<div class="rich-text"><p>
	The slime mold <span class="science-term">Physarum polycephalum</span> is a single cell without a brain, yet it can make surprisingly complicated decisions. In this animated video short, watch as a slime mold navigates through a maze and solves a civil engineering problem.</p>
<p class="note">
	Learn more about slime molds at <em><a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=brainless-slime-molds">Scientific American</a></em>.</p>
</div>

<div class="rich-text">Slime molds may be brainless, but they aren't stupid.</div>

Slime Mold Smarts

<div class="rich-text"><p>
	Cosmic rays are inescapable in space. They can rip right through an astronaut, damaging DNA and possibly causing cancer and memory loss over the long-term. But recent research shows that antioxidants, found in certain berries and fruit, may decrease the effects of this type of radiation.</p>
</div>

<div class="rich-text">Berries and other foods containing antioxidants may alleviate cellular damage caused by cosmic radiation.</div>

Cosmic Ray Danger

Unravelling Bolero

The National Science Foundation

NOVA Science Trust Logo

the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

NOVA ScienceNOW

Cook's Illustrated: Sugar

<div class="rich-text">Because of its chemistry, sugar does a whole lot more than add sweetness.</div>
<div class="rich-text"><p>
	We all know that adding sugar to food makes it sweet. But the type of sugar you use doesn't just influence flavor&mdash;it also changes texture. Learn which sugar to use for the perfect chewy or crunchy cookie.</p>
</div>
<div class="rich-text"><h3>
 Cook's Illustrated: Sugar
</h3>
<p>
 Posted: October 25, 2012
</p>
<p>
 Cook's Illustrated
</p>
<p>
 The Science of Good Cooking
</p>
<p>
 Concept 48: Sugar Changes Texture (and Sweetness)
</p>
<p>
 Dan Souza (Associate Editor, Cook's Illustrated): We all know that if you add sugar to a dessert it makes it sweeter. But did you also know that it can have a huge impact on texture? Sugar can drastically change the structure of baked goods, such as cookies. How does it do it? Well, it has everything to do with moisture. Sugar is naturally hygroscopic, meaning it has an affinity for water molecules. Now, because of this tendency, sugar can slow the evaporation of moisture from cookies and cakes as they bake, which can have a tremendous impact on the final texture.
</p>
<p>
 Now, all sugar is not the same. You have white sugar, brown sugar, honey, molasses, and many more, and each has a slightly different structure.  Now, sugar can be a single molecule made up of hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon. Examples of such simple sugars are glucose and fructose. Or, like sucrose, which is white table sugar, it can be composed of multiple molecules—in this case, one glucose and one fructose—tied together with chemical bonds. Now, when you heat sucrose with an acid, it breaks down into the these two smaller sugars, resulting in something we call invert sugar. This small chemical change makes a big difference: while sucrose is hygroscopic, invert sugar is even more water attracting. Want proof?
</p>
<p>
 First off, brown sugar contains more invert sugar than does white sugar. So, we stored a slice of white bread in a sealed container with a 1/4 cup white sugar and one in a sealed container with a 1/4 cup brown sugar for about a day and a half. While both sugars absorbed moisture from the bread, the brown sugar was far more effective due to its higher amount of invert sugar. As you can see, the brown sugar absorbed so much moisture from this slice of bread that I can snap it like a piece of toast. On the other hand, the slice stored in white sugar is still moist enough to bend and flex.
</p>
<p>
 This is all well and good, but who really cares about dried out slices of white bread? Let's apply this information to use on something we do care about: cookies.
</p>
<p>
 So, we made two batches of oatmeal cookies, one with brown sugar and one with white sugar. Now, to isolate this variable, we kept all other ingredients and the baking procedure identical. We repeated this test three times.
</p>
<p>
 After the cookies had cooled to room temperature, we tasted them for chewiness and then attempted to bend them around a rolling pin like this. The results are clear as day. The oatmeal cookies made with brown sugar have serious chew and the flexibility to easily conform to the curvature of the rolling pin. On the other hand, the cookies made with white sugar are crunchy rather than chewy, and quickly snap when bent.
</p>
<p>
 So, the next time you're looking for a good crunchy, or chewy, cookie, look to sugar. It does a whole lot more than add sweetness.
</p></div>




