Science Jul 25 Sudden, Rare Ice Melt in Greenland. What Caused it? In a four-day period this July, the Greenland ice sheet melted at a faster rate than satellite data has ever recorded and at higher elevations than we've seen in our lifetimes. So what caused this extraordinary melt? Since May,… By Jenny Marder
Science Jun 06 The Squid and the Electric Current: Remembering the Work of a Brain Pioneer In the late 1940s, Sir Andrew Huxley and Sir Alan Hodgkin teased a nerve cell from an Atlantic squid, placed it into a seawater bath and zapped it with currents. Then, with the data, they built a mathematical model that… By Jenny Marder
Science Jun 01 Viewing the Venus Transit: What’s the Safest Way to Stare at the Sun? // As the sun sets on June 5 in North America, a last-in-a-lifetime astronomical event will be visible to those who wish to look. Just don't do it with your naked eye. A transit of Venus, wherein the planet Venus… By Lee Banville
Science Feb 27 Just Ask: Could Sonar Be Responsible for Cape Cod Dolphin Strandings? Nearly 180 dolphins have been found stranded this winter on the shores of Cape Cod. Image by the International Fund for Animal Welfare. Last week, we posted a story on the unusually high number of dolphins that have been… By Noreen Nasir
Dec 13 Just Ask: Hunt for Higgs Continues; Scientists Work to Separate the ‘Signal from the Noise’ By Jenny Marder Protons collide at CERN's CMS experiment Image by Thomas McCauley, Lucas Taylor/CERN. What does the Higgs boson mean to physics, and how will particle physicists know when they've found it? Evidence of the elusive Higgs Boson may be peeking out… Continue reading
Nov 07 Mysterious Noncoding DNA: ‘Junk’ or Genetic Power Player? By Jenny Marder On a regular basis, reporter Jenny Marder tackles a question in science and technology news. It's a feature we call "Just Ask." Today our topic is DNA. What is noncoding DNA, and why do we need it? In 1953, James… Continue reading
Oct 12 Why Do Leaves Change Color? By Jenny Marder Photo by Flickr user Tom Olliver. Not long after ad marketing turns from waterparks and beach getaways to maple spice lattes and pumpkin facials, fall colors begin to announce the arrival of autumn -- and some years, more loudly… Continue reading
Oct 05 What are Quasicrystals, and What Makes Them Nobel-Worthy? By Jenny Marder Chemistry Nobel Prize winner Israeli scientist Daniel Shechtman looks through a microscope at the Technion Institute of Technology. Photo by AFP/ Getty Images. The 2011 Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded on Wednesday to an Israeli scientist named Dan Shechtman… Continue reading
Aug 03 Airplane Turbulence: Is It Dangerous? By Jenny Marder Photo by WTL via Flickr. No frequent flyer is a stranger to turbulence. But what causes it, and how dangerous is it? Turbulence is the random, chaotic motion of air, caused by changes in air currents. From inside an… Continue reading