn the steering wheel, the wheels move. And that's it. D: Well, what do you expect? That's how a car works. Y: I know, but cars are so rigidly mechanic...
On a previous show we mentioned how not all shooting stars have the same speed. Some disappear almost immediately, while others make a nice slow line across the sky. If you enjoy watching the slow ones, there is a way of upping your chances of seeing...
Youre driving along on your way to deliver some helium balloons to a birthday party. Suddenly you hit the brakes. As your car rapidly decelerates, you feel yourself pushed up against the seatbelt. Why? That ones probably not too tough. Although you m...
Also consider that asthma has gotten a lot worse over the past few decades. From 1980 through 1994, asthma rates in developed countries rose by more than sixty percent. There are probably many causes for the increase, but it may not be a coincidence...
I have been told that should stay away from fast food like burgers and fries. Is this really true? Cause I like burgers and fries. Good question. And the answer ismaybe. One study found that asthma patients who ate foods high in fat had more trouble...