<div class="rich-text">Because of its chemistry, sugar does a whole lot more than add sweetness.</div>

Cook's Illustrated: Potatoes

<div class="rich-text">All potatoes are not created equal.</div>
<div class="rich-text"><p>
	Different potatoes contain different amounts of starch, which is why certain spuds are better to use in soups and salads, while others are best used for baking. Find out which potato you should choose for your next meal.</p>
</div>
<div class="rich-text"><h3>
 Cook's Illustrated: Potatoes
</h3>
<p>
 Posted: October 25, 2012
</p>
<p>
 Cook's Illustrated
</p>
<p>
 The Science of Good Cooking
</p>
<p>
 Concept 25: All Potatoes Are Not Created Equal
</p>
<p>
 Dan Souza (Associate Editor, Cook's Illustrated): You might think that one potato is pretty much the same as the next, save for slight differences in skin color, shape or size, but in reality a russet and a red bliss are not created equal.
</p>
<p>
 Now, all potatoes consist mainly of two things: starch and moisture. The ratio of starch to moisture determines the potato's density. More starch, it's more dense. More water, it's less dense.
</p>
<p>
 Now, knowing the overall density of a particular potato is important, because it helps determine what the final cooked texture of that potato will be. Now, there's an easy experiment that you can do right at home to find out the density of any particular potato. And I'll show you.
</p>
<p>
 In each of these three containers I have an 11 percent salt solution. That's 11 percent salt to water, by weight. I'm placing one variety of potato in each. As you can see the red bliss potatoes float, the Yukon golds are suspended right in the middle, and the russets sink to the bottom. Red bliss potatoes contain far less starch (and thus more moisture) than russets so they float, where as high starch russets sink. Yukon Golds have a starch content between these two varieties and they sit right in the middle.
</p>
<p>
 Now, the second important factor to consider is the ratio of two starches, amylose and amylopectin. Russets not only contain more overall starch, but a higher ratio of amylose, whose long chains separate when exposed to heat. This separation allows for more absorption of moisture. That can be in the form of butter or cream, which is why we use russets most often when we're making mashed potatoes.
</p>
<p>
 On the other hand, red bliss contain a higher ratio of amylopectin, whose branched structure holds together when exposed to heat. Less moisture is sucked into a red bliss potato as it's cooked, and more of its original shape is preserved. These characteristics make red bliss potatoes ideal for soups and salads.
</p>
<p>
 Now, we can actually see the difference in these starches by cooking cubes of each variety of potato in water that we've dyed with blue food coloring. We cooked the potatoes, let them cool, and cut them in half as you can see here.
</p>
<p>
 Now, russets' greater amount of overall starch, and higher ratio of amylose, mean that it absorbs a lot of the blue food coloring during cooking. As you can see it travels almost to the middle. In contrast, the red bliss have just a fine line of blue on the outside. They're white all the way through. Once again, Yukon Golds sit right in the middle.
</p>
<p>
 So, now that you know the difference in the densities and starch composition of each variety of potato, you can choose the right spud for every dish.
</p></div>




<div class="rich-text">All potatoes are not created equal.</div>

Criminal Minds: Born or Made?

<div class="rich-text">Scientists are using neuroimaging and genetic testing to uncover biological aggression.</div>

