Feb 22 Just Ask: Why Do Onions Make Us Cry? By Evan Conway We all know the stinging sensation and welling up of tears that comes from chopping onions. But why does this happen? In fact, the reason onions make us cry can be traced back to the soil. Onions are part of… Continue reading
Feb 22 Predator Fish in Freefall; Anchovies and Sardines Taking Over "Humans have always fished. Even the ancestors of humans fished. The thing is, we've gotten so much better at it." That's how Reg Watson, a senior scientist at the University of British Columbia, opened a panel at the… Continue reading
Feb 21 Faith in Science, Threatened Particle Colliders and PCB-Resistant Fish Packing Away the Poison An article in Science News says fish in New York's Hudson River have developed a resistance to toxic PCBs and other pollutants. The story focuses on the Atlantic tomcod, but also the fish that eat… Continue reading
Feb 18 Watch Obama Takes Messages of Innovation, Jobs to Silicon Valley Leaders Correspondent Spencer Michels reports from Silicon Valley on the response of business leaders and the high-tech community to President Obama's drive for innovation and the debate over how much the federal government should be involved in funding incentives for entrepreneurs… Continue watching
Feb 17 Powerful Solar Flares Headed Toward Earth The most powerful solar flares in four years blasted toward Earth Thursday, raising fears about disruption to communication and navigation satellites. Solar flares, or coronal mass ejections, are caused when bursts of charged particles are released as magnetic… Continue reading
Feb 17 Hibernating Bears Slow Down More, Cool Down Less A hibernating black bear in a manmade "hibernaculum," a wooded area with straw for bedding, which mimicked a natural bear's den. Photo courtesy University of Alaska Fairbanks. Understanding the strange hibernation patterns of American black bears may give scientists… Continue reading
Feb 17 NPR’s Andy Carvin on Tracking and Tweeting Revolutions We caught up with NPR's Senior Strategist Andy Carvin between his 400+ tweets a day for a chat about his Twitter stream. It has become a must-follow wire service of sorts for people interested in the latest developments in… Continue reading
Feb 16 Watson Wins: IBM’s Machine Rages Against Jeopardy! Champs Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter -- the least-likely Jeopardy! underdogs ever -- found themselves no match Wednesday night for Watson -- IBM's Frankenstein of trivia. I haven't watched Jeopardy in more than a decade, but in what may be… Continue reading
Feb 16 Study: Dwarfism Gene May Offer Protection From Cancer, Diabetes By Lea Winerman Dr. Jaime Guevara-Aguirre, with members of an Ecuadorian family with Laron syndrome (photo courtesy Dr. Jaime Guevara-Aguirre) An extended family in the remote Ecuadorian Andes has been blessed, and cursed, with a rare genetic tradeoff. Members of the family carry… Continue reading
Feb 16 Helium 3 Shortage Affects National Security, Medicine Inside a storage room at Andrew's Air Force Base is a cluster of neutron radiation detectors, and alongside them, a tiny amount of plutonium, used for training drills. One detection device fits into a backpack. One is designed for… Continue reading