In neighborhoods where the streets connect, its easier to get to a shopping district on bike or by walking. Along the same lines, studies show that the best neighborhoods for exercise are those with a mixture of residential and commercial land use. I...
Staying in shape is all about eating right and hitting the gym regularly, right? Yes, but there are other factors at play, too. Such as where you live. Dozens of studies over the past few decades have clearly shown that the type of town and neighborh...
They were so well mannered when they were young. But then they left the nest and joined these roving youth gangs, grabbing what they could and harassing adults. No, we're not talking about your teenagers. We're talking about the surprising behavior o...
The chemical in hot peppers that burns is called capsaicin. It binds to receptors on the tongue and also in the small intestine, where it activates a nerve that sends a message to the brain that youre full. Stimulating the nerve also triggers your ne...
Ya?l: Hey Don, I bet you think you're pretty smart. Don: Well, uhm, Ya?l, I guess so. I mean, I'm no genius or anything. Y: Relax. I just meant that you have a big brain compared to most other animals. D: OK. I guess in that sense I am pretty smart--...
In the 1940s, when offshore oil and gas drilling got started in the Gulf of Mexico, offshore platforms were required to have hazard lights to warn ships of their presence. To power the lights, oil companies had to invest in big, expensive, non rechar...
Every time an animal mates, its offspring receives a mixed bag of genes, half from its mother and half from its father. If the father and the mother share many of the same genes, their offspring will receive doubles of some of them. The doubles dont...
With a gentle flick of the wrist on a warm summer day, you can launch a frisbee on a long and graceful flight. On this Moment of Science we'll learn why frisbees fly so well. One reason is something called gyroscopic force. This is the tendency of a...
Weve discussed before how endangered species are at risk from the increased likelihood of inbreeding, which leads to unhealthy offspring. But theres another danger to letting the numbers of animals in a given species become too low. Its called geneti...
Ya?l: Clever cephalopods and colorblind camouflage champions---cuttlefish! Don: Easy on the alliteration, Ya?l! Y: OK, Don. Cuttlefish are cephalopods, relatives of squid and octopuses, and are masters of camouflage. Using unique skin pigment cells,...
Each generation has the chance of changing a little bit from the previous one. A George W. Bush joke wont get passed on very much these days; but if it changes into an Obama joke, it may. Its the survival of the funniest. Now, ask yourself this quest...
The president had made several important speeches about the need to conserve energy, and this was one of his first concrete proposals to support alternative energy. Unfortunately, things didnt work out the way Carter hoped. First, the Iran hostage cr...
We all know that humans have quite a knack for changing the natural environment. In spite of this, you probably think some things are simply too fundamental for human activity to affect. For instance, most people would imagine that the Earth's twenty...
Some people, like comedians, actually sit down and invent jokes. But the neat thing is that most jokes come about without anyone inventing them. Philosopher of science Daniel Dennett uses jokes as an example of how evolution works. Lets say the Presi...
Ya?l: So here's a question for our listeners: If there were a potion that would allow you to stay young forever, would you take it? Don: That seems obvious, Ya?l. Who wouldn't want to recapture their youth? Y: I'm not so sure the answer is obvious, D...