David Pogue's Brain Scan

<div class="rich-text">An anthropologist discovers something completely unexpected in David Pogue's brain scan. </div>
<div class="rich-text"><p>
	What could you learn just by looking at a brain? As it turns out, Dean Falk could probably tell you a lot. She is an anthropologist at Florida State University and at the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, New Mexico. And when she examines David Pogue's brain scan she correctly predicts that he is colorblind.</p>
</div>
<div class="rich-text"><h3>
 David Pogue's Brain Scan
</h3>
<p>
 Posted: September 20, 2012
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  Dean Falk
 </em>
 (Anthropologist, SAR Santa Fe/FSU): So we're looking at the left side of your brain, from the inside, from the middle. So, you cut your brain down that way, we're looking at the inside of the left. Here's the frontal lobe. Very nicely convoluted.
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  David Pogue
 </em>
 (Host, NOVA scienceNOW): Thank you.
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  Falk:
 </em>
 As you go back—but wait, hold on—as you go to the back of the brain, this would be the occipital lobe here. But in your case, there's this, like, gap.
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  Pogue:
 </em>
 I'm missing a chunk of brain?
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  Falk:
 </em>
 Well, I don't know. But I think actually there's really a gap there, on your left, not the right. So, how's your color vision and visual perception?
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  Pogue:
 </em>
 Are you kidding me? I'm colorblind.
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  Falk:
 </em>
 Are you really?
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  Pogue:
 </em>
 I'm severely red-green colorblind.
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  Falk:
 </em>
 Are you really? Well, I can't believe…
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  Pogue:
 </em>
 You think there's a corresponding chunk missing?
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  Falk:
 </em>
 Maybe.
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  Pogue:
 </em>
 That's crazy. I thought colorblindness is a lack of rods and cones in the eyes.
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  Falk:
 </em>
 Well, well, isn't that interesting. I mean, I don't know, but I can tell you that this is a part of the association cortex for vision up here. It's called area 19. And, you know, you do your main seeing down here, and you have nice big gyri there. But there, on the left hemisphere, I see a gap.
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  Pogue:
 </em>
 That is crazy that you could look at my brain shape, and predict the flaws…
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  Falk:
 </em>
 Well. I don't know. That's only speculative. I don't want to be accused of practicing medicine without a license there. But I find it very interesting. And I did not know that you are colorblind. Ok. And see this little convolution hanging down here?
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  Pogue:
 </em>
 Yes.
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  Falk:
 </em>
 At the orbital edge.
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  Pogue:
 </em>
 That's my propensity for making puns?
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  Falk:
 </em>
 That's the punning area of the brain.
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  Pogue:
 </em>
 What? That was a joke!
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  Falk:
 </em>
 No, I'm joking, too.
</p></div>




<div class="rich-text">An anthropologist discovers something completely unexpected in David Pogue's brain scan. </div>

Hippocampus Humor

<div class="rich-text">What did Professor Hippocampus say at his retirement party?</div>
<div class="rich-text"><p>
	Meet the hippocampus, a part of the brain responsible for memory and navigation. Now, stay tuned for some brainy slapstick comedy.</p>
</div>
<div class="rich-text"><h3>
 Hippocampus Humor
</h3>
<p>
 Posted: September 20, 2012
</p>
<p>
 NOVA Presents Comic Science
</p>
<p>
 First… the science. (This will only take a second.)
</p>
<p>
 The hippocampus is a small part of the brain located in the temporal lobe.
</p>
<p>
 It is responsible for the creation of long-term memories, and also helps us navigate.
</p>
<p>
 Why is it called the hippocampus?
</p>
<p>
 Because it's shaped like a seahorse (Genus:
 <i>
  Hippocampus
 </i>
 )
</p>
<p>
 And now… the joke!
</p>
<p>
 What did Professor Hippocampus say at his retirement party?
</p>
<p>
 Professor Hippocampus: "Thanks for the memories…"
</p>
<p>
 The End
</p></div>




<div class="rich-text">What did Professor Hippocampus say at his retirement party?</div>

Five Reasons to Eat Insects

<div class="rich-text">Save room for bugs! They're the future of green cuisine.</div>
<div class="rich-text"><p>
	Looking for a culinary adventure? Try some bugs for dinner. They are a nutritious and eco-friendly alternative to common livestock. But, whether they're delicious or not is a matter of personal taste.&nbsp;</p>
</div>
<div class="rich-text"><h3>
 FIVE REASONS TO EAT BUGS
</h3>
<p>
 Posted: June 14, 2012
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  NARRATOR:
 </em>
 Hungry? How 'bout trying something new for dinner? Like... bugs! Sound gross? Here are five great reasons to eat insects.
</p>
<p>
 Reason one: The amount of protein in many insects is comparable to common livestock. In fact, one ounce of certain grasshoppers contains three times as much protein as one ounce of beef.
</p>
<p>
 Reason two: Rearing bugs takes up less space, and may be more humane, as many insects prefer to live in close conditions rather than to roam free.
</p>
<p>
 Reason three: Insects require less food than common livestock to produce the same amount of meat. In addition, they can live on waste products, like cardboard. In contrast, animals like cows and chickens rely on pastures and staple crops, like corn.
</p>
<p>
 Reason four: Insects are less closely related to us than common livestock, so there's less likelihood that a disease will "jump" from them to us. In other words, we probably won't get "cricket flu."
</p>
<p>
 Reason five: Insects produce considerably fewer greenhouse gases, like methane, nitrous oxide, and ammonia.
</p>
<p>
 Bon appétit!
</p></div>




<div class="rich-text">Save room for bugs! They're the future of green cuisine.</div>

<div class="rich-text">Berries and other foods containing antioxidants may alleviate cellular damage caused by cosmic radiation.</div>
<div class="rich-text"><p>
	Cosmic rays are inescapable in space. They can rip right through an astronaut, damaging DNA and possibly causing cancer and memory loss over the long-term. But recent research shows that antioxidants, found in certain berries and fruit, may decrease the effects of this type of radiation.</p>
</div>
<div class="rich-text"><h3>
 Cosmic Ray Danger
</h3>
<p>
 Posted: December 2, 2010
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  NARRATOR:
 </em>
 Produced by exploding stars, high-speed fragments of atoms called cosmic rays are known to tear through astronauts' cells, possibly making them cancerous.
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  JERRY LINENGER:
 </em>
 You go to Mars; you're raising your risk of cancer. Lifelong. There are always innate risks to space travel, and there is no way to get around them. You just do your best to minimize those risks and control them where you can.
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  NARRATOR:
 </em>
 To study how cosmic rays affect our bodies, NASA is making them on Earth, at Brookhaven National Labs. Here, Mary Helen Barcellos-Hoff uses them to bombard human cells. She gets her rays from a giant accelerator that whips subatomic particles to nearly the speed of light.
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  MARY BARCELLOS-HOFF
 </em>
 (Brookhaven National Labs)
 <em>
  :
 </em>
 And indeed when we look at cells that have been exposed to cosmic radiation, we can see each of these dots represent the DNA damage and all the damage is along the particle track. Because the damage is clustered, the damage is more difficult for the cell to deal with.
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  NARRATOR:
 </em>
 And new research into cosmic rays points to another danger that could impact astronauts on long-term missions. They might become like this rat, which cannot find an underwater platform. To Barbara Shukitt-Hale, this rat represents a Mars explorer who might not be coming home.
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  BARBARA SHUKITT-HALE:
 </em>
 Normally, rats have really good spatial memory. So a normal rat would be able to find that platform within five to ten seconds once he's been exposed to this test.
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  NARRATOR:
 </em>
 But even after several trials, this rat just swims round and round until it gets rescued. Why? Because it has received a dose of cosmic rays no greater than a Mars astronaut might get, yet enough to cause a host of problems.
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  BERNARD RABIN:
 </em>
 Problems in learning and memory, and recognition memory, and spatial memory, problems in terms of anxiety levels.
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  NARRATOR:
 </em>
 Problems that make it seem the rats have jumped from youth to senility overnight.
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  RABIN:
 </em>
 It was very surprising to find exposure to cosmic radiation accelerated the aging process. So a mission to Mars may result in accelerated aging, with all the consequences thereof.
</p>
<p>
 <em>
  NARRATOR:
 </em>
 The prospect of befuddled astronauts, their missions disintegrating, can make you despair of humans exploring space—ever. But, fortunately, we have this rat to cheer us up. It finds the platform in seconds, despite having received the same amount of radiation as the first one. And you might not believe what has protected it. These. Foods rich in compounds called antioxidants, which seem to mop up the damaging molecules produced by both aging and cosmic rays. Could berries be our key to the universe? Science has come up with strange ideas, but I think this might be the tastiest one yet.
</p></div>




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Slime Mold Smarts

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Unravelling Bolero

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Cook's Illustrated: Sugar

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Criminal Minds: Born or Made?

David Pogue's Brain Scan

Hippocampus Humor

Five Reasons to Eat Insects

Cosmic Ray Danger